When Rocky truly left the skyport, it was already nearing dusk, which meant he had spent almost an entire day at the skyport.
But there was nothing he could do about it. This time, he brought so much with him, including demon corpses and demon cores, as well as fabrics. Besides, he had several thousands of pounds of ore to sell. So, when the demon corpses and demon cores had been unloaded from the ship, the skyship had to return to Thunderhawk City to transport the ores to the skyport, naturally causing significant delays.
Luckily, unlike last time, Rocky was in no hurry at all. Even though he had spent a whole day at the skyport, he was still in a great mood; he didn’t even worry about the fabrics.
Because the fabric, indeed, wasn’t something worth worrying about. The fabric from Thunderhawk City was bound to sell, and considering the many deals he was about to negotiate, any chamber of commerce would likely purchase these fabrics while trading with him.
At the same time, what surprised him more was that when he left the skyport this time, the treatment he received was significantly different.
The last time Rocky left the skyport, he had hired his own carriage and stayed at a small inn recommended by Monte, but this time, he had a car reserved just for him!
Looking at the large carriage that had been waiting for a long time, Rocky was completely baffled, not knowing who had sent it. After much inquiry, he finally understood the situation.
It turned out that in Eternal City, any City Lord from a Sky City was entitled to certain privileges, such as car transfers and accommodations specifically prepared for the city lords within the city.
This was the first time Rocky had learned of this, but after detailed inquiries, he understood the reason. It seemed that this was a tactic by Eternal City to attract city lords to conduct trade.
One should know that city lords of this rank, when they made their move, it resulted invariably in large-scale transactions: a few hundred thousand gold coins were a trivial amount, while transactions worth millions of gold coins were commonplace, and even transactions amounting to tens of millions of gold coins were not new to the city lords of large Sky Cities.
Such massive transactions naturally brought in equally substantial tax revenues for Eternal City. So, in order to attract the city lords from various Sky Cities, Eternal City devised several methods.
They not only allowed the city lords to enjoy the privileged treatments of a city lord but also offered them certain privileges that increased with their trade volume, much like the VIP systems of various chambers of commerce.
This was naturally good news for Rocky, who was also a Sky City lord. Thus, upon learning about this, he immediately registered with Eternal City authorities. From then on, not only could he enjoy the treatment accorded to city lords here, but as his trading volume in this place accumulated, he would also gain certain privileges.
In such circumstances, when Rocky and his people left the skyport, they boarded a carriage exclusively reserved for city lords and were directly sent to the accommodations prepared specifically for them.
The accommodation prepared for the city lords in Eternal City was a large hotel called Star of the Sky, which stood nine stories tall.
Even in Eternal City, a building of nine stories was quite rare, and this place, along with the hotel’s name, certainly underscored the prestigious status of the city lords from every aspect.
When the carriage delivered Rocky and his company to the entrance of Star of the Sky, looking at the nine-story tall hotel, Rocky, visiting this place for the first time, seemed somewhat nervous.
This was not surprising, considering that this was no ordinary place. It housed only the City Lords of Sky Cities! A slight mishap could trigger a major war among Sky Cities!
Fortunately, as soon as Rocky and his group entered the lobby on the first floor of Star of the Sky, a waiter immediately led them to handle various procedures, barely requiring any effort on their part.
And once the procedures were smoothly handled, Rocky and his group were assigned to three rooms on the second floor, where they could comfortably settle in.
In the Star of the Sky hotel, which floor one resided on was a matter of great significance. Small Sky City lords could only stay on the second or third floors, medium Sky City lords could reside on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, while only the lords of large Sky Cities were eligible to live on the seventh and eighth floors.
The highest ninth floor was reserved for those city lords in Eternal City wanting special privileges.
This rule meant that Rocky, who had just registered his status in Eternal City, could only stay on the second floor and was not eligible for the third floor. Although the third floor was also for Small Sky City lords, it was reserved for those who had achieved a certain amount of trade, which Rocky had not yet achieved.
Rocky didn’t particularly mind this; he was satisfied enough to stay in such a fine hotel for free, and whether he was on the second floor or the third didn’t really matter to him.
However, just as he had finished processing his paperwork and was about to turn away, he noticed a young man of his own age, surrounded by several guards, coming straight toward him.
“Hello, are you City Lord Rocky?”
Walking straight up to Rocky, the young man of similar age to him asked with a smile.
“Yes, that’s me. And you are…?”
“Oh, I’m Berg, the City Lord of Lingyu City.”
A simple self-introduction had forced Rocky to take serious notice of Berg, who was around the same age and also a City Lord of a Sky City!
Honestly, this was Rocky’s first time meeting another City Lord of a Sky City, which somewhat caught him off guard. Fortunately, Berg soon initiated the conversation.
“City Lord Rocky, my Lingyu City is also a trade city, so I hope you can visit when you have time, and you are very welcome to come to Lingyu City for trade,” Berg said.
While speaking, Berg stepped closer to Rocky and lowered his voice, “The trade tax in Eternal City is really high, and although my Lingyu City is small, there are quite a few chambers of commerce. City Lord Rocky, if you visit, you will surely be satisfied.”
After saying this, Berg nodded at Rocky, giving off an air of ‘you know what I mean,’ and then exchanged a few pleasantries before leading his guards away.
It wasn’t until Berg and his guards had disappeared from view that Rocky finally caught on; this guy was trying to woo him to trade in his city!
This somewhat surprised Rocky; a City Lord personally soliciting business for his Sky City was incredibly proactive of Berg.
In reality, he shouldn’t have been surprised, as he too had led charges against Demons for the sake of Thunderhawk City. Otherwise, where would all those Demon Corpses have come from? Discover more content at empire
This little episode ended with Berg’s departure, and then Rocky and his group were finally led by the servants to the elevator leading to the second level.
Yes, an elevator, or rather, it should be called a Magic Elevator here, but its function and mechanism were just like those of a regular elevator, capable of moving straight up and down.
This was Rocky’s first encounter with such a device, yet he wasn’t surprised. In a world where cities could fly in the sky, an elevator hardly seemed complicated.
On the way to the second level, Rocky met four or five groups of people, each moving in different directions, some alone and some flanked by attendants. The only commonality was that all these individuals were City Lords!
Being a City Lord himself, Rocky could tell who among them were his peers, marking the first time he had seen so many City Lords together.
In today’s day and age, although there were thousands of Sky Cities, the sky itself was vast. In comparison to the entire sky, thousands of Sky Cities still amounted to a tiny number.
Moreover, since City Lords usually stayed within their own cities, opportunities to meet each other were rare. Some City Lords didn’t even wish to interact with other City Lords, preferring to live comfortably in their own cities.
Thus, the appearance of five or six City Lords together was a scene Rocky had never encountered before, making him both nervous and a bit excited.
Not long after, they were led by the servants to the front of the Magic Elevator, stood waiting for a little while, and then the doors slowly opened, revealing a group of people stepping out.
Among this group, the most eye-catching was a young woman surrounded like the star among the moon. She was dressed in a fiery red gown with beautiful curly red hair, making her look like a blooming red rose.
Undoubtedly, she was another City Lord. Rocky knew her identity at just a glance. However, as he passed by this rose-like woman, she seemed to remember something and involuntarily looked back at him.
“You’re the one named Rocky, right?”
“Um? … Yes, that’s me …”
It was Rocky’s first time realizing how well-known he had become; everyone seemed to know his name.
This response made the rose-like woman examine him with great interest, up and down, until Rocky felt somewhat uneasy, and then she smiled while moving her red lips, “I’m Karina, City Lord of Rose City. I heard about what happened today at the Skyport. Did you kill those Demons?”
“Well … yes …”
Rocky was surprised at how quickly the day’s events had spread, even among the City Lords of Star of the Sky.
Upon hearing his confirmation, Karina revealed a sly smile, “I didn’t expect you to be so capable, given your small frame. But that’s great; we might have a chance to collaborate because … I also love hunting!”
PS: More City Lords are appearing, and a bigger story is about to begin. This trip to Eternal City is extremely important for Rocky, as he will officially enter the grand stage of the sky after this … so of course, I’m still requesting recommendations!