Chapter 210: Chapter 216: You Chase, I Run

“You can hide in Eternal City.”

Berg looked at Rocky and offered a solution.

Even now, although Rocky could make a qualitative leap in strength with the profits from exterminating the Wild Horse Air Pirate Group, he still couldn’t contend with Wild Horse City unless he joined the Sky Alliance.

As long as he could successfully join the Sky Alliance and gain the protection it offered, Wild Horse City would have to consider the Alliance’s reinforcements before attempting to move against him again, which would undoubtedly create many hesitations for them and thereby significantly reduce the pressure on Rocky.

However, there was no telling when Wilton would settle this matter, and how to survive the undetermined waiting period had become the key issue.

The solution Berg had come up with was for Rocky to hide in Eternal City.

Don’t forget, Eternal City is not only the largest trading city in the sky but also a Neutral Sky City. Within the airspace of Eternal City, no Sky City is allowed to engage in battle, otherwise, it would be a provocation to God City!

In any era, not just today, neutrality is not so easily achieved, because being neutral means not only that you do not attack others but also that others do not attack you, which is a difficult stance. Controlling oneself may be easy, but controlling others is far from simple.

Therefore, any city that has been able to maintain its neutrality over a long period must have exceedingly strong forces of its own. It is precisely because of their formidable strength that others may be deterred from violating them, otherwise, neutrality would be impossible to discuss.

Eternal City is such a city. Within its airspace, all Sky Cities must refrain from combat. Any that violate this rule will be forcefully expelled, and should any resist during this process, regardless of whether they are large Sky Cities or not, they will be utterly destroyed!

This rule is effective for everyone, even the three major forces must abide by it, so if Rocky could hide within the airspace of Eternal City, then Wild Horse City would be powerless even if they located him.

“It’s a good idea.”

When Berg proposed this solution, Karina nodded vigorously, because it was indeed a good idea.

In fact, many Sky Cities choose to flee to the airspace of Eternal City when faced with crises to take cover. If others can do it, so can Rocky.

“However, if you want to do this, it’s going to cost you a lot of money.”

Seeing Rocky nodding his head in agreement at this point, Berg reminded him: “The highest Committee of Eternal City is a group of merchants even shrewder than hairy monkeys, knowing that many Sky Cities hide within the airspace of Eternal City to escape danger, they have set a rule.”

“What rule?”

Rocky was very curious.

“What else could a group of merchants come up with, it’s nothing but to pay a fee.”

Berg scoffed and said, “Any Sky City staying in the airspace of Eternal City gets the first month free, but from the second month on, they’ll have to pay protection money, and it gets more expensive each month. If you can’t afford to pay, you’ll be expelled without any mercy.”

“Can they really do that?”

“That’s how it is.” Berg nodded and continued to explain, “According to the rules set by Eternal City, a small Sky City has to pay a protection fee of 50,000 Gold Coins for the first month, 100,000 for the second month, 200,000 for the third month, 400,000 for the fourth month, 800,000 for the fifth month, and 1.6 million for the sixth month, and so on.”

“That’s so expensive!”

Hearing the prices Berg mentioned, Rocky’s eyes widened on the spot, and his face showed an expression of disbelief. That price was exceedingly high! This wasn’t charging a protection fee; it was outright robbery!

Berg, however, curled his lip in disdain, “Is that expensive? That’s just the rate for a small Sky City. If it were a medium-sized one, you’d have to pay five hundred thousand Gold Coins in the first month and the amount would exceed one million from the second month on!”

“My heavens…”

Upon hearing this, Rocky couldn’t help but rub his temples; he hadn’t expected hiding in Eternal City to be so costly!

“What are you afraid of? You don’t have to hide forever, just until you join the Sky Alliance. Then you won’t have to hide anymore.”

Seeing Rocky looking so distressed before even spending any money, Karina rolled her eyes at him.

She was right. Rocky only needed to hide temporarily, not for a lifetime, but he still felt a pang of pain. After all, every cent he’d earned was the result of his hard work–how could he willingly let it be snatched away for no reason?

Regrettably, his current predicament left him little choice, so after grinding his teeth, he looked towards Berg and Karina, “Then it’s decided. Once everything here is settled, I’ll head straight to Eternal City.”

“The sooner the better. Wild Horse City will definitely think of Eternal City, too, so you must be fast; it would be troublesome if they catch you en route.”

“Exactly, go as fast as you can.”

Rocky had thought he could rest for a while this time, contemplating future plans, but reality gave him no chance to breathe. Here he was, on his first day in Lingyu City, already in a rush to depart.

Perhaps this was the best illustration that plans can’t keep up with change.

Thus, on the second day, Rocky immediately had Aileen start trading with the Ruby Chamber of Commerce, and he personally dealt with a small portion of the Demon Materials with the Chamber of Commerce of Lingyu City.

Because time was of the essence, neither the Ruby Chamber of Commerce nor the Chamber of Commerce of Lingyu City could provide the payment in Gold Coins immediately. The magnitude of Rocky’s transactions was incredibly large, amounting to over a million when combined. Fortunately, both parties had a good foundation of trust, so Rocky decided they could pay part of the sum first, and the rest could be paid in full once he arrived in Eternal City.

Once everything was settled, he bid farewell to Karina and Berg overnight and made a beeline for Eternal City, narrowly escaping another disaster.

Why had he escaped a disaster?

Because on the day after he left Lingyu City, Berg received a message from the Shadow Alliance that Wild Horse City was on its way to their airspace! That meant if Rocky had left a day later, he could have been caught by Wild Horse City en route!

Upon receiving this news, Berg and Karina also left immediately, so by the time Wild Horse City reached the airspace of Lingyu City, there was nothing there but clouds.

“Damn it!”

Discovering everyone had fled, Karlo, the City Lord of Wild Horse City, was so furious he was ready to explode, but there was nothing he could do.

“Someone, set course for Eternal City at once!”

As the City Lord of a medium-sized Sky City, Karlo was an experienced player in the game. Quickly putting two and two together after finding his target missing, he guessed where Rocky might have gone and immediately directed Wild Horse City toward Eternal City, hoping to intercept him mid-journey.

The information provided by the Shadow Alliance was not at all incorrect; Wild Horse City’s Lord Karlo had indeed teamed up with Lexington, intending to join forces to take out Rocky!

For Karlo, this partnership was somewhat unbelievable–Lexington was a major player, and here he was, making such a big fuss over a small Thunderhawk City, over a small Sky City Lord, which Karlo found perplexing.

But Karlo didn’t need to understand these things; all he knew was that Rocky, in cahoots with Karina, had destroyed the Air Pirate Group he had managed for years. This single act was enough for him to act to eradicate them both, not to mention Lexington, a big shot, had opened his mouth, even promising a hefty reward should Karlo capture Rocky. In such circumstances, naturally, Karlo set his sights entirely on making Rocky his top priority!

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