Standing at the bow, even though Lord of Matu City wore Void Magic Armor and was separated from Rocky by a Defensive Net, he still felt uneasy.
This unease was not so much about whether Rocky could really hurt him, but more about Matu's own lack of confidence.
As a City Lord himself, he paled in comparison to Rocky; this was evident from the comparative strength of their respective aerial cities. Rocky's Sky City had a population of barely two thousand, yet he had already established a formidable fleet. The city's development was well-organized, and everything was thriving. Thus, he was able to defeat Baron Wolin, whose strength was slightly superior.
While Matu's Sky City had a population of three thousand, it was inferior in every aspect to Thunderhawk City, especially in military strength. Even though Rocky's fleet had just been through a major battle, it was still stronger than Matu's fleet.
Matu was acutely aware of this substantial disparity in hard power, so despite having the same rank, his mindset could not help but be submissive when confronting Rocky, as he simply lacked the strength.
But now that things had come to this, even though he was extremely reluctant, Matu had to face Rocky, who was bombarding his city.
"Lord Rocky, what is the meaning of this?"
Standing at the bow, behind the Defensive Net, Matu gathered his courage for quite a while before he finally shouted at Rocky, actually managing to sound somewhat authoritative.
"How audacious! Who are you to speak to the City Lord like that?"
Before Rocky could respond, Liliya, who was nearby, sternly rebuked him!
It was a show of intimidation!
Liliya could obviously tell that Matu was the ruler of the city they were facing, evident from his authoritative demeanor and the Void Magic Armor he wore, but she deliberately feigned ignorance in order to intimidate him.
Matu, who had just been scolded by Liliya, instantly turned crimson with embarrassment. When had he, as a City Lord, ever been rebuked like this?
Unfortunately, now in a situation where the enemy was stronger, Matu clenched his teeth and swallowed his anger, glaring fiercely at Liliya: "I am Lord Matu! Lord Rocky, by attacking my city without provocation, are you trying to provoke a war between cities?"
"Unprovoked?"
Hearing this, Rocky scoffed and then flew forward a distance, continuing until he was just a few meters away from the Skyship, stopping in front of the Defensive Net separating them.
"Lord Matu, you aid and abet evil, helping Baron Wolin invade my Thunderhawk City and you dare claim it's unprovoked?"
After saying this, he didn't waste any more words, and simply retreated back to Liliya's side, slowly raising his left hand in the process.
As he completely raised his left hand, the booming sound of cannons erupted, and the fleet behind him simultaneously opened fire, launching another fierce attack on the Defensive Net!
"Ah!"
The sudden barrage startled Matu into shouting. He hadn't expected Rocky to open fire without more discussion, and if it hadn't been for the guards by his side, he would have nearly collapsed onto the deck.
Matu couldn't be blamed, because even though protected by the Defensive Net, facing the simultaneous firing from dozens of Magic Cannons was enough to frighten anyone.
Once the barrage ended, Rocky slowly lowered his hand, and the fleet behind him stopped shooting. After that, he flew up to the Defensive Net again.
"Lord Matu, if you do not want your city to be destroyed, hand over a thousand people!"
Hovering in midair in his Void Magic Armor, Rocky laid out his demand!
For him to withdraw his troops, Matu would have to hand over a thousand people!
"Impossible!"
Hearing Rocky's demand, Lord Matu, forgetting his fear, roared back as if his anger had been truly ignited!
He had thought about Rocky making demands of him, for as things had progressed to this point, if he did not give up something, Rocky certainly wouldn't give up easily. At the same time, unless he was a fool, he would definitely make demands.
But Matu hadn't expected Rocky to start off with such a massive demand, actually asking him for a whole thousand people!
According to his original thoughts, if Rocky had asked him to hand over tens of thousands of gold coins, or even hundreds of thousands, he could have agreed to such terms. He could afford to pay this money, and after giving it to Rocky, the Mairente Family, if only for the sake of saving face, would surely reimburse him, so he wouldn't lose out regardless.
But Rocky had surprisingly not asked for gold coins but for people instead—an unthinkable request for Matu. The population was the foundation of Sky City and absolutely could not be given away.
So, after that, Matu roared at Rocky, "Rocky! Don't be too full of yourself! With these few broken ships of yours, breaking through the defensive net is simply impossible! Don't get too cocky!"
Since Rocky was so ruthless, even targeting the population of Sky City, Matu refrained from being polite and started cursing without restraint.
But he was right about one thing—the defensive net of Sky City indeed was very strong, and Rocky's current weakened fleet could not possibly breach it.
After the fierce battle with Baron Wolin, Rocky's fleet, although still retaining its main force, had also suffered severe losses; only a few reconnaissance ships remained, along with two large warships. So with just this size of a fleet, the thought of breaking through Matu City's defensive net...
Was not impossible, but indeed highly time-consuming. It might take about ten days to half a month to accomplish.
And Matu absolutely did not believe Rocky would spend a month entangled with him. Let's not forget—he had defeated Baron Wolin, but that also meant that he had provoked the Mairente Family. There was no time to dawdle with him.
In this situation, Matu felt secure and unafraid, he couldn't possibly agree to Rocky's demand.
Right after his roaring had ended, Rocky just gave a cold laugh, said nothing, and flew back to the fleet with Liliya.
After he returned, the fleet, led by the Thunderhawk, resumed intense bombardment, but a reconnaissance ship broke away from the formation and flew towards Thunderhawk City.
"This guy... what exactly is he planning..."
As the Magic Cannon continued its onslaught, Matu behind the defensive net furrowed his brows, not understanding what exactly Rocky was scheming.
Did he really believe that with these few warships he could break open the defensive net? Or did he really want to engage with him for a month, ignoring the Mairente Family, just to get a thousand people?
Matu really couldn't understand what Rocky was planning and had no other choice but to hang on.
Time passed in this way, much time. During this process, Rocky's fleet continuously attacked the defensive net intermittently. Although the fire wasn't as intense as at the beginning, it never ceased, feeling like intermittent rain.
But as time went on, Matu's nervous and panicky moods gradually stabilized. He felt that Rocky probably had no other options left; the fleet's attacks were just venting their frustration, and they would likely retreat soon.
This was not mere wishful thinking from Matu. He might not be very capable, but after all, he was a City Lord; he was smart enough. During Rocky's departure, he had continuously pondered what Rocky might be planning, but he nearly thought through everything, yet couldn't think of any possibility of breaching the defensive net.
If the defensive net could not be breached, then no matter how powerful the fleet was, it would be unable to pose a threat to him.
With this, Matu was no longer tense. Instead, he stayed calm on the Skyship, curious to see when Rocky would eventually retreat.
But not long after this, a gigantic entity slowly burst through the cloud layer, appearing right in front of Matu City!
Thunderhawk City!
Seeing Thunderhawk City appear, Matu was stunned on the spot. Then he immediately cursed under his breath, feeling alarmed. His face, having just regained composure, turned extremely pale, even more ghastly than before!
Because upon seeing Thunderhawk City, Matu suddenly realized what Rocky was planning!
"He, he, he... could he possibly be planning to use... the City-Destroyer Cannon!!"
As Thunderhawk City slowly drew closer, Matu became increasingly terrified.