Thunderhawk City, it was time for some changes, Rocky thought.
Regarding his identity as the City Lord, Rocky was filled with contradictions. Although this status provided him with a better starting point than others, it also brought him immense pressure, and being the City Lord of Thunderhawk City only increased that burden substantially.
The frailty of Thunderhawk City was evident to anyone. A small city with merely a thousand inhabitants, it lacked virtually everything—industry, commerce, military, and so on. If there were such a thing as a development index in this world, Thunderhawk City’s would undoubtedly be zero!
Under such circumstances, Rocky believed that it was essential for Thunderhawk City to change!
Now, with the unique technology of Mana Runes at his disposal, Rocky’s potential was boundless. Therefore, he had to ensure the development and strengthening of Thunderhawk City. Only with a powerful Thunderhawk City could he truly take advantage of the benefits of Mana Runes.
But how exactly could he strengthen Thunderhawk City?
Rocky pondered this question for a long time and finally arrived at an answer: the economy.
The economy was the key!
For a city to develop, whether it was Sky City or any city on land, the economy was paramount because it was the foundation of everything. Without it, all else was empty talk.
So, if Rocky wanted to make Thunderhawk City strong, he naturally had to focus on the economy first.
The first thing he thought of was that Thunderhawk City could no longer rely solely on the textile industry for its livelihood.
The city had a small population and no real factories; the so-called textile industry was entirely based on manual labor. The idea that a Sky City’s economic lifeline was handwoven fabric was laughably absurd.
Rocky believed that the economic lifeline of Thunderhawk City must shift to other industries, or even directly to the market. Only then could the city’s economy improve.
Next, it was imperative to change the economic model of Thunderhawk City.
At present, Thunderhawk City was still functioning under a planned economy, with all resource allocation decisions being made and distributed by the City Lord’s Mansion.
Take the textile industry, for example.
Each quarter, the City Lord’s Mansion would decide how much yarn to import. Then, they would sell the yarn to the residents at a set price. Once the residents weaved the yarn into fabric, the City Lord’s Mansion bought it back at a predetermined price and sold the fabric to the Chamber of Commerce.
In this process, the City Lord’s Mansion was in charge of everything, and the residents only had to labor and earn a margin to make an income. This was a classic example of a planned economy.
This economic model had too many drawbacks. Without shifting to a free market economy, Thunderhawk City could never develop.
Rocky saw his upcoming trip to Eternal City as an opportunity and hoped to use it to kickstart the reforms for Thunderhawk City.
With this in mind, he summoned Aileen the day after and shared his thoughts with her. After all, as the Financial Officer of Thunderhawk City, she understood economic matters far better than Rocky did.
"My Lord, I think I understand what you mean..."
After Rocky laid out his thoughts to Aileen, she fell into deep contemplation. After a while, she finally spoke, "My Lord, your ideas are indeed excellent, and Thunderhawk City does need to change. It’s just that..."
"Just what?"
"We can’t rush things."
After looking at Rocky, Aileen said, "My Lord, the residents of Thunderhawk City have already become accustomed to the ’economic model’ you mentioned."
"Planned economy."
"Yes, that’s right, the planned economy." Aileen felt that the term was very accurate. "The residents are already accustomed to the planned economy you mentioned. If you suddenly change this model and connect Thunderhawk City’s market with the external markets, the residents won’t be able to withstand the impact, and that could lead to significant turmoil."
"So what do you suggest?"
Aileen’s words were entirely correct and also what Rocky was worried about. Although changes were necessary for Thunderhawk City, Rocky was afraid that the residents wouldn’t be able to accept them. This was precisely why he sought Aileen’s counsel.
"My Lord, we can take it slowly, allowing the residents to gradually adapt."
Aileen was sharp. After hearing Rocky’s ideas, she quickly grasped the key points and thought of a solution—to let the residents of Thunderhawk City gradually adapt.
It may have sounded like an obvious statement, but it wasn’t.
This was because the population of Thunderhawk City was too small. But with a small population, adapting to changes could be swift. If Thunderhawk City had a population not of one thousand but of one hundred thousand, adapting to new changes would prove challenging. Fortunately, with only about a thousand residents, adapting them to new changes would be much simpler.
After saying this, Aileen laid out her thoughts to Rocky one by one. In the following days, the two of them discussed the matter extensively, deliberating on how to initiate change in Thunderhawk City and help its residents adapt to these changes.
As a result, a week passed quickly, and by the end of it, Rocky and Aileen had crafted a fairly comprehensive plan for the economic reforms of Thunderhawk City, ready to be implemented upon arrival in Eternal City.
Following this, Liliya sought out Rocky and informed him that Monte had been discharged from the hospital.
Since he had been busy preparing for the economic reforms of Thunderhawk City, Rocky had almost forgotten about the Beastmen. It was only after Liliya’s reminder that he remembered.
"Has his injury already healed?"
"Is it possible to recover that quickly? He’s broken an arm. It won’t heal for three to five months," Liliya said with a shake of her head and an exasperated look before suggesting, "Shall I go talk to him?"
Both Rocky and Liliya valued the Beastman Monte highly, despite his current disability. They still saw him as talented, at least the talent Thunderhawk City needed.
His strength and his experience were valuable assets in Thunderhawk City. Hence, if they could recruit him, it would only benefit Rocky.
However, with Monte healing and Rocky occupied, they had not had a chance to meet. Now that Monte was not only out of the hospital but they were also about to arrive in Eternal City, there was little time left to speak with him before he potentially left.
After contemplating for a moment, Rocky shook his head, stood up, and said, "I’ll go talk to him myself. It shows more sincerity that way."