Lord of the Sky City

Wil remembered Wilton once saying that if Rocky helped him make contact with the Sky Alliance, there would certainly be a generous reward. Now it seemed that this "generous reward" was an invitation for him and Karina to join the Sky Alliance!

Of course, this was just one aspect of Wilton's invitation. On the other hand, he truly saw potential in both Rocky and Karina.

Karina, needless to say, had a reputation that was far greater than what most would imagine. With her standout strength among the smaller Sky Cities, Karina had long been in the sights of The Three Great Alliances and had been observed for quite some time.

As for Rocky, although Wilton had not heard of him before, he was quite satisfied with what he had observed of Rocky throughout their journey.

Firstly, Wilton quite recognized Rocky's strength. His Excellency the Holy Knight, having seen much of the world, knew well what the average strength of a small Sky City looked like. In his view, Rocky's current strength not only met the average standard of small Sky Cities but greatly exceeded it.

Secondly, it was the ambition Rocky displayed that Wilton found very satisfying.

In today's world, there is a common understanding about the City Lords: being content with poverty means being mediocre! A City Lord without ambition will not see any development. In this era, in order to grow strong and earn respect, one must forge ahead against the current, constantly developing and expanding. Only then can one become a regional hegemon and be admired by others.

And this was precisely what Wilton saw in Rocky.

He dared to collaborate with someone like Karina and to challenge the Wild Horse Air Pirate Group. This undeniably proved that Rocky was not a man content with little. The Wild Horse Air Pirate Group might be seen as a mere ant in the eyes of the Sky Alliance, but for small Sky Cities, their strength was incredibly formidable, even stronger than that of some small Sky Cities.

The fact that Rocky and Karina dared to challenge such a foe, regardless of whether it was for personal vendetta or fame and fortune, was not what mattered. The important thing was that they dared to take action! That was enough.

Therefore, the invitation from Wilton to Rocky was partly to repay him and partly because he truly saw potential in him.

"This…"

However, when faced with his invitation, Rocky found himself at a loss for how to respond.

It wasn't hesitation; he was simply unprepared due to the surprise.

The idea of joining an Alliance had crossed his mind as early as when Berg mentioned it, but after learning of Karina's experiences, Rocky became less confident in the reliability of such Alliances. The Alliances of the past had abandoned Karina, so if Rocky were to join one, they might very well abandon him too—especially since his opponent was not just anyone, but the infamous giant crocodile of the skies, the Mairente Family.

It was because of this that Rocky had put the idea of joining an Alliance aside, without giving it much thought. So when faced with Wilton's sudden invitation, he felt somewhat at a loss.

"Wilton, if you want Rocky to join the Sky Alliance, you should first ask his mentor,"

Just as Rocky was at a loss and unsure how to respond to Wilton, Orton suddenly pushed open the door and walked in.

"Mentor!"

"Master Orton."

Seeing Orton suddenly appear, Rocky's anxious feelings immediately eased, because Orton's arrival at this time was obviously to help him.

And indeed, right after this, Orton, without any reservation, took a seat directly opposite Wilton and then righteously asked:

"Wilton, tell me, do you want Rocky to join the Alliance because you found out about my research in Thunderhawk City, and then you plan to monopolize my research findings?"

"Ah?"

As soon as Orton finished speaking, Wilton was immediately stunned, and His Excellency the Holy Knight was left speechless with shock.

"Master, your words—don't accuse me wrongly! I—I—I would never harbor such intentions!"

Wilton, gaping at Orton, struggled even to speak clearly: "Master, you have cooperated with the Alliance before, so you should know that the Sky Alliance never monopolizes any possessions of its members, including technology,"

After saying this, Wilton hurriedly turned to Rocky: "City Lord Rocky, although the Sky Alliance encourages members to make contributions to the Alliance, including technology, it never resorts to forceful plundering. Anyone who submits technology to the Alliance will receive an award of equal value, and once the Alliance puts the technology into practical use, the contributor will also have priority rights to its use."

It must be said that experience truly counts, as Master Orton was very aware of what City Lord Rocky was most concerned about. Thus, by starting off with such a direct and unreasonable questioning of Wilton, he immediately befuddled him.

In order to explain things clearly to City Lord Rocky, Wilton simply went over the benefits of joining the Alliance as well as the obligatory duties in detail.

As one of the largest forces in the sky, the Sky Alliance had a complete management system.

Any Sky City that joined the Alliance would initially only be a peripheral member. As peripheral members, they would be under the protection of the Alliance, but this protection was not endless. The Alliance would only provide unconditional support to peripheral members once a year, whether in offense or defense, and would only send troops once.

If multiple assists from the Alliance were desired, the corresponding Contribution Points would need to be paid, which brought into play an important system within the Sky Alliance: the Contribution Points System.

The Sky Alliance was not a retirement home; it did not support idlers. Thus, any member who joined, whether a peripheral or core member, had to make a corresponding contribution to the Alliance each year to continue their membership. And to better demonstrate each member's contribution, the Contribution Points System was born.

In this system, all contributions made to the Alliance by members would be converted into tangible Contribution Points. The more one contributed to the Alliance, the more Contribution Points they would accumulate. More Contribution Points would lead to a higher status within the Alliance and access to more benefits.

Even more importantly, Contribution Points functioned as currency. All commodities sold within the Alliance had to be purchased with Contribution Points, and to encourage members to contribute more, all goods sold by the Alliance were rare and not available on the open market. This included high-level Armors, high-grade warships, and scarce resources, all valuable items unattainable elsewhere that could only be traded with Contribution Points.

So, how could one earn Contribution Points in the Sky Alliance?

In fact, there were many ways to earn Contribution Points within the Sky Alliance, mainly divided into three categories. One way was to complete tasks issued by the Alliance, similar to those from the Mercenary Guild: the Sky Alliance would issue tasks to various members and compensate them with Contribution Points upon completion.

The second method of earning Contribution Points was to participate in Alliance wars.

While the Sky Alliance might already be one of the dominant powers in the sky, it was still only one of them, and wars with other forces happened from time to time. Moreover, as a dominant force, the Sky Alliance was constantly launching attacks on the land-dwelling Demons, striving to carve out a stronghold for itself on land.

Along with battles to protect resources like mines, assist members in combat, and so on, there was almost daily warfare within the Alliance, and participation would yield Contribution Points regardless of victory or defeat.

The last method of earning contribution involved providing the Alliance with various technological products. This included new technologies developed by different Sky Cities, new types of Armor and warships, and even turning over lost technologies discovered in the Lost Research Institutes to the Alliance, which could garner substantial amounts of Contribution Points.

These were the main ways to earn Contribution Points within the Sky Alliance, and with them, survival within the Alliance wasn't only easier, but one could live quite well.

After giving City Lord Rocky a basic introduction to the Sky Alliance, Wilton breathed a sigh of relief. He then glanced at Orton as if to say, "See, I had no intention of forceful seizure."

Once Rocky listened to the explanation, he pondered for a moment and then turned to Orton.

Thanks to Wilton's detailed introduction, Rocky came to understand the Sky Alliance more profoundly and realized that some of his concerns did not seem to be an issue within the Alliance.

For instance, his biggest worry, the Mana Runes, seemed unlikely to be forcibly taken even if the Alliance discovered them, which certainly set Rocky's mind at ease.

In fact, Rocky really could rest assured, just as Wilton said. The Alliance indeed didn't indulge in such aggressive seizures because it simply wasn't necessary.

With the Alliance's immensely strong research and development capabilities, many technologies, including many top-tier ones, had been developed by the Sky Alliance. Even if the Mana Runes that Rocky mastered were exceptionally advanced, the Alliance had no need to seize them forcefully but could instead share them through exchange.

Furthermore, the Alliance would not restrict its members' freedom, which was also a major concern for Rocky. He feared that once he joined the Sky Alliance, such a large force, his and Thunderhawk City's freedom would be interfered with—a scenario Rocky definitely wanted to avoid. Continue reading on empire

However, based on everything Wilton had said, the Sky Alliance did not seem to interfere with the freedom of its members. Peripheral members aside, even core members would not face any interference from the Alliance regarding the development of their own Sky Cities.

These two points were of utmost concern to Rocky, but it appeared that the Sky Alliance had neither issue, so he directly looked at Orton and saw that Orton was also looking at him, nodding gently towards him.

Clearly, Orton also agreed with Rocky joining the Sky Alliance.

Therefore, following that, Rocky said to Wilton, "Your Excellency, I am willing to join the Sky Alliance!"

PS: Seeking recommendations! Seeking recommendations! We're about to enter a grander stage soon, seeking recommendations!