The skyship ascended and slowly flew out of Thunderhawk City’s Defensive Net, then headed towards the distant Eternal City.
“Liliya, look over there!”
Standing at the bow, Rocky was once again just as excited as the first time he’d taken a skyship.
But who could blame him, for in just this short journey he had seen so many sights he’d never experienced before.
For instance, at this very moment, he was pointing astoundedly at a vast Sky City in the distance.
This Sky City was not the Eternal City, but rather it was smaller in scale than the Eternal City, yet significantly larger than Thunderhawk City, and it was not far from Thunderhawk City at all, with roughly a kilometer separating the two.
And as Rocky looked out, he realized that there were dozens of Sky Cities stationed several thousand kilometers around the Eternal City!
These Sky Cities varied in size; the smallest were similar to Thunderhawk City, but most were medium to large sky cities.
Such an astonishing sight was something Rocky had never seen before, so it was no wonder he was exclaiming excitedly at the bow.
Not just him, even Liliya and Aileen had their mouths wide open, displaying expressions of disbelief at the scene before them.
Out of the group, only Monte appeared relatively composed, for Rocky, Liliya, and Aileen had only heard of the great name of the Eternal City but were visiting for the first time, whereas Monte was not. He had visited many times before, so the sight before him was nothing unusual.
“Monte, are all these Sky Cities here to trade with the Eternal City like us?”
Seeing Monte standing there calmly, Rocky quickly asked him since he knew much more about the Eternal City than Rocky did.
“Yes, my lord.”
Monte nodded and then explained in detail to Rocky, “My lord, sky cities like these are always present around the Eternal City at every moment, and this is even not the busiest time. During certain important days, the surrounding area of the Eternal City might see over a hundred sky cities, and the scene is truly magnificent.”
“It’s that extravagant…”
Monte’s words made Rocky take a deep breath. He tried to imagine, but ultimately, he simply couldn’t picture what it would be like with over a hundred Sky Cities around the Eternal City—it was beyond his imagination.
Meanwhile, as the skyship gradually neared the Eternal City, more and more skyships appeared in the sky.
These skyships came in various sizes, and there were civilian ships, merchant vessels, and even warships, bustling in the sky like lively fish, some flying far away, others heading to the nearby Sky Cities, all very busy.
Just as Rocky was being amazed by this spectacle, a small skyship, no, a hoverboat, approached them.
There were only two people on the hoverboat, but both were wearing Void Magic Armor!
As Rocky noticed the hoverboat drawing near, it had already approached closely, and then he saw one of the people on the boat use their Floating Armor to fly up into the air and gently float alongside Rocky’s skyship.
“Good morning, sirs and madam. I am a Patrol Officer from the Eternal City. May I ask if you are here for trade?”
“This…”
The Patrol Officer’s question stumped Rocky as it was his first visit to the Eternal City, and he was still unclear about the local rules and regulations.
What was even more important was that when the Patrol Officer approached, Rocky’s attention was completely captivated by the Void Magic Armor he was wearing!
He had never imagined that someone who was merely a Patrol Officer would be equipped with Void Magic Armor, much less armor that was clearly superior to his own set!
Heavens…
The financial strength of Eternal City was simply too much, being able to supply such high-quality Void Magic Armor to a mere Patrol Officer. With such lavish spending, even Rocky, a City Lord himself, was left speechless.
“We are visiting Eternal City for the first time,” asked Aileen, “are there any differences for trade?”
As Rocky’s pride was deeply wounded by the seemingly insignificant Patrol Officer, Aileen beside him asked the officer, as they indeed didn’t quite understand what the other party had just mentioned.
“Oh, if you’re here for trade, then please dock your Skyship at the trade port. If not, head to the general port. The port entry taxes are different for each, and only Skyships docked at the trade port are allowed to load cargo. General ports do not permit this. If anyone is found breaking these rules, they will be treated as smuggling and subject to heavy fines.
Please comply with the regulations of Eternal City.”
“So that’s how it is…”
After hearing the Patrol Officer’s explanation, Aileen glanced at Monte, and only after seeing him nod slightly to her did she feel assured.
“We are here for trade.”
“Okay.” Upon hearing Aileen’s response, the Patrol Officer immediately said, “The trade tax in Eternal City is fifty Gold Coins per day for each small Skyship. The total tax is to be paid upon departure. Please steer your Skyship to these coordinates to queue for entry.”
While speaking, the Patrol Officer clad in Floating Armor gave Aileen a set of coordinates and then flew away without looking back.
“Why is the entry tax so expensive?”
After passing the coordinates to the Guard on the ship, Aileen pouted unhappily, her face showing clear distress—evidently finding the entry tax exorbitant.
A port entry tax of fifty Gold Coins a day—if they were to stay for ten days, that would amount to five hundred gold coins in taxes! That was just too expensive!
“City Lord, it looks like we can’t afford to waste any time…”
The steep entry tax forced Aileen to turn to Rocky, as they certainly couldn’t afford a long stay in Eternal City.
“Oh, alright.”
A shaken Rocky finally snapped back to his senses, then nodded.
Not long after that, their Skyship slowly flew toward the Patrol Officer’s given coordinates and began to queue for entry.
Upon reaching the Skyport of Eternal City, Rocky and the others were once again astounded, as the Skyport of Eternal City was simply too vast!
“My heavens… This port is even bigger than Thunderhawk City’s entire district!”
As the Skyship slowly descended, Rocky, standing at the bow, couldn’t help but exclaim in shock because the scale of Eternal City’s Skyport was overwhelming—surpassing even the district size of Thunderhawk City!
In this enormous Skyport, there were hundreds of Skyships docked, with dozens or even hundreds taking off or landing in the port at any given moment, making the entire area extremely busy.
Such a scale of Skyport thoroughly stunned Rocky. Thunderhawk City also had a Skyport, but compared to Eternal City’s Skyport, Thunderhawk’s was nothing more than a small platform—there was absolutely no comparison.
Is this the might of a God City?
Seeing just a glimpse of Eternal City’s Skyport was enough for Rocky to understand the tremendous power of Eternal City. No wonder this city had become the largest trade center in the skies, and no wonder the Top Ten Divine Cities positioned alongside Eternal City were known as the ten monsters of the sky—their strength was simply staggering!