Lord of the Sky City

Although Rocky was loath to admit it, he indeed had a knack for stirring things up. In the past six months, whether on his own or in cahoots with others, he had definitely caused more than one incident worthy of making the weekly reports of the Shadow Alliance.

And now, in order to capture the attention of the Sky Alliance and remind them of his existence, Rocky was preparing to create a series of incidents!

First, he would make his mark in the Arena!

Just as Hammerfire had said, if one wanted to prove their potential to the Alliance, the Arena was the best platform, especially now with Sigma Corporation hyping up their new generation of Armors, having already turned the Arena into a focal point for the entire world. If someone could put on a spectacular or even unexpected match on such a stage, it would inevitably attract widespread attention.

In such a situation, Rocky decided to stage a noteworthy match in the Arena, and he had already picked his target, Xia Nai!

This season in the Arena’s events, aside from Denise and another participant representing Uranus Corporation, Xia Nai was the most noticeable.

Through strong performances in the matches and an extraordinary identity, plus deliberate cultivation by the Arena, Xia Nai had long become the center of attention. If Rocky wanted to draw attention to himself in the Arena, Xia Nai was undoubtedly the best stepping stone.

Therefore, after making this decision, he immediately contacted Howard.

“I have seen the City Lord…”

When Rocky had summoned Howard to Thunderhawk City and met with him at the City Lord’s Mansion, Howard was somewhat surprised.

He wasn’t surprised by the identity of City Lord Rocky, as he had known about it far in advance. The Arena might not care about who Rocky really was, but that didn’t mean they were unaware of Rocky’s identity. What truly surprised Howard was that Rocky would meet him in the capacity of City Lord.

According to the Arena’s reasoning, Rocky was supposed to keep his identity hidden; it was precisely because of this presumption that the Arena had not made an issue of it. After all, a City Lord is still a City Lord, and respect is due.

In light of this circumstance, when Howard met Rocky, he immediately realized something might be amiss—Rocky’s meeting with him was definitely not just to arrange a match.

As expected, Rocky got straight to the point, “I want a match with Xia Nai.” Enjoy exclusive content from My Virtual Library Empire

“What, what?”

Hearing this, Howard was clearly stunned, and then he cautiously asked, “City Lord, are you saying… you want to compete with Xia Nai in the Arena?”

“Exactly.”

“Then… as what identity?”

Seeing Rocky nod, Howard’s eyes darted around before he tentatively asked.

As the person responsible for liaising with the contestants, Howard was extremely shrewd; he immediately understood the significance of Rocky calling him to meet in his own city today.

Just as he had hoped, Rocky then smiled, “It doesn’t matter under what identity—as anything. I just want a match with Xia Nai, no other competitions.”

“This…”

After Rocky finished speaking, Howard couldn’t help but frown.

This request was clearly beyond his expectations; he could hear that Rocky had his reasons for such a demand, but he didn’t know what those reasons were.

Similarly, he could tell that Rocky was not joking—they were in the City Lord’s Hall, a place where a City Lord would never make light-hearted remarks, a place reserved for serious business.

So, Howard did not immediately answer, but frowned and thought for a while, displaying a very troubled demeanor.

Indeed, to Howard, Rocky’s request seemed quite difficult.

Because it had already been stated more than once that the Arena had an internal assessment for each contestant, and it was precisely this kind of assessment that led to Rocky and Xia Nai being chosen as training targets. However, in the Arena’s internal assessment, Rocky and Xia Nai were not on the same level.

In the eyes of the Arena, Rocky’s strength was very good. If he had to be given a level, he could definitely be rated as excellent, and any player rated as excellent had the potential to advance to the playoffs.

Yet the Arena’s evaluation of Xia Nai was that of a seed-level contestant!

What does a seed-level contestant mean?

It means not only being able to easily enter the playoffs but also having the strength to contend for the season championship!

Only those who reached such strength would be rated as seed-level by the Arena, and Xia Nai had received this kind of evaluation.

So, despite both Rocky and Xia Nai being the Arena’s main focus for intensive training and promotion, in the Arena’s view, Rocky was simply not a match for Xia Nai, because they were not on the same level at all!

As one associated with the Arena, Howard certainly knew what kind of assessment these two had internally, which is why he thought for a long time before finally looking up at the high and mighty City Lord Rocky.

“My Lord, if that’s the case… I hope you can give me some time to prepare.”

Although he did not believe that Rocky could really beat Xia Nai and did not understand why he would seek such a challenge, since Rocky had put it so solemnly, Howard ultimately agreed to his request.

This kind of situation where someone is nominated for a match might be rather rare, but it was not entirely unheard of in the Arena. It was possible to make arrangements, but it required some preparatory work.

What preparation?

Naturally, it meant building hype for the match!

In the eyes of the Arena, Rocky might not be as excellent as Xia Nai, but he was much stronger than the average contestant, so a match between them would definitely be a significant duel. Combined with their identities and, more importantly, their rivalry, these were all talking points for the match!

Faced with such favorable talking points, how could the Arena not exploit them?

Therefore, just as Howard said, arranging a match between Rocky and Xia Nai was possible, but it needed time for preparation, and this preparation was to build up the event, allowing the Arena to maximize benefits from the match.

“No problem, but you need to give me an approximate timeframe. I don’t want to delay it too much.”

“One month, City Lord, give me one month to prepare.”

“Alright.”

Rocky smiled and nodded in agreement to Howard’s request. One month was not a long time. He could wait, and it was also an opportune time for Orton and the others to make further improvements to the White Demon Armor.

After they had agreed on this matter, Howard immediately left Thunderhawk City to return to the Arena to prepare.

And once he had left, Rocky went straight to the research facility. He took his upcoming match with Xia Nai very seriously, and he did not have absolute confidence in victory; thus, he also needed to make adequate preparations. On the other hand, as City Lord, he had other matters to attend to, which in some ways were even more important than his match with Xia Nai!