Lord of the Sky City

Rocky's final comment was, indeed, just as he himself had said, not fitting for him to make.

In Thunderhawk City, he might be the lord of a city, but in Backhill Village, he was merely an outsider. Decisions on how to protect themselves from the demons' attacks were to be made by the villagers themselves, and it was not his place as a foreigner to be dictating what they should do.

So, when he had finished speaking, whether it was Lin Feng, Old Jack, or any other person from Backhill Village, all frowned to different extents. If it were not for the fact that Rocky currently commanded a formidable force, they might have already expressed their dissatisfaction with his meddling.

The reactions of Lin Feng and the others did not surprise Rocky. He even knew that he should not have said those things, but they were things he had to say!

Because Rocky had his own plans: he wanted to absorb the people of Backhill Village into Thunderhawk City!

In the skies, population was the most valuable resource. Backhill Village had more than a thousand inhabitants, their number even surpassing that of Thunderhawk City's residents. If he could bring all these people back to Thunderhawk City, the population of his city would immediately double!

To Rocky, that was where the real treasure lay, of a value so immense that it couldn't be measured by any amount of Gold Coins.

So, there were things he had to say!

Actually, before this, Rocky had never entertained the delusion of taking away all the people of Backhill Village. There was a reason these people chose to live on the land and would not be swayed by a few words from an outsider like him, so Rocky had never considered this possibility.

But now, he had this thought, because the situation had changed!

This change was the unusual movement of the Demons!

Since the mission had started, the behavior of the demons had repeatedly caught everyone by surprise, something that even Rocky didn't need to remind Lin Feng and Old Jack of, as they could feel it themselves.

And as the situation continued to evolve, Backhill Village found itself in an increasingly dangerous position. For instance, at the current moment, the demons began to gather outside the village—a very dangerous sign. Perhaps this time Rocky could stay to help them defend, but what about once he left?

What could Backhill Village use to fend off future demon attacks once he had gone, without the Guard Corps, without the Skyships?

The people of Backhill Village might face death without flinching for the sake of their homeland, but knowing it to be futile and still waiting for death was not the same thing. For Rocky, this presented a perfect opportunity!

That's why he had spoken those words earlier—to remind the people of Backhill Village that they had to consider what would come "afterward."

This mission, for Rocky, might truly be described by the saying "good fortune lies within bad, and bad fortune lurks within good." The abnormal behavior of the demons had plunged him into a situation far more dangerous than he had anticipated, but likewise, if he could turn this disaster into an opportunity to absorb all of Backhill Village's residents, it would become a great stroke of fortune!

However, these matters were not something Rocky could speak too plainly of just yet. As conditions continued to develop, he had to wait until the situation was desperate before making his move to maximize his chances of success.

In fact, events unfolded far quicker than he had imagined, for just half a day later, a Skyship returned to Backhill Village, and then Felly appeared before Rocky once again.

"My Lord, we've spotted demons again,"

Felly immediately reported the latest news upon seeing Rocky and the others.

After escorting Rocky back to Backhill Village, Felly, following his orders, led ten Skyships on a sweep-style patrol and quickly found another gathering point of demons!

The demons that had been scattered not long ago had regrouped in a short time, and compared to the previous two times, there were even more of them this time—over fifty had been gathered when discovered!

Obeying Rocky's command, the ten Skyships immediately converged and bombarded the demons fiercely.

The bombing was highly effective, killing nearly twenty demons, while the rest dispersed in the chaos.

Having reported the latest intelligence, Felly hurriedly left. After hearing the latest developments, Lin Feng and the rest of Backhill Village fell into silence.

The fresh reports once again proved Rocky right. If the gathering of demons was just a coincidence, then when these creatures gathered three times in succession, such a coincidence no longer existed.

Moreover, let's not forget that every time the demons gathered, they were scattered by the Skyships, yet time after time they regrouped, undoubtedly proving that their actions were organized.

What's more important is that although the Skyship dispersed the swarming Demons with each bombing and killed at least thirty of them, the number of Demons gathering in swarms was still increasing!

The first time a Demon gathering site was discovered, there were more than twenty Demons, but by the second the number had soared to thirty or forty, and according to the latest intelligence brought back by Felly, the third gathering of Demons had reached more than fifty!

In other words, even though each bombing by the Skyship was a significant triumph, it seemed to have no impact on the Demons at all…

At this time, even without Rocky's reminder, Lin Feng and the people of Backhill Village had begun to consider a question, namely, what they were going to do in the future.

The most important reason why Backhill Village could survive at the foot of Break-Sky Mountain for so many years was the scarcity of Demons there, plus the geographical advantages of the village, which allowed the people to barely survive.

But now the situation had clearly changed, with the number of Demons increasing sharply; the geographical advantage of Backhill Village had vanished against their numbers, and the high walls at the entrance of the village were utterly useless against hordes of Demons.

This situation gave the people of Backhill Village an enormous headache.

Yet what caused them an even bigger headache came later, as Felly, who had left during the day, returned after nightfall, bringing with him the latest intelligence!

The Skyship on patrol had discovered the Demon gathering site for the fourth time!

The Demons that had just been dispersed during the day had regathered in less than half a day's time, and this time the Demons had a new change in tactic: When the first Skyship discovered them, they dispersed before any others could arrive. By the time other Skyships hurried over upon hearing the news, the Demons had long since vanished without a trace…

"How, how could this be?!"

After hearing Felly's report, not only Lin Feng, Liliya, and Monte, but even Rocky was surprised, his mouth agape!

Without a doubt, the rapid development of the situation had far exceeded everyone's expectations; describing it as a drastic turn for the worse was no exaggeration.

"Felly, order all the Skyships to return,"

After a brief moment of astonishment, Rocky issued a new command to Felly, ordering all the Skyships to return!

No sooner had this command been given than the surrounding onlookers turned their gaze upon him, all wearing incredulous looks.

"Commander Rocky, why retreat the Skyships?"

The first person to not understand or to accept the order was Lin Feng.

Since it was now clear that the Demons were continually gathering; it was only because the Skyships were able to scatter them each time that they hadn't launched an attack on Backhill Village yet.

Therefore, if the Skyships were retreated, the Demons would face no threat at all, could rapidly gather sufficient numbers, and would soon launch an attack on Backhill Village!

However, facing Lin Feng's confusion, Rocky shook his head helplessly before explaining, "Keeping the Skyships out there is pointless now."

"The Demons are obviously becoming smarter. Continuing to let the Skyships patrol outside is of no use, doing nothing but depleting Mana unnecessarily."

"But, but…"

Rocky's words stumped Lin Feng, leaving him unable to retort, for based on the latest intelligence brought back by Felly, the Demons had indeed become smarter. With the scattered patrolling of the Skyships, even if they did find a Demon gathering, the Demons dispersed before any reinforcements could arrive, greatly diminishing the effect of the Skyships.

Yet similarly, if the Skyships were retreated, wouldn't Backhill Village be in danger?

Consequently, Lin Feng had no choice but to ask:

"Commander Rocky, after recalling all the Skyships, what do you plan to do?"

"What to do?" Looking at Lin Feng, Rocky calmly provided the answer, "Of course, we'll wait for the Demons to initiate an attack."