Chapter 371: Sky City

Two figures floated in the air, watching the sprawling landmass below, with two sides of it bordered by the ocean. They stared at it in silence, gazing at the Frenzy Beasts roaming on the surface, noting down all the Frenzy Beast habitats.

A man with a chiselled face, sporting curly armour on his shoulders, and a wing carapace-styled cloth on his hip smiled, nodding in favour, "This place is incredible. There are no habitats of any Tier 6 Frenzy Beasts in and around 1000 kilometres from here. The strongest Frenzy Beast races here only have Tier 5 beings in the single digits."

"We can't decide just based on those advantages alone," The other figure that seemed like a woman in her thirties said. But, she sported facial features that made her look even younger. She was draped in a cloak, only showing her face. She frowned, "This land is bordered by the ocean on two sides. If we occupy this place, then this entire region will fall under our control. Suppose the Skeps attack us, we won't have any Frenzy Beasts to cushion the impact."

"Look at the advantages," The man with the chiselled face said, pointing at the two directions the landmass extended towards, "This is the only region connecting the two American continents. In the future, when the ocean is fully dominated by the Skeps, this position will allow us to invade and control the Frenzy Beasts on both the continents."

"Hmm, I'm not fully convinced," The woman still expressed her frown, not satisfied with the conditions of the land. "The land alone is exceptional. With some support from Marble City, we can install enough resource foundation using the Wisdom Plants. But, we would have to travel long distances to hunt Frenzy Beasts. That would put a damper on our savings."

"Yes, I considered that." The man with the chiselled face nodded, "The amount of Frenzy Beasts that live on this stretch of land is insufficient for our needs. To travel more than 500 kilometres every time to hunt for resources would spread us too thin. The costs outweigh the returns and the chances of a mishap rise."

"Yes," The lady nodded, "I fear that if our people have to travel such large distances every time to hunt for resources, our development might further stagnate. It would be impossible for our development to match the three princely cities even after joining forces."

"Yes, that's why this place is the most suited to us." The man with a chiselled face smiled. Seeing the lady stare at him in confusion, he pointed at the ocean surrounding the landmass, "The Residents of Floating City are the most comfortable in a water-based environment. If you were to hunt on the land, then as you said, it would be a fool's endeavour. But, hunting in the water should be your speciality. The Swarm is practically free food considering the skill of your people."

"And," He smiled, pointing at himself, "We, from the Desert City, are the most comfortable moving above and through the land. We will focus on hunting the Frenzy Beasts. We'll divide and conquer based on our specialities. Also, this place doesn't have any beings that can counter most of our Unranked Skills. And…"

He laughed, "I received some news from Marble City yesterday. That's why I thought of this place for our new city. There exists a Frenzy Beast race called Crust-Mantles. Their flesh is immensely beneficial to the Frenzy Beasts. They were something that old turtle Earth created."

His eyes shone with cunning radiance, "I have already signed a trade deal with Marble City. I don't know how, but it seems they figured out a method to subdue them. Marble City will transport 30,000 Tier 1 Crust-Mantles to us when they dispatch Heima Bone here."

"So, you plan to attract the Frenzy Beasts using the Crust-Mantles and force them to surround us for the benefits? And in this way, they would relocate and change their habitats accordingly?" The lady nodded as her eyes shone with interest, having figured out the plan.

"Yes," The man with a chiselled face laughed with amusement, "After all, isn't terraforming changing the land to suit our needs? We'll just install the methods and use our enemy's power to our advantage."

"Alright, we'll have to plan the city's establishment, design, structure, social and societal norms, etc. to cater to all our needs." The lady nodded. "We'll also have to plan and bring in the Frenzy Beast races that the creation of our Unranked Skills are dependent on."

"I'll leave that to our Espers. They'll be able to come up with everything we need and desire." The man with the chiselled face extended his hand, "Here's to our future cooperation."

"I never knew the day would come where our two cities would join hands and become one," The lady sighed, shaking hands with the other party, "I guess this is the only way we can compete against Parasite."

"We have yet to recover from the loss when Parasite infiltrated Desert City. Though, our lacking defences are to be blamed. If not for that…" The man with a chiselled face sighed.

"Even Marble City was infiltrated," The lady shook her head, "Our Floating City too face a lot of losses. Most of our research has regressed by a decade after we lost a lot of research personnel."

"Dawn City has four Ancestors; Reef City has three Ancestors while Reef has subordinated some Tier 6 Frenzy Beasts; Marble City only has three Ancestors but they have made repeated boasts about Strongest, even dubbing him with such a title. His mother is also a character who can become an Ancestor whenever she needs, so we can say that they too have four Ancestors." The man with a chiselled face sighed in embarrassment, "In comparison, our two cities are lacking."

"Our new city will have four Ancestors too after its establishment," The lady gazed at the land, feeling that she was liking it the more she looked at it, "This will become our foundation, Whirl. And the good news is that this place is on the opposite side of the planet, far away from Parasite's reach. So, we won't be actively interfered with like the three princely cities."

Rhachis Ancestor Whirl!

The man with a chiselled face was the leader of Desert City, a peak powerhouse of humanity. He was someone who had shouldered the fate of Desert City alone for almost a century before Desert City birthed an Esper Ancestor. He had always been tied down by the precarious state of his city, so his involvement in any battles against the Frenzy Beasts was minimal.

Though, as an Ancestor of humanity, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Rhachis Ancestor Whirl smiled, feeling the pressure on his shoulder subside a little, "With two Espers guarding our new city, the pressure on us will fall by a lot. We will obtain the same foundation Dawn City used to prosper into the strongest stronghold of humanity. At that time, you can focus more on developing your personal strength, Sky."

Rhachis Ancestor Sky!

She was the leader of Floating City and the first female to emerge as an Ancestor. She was the one who was knowledgeable about every incident that happened on earth, her eyes being the very skies itself, hence her title. She never pried into deeply guarded secrets, unless she wished to alert the other party and trigger a war. But if she so desired, she was very well capable of breaking through any manner of concealment.

Floating City was plagued with troubles constantly, preventing her from allotting enough time on herself, so her growth had stagnated over the years. Her situation was the same as Rhachis Ancestor Whirl.

"Yes, similarly, you can finally spend more time on yourself and become stronger." Rhachis Ancestor Sky smiled, recalling their previous conversation as she spoke, "How is Heima Bone's development? After the death of Gajara Rahi, she's the only one we can rely on for transportation. What did Marble City say in regards to that when they contacted you?"

"Light will transport her and Jyorta Bone to Desert City after 2 years. They plan to breakthrough there. It is a measure against the Mind Hound. When Heima Bone becomes a Shifter, she would be capable enough to transport the Crust-Mantles Marble City has prepared. She would also transport us to the new city from Desert City. Light said that she would already possess Bone Devour by the time she arrives, so she won't be hard-pressed by the energy expenditure while supporting us. Though, we only have two months before they would leave."

"Jyorta Bone, huh." She murmured, "I am curious to see the current him. I last saw Kaushik when he was a teenager. He was such an innocent lad back then. I hope this world didn't take too much of a toll on him."

"He's a Psychic Parasite. I'm sure he can persevere." Rhachis Ancestor Whirl frowned, "I don't know if two months is enough for us, considering the threats we constantly face."

"It should be enough for both cities to fully migrate if we start preparing from now. Also, with Light around, we don't have to fear even if Parasite personally arrives. He would be able to bring Dawn in a second." Rhachis Ancestor Sky smiled, "In two years, I'll bring Floating City to Desert City's location."

"So, we have to complete our new city's construction within two years. Sounds interesting," Rhachis Ancestor Whirl commented, gazing at the lady as he smiled cheerfully, "What shall we name it?"

"Doesn't Sky City sound amazing?" Rhachis Ancestor Sky smiled.

"Haha, surely you jest." Rhachis Ancestor Whirl laughed it off.

"I'm not kidding though, since I'm the strongest of us four." She smiled cheerfully like a teenager that obtained her first birthday gift.

"But the city will be on land and underground, so the name doesn't feel right."

"Wouldn't I be its leader upon completion? Isn't naming it after me fair enough?"

"I was thinking Whirl City would be a better name…"

"That sounds lame; let's go with Sky City; I'll bribe you handsomely for that."

"…fine, hurray to Sky City."

And hence, a new stronghold of humanity was named.