The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon arriving near the Dry City, the three youths on the great white eagle began to admire the view from above.

There were four times more cultivated fields at this time than when Minos left this city. As a result, the green was much more abundant, while many people could be seen working in these areas.

Today this field of culture is located a few kilometers from the city, close to a large artificial lake, which can also be seen from afar.

Looking from the top where they were, they could see the planted land that looked like a grid, with different shades of green and some colored spots.

When added to the nearby lake, these squares formed a mosaic, creating a beautiful image to be seen.

Seeing this, the young Peter was amazed.

Peter had heard that the territory of Minos was the Black Plain, but he did not believe that until now. For him, the young Stuart was trying to play a trick on him, telling a joke like this...

However, seeing the changes in this place, the young man couldn't help but sigh in surprise.

He knew the Black Plain and the Dry City. After all, he was a young man without the support of large families. And to reach the Cromwell Kingdom, he spent almost two years traveling alone while hitchhiking with some merchants along the way.

So, he knew what this place was like before Minos arrived since he had spent a few weeks here until he managed to continue his journey.

'Unbelievable! It seems that Minos indeed has his means!' He thought in awe. He didn't care if the power of Minos' forces was much less than he thought. For him, who had no support, joining the Black Plain Army was already a significant advance.

Not to mention that he had heard some of Minos' plans for this place, which had made him yearn to see it. And it was indeed a wonderful feeling to be part of the creation of something.

So, he was starting to get more and more excited to see that this place indeed was like what the young Stuart had said.

Meanwhile, the eagle began to descend when the silhouette of the entire city could finally be seen. Seeing this, Minos smiled with satisfaction because it seemed that the Dry City had absorbed almost all of the Yellow City!

Just for the current construction area, Minos could see that it was at least twice as much as when he left!

That meant that the Yellow City should be almost empty now, which was part of his plans for that place.

Seeing all these changes, Ruth was no longer as surprised as she had been the other time, but she still couldn't help but admire what was going on here. This place kept growing and seemed to be getting more and more like a big city.

'I wonder how this place will be the next time I come here...' She thought with a smile on her face.

Due to her current cultivation speed, it could take 2 to 3 years to reach level 50, which would be when she could leave the Flaming Empire independently.

With that, she could not help but imagine the size of the change of this place in this period.

Anyway, it didn't take long, and the great white eagle landed on the city's south side. Soon after, the three went to the central region, where Minos' mansion was located.

In doing so, the three passed some guards at the city entrance, who immediately recognized Minos. They greeted him with big smiles on their faces, as if their savior had arrived.

It didn't take long, and the group of Minos was already walking through the new streets of the Dry City. But they were not lost. No, the growth of this place followed the planning of the young Stuart, so even if the city had gotten ten times bigger, he could still quickly arrive at his mansion.

Meanwhile, Peter admired every new construction and landscape in this city. It seemed to him that this place had been destroyed and rebuilt.

Everything was different. The streets were wider. There were many lampposts, trees, squares, buildings with more than five floors, etc.

And after some time walking, the three finally arrived at Minos' mansion. The place was even busier than usual, and whenever someone passed the trio of visitors, they would soon recognize their boss and greet him.

While talking to these people, the three finally came near Minos' office, where secretary Mia was sitting behind a desk, reading a pile of papers.

Mia had been receiving an excellent salary recently since she played a crucial role in managing the city. And with that, she had invested a lot in her cultivation, which has now reached level 33!

But Minos didn't know that, as he still couldn't feel someone's level on his own. So, when she saw the visitors who had arrived, Mia quickly received them.

"Young master! You are finally back!" She said with a sincere smile on her face.

"Hmm, it's good to see you again. But tell me, is grandpa Dillian here?"

"Yes, young master. He's in your office right now."

After hearing this, Minos immediately went to his office to find the butler Dillian after so much time away. He was the closest Minos had to a family, so this young man missed him a little after being away for such a long time.

Upon entering his office, Minos immediately saw a middle-aged man drinking a cup of spiritual tea while sitting comfortably in an armchair.

He had some papers in his left hand, and he seemed pretty focused.

However, upon hearing the door being opened, he suddenly turned and saw Minos and Ruth in that place.

At this time, the young Peter had been taken by secretary Mia to visit the place where he would live. It was too early for him to get involved in the daily affairs of this city.

Finally, when he saw that Minos had finally returned, Dillian let out a sigh of happiness and quickly started talking about what had happened at the Spiritual Tournament.

Minos hid almost nothing from his trip, except for his moments of fun with Ruth, as that would have made no difference to the butler. He was also not the type to boast of his achievements in these matters, so there was no point in talking about it.

Anyway, it was a very long story, which made the group stay a few hours just because of the events that happened on this journey that he and Ruth had done.

Anyway, Dillian now knew about the young Peter's coming to the Black Plain Army, about Leroy's death, which could cause some problems since many people knew about it.

And when he finished listening, the butler just let out a big breath.

He could remember when he traveled across the north of the Central Continent with his friend, Albert. But, time had passed, and today, he couldn't see himself doing it again.

After that, Minos finally asked. "And then? What happened here during this time that I was away?"

The butler smiled and then started talking about the most relevant things. "To begin with, the Black Plain Army now has about 1,200 soldiers. That was done a few days ago, so many of the new members are still getting used to their new techniques."

"As for agriculture, now, in the production that started a few days ago, we have a total of 400 hectares planted, which provide labor for 40,000 inhabitants in our city."

"As for the population of the Dry City, we currently have just over 100,000 inhabitants!" He then smiled and said. "The migration from the Yellow City here is almost completely done, and it should not be long before all the former inhabitants of that place are living here."

"And after making all the recent investment, we have a total of just over 2.3 million low-grade crystals to invest. I did not touch those values so that the young master could better choose how to spend it." The butler finished with a smile on his face.

He was delighted with the way things were going in this city. Seeing a place develop was like watching a child that you nurtured grow up and conquer the world. So, he was happy with his current job.

Minos was delighted with what he had heard, and then he changed the subject, saying. "What about the City of Waters? Do we already know who is behind that place?"

That was an essential issue for Minos.

After completely absorbing the Yellow City population, it would not be long before the Dry City began to run out of labor.

For this reason, they needed to attract people from other regions, and preferably, from more distant places, such as the City of Waters.

"Hmm, we already have the results of weeks of investigation..."