The Rise of the Black Plain

"We are here today to discuss the next calamity that will hit the Spiritual World in about 20 years, the new ice age." The level 99 elf said, drawing everyone's attention there in a large tent where the meetings of these world leaders would take place.

Inside that tent were a few tables here and there, sofas, cushions, in short, places where the members of the world's greatest powers could sit as they pleased.

Standing around were the companions of each group, as well as a few elves who served drinks and snacks to the groups of specialists present.

As the elf spoke loudly for all to hear, those who were still chatting, revisiting their acquaintances, or meeting new groups, everyone stopped their random conversations, fell silent, and turned their attention to the most important topic of the moment.

Julian sat in a chair next to a round table that could seat up to eight people while Minos and his team stood beside him.

Ignoring the many experts around, Minos looked at the level 99 elf who had started this event, curious to see what would be decided there.

Ages like the one that was about to begin had hit the world several times, but Henricus Longus had never seen such a chaotic period in his time. What he knew of these extreme times was the same as Minos, that they had happened and had been challenging for the many races of the world.

As such, Minos had no experience with it and was naturally curious how organizations that had already experienced several such moments would deal with the challenges that were about to hit them.

The elf continued his speech when he noticed everyone's attention was on him. "The next ice age will hit us hard. In less than 40 years, we expect the world's highest peaks to be covered with a meter of ice, while even the warmest climates will have snow for a few months of the year.

At that time, all the world's crops will begin to suffer, and many areas will lose their growing conditions altogether."

He said, frightening many there with how quickly this ice age would progress.

A chaotic era doesn't start overnight, and it doesn't reach its climax quickly.

The last ice age lasted 350,000 years and reached its climax 20,000 years after it began.

That was not much, considering the length of such an ice age. But the current one was expected to reach the same in less than a century!

If it was that strong, then either its duration would be shorter, or the current catastrophe might become the worst in the entire history of the Spiritual World!

"This is terrible!"

"We won't be able to replenish our supplies!"

"If this is true, countless species will perish..."

Comments in low voices came from the surrounding area, and everyone there was somber.

"Yes, it's all awful, but this is what our seers predicted." The elf who spoke said. "Therefore, we must begin our joint efforts immediately. 

I'd like to ask all the powers here to tell their subordinates to start rationing food and stockpiling supplies immediately.

Start preparing your cities, but above all, invest what you can in your agricultural fields. In the last ice age, the ones who suffered the least were those who concentrated on developing their arable land."

These people were experts of the highest level, beings who no longer needed to eat to live. But as far away from their reality as starvation was, it was the thing that worried them the most at the moment.

Why was that? 

Most of their strength depended on lower-level beings who needed food to survive and do their activities. 

If there were a food shortage, 80% of the world's population would suffer, and less than 20% of the world's strongest would be endangered.

The ordinary people who needed to eat were the ones who produced 99% of the world's food, mined 99% of the crystals, produced more than 90% of the world's economy, and so on.

Without ordinary people, the world's greatest powers would lose much of their operations. After all, even if a single high-level cultivator could do the work of many low-level people, such a being could not be in several places simultaneously.

In other words, while a thousand people could do a thousand different jobs simultaneously, a person who's a thousand times stronger wouldn't necessarily be able to do all of their jobs.

They might even be able to do everything in a specific amount of time. Still, they wouldn't be able to do it as quickly because they wouldn't be able to do all the services simultaneously.

That could delay many things and, of course, waste the power of someone at a high level on simple things.

In short, losing ordinary people would be terrible for the powers represented by the strongest people in that tent. Therefore, everyone there was worried about something as simple as basic food.

'In order to deal with the threat to the crops, I have to increase the temperature of the soil, the flow of spiritual energy, and the brightness of the area. The ice age comes with a decrease in not only the temperature but also the illumination of the world.' Minos thought about what he should do to protect his many fields.

'On the other hand, we'll have to heat the cities similarly, and they can't be far from the fields... Fortunately for me, my territory is practically an agricultural state, and the most important cities are well located concerning the plantations.'

Ordinary people were not like specialists. During the ice age, they would be very limited by the low temperatures, and, of course, they wouldn't be able to go far from their workplace to their homes.

Therefore, it wouldn't be unusual for many cities to be abandoned during this period and their populations to move to the cities closer to the agricultural fields.

"We need to start moving the population from the cities far from the plantations..." The elf suggested such a thing, something that would harm many businesses of people in cities that would be practically abandoned during such a period, something terrible that would intensify the crisis that would soon reach that world.

'I will be less affected by this because of the formation of my empire. But the cities of Vogel, End, Waves, and especially Snow will suffer greatly.' Minos pondered, aware he wouldn't be as affected as the other powers there, but still, tens of millions of people in his state would be affected.

Especially the Snow lands, which already had a cold climate in many parts in normal times, could be completely ruined in this era.

'I'll try to keep only the capital of Snow, where the harbor connecting our territory with the fastest way to Elves Island is.' Minos felt, realizing that he would lose a lot of business in that area.

But there was nothing he could do about it. Low-level workers wouldn't be able to live there anymore, so they could only lose the potential of an entire territory during the approaching crisis.

The good thing was that these people could contribute to maintaining the empire's most important territory, something very important to Minos.

Finally, the world experts discussed the food and housing problems that the world would soon face, with many suggesting strategies to mitigate the damage that would come with the ice age.

After more than an hour of discussion, they moved on to the next topic, still related to crops but more relevant to them and their powers.

...