The Rise of the Black Plain

Henry heard things from Minos that were similar to what the young man had said to Willow and Aarav, and he reacted more or less the same way as those two, with interest.

But how could he not be interested in joining Minos? None of these three peak Demigods currently had Divine Medicines in their possession. Willow and Henry could even say they had something for the future, but they would never have a chance to absorb it because those plants were far from mature.

For people like them, who didn't have access to anything of that grade, who weren't among the strongest in the world, and who had little time to evolve or die, Minos' proposal was irrefutable!

Hell, Minos even made it possible for all three of them in their proposals to protect their families, loved ones, or even former organizations as much as possible. How could any of them refuse such a generous offer?

So Henry quickly agreed with Minos to act on behalf of the Black Plain Empire when he reached level 100.

'What do we do now?' The old man asked Minos, excited and eager to go to the Black Plain Empire.

Minos told Henry. 'I have a matter to settle on the Continent of Beasts, so you should use the next few weeks to sort out your local situation. When you leave for my state, you'll probably be gone for over a decade. 

Have everything in your state ready for your eventual absence. Have you prepared a successor?'

Henry's situation in this regard was the same as Willow's. Neither of them had an heir ready to take over their estates!

'No. He is at level 91. But I'll leave all my advisors and guards to advise him. There's not much to do in the short term anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to control the estate in my seclusion.' Henry replied without much concern.

At other times, he would have had to worry about social problems, possible betrayals within and outside the imperial family, rebellions, etc. Anything could happen when a ruler went into seclusion, and there was a chance they wouldn't return.

But with the world's fear of aliens and the ice age approaching, practically everyone with the power to influence powerful people to cause such problems was too busy thinking about the tragic future ahead.

'Okay, you take the next few days to deal with your people. I'll inform you of my situation when I return to Dry City. That will be the time for me to take you to my Spatial Kingdom.' Minos said.

Meanwhile, he thought he should take the three level 99 Demigods one by one, as it would give him a better guarantee that nothing would go wrong with his current plans.

'When I return to Dry City, I'll take Aarav first and then Willow. I'll do the same with Henry last. Once in the Spatial Kingdom, none of them will have any problems with the situation and will be more concerned with getting to level 100.'

Minos wasn't worried about those three coming to the Spatial Kingdom and becoming greedy. He would have guarantees that such people would not be able to act against him. However, even if those people weren't restricted, they still wouldn't do anything against him.

After all, after entering Minos' Spatial Kingdom and understanding its true riches, it was expected that these three would immediately go into seclusion so as not to waste their time. It made no sense for them to rebel and try to spread the information about the emperor's wealth to people outside of this space. That would only create problems and competition for themselves.

Even after the progress the three of them would make, they couldn't greedily look at Minos' Divine-grade medicines and force him to give them to the people of their forces. By the time they succeeded, the aliens would either already be in this world or almost here. There would be no time for anyone else to advance!

All this gave Minos confidence, so he didn't fear any problems with these new allies.

So he and Henry would soon make their agreement official before leaving the Space and Time Domain.

Henry's men would return to learn from the local emperor that Minos was now an even more important ally of the Western Empire and how that state should improve its cooperation with the Black Plain Empire.

Of course, there was some initial surprise, as the people there weren't expecting anything so sudden. But it wasn't completely out of the question since the state of Minos had a lot of power.

Everyone greeted Minos again, now much more courteously than before. At the same time, a few people introduced themselves to get to know this important new figure for the empire.

...

Later, night fell over the capital of the Western Empire, and Minos was still in the city, having promised the local ruler that he would remain there for the next three days.

Those days would be vital for him to make new local contacts, get to know the imperial family better, and prepare for this state to improve its connection with the Black Plain Empire.

But for now, Minos enjoyed the view of the Ancestral Sea from the building he was staying in on one of the city's beaches.

Looking to the northwest, he remembered the place he had passed by decades ago and promised to return to one day.

'At that time, I told Maximilian that I would return to the Seraphim Ancient Sarcophagus when I became a Demigod...' He thought of that place, which contained many high-level items left behind by Demigods and even Gods.

'But first, I must secure the position of my state.' He thought about fulfilling those words, but not necessarily now. 'I will go to the Continent of Beasts to force that tribe to submit to me. If that works, I'll return to leave those Gorgons in my state, take those level 99 Demigods to begin their seclusion, and begin my experiments with Titus.

After that, I'll find some time to go to this place.' Minos planned his next steps, giving more importance to strengthening his state.

Anything he could get from the Seraphim Ancient Sarcophagus would be useful for him but not necessarily for his state. Therefore, he could not leave until everything in Dry City was ready!

He continued to think about what he would do for the next days, weeks, and months.

But not everything went as planned. In the middle of Minos' stay in the Western Empire, important news would reach him!