The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon hearing that person's comment, everyone else in that place nodded in agreement, as they realized that they could not sense any living beings in the surroundings.

And such a thing was odd to these investigators from the Cromwell family since this royal house did not have the information about what had happened in the Yellow City!

The Cromwell Kingdom was separated by an entire state, the Brown Kingdom, from this city in the Kingdom of the Waves. Because of this, typically speaking, news about that border would not reach that organization's headquarters very often.

On the other hand, previously, Yellow City was just a tiny town in the interior of the Kingdom of the Waves, an impoverished place. It was a location that even the royal family of such a state was not interested in!

So, for another royal house in the region, this city didn't have much influence for them to look for local information.

And since none of the members of that organization had passed through Yellow City in the last years, such a power did not have the information about the 'disappearance' of the local population.

They did not know this to the extent that this group had been sent here, considering that they would have to investigate information concerning Minos in a city of 70,000 inhabitants.

Anyway, while several people in this group were talking about the fact that Yellow City looked like a ghost town, the Spiritual King, the group leader, was scanning the surroundings in silence. 'This is strange...'

'From the information passed on to me, that Minos should be in this city. But what would a person with his talent do in an abandoned place?'

'Is this information incorrect?' He wondered as he walked through that empty boulevard, where the dust formed small waves of air near the ground while the winds swayed the trees nearby.

'Maybe he was just going to do something in this place and then move on...'

"Tsk! Our job will be harder than I had imagined!" He finally said something, causing a few people nearby to turn to him.

"Mister Hubert, what should we do? At first, our job would involve interrogating local citizens regarding the presence of that individual in the city. But now..."

"Hmm, it's truly a problem. Without witnesses to direct us in the right directions, it will be a more difficult and time-consuming job..."

"Ahh, and I thought I would have time to see my wife sooner..."

Several comments in low voices resounded through that area. But Hubert ignored most of it and got straight to the point. "Well, let's make a thorough investigation around this town... Maybe we can find some evidence of that young man's passage through here."

"But if we don't find anything, this current reality of Yellow City might help us a little..."

"Maybe the local royal family knows what happened in this place and that maybe it will help us find that young man."

Hearing that, those people couldn't help but sigh.

But soon after, most of them put aside their negative thoughts about this service and promptly started to search the houses and buildings in the surrounding area.

...

A few minutes later...

Quickly that group of investigators from the Cromwell family had searched several houses. But even though their service had not been that difficult so far due to the absence of items in those buildings, they had not found anything yet.

The only thing they had noticed that made no sense to them in a way was the presence of some open spaces around the city. Such places seemed not to have been opened for a long time. At least they were sure that such a thing had happened long after the abandonment of this city by its citizens.

So, they felt that the local mystery had only increased, even if they had not gotten any answers to their questions.

'These empty spaces are very irregular... Why would anyone demolish random buildings around an abandoned city?' So, that Spiritual King wondered while he had one of his hands on the pommel of the sword that was at his waist.

He wasn't sensing anyone in the surroundings. Still, this Spiritual King was a person with centuries of experience, someone who knew very well how dangerous the Spiritual World could be.

Therefore, even though he had sensed no one in the surroundings so far, he had not let his guard down. Perhaps there was some array in the surroundings fooling his senses!

Consequently, he was walking cautiously, ready to act if anything occurred.

"Ah, nothing in that house either..."

"Hmm, this place is empty. You can't even tell that people once lived in the house I just checked!"

"I just passed a place that looked like an old local nightclub. Too bad that place is abandoned, or we could have enjoyed the local services." A young man said this with a smile on his face.

"Hehehehehe."

"That wouldn't have been a bad idea..."

"Hahaha, Ged, I don't think your fiancée would be happy to know..." Someone was about to say that when suddenly the Spiritual King alerted all those ten people.

"Someone is coming!" He said, already looking steadily in the direction from which he had just felt an aura equivalent to level 50.

'This place is strange. I have to warn headquarters about it. We have to be careful with this region in the future!' He quickly  thought until the figure of a person wearing black clothes and a mask appeared dozens of meters away from this man.

At the same time, all those ten people stopped what they were doing and ran to where that level 51 Spiritual King was standing.

That was an unknown terrain, and anyone passing in the vicinity would be considered suspicious. As such, those people couldn't take any chances staying away from each other!

"Just one person?"

"Hmm, but that's enough... He's already at level 50!"

"Huh? He's covering his face..."

Those people made some comments as they noticed young Stuart coming closer and closer to them.

And finally, after about 30 seconds of walking down that boulevard where those people were, Minos got close enough to them to use his techniques, if he had to, of course.

Minos then stopped about 50 meters from that group and observed them for a moment. 'Looks like they were investigating their surroundings...' He thought about it, as he saw that some houses and buildings had doors open at the moment, something his soldiers didn't leave that way.

On the other hand, while Minos watched them, those people were doing the same.

'This person... He's not just passing through!' The level 51 cultivator thought about it for a moment as he paid attention to Minos' reaction to finding his group here.

The silence lasted for a few more moments until a level 49 Spiritual General asked something. "You there! Where did you come from? Who are you?"

Minos then looked at them for a few more seconds and said. "I'm also curious about your group too. Well, I don't need to ask where you are from, but why are you in this place?"

"I believe there is nothing for the great Cromwell family in this abandoned city, right?"

"Well, it's up to us to decide whether or not this place has something for our Cromwell family!" That Spiritual King said seriously, prepared to act if necessary. "As for our goal, you don't need to know!"

There weren't many Spiritual Kings in this region, proportionally speaking, of course. And because of that, people like that didn't like to fight unless it was indispensable.

After all, each of them knew how difficult it was to reach their levels.

But upon finding a Spiritual King with his identity covered and acting suspiciously in a place like this, anyone would be on guard, ready to fight at any moment!

As such, this level 51 cultivator was ready to act against Minos if this young man was an enemy of the Cromwell family.

Minos then smiled from beneath the golden mask he was wearing. "Well, recently, I have been investigating the strangeness in this town. But if you guys don't want to talk about your affairs here, then I'll be on my way."

That Spiritual King frowned upon hearing that. "Oh?"

The next moment, Minos started walking in the opposite direction of that group as if he was ready to leave.

"Wait!"

Hearing that, Minos continued walking as if he didn't care about those people.

"Tsk!"

"We are after one person. In fact, we are here to invite him...."