The Rise of the Black Plain

While Dean was being taken to the capital of the Snow Kingdom, Celeste was arriving in the capital of Stone Island, Old Stone.

After Angela went to the Black Plain Army naval base, this woman and Celeste quickly switched positions. One of them took command of that place, and the other traveled to this island.

They had needed a few hours to talk about the details of that naval base that needed to be watched closely. After all, that place was preparing to act in conjunction with the army forces in the Maritime City.

So, they had had to settle several things in that conversation!

But that hadn't delayed Celeste and the three individuals accompanying her on this mission.

Previously these people from the Stokes family had gone to that base using a 5th stage flying beast, which was quite helpful for this trip.

And because of this beast, the trip had gone quickly, without any problems getting in their way, nor were they delayed for any other reasons.

With that, Celeste, level 55, and the three Spiritual Kings coming from Mendy's family, two at level 54 and one at the same level as that woman, were arriving at this moment in Old Stone, on top of a large green bird.

And while this bird was lowering its altitude, those four people were talking on its back.

"Lady Celeste, how long will we stay here? How are the preparations of the Nash family?" The strongest of the three asked, looking at the brown hair of that woman, who was standing right in front of him.

Hearing this, Celeste answered what she knew without making any promises. "According to the army's information, the Nash family already has everything prepared. So, it's just a matter of us getting the opportunity..."

"After that, it won't be long before our affairs here are settled."

"Oh? That's good." The same person from before said this while feeling better for knowing that.

At first, the Stokes family would not engage vigorously in the Minos war. Still, since this Nash family matter could impact even them, they had decided to accept that young man's request.

After all, this family from Mendy had been selling a lot of resources to Dry City. And these resources were paid for with the crystals coming from Stone Island.

Consequently, even though this family was also a commercial organization, in a way, a regional rival of House Nash, they chose to help Minos solve this problem.

But they didn't want to stay on that island for long since things in the Cromwell Kingdom were getting pretty interesting in the last few weeks.

That is, the Chambers had lost their territory to the Hayes family, and it wouldn't be long before the royal family got into the game to subdivide that area.

And for a medium-sized family, as was the case with House Stokes, this was their chance to get a slice of that place!

That's why these specialists from Mendy's family didn't want to stay away for too long, even considering that they were doing a job that was also crucial for their future.

"Anyway, you guys better get ready for a pretty tough battle." Celeste then started talking about something that the army had been notified of by the Cohen and Nash families. "From what we understand, the Allens and the Collins family people have already entered into a partnership agreement to suppress the Nash family..."

"That might make our mission more difficult since some high-level regional experts from that family of the Kingdom of the Waves have been dispatched here!"

Hearing this, those three people made expressions of seriousness as they worried about it.

"Does the lady have the information about their numbers and strength?" One of those level 54 individuals asked politely.

He wasn't speaking politely to Celeste just because her strength was one level above his, but because of his respect towards the Black Plain Army. And also because he knew about Silver-grade techniques, which this woman had undoubtedly learned.

He and his two companions had been impressed to discover that there had been two people of Celeste's level in Minos' army previously. After all, their organization was led by someone who was only level 56 and was certainly much weaker than Celeste.

So, Minos' army had at least three people more substantial than the patriarch of House Stokes, something awe-inspiring for a newly created force.

Because of all this, this man and the other two had a great deal of respect for Minos and the high-ranking soldiers of his army.

Anyway, Celeste then answered that person. "The army has not passed on an exact number to me, but we expect at least five individuals from the Collins family above level 54 to be around here."

"But maybe more enemies are acting... It's just an estimate, after all."

After saying those words, it wasn't long before they landed on one side of this enormous city and made their way toward their goal.

They couldn't just go towards the Nash family since the surroundings of that place probably had spies from the Allen family. But just getting into this city of over 6 million people would not be a problem.

They were mighty by regional standards but not powerful enough to draw attention quickly.

Spiritual Kings at the middle part of this stage were no threat to the leaders of regional organizations.

And even if any organization kept an eye on the arrival of people at that level in this city, it wouldn't make that much difference. Their plan would happen in this place, and there was no other alternative but to come here.

...

After some time, those four Spiritual Kings had already clandestinely entered Old Stone, following the hints of Elen's family.

After doing so, they had quickly made their way to a modest inn in one of the most humble neighborhoods of this city.

This place seemed relatively quiet, with few people walking on the streets. Still, even these few people did not have satisfied expressions on their faces.

Some looked as if they hadn't slept well in months, while others seemed to be working harder than ever as if they were desperately chasing more crystals.

But this was to be expected. After all, any war would bring negative consequences to even the lives of people unrelated to the conflicts.

Not only were there fatalities on such occasions, as it had happened to many citizens of Persephone.

When war broke out, food prices increased, as demand remained high while supply decreased because of conflict-related losses.

An example of this was the Nash family ship sunk by the Collins family troops.

And with a lower supply than demand and such losses, it was impossible to maintain food prices.Â

With this came inflation.

But in addition to the problem related to these costs, some products were unavailable. At the same time, many people had lost their jobs.

Some businesses had gone bankrupt because of the trade war that had taken place at the beginning of the confrontation of the Nash and Allen families. Meanwhile, many job openings had disappeared due to this and other problems related to the local conflict.

As a result, people had to stay longer away from home to get the crystals they needed to survive.

In any case, the lives of the poor were of little importance to the powerful, and nothing had been done to reduce the losses of these people.

The local royal family watched everything from afar without meddling, giving their vassals the freedom they had always offered.

As long as something like what had happened in Persephone did not happen here, they would not bother to act just because of the economic crisis of these poor people!

And amid this place, Celeste's group was staying in this town, where at this moment they were receiving someone from the Nash family.

"Gentlemen, lady, it's good that you are already here!" A young man said in a tired tone but at the same time relieved by the arrival of these individuals.

"The family can collapse in the next few days if you people don't act as soon as possible!"