The Rise of the Black Plain

After finishing talking about the affairs of the local orphanage and the Elite Squad, Viola and Eda left that office, going about their business.

Meanwhile, Minos' group continued in that place, talking about other matters of importance to the Black Plain, the army, and allies.

"Young master, we have received the information that the exchange of shifts at the naval base and the secret base in the City of Waters went well. Soon, Lieutenants Elena and Eduard will arrive in our city." Joey notified Minos about this matter.

Elena, currently at level 52, was previously in command of the army post in that city of the Cromwell Kingdom. There, alongside the forces of the Hayes family, she and Minos' soldiers had fought the enemies in that area.

But after so many months in that place, she had finally been replaced by Celeste, level 55, whom Minos had sent to that post.

As for Eduard, currently at level 54, since the attacks on Maritime City, he had been at that naval base, settling the affairs of that place for the Black Plain.

But with the changes that occurred in the period that passed, Minos had decided to bring him back to Dry City. Here, like Elena, he would have the opportunity to train and cultivate more peacefully for some time.

After all, after Minos' advances, this place had become safer, and even if only he compromised the local security, the enemies would no longer come here.

At least not for now, not considering the present conditions of the conflict on the Black Plain.

In any case, Eduard had been replaced by two people, one who would lead that place and another who was at that naval base to protect it.

Lieutenant Grayson, who had reached level 52 in that period, assumed the naval base command. In contrast, Archer Miller, level 56, was there to protect that base!

Minos had decided to strengthen all three of the army's outposts around his territory. Because of this, each of these places was currently under the protection of people capable of fighting regional Spiritual Kings at level 58 or higher.

He had made this decision because, after the period that had passed, the danger faced by each of those posts had significantly increased.

First of all, in the Yellow City post, the number of enemies in that area had increased dramatically due to the advance of enemy troops through that northern part of the Black Plain and southern part of the Kingdom of the Waves.

That had happened because of the inclusion of the Collins and Reid families and their respective allies in the Black Plain's war of independence.

Secondly, also because of the Collins family, the naval army base was in more danger than ever.

That family knew about such a place, and by allying themselves with the enemies of Minos, it was not long before more and more families from the Brown Kingdom knew about that place.

And because of this, naval and land actions were constantly taking place there.

Third, because of this involvement of the Collins family, information about the goods transported by that naval base had finally come to the attention of the major regional organizations.

That was because, with such information, the logical thing had happened, and Minos' enemies had tracked the cargo ships leaving that place to Stone Island. After this, it did not take much ingenuity for the leaders of those organizations to understand why the Black Plain had so many resources.

Consequently, the noble and royal families found out about the foods sold on Stone Island, something that had directly turned part of the Cromwell Kingdom organizations against Minos.

That was why he had needed to strengthen that post in the City of Waters!

The Cromwell Kingdom was the state with the highest agricultural production in that region, and before Minos' arrival on the Black Plain, the Stone Island's greatest trading ally.

But with Minos' involvement, that had changed to some degree, to the point that the farming families of that state had seen a threat to their business in Minos' existence.

They saw no threat on the Black Plain because the territories taken from Minos by enemy forces could not produce high-level food. As such, the enemies of Minos had concluded that the technique of cultivating these foods came from this ruler.

Hence, the families, especially in the Farmland region, desired to see the fall of Minos and had naturally reacted against this young man's interests on the border with the Cromwell Kingdom.

Consequently, that region was also a dangerous place, where Minos needed to keep someone of Celeste's caliber to protect the interests of the Black Plain.

Anyway, for these reasons, Minos had made the shifts in the three outer posts of the army, where more capable people were now.

"Good to know."

"Those people from the Farmland region and the naval troop of King Brown's army are going to have a tougher time against these people." Minos said in satisfaction, feeling relief that the shift change had occurred without accidents.

Upon hearing such a thing, Abby and Dillian nodded in agreement. At the same time, the blue-haired woman took the opportunity to talk about something related. "By the way, how is our naval fleet? I hear that the siege around that region is making it difficult for ships coming from Stone Island."

Joey nodded and said. "Indeed it is."

"But of the 33 current warships of the army, our soldiers are doing their best to secure passage for the Nash family ships."

"That is being quite costly, but still, we are getting business done."

This siege of the Black Plain naval base had been going on for a few months now, something that had initially dealt Minos several losses.

But after many naval battles, as well as new partnerships that the army had made, things had improved for Minos' side. And they were able, by fighting hard, to send those cargo ships to Stone Island.

On the other hand, by entering the Stone Island territorial sea, House Stone had been ensuring the safe passage of the Nash family ships, preventing enemy actions in that territory.

After several months of the war, the Stone family had realized that it was worthwhile to stand by Minos and ignore the Counte-Rrevolutionary Statute.

As such, they had made an alliance in which that royal family guaranteed various types of aid to the Black Plain, as in the case of the naval protection in question.

Hence, the naval siege of that base and the battles on the high seas had not been creating an economic catastrophe for the Black Plain.

Joey then finished talking about that. "In any case, with Archer's presence in that place, we can expect a decrease in war damage related to the naval siege."

"That's good..." Minos commented while having his hands crossed at the height of his nose. "When our warships are delivered in a year, we will crush the enemies!"

Most of the Stone Island families were on Minos' side. So, it was tough to imagine that this young man would not use one of the two specialties of that state.

That is, shipbuilding!

With this, he had already ordered several warships.

Until now, he had only stolen that from his enemies. And while promising, that was not ideal because those warships accumulated damage and were no longer as powerful as his enemies'.

Because of this, he looked forward to the arrival of his new naval fleet, which was being developed to meet the needs of his army.

They would not only be far more potent than the warships found in this region, but they would also significantly increase the size of the current fleet.

With this, young Stuart could not help but be anxious.

Dillian then commented. "Well, the situation at the naval base should change in the coming months. But it's the issue of external sanctions that are worrying me..."

"The Black Plain is already suffering from the restrictions imposed by enemies, as well as the trade war in place."

"I feel that we may soon have to raise prices in Dry City." He said in concern as he looked at Minos and that old figure, Joey.

...