A few days later...
In the core of Dry City, two couples were finishing dinner at one of the local restaurants, enjoying the quiet evening to relax after work.
Of these four people, all were middle-aged individuals, with the two women appearing younger than their husbands.
Regardless of how young they looked, they all had parts of the Black Plain Army uniform still on their bodies, even though they had already been in this restaurant for more than an hour.
But they had not forgotten to take off their uniforms because of their pride in being part of this organization. They were proud, of course. But the main point was that they were so used to dressing in such a way that after leaving the headquarters for this meal, they had forgotten to take off parts of their uniforms.
However, others in that restaurant also had uniforms on their bodies, so nobody there looked at them with the admiring glances commonly seen by ordinary citizens to these soldiers.
But this situation of this group was not unique. After all, most of the people within this area protected by the local defensive dome were somehow connected to the army. So, it was pretty common to find soldiers in places like this at all times of the day.
The two couples were talking about their families while waiting for the bill.
"Tasia, how is little Alison doing? I heard you recently visited her and Lee's territory, right?" Peter's mother, Rita, level 50, asked Alison's mother.
Just as Minos had promised Lee and Alison's families, he had helped the families of his most prominent soldiers to develop, even making room for them in the army.
Because of this, Alison's parents, Peter's parents, and Lee's siblings had all gotten opportunities in the Black Plain Army and grown considerably in the past years.
For example, Lizzie had become a secretary for Minos, while Lee's older brother, Gryff, currently at level 49, was working with his brother in Alison's city. Lee's younger sister, on the other hand, at level 44, had been studying within the headquarters, preparing herself to one day be given a leadership position like her brother.
Upon hearing Peter's mother's question, Taisa, level 50, smiled and said. "Yes, I did. She is doing very well. Hopefully, Lee will reach level 57 by the end of the year, and the two of them have been working to give us grandchildren."
Hearing that, Pollo, level 51, smiled in satisfaction at Alison's situation. He liked Lee and could not wait for those two to give birth to an heir. "When our grandchild is born, we will ask the army to transfer us to their city..."
"Haha, Pollo, you are behind me regarding grandchildren." Peter's father, Wade, level 51, grinned from ear to ear, thinking about how envious Pollo was of his granddaughter.
The group then continued their conversation in that restaurant with virtually only 6th-stage customers.
Like the four individuals, many there were people who had been on the Black Plain for at least ten years, some of them, like Alison's parents, having been there since before Minos arrived.
All of them, at that time, were just Spiritual Warriors. But with all the opportunities their families had received in the more than a decade under Minos' rule, they had all managed to break through to the 6th stage.
Considering that Minos had promised to help them with even more critical breakthroughs, those two couples were happier than ever in their lives, seeing things working out for their families.
Minos' promises had significantly been exaggerated when he arrived at this place. But after these last four years, no one doubted their chances of actually getting to where he promised.
With this, these people, who previously were just ordinary individuals in this region, now live better than even some regional leaders!
In any case, their families had a prosperous future ahead of them, and they had every reason to laugh and enjoy themselves on the local nights!
...
While Peter and Alison's parents were having fun in the core of Dry City, in the common area of the Black Plain capital, Elen was dealing with Nash family matters.
After years since the creation of the local branch of the Nash family, this place had become as important, if not more important, than the headquarters of that organization on Stone Island.
In fact, the Nash family was so serious about the Black Plain that 2 of its 3 Spiritual Emperors were currently living in Dry City, standing by to protect this place in case of need.
Among them was Elen's father, Richard Nash, level 60, this fellow newly recovered by the butler Dillian.
"Elen, how is your progress?" Sigmund Nash, the other Spiritual Emperor of this family, asked the woman sitting in the leading position in their meeting room.
Upon hearing that, Elen observed the elders in the surrounding area and smiled. "I reached level 59 two months ago, so I still have a long way to go to level 60."
"However, I think I can get there within the next year."
"Oh?"
"Excellent!"
"In that time, if we count on Elder Quinn's possible advancement, our family could reach the mark of 5 Spiritual Emperors!"
"Haha, we'll be able to keep our current power level on par with House Stone and Miller!"
Several people there commented in satisfaction, feeling that the family's future could not be stopped.
The Nash family was a mercantile power, but one of the most critical points for this type of organization was still power. After all, with influential members, they could more easily guarantee the safety of their traded items, lower travel costs, etc.
With more power, more people would trust them, and thus the family would get more resources.
Because of this strategy, each of those elders was happy with the progress of the family's most extraordinary talents.
"It's just a pity that young Luke returned to the Western Empire and hasn't sent news all this time. If he were here, we could also nurture him to become a Spiritual Emperor in the future..."
"Ah, it's a pity..."
"In any case, we should continue with the matter concerning the Black Plain's trade opening to the rest of the region." Elen drew those elders' attention back to the main issue discussed there.
All this time, the Black Plain had hardly exported its resources to the rest of the region. Instead, the government of Minos was still focused on trading with Stone Island and supplying the demand for resources within their state.
The Minos government, of course, was importing resources from outside, but that was about it so far. However, with the current growth rate of the plantation fields on the Black Plain, the king had already indicated to Elen his intentions to export his food to the rest of the region.
With that, she was already working to follow the wishes of the leader of this state!
"It won't be easy for us to export local resources throughout the region, so we will partner with House Miller to begin our plans as soon as possible."
"The products that will be exported to the other states in the region will have a rate 10% above those that go to Stone Island, so the generation of resources for the Black Plain will be even greater."
"That will be critical in continuing local development," So, Elen explained to those elders, the weakest one at level 58.
"Hmm, that's right." Richard nodded, considering that as much as it would be more profitable for his family to handle this without aid, increasing the speed of local development was what could help them grow further.
At an early stage of development, the costs were much lower. After all, building apartment towers, houses, and ordinary streets were not expensive. The problem lay in investing in infrastructure for cultivators, such as Cultivation Towers.
Even if the state of Minos already had tens of billions of crystals on hand, this was not much considering the cost of grade-3 items. Hence the need to increase the government's profit.
"We will begin our communication with House Miller. We will prepare for that to happen as soon as possible!"
