After a few minutes, Minos finished his nearly 30-minute conversation with Emperor Crora, formalizing his first agreement with a state on the Divine Continent.
Afterward, Minos wore a satisfied expression on his face, for he now had a new partnership that could be of great use to him in the future, whether it be in dealing with the instability of the Central Continent or in dealing with possible threats in the North Sea.
"Where are the others?" He asked the mercenary and Julian's nephew, the only ones waiting for him.
"These two went looking for groups of representatives of your people. When they saw you doing business, they were interested in bringing you and your people closer together." The mercenary said while Julian's nephew looked at Minos a little strangely.
"Minos, is all this serious? Your state can produce so much food?" The level 95 Demigod asked.
With what the Black Plain Empire produced each year, they had enough to feed the entire human population of the Central Continent!
Since the Black Plain Empire didn't even have half of the continent's territory, Julian's nephew couldn't help but wonder if Minos' words were really true.
"Yes, I can actually produce more than I said. The problem is that I'm starting to get results with underwater crops, and I'll soon have to give up some land because of its location." Minos replied. "So I gave a number that I'm sure I can produce and accumulate over the next few years. But I'll probably exceed that number."
"How? How can you produce so much with so little territory?" The man was surprised.
"Because the region where my state is located is great for growing food." Minos smiled. "In the distant past, this area was the richest in the central continent. Did you know that?"
"Yes, but the Great Migration and the spiritual collapse of the northern region of your continent changed that."
Minos nodded in agreement. "Exactly. But there are reasons to explain the former prosperity. It wasn't just due to spiritual wealth since the Central Continent was very balanced in terms of spiritual wealth in the distant past. The reason that this region was the most important was because of the terrain of the northern region.
The northern region of the Central Continent has the most favorable terrain, soil, minerals, and climate for practically every crop type.
Unlike the high-level states of today's Central Continent, most of the land in the north is arable. Therefore, I can produce more in an equivalent area than any other state on the continent."
Every piece of land in this world would have a different productivity if they were compared. The area of the Black Plain Empire that stretched from Vogel to the southern border of End, from the coast to the Endless Snow Mountain Range and Albano, was almost 90% arable.
Since this was the area that had benefited most from Minos' interventions in the past decades, it produced almost all of his state's output, enough even to meet the needs of all the people on the continent.
However, Minos couldn't meet the needs of every living being on the continent since the beasts existed in similar numbers to the humans and ate far more than them.
Therefore, he and his state could still greatly increase their production without risking losing it for lack of a market.
"Then you should trade some of your food reserves with the organization." The level 95 Demigod said, knowing that it would be important not only for the Pantheon of Honor but even for his family to do business with Minos.
Even if they had their own production and contacts to share food with each other, a food guarantee from Minos would be very worthwhile.
In the coming times of crisis, there would certainly be disputes over resources, which would eventually lead to the loss of entire shipments.
It would be good to have more than one supplier in such a catastrophe so that such a loss would not hit them even harder!
"I'm open for business," Minos said with a smile on his face. "However, if we do business, I will have problems, and I will need the help of my allies."
"What problems?" The man asked as he, the mercenary, and Minos walked back to where Julian was standing.
"As I make deals regarding my food reserves, I will be unable to make new deals and will become a target of those with fewer deals. That could eventually make my state a target for powerful organizations.
In order to protect my people and the resources in their interest, I will need protection and an upfront payment for every deal we make." Minos narrowed his eyes and took the opportunity to make other demands.
When making such important agreements, one was not obliged to treat all partners equally.
The leader of the Crora Empire, for example, had made a simpler agreement with Minos. However, he had been the first to do so, and according to Emperor Stuart, he hadn't been the last.
Now that his resources would be more important to outside powers than before, Minos had no reason to continue with the same strategy as before.
"If you want, the protection itself could be considered as an advance payment for some of the resources, even if it will be for the good of both sides," Minos added, making his offer more attractive.
The level 95 Demigod saw no problem with that, as it made perfect sense that Minos would try to protect himself and that his allies were the only ones with the power to do so.
'We can be trusted because we're from the same organization. At the same time, this could give our side a big discount, while others will probably have to pay a part of the bill for us.' He thought as he saw the dragon return to Minos' side, imagining that other, less reliable organizations would have to make different payments, which would probably offset some expenses that might have been theirs but could be passed on to others.
"I'll see what I can do with my uncle." He said, knowing there would be arrangements within the Pantheon of Honor regarding that matter.
The Pantheon of Honor was basically made up of Demigods. But all of these experts had their families, and many of them were still members of other organizations, sects, clans, and so on.
They certainly had low-level people who depended on such food!
When they arrived where Julian was alone, Nymmas took the opportunity to say. "Minos, my tribe is interested in doing business with you. We'll give you support, resources, in short, anything you want in exchange for low-grade food and medicine."
"Oh? That's good." Minos laughed.
"The dragons want that? But will you be able to suppress the dragons' demand, Minos?" Julian asked.
"Yes," Minos said. "Even though each dragon eats 200 to 1,500 times more than humans, their numbers are much smaller than humans. Trading some of my reserves with them won't be that complicated."
"And how much can you offer our faction?" Julian came straight to the point, using his group to make a deal with Minos since together they were as influential as a state.
At the same time, Minos' food reserves in the Pantheon of Honor would give his faction an advantage over the others in that organization.
"The same as I offered to the Crora Empire. Either way, it's up to you. But I need Demigods to protect my crops and storehouses." Minos asked.
"Hmm, we can do that." With that, Minos would soon be in business with Julian!
