Days later...
Minos finally ended his seclusion and left the black hole where he and his wives had hidden their journey to his Spatial Kingdom.
After the group had finished cultivating or staying with their children in the Spatial Kingdom, they returned to the Divine Continent, where they promptly met the heir to the Grinia Empire, who was waiting for them in their group's camp.
Upon meeting him, Minos readily agreed to follow him to the empire's capital, where the first prince of that state wanted to take him to do business and strengthen relations between their states.
The Black Plain Empire was a major food producer, something that could not be ignored in this day and age. This local heir wanted to do business with Minos and become his friend to ensure his continuity and growth during the ice age.
Thus, Minos and his party were now in the capital of Grinia, home to many high-ranking Demigods, but where a young Sage of level 85 was treated as a renowned expert.
...
"Your Majesty..." A mid-level Demigod gestured with his hand, showing Minos the way around the estate where he had spent the last hour talking to the Crown Prince of Grinia.
Having heard what the blond man wanted, Minos made his way back to the women's side, keeping in mind what he had just discussed with the crown prince.
The first prince of this state obviously wanted to get close to Minos for the food production capacity of the Black Plain Empire. However, he also wanted access to Emperor Stuart's influence.
Because of his potential and current state characteristics, Minos had become very influential and had contacts on his side that were worth a lot to anyone.
The heir of Grinia wanted to be able to count on Minos' network of power as long as he did food business with this emperor!
Although his family was already very influential, his Grinia family also had a lot of history, with rivalries, disagreements, and stories that could make things difficult for its members in the present.
For someone in the position of Grinia's heir, having other means of gaining high power besides his family was a must. Therefore, an agreement with Minos would be highly beneficial to him.
On the other hand, Minos had much to gain from his alliances since he was, strangely enough, the one with the upper hand in these talks.
With a food crisis looming, those with fertile farmland naturally had an advantage over those with little or no farmland.
One might think Minos was weak and couldn't keep that up. Why do business with him when one could invade his state and take his things? But the support he had was already too great, even before he made deals at the earlier meeting of world leaders.
Now, it would be foolish to think of taking what was his or even threatening him in order to get better deals.
If even Dragons, Sea Folk, and high-ranking imperial families were willing to accept Minos' terms, how could other powers of equal or lesser rank dare to oppose him?
It would be like challenging all the powers behind his business!
Hence, Minos' influence and his current ability to make good deals were more favorable to his side than to those who sought him out.
With that, Minos considered the amounts promised by the prince of Grinia and imagined he could do many things in his state with that amount of money until the peak of the world crisis.
'Prince Kane Grinia will support me with high-ranking techniques from the spiritual professions and also with military support, with mineral resources, men, and weapons. With that, I'll be able to ease the burden on my reserves and raise the level of the state more easily.' He thought as he walked through the luxurious corridors of the imperial palace.
He would stay here for a few more days to negotiate with Kane and even talk to the emperor. But after a first conversation, he returned to the side of his group to better plan his next actions as his situation progressed.
"Your Majesty, please feel free to call on me if necessary." The butler finally said as he stopped at the front door of the chieftain's residence, where continental leaders usually stayed when visiting the Grinia family.
Minos thanked the butler of the local imperial family and was soon with his group.
"So?"
He smiled as he saw the curious look on his wives' faces. "I'm going to get us a new good deal here in Grinia."
These words didn't surprise anyone, but they brought a smile to the faces of many of Minos' companions.
Something similar had happened several times in the last 18 months, and the group had become somewhat accustomed to Minos' deals.
"We'll stay in the capital for a few days to formalize my dealings with the imperial family and take part in some official ceremonies, and then we'll continue our journey through this state."
...
Meanwhile, in the capital of the Black Plain Empire...
The interior of Dry City was business as usual, with hundreds of thousands of people going about their usual business, living their lives as if nothing had happened there recently.
After so many problems over the years, this population has learned to live in crisis. Even with the clash of the Demigods a few days ago, most of the locals had gone about their lives as usual, forgetting what had happened.
However, the local forces were not like that!
As used as some of them were to having enemies at their doorstep, many of the state's strongest were a bit scared. For the first time, a group of mid-level Demigods had attacked them!
Before that day, only the leader of the Blood Triangle Pirates, a level 90 Demigod, had dared to perform in this city.
However, even with their local growth, great worldwide influence, and Maximilian's protection, an organization had dared to act locally, causing disaster outside the Dry City dome.
Some of the sea beasts who had previously been in the city to join Minos had died or been seriously injured in the fight against the Gorgons, and even some of the men of the Pantheon of Honor had perished in the battle.
They had won the confrontation, but the cost had been high, and tens of thousands of crops had been lost to the remaining blows of those involved in the battle that day.
Because of that, Sarah Stuart, the current chairperson of the empire, was giving orders to her people to deal with the problem.
"Send people to the Evergreen Empire. We'll tell Maximillian Flamen's group what happened here recently!" She said, knowing that her group had already informed the Pantheon of Honor, and that was all they had left to do against the damned Gorgons.
...
