Upon returning to Dry City after warning his group in the Spatial Kingdom of his departure, Minos found his capital back to 'normal.'
After bringing Willow, Henry, and Aarav to his Spatial Kingdom, all of the powerful Demigods in the area were either connected to these three or Minos' direct subordinates/supporters.
The Nine-Tailed Foxes arrived in the capital of the Black Plain Empire in recent years, and the Phoenixes and Dragons had also sent their groups.
Currently, there were several powerful Demigods from these tribes, as well as from the groups of the three trying to break through to level 100. As such, the local security was very good and few would try to cause trouble in this city, even in Minos' absence.
Feeling the auras of his family and friends around his city, Minos smiled as he felt the auras of the newly promoted level 70, 80, and 90 people who had been close to advancing the last time he had seen them.
Regina Garza had finally become a Spiritual Sage, having reached level 80 even considering her advanced age when she met Minos decades ago.
On the other hand, some were very close to major advancements, such as Sarah Stuart, who was currently at level 79. 'Very good, Sarah.' Minos thought to himself as he thought of his beloved eldest daughter. 'With less than seven years to go until the Continental Tournament, you're already close to reaching the 9th stage... Your husband's family will be surprised. They didn't believe you could go to the Continental Tournament when I planned it decades ago.'
But Kendrick was still a doubt for Minos, as he was only level 73.
'This kid will be at level 75 by the time he gets to the tournament, or 76 at the most. Maybe he can enter the tournament if he can do half of what I did at his level.' Minos assessed his eldest son, trying to ignore what Kendrick was doing with half a dozen women in his residence...
After sensing the positions and auras of Lily, Hollie, and Rowan, Minos made his way to one of his wives but didn't fail to notice that all of his wives were currently at level 88.
Arriving at the command center of the Black Plain Army headquarters, Minos spotted Ruth working with some of the state's highest-ranking soldiers, Demigods.
There were currently over 100 Demigods in the army, not counting the additions from the absorption of the Gorgon Tribe and Veora's forces.
These 10th stage soldiers mainly were level 90, 91, and 92 Demigods, but there were also level 93, 94, and even 95 Demigods in the army today. One of them was in the command room with Ruth when Minos walked in, attracting everyone's attention.
"Your Majesty!" Everyone stood as they welcomed Minos back from his time in the Spatial Kingdom.
"You may rest," Minos said as he gestured for his wife to rise from his seat.
Ruth promptly made room for her husband as everyone turned their attention to him.
He got right to the point. "How is the new army headquarters and military city construction going?"
Minos' plan was to open an independent entrance/exit to the Spatial Kingdom. But that could only happen near the region of space, which wasn't near Dry City.
Ruth said. "Construction is well underway. In another year, the whole structure will be ready for you to do whatever you need to do to increase our defenses in the area in question."
"What about the needed specialists?" He asked.
A level 93 Demigod said. "We have already negotiated with Crora Empira for the specialists who will create our portal. All they need is for Your Majesty to join them at the time."
"Okay, I'll do that when the time comes. Keep working on it. I intend to complete this plan before the Continental Tournament. Anyway, how are our food reserves? The ice age is almost upon us. Are we ready to fulfill our agreements?"
"Yes." Another soldier, a level 92 woman, replied. "We've exceeded the previous forecast and already have a food surplus. The government expects us to arrive at the de facto beginning of the ice age with the capacity to double our previous agreements."
"Excellent. Be prepared to make deals in exchange for this food. In return, we'll be asking for specialists and advanced techniques for professionals in all fields." Minos said with satisfaction.
Soon, another soldier informed him about the changes in the population related to the beginning of the ice age, as many people had left their old homes and moved to new places led by the government.
A large part of the population now lived around the ten largest cities in the empire, while more than 15% of the empire's population already lived in underwater cities in the area northeast of the Ancestral Sea.
In addition, the local improvements due to alien technologies gradually decreased the speed of emergence and capacity for revolution.
As the world's leading experts predicted, when the scholars working on the alien items reached about 10 years of study, progress would slow down and become more challenging to achieve.
As such, those who were not affiliated with the army and were independently developing things were already finding "bottlenecks" in their path, slowing down the number of new items being released into the market.
However, the number of items developed by the empire did not decrease. On the contrary, with the soldiers whose talents had been promoted in those two years, the scholars had gained new fuel to continue their discoveries and innovations.
New, more efficient, and more powerful versions of cannons, ships, spaceships, armor, and techniques emerged to strengthen the soldiers of the empire and its allies.
However, the empire's best products remained in the Spatial Kingdom, where Minos wanted to protect them and not send them to his allies, such as the elves and beings of other races. The Sky Whales were still a problem for the state, but Minos' people did their best to avoid these powerful beasts.
After hearing all this, Minos couldn't help but feel satisfied, looking forward to the subsequent advances in his plans and the arrival of the greatest challenges he had been preparing for decades.
"Very good. We're approaching our potential. But let's not get complacent. This is the time to expand our position and lead the Spiritual World to victory against the aliens." He told his soldiers, while the people there felt more confident than ever.
Their chances were still not promising. But with the knowledge of the three level 99 Demigods cultivating in the Spatial Kingdom, the level 99 dragon trying to break through in the Continent of Beasts, these people were more confident in this world's victory over the aliens than almost anyone else in this world!
