"Are you Minos?" He asked out loud, with wide eyes and mouth forming an 'O'.
"Hmm, it's me."
"Unbelievable! How did it all happen?" Neal asked almost reflectively.
He wasn't surprised that Minos was right in front of him, but the fact that this was the person responsible for the entire development of this place.
And even if there were someone else behind the changes that the Dry City went through, that would still be amazing. After all, in a world as big as this one, having someone stronger and more talented than you as your boss would be an honor.
A humble butler of a great figure from the Spiritual World would be much wealthier than a few entire royal families in the northern region of this continent!
Therefore, there would be no shame in subordinating yourself to someone capable. On the contrary, it would be pretty honorable and something to be proud of to be used as a powerful individual's chess piece.
And because of that logic, someone like Neal was sure that Minos had a bright future ahead of him, even if this prisoner couldn't assess the level of this old acquaintance.
At the same time, Celeste was even more surprised after realizing who this person was. 'So, this kid is leading this town? But who could make such an investment in it? His mother would certainly not take such risks!'
'Is it any of the powers in seclusion in our region who decided to show themselves to the world again?' She wondered in concern, trying to understand where the funds that made this change in the Dry City came from.
But soon, her thoughts were interrupted when Minos began to speak. "You don't need to know about this... Let's talk about other matters."
"My soldiers told me you were running from Brooke's father when you came here. However, I recently learned that he had stopped pursuing you. Isn't that by any chance true?" He asked as he watched the two people.
Hearing this, Celeste promptly answered Minos' question. "He indeed stopped pursuing us several months ago. However, he paid an assassin from the Scourges of the Devil to find and kill us!"
"And more recently, we made a mistake, and that person was able to get close to us." Neal finished what his partner had started to say.
"So, it's like this... And what is this person's level?"
Celeste then answered him. "He's on the same level as me, but he's much more dangerous, as his experience is greater. And at the same time, his techniques are more deadly than mine."
"I see..." Minos commented in a low voice as he considered this matter. 'Well, if that person comes to the Dry City and we arrest him, then I can use this assassin to find the Scourges of the Devil headquarters!'
Minos had never forgotten this organization's involvement in the plot that had resulted in his father's death. Because of that, he always had this power from this region on his blacklist, the ones he should eliminate.
But before, he couldn't do anything about it, either because he didn't have the strength to fight members of this organization, Spiritual Kings, or because he never met anyone from that group.
Therefore, he could only swallow his vindictive cravings and go on with his matters in the Black Plain, growing stronger day by day.
Mourning or trying to pursue an issue that couldn't be resolved was not part of Minos' profile.
He could hate his enemies and even miss Albert at times, but he was focused on what he could accomplish now.
Consequently, he often did not allow himself to think about these matters.
But that didn't mean he didn't care!
He then clenched his fists tightly and thought to himself. 'If such a thing happens, all that remains is for me to become strong enough to kill the leader of this organization, who is supposedly at level 59!'
And after a moment of thinking about these matters, he turned his attention to the couple in those cells and said. "Neal is an old acquaintance from the days of the spiritual academy, and I feel bad for you all being stuck here, but you will not be allowed to leave this town for at least ten years."
"What? Ten years? What are you talking about?" Neal asked, shocked, seeing that Minos didn't intend to make it easy with him and Celeste.
Celeste then laughed and said. "Do you still not understand, darling?"
"What is there to understand?"
"That's simple. Remember the change this place has gone through... There's even a barrier capable of defending this place against those below level 59!"
"Who do you think they want to defend themselves from?" She asked with a smile on her face, looking at Neal for a moment and then staring at Minos' figure next.
'Ahh, experienced women are speedy to figure things out…' Minos thought to himself in awe.
"From who? Most families with people capable of destroying such a thing are those sovereigns of the regional kingdoms..." He exclaimed in shock amid his response. "It can't be!"
"Hmmm, there's no need to hide it since Brooke's mom has figured it all out..."
"That's right. We are preparing for the revolution!" Minos said excitedly.
This young man had an adventurous spirit and was very fond of fighting. Hence, even though there were many dangers in trying to do such a thing, he couldn't help but feel excited.
It was especially considering that this was a crucial part of any state's development. After such an ordeal, he was sure the Black Plain would undergo enormous growth.
And that cheered him up a lot!
He was limited to relatively small growth due to the small population of his town. However, if there were millions of inhabitants in the Black Plain, reaching the power of a prominent noble family in 1 or 2 years would not be difficult.
But until then, he couldn't do such a thing...
"Minos, this is crazy. You can't want to fight so many Spiritual Kings! You will be slaughtered just like what happened to the Kain family!" Neal warned him honestly.
"Don't worry about that right now. Instead, worry about your situation in this place... You have two options to do right now."
"One is to be trapped here until I establish myself in this region and achieve independence from the Black Plain. This will probably take just under ten years."
"The second one is a little more complicated, but both would have a lot of freedoms and could have a common life in the Dry City." He said this as he gestured with his hands in the directions of Celeste and Neal.
"What do you mean?" That woman asked, still sitting in the same position as before.
"Neal will be able to join my army after signing a Soul Contract with me. He will promise never to speak of the secrets of the Black Plain or even betray me and my army."
"As for you, I don't have any medium-level grade-2 spiritual judges in my town, so we won't be able to sign such a contract anytime soon."
"Consequently, you'll have to wait for this until you can join my forces and have all your freedom… That is, the most I can promise is that you normally live in the city, wearing a spiritual necklace to seal your cultivation." He said this calmly, looking into the eyes of that mature woman.
"What? Do we need to sign Soul Contracts? Why is this Minos? Do you think I will purposely harm you?"
"Hmm, This is truly an exaggeration! The word of a Spiritual King should be enough for any agreement!" Celeste protested as she looked at Minos sideways as if she was offended right now.
And hearing such protests, Minos couldn't help but burst out laughing, feeling the muscles in his abdomen contract vigorously.
Pa! Pa!
He then started clapping after calming down and said. "Hahaha, this coming from a woman who cheated on her husband with her own daughter's husband is truly amazing!"
