After he finished fighting in that coastal area, Minos went directly to his naval base, where Lee and Alison's group were already disembarking.
In such a place, hundreds of low-level soldiers from the Black Plain Army were beginning to remove the cages with the beasts from that large cargo ship.
At the same time, the original crew members of that cargo were participating in all this, each of them now with much better expressions than before.
They were, of course, still terrified of what would happen from now on. But at least they had survived that crazy naval warfare from before!
That was already something to cheer them up!
On the other hand, Peter's group was standing on the large pier next to that ship, happy that they had finally arrived at this place after so many months of traveling.
Lee and Alison could not wait to return to Dry City and see their respective families. The same was true for Peter, who had a mother, father, a little sister, and a fiancée waiting for him.
As for Maxwell, he, too, was excited to see Dry City. After all, this was one of the most talked-about places around this region in recent times.
And as a young man who was eager to see new places, he was enthusiastic about reaching the city built by Minos.
In any case, Minos quickly arrived at that place where so many people were moving to expedite the departure of that precious cargo.
As he arrived next to that group, he immediately scanned the levels of each of them, interested to know how his three soldiers were doing.
'Lee has just reached level 47, and Alison is a few weeks away from reaching this same level...' He thought in satisfaction as he saw the figure of those two, who, although more mature, were not much different from when they had said goodbye to him.
But that was not surprising. After all, only a little over a year had passed since their departure from Dry City, and they had not even had a stage breakthrough.
'As for Peter, he's at level 49, not bad.'
"Well, it looks like you all didn't stop cultivating just because you were away from Dry City, hehehe." He said aloud as he addressed those three.
"Minos!"
"Master!"
The three said simultaneously, pleased to finally see this person, happy to feel the level he was at.
And it was no different for Maxwell.
"Impressive! You're already at level 52!" He said aloud, shocked. 'I already knew that, but realizing it on your own is completely different from reading it in some newspaper.'
Maxwell was only at level 47. So, for him, who had fought alongside Minos in the Spiritual Tournament, when this young sovereign had a level below his own, it was impressive to see young Stuart 5 levels above him!
"Hehe, you're not bad either, Maxwell." Minos nodded to that person, pleased to see this individual here. 'Considering the life you've had since the end of the Spiritual Tournament, reaching this level was truly impressive!'
"Hahaha."
And after they laughed for a few moments, Minos became a little more serious as he looked at that young man from the Snow Kingdom. "Anyway, I hope you will join my army and allow me to compensate you for some of your losses."
"I know that won't bring back what was lost, but as the biggest culprit for all your misfortune, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't repay you after all that."
Maxwell's hell had begun when the Chambers family had found out about Leroy's death. At that time, the leaders of that family thought that they could not act against Minos because this young man had supposedly gone to one of the sects of the Flaming Empire.
And for that reason, they had decided to act against Minos' cronies in that confrontation. That is, they decided to act against Peter and Maxwell!
But since only Maxwell had been found, this young man had suffered the most from the vengeful acts of Wallace Chambers.
And Minos knew all this.
Consequently, he was opening the doors of his organization to this acquaintance of his.
He had significantly benefited from this development and had even considered using Maxwell to manipulate the Snow family into acting against the Chambers.
But that was life.
Maxwell's life had already been turned upside down by the Chambers before Minos even realized all that. But since the ruler of the Black Plain had responsibilities to fulfill to its inhabitants and not to that young man, he had not hesitated to use the misfortune of others to his advantage.
If Minos could, he would not make choices that could ruin the lives of his acquaintances, friends, and family members. But if someone like Maxwell had already suffered the consequences of his actions, then the young Stuart was capable of using such suffering to his advantage.
That, of course, considering that he was not so close to Maxwell as to other people.
He, for example, would never do something like this to Dillian.
In any case, this was terrible, and he genuinely would not have done it if he had options, especially considering that he had nothing against Maxwell.
However, despite his pragmatism and ability to do what was necessary considering his options, Minos felt indebted to Maxwell.
Hence such an offer.
"Oh? Well, I'm interested in that..." Maxwell said sincerely, as he too wanted to have a cultivation speed like Peter's.
"Hmm." Minos nodded at him, satisfied. He then looked at the rest of that group again and asked. "Well, it's time for you to tell me what happened during that period..."
"Were there any dangers? Is there anything I need to know?"
And then, it was not long before that group left, going to wait for the completion of the landing of the beasts brought from the Snow Kingdom.
They had much to talk about to Minos. With that, time soon began to pass.
...
After all the beasts bought from the Snow Kingdom had been landed from that cargo ship, a group of hundreds of people soon left that naval base, heading for Dry City.
There were many carriages in that convoy, with several soldiers from the local army to accompany the group. At the same time, Minos was flying over the area in that Feathered Serpent from before.
The journey ahead of them would last almost two days, so there were still several dangers in this group's path to Dry City.
However, this part of the journey for Lee and Alison's group was definitely the safest of all since Minos was there to protect them.
At the very least, the enemies that stood in their way would quickly flee when they realized Minos' presence.
Consequently, they would probably have a smooth trip to Dry City!
Anyway, soon the convoy left that base, passing through the small area under construction in the vicinity of that place, where the second city of the Black Plain would be in the future.
But since it was night and not much had been built there yet, Peter's group had merely understood what this place was, not admiring the still poor landscape.
At most, they had observed the many soldiers on the outskirts of that area, while a sizeable temporary camp lit up the area a little.
But as they were moving, a young black-haired woman was flying over in a large white bird not far from there, observing the surroundings.
'That was a terrific battle to see...' She pondered, looking over to the side where warships were still firing at enemies.
'Looks like this Minos truly is a monster!'
'One of his attacks almost destroyed the bow of one of those ships...'
"Sigh..."
"What do I do now?" She muttered as she used one of her hands to squeeze her thigh, feeling hesitant. "Do I follow the deal? Or do I leave?"
And it did not take long for her to make her decision, heading towards the south.
...
Almost two days later...
By now, Minos' group had finally entered the security area of Dry City, around the outside of the local defensive dome.
And while the people in that convoy were smiling in satisfaction at finally reaching their destination, Minos was flying over that area, thinking about taking a day or two off before heading back to the battlefield.
'I wonder if she came...'
