The Rise of the Black Plain
Chapter 96 - 96: Crystals from Stone Island

A few hours earlier, inside the Spatial Kingdom, two foxes were playing with each other. The mother fox was entertaining her daughter when suddenly a herb appeared out of nowhere, not much further away from them.

Upon seeing this, the little fox, who had been showing her belly to her mother, abruptly got up and ran towards the herb that Minos had sent into the Spatial Kingdom.

The little fox sprinted, her two tails dangled as if she was proudly showing off.

That's right, Kyla had advanced to the 2nd stage of cultivation since Minos last saw the little fox during the time that he had been traveling with lovely Ruth and thus was unable to enter the Spatial Kingdom and nor look at any changes.

It wasn't that Minos didn't trust Ruth, but there was no need for him to reveal all of his secrets just because they were intimate!

If he was going to talk to her about it, well, that would be something for the future and definitely not now.

He would only bring her here if both of them were in imminent danger of death!

After arriving in front of the herb, the little fox beamed in the beast language, "Mommy, can I eat?"

Kyla had already learned to speak her native language after increasing her level and improving her intelligence.

She was almost drooling as she gazed at this herb and the fruit. Its scent was so delicious that it was making the gluttonous Kyla not resist munching it down directly.

However, after a look at the herb, Emlyn simply shook her head and said. "You cannot. Minos said that we can only eat the medicines in this place after talking to him."

"But I want to eat..." Kyla pleaded with tears in her big eyes as she held the herb with Rainbow Fruit with both of her front paws.

"You can't, my dear. Don't you like the apples that Minos brings here? Have one for now. Maybe he'll let you eat this fruit in the future," the mother said lovingly as she got up and approached the herb that Minos had sent.

'If he sent a herb like this, it must be because he wants to plant it in this place...' She pondered, thinking about what to do.

...

Meanwhile, six days had passed outside the Spatial Kingdom as bodyguard Eduard finally arrived in Dry City.

However, this time he was accompanied by two other people, one of whom was one of Elen's subordinates, who was here to do any business of interest to this city, and the other was a subordinate of the Nash Family's supreme elder, who was here to evaluate this place.

The two men bore a striking resemblance, with tanned skin, black hair, and similar facial features as well. Both were siblings who had been working for the family for a long time for the Nash supreme elder. But one of them had been allocated to assist Richard's daughter, Elen when she started her journey as a merchant.

Both of the men who accompanied Eduard were utterly astounded by the transformations in this city, which now boasted several fields of plantations and had a much more organized and beautiful appearance.

Being members of the Nash family, these two men were born traders who were well aware of the problems in the region of the Black Plain, so it would not be wrong to say that they were terrified by such a transformation.

Upon entering the city, the subordinate of the supreme elder exclaimed in shock, "Unbelievable! I never thought that a day would come when I would see the Black Plain rise from the bottom of the well!"

"Comparing this Minos with Vico Trevisani wouldn't be an exaggeration!" He muttered in a low voice.

"Don't you think that your comparison is extreme? That guy from the Eastern Empire can single-handedly protect his nation against the Western Empire. You're getting old, brother," Elen's subordinate disagreed.

"Of course, I know that. But Vico Trevisani also started his legend from the very bottom. Who knows how far the Black Plain can go..." The man marveled at what Minos had achieved in this place.

It was not impossible to change a place like what Minos had done. In fact, it was not difficult. The problem was that either the rulers lacked the means to improve the area or simply did not have an interest in doing so!

In most cases, the latter was the biggest problem. Many sovereigns regarded their territories as places where they could do whatever they were pleased with without bothering to invest in those regions.

That was why the supreme elder's subordinate respected Minos. This young man had the means and the determination to improve this place and not just exploit the crystals and resources of this land for himself!

While the pair of brothers were busy admiring the changes that Dry City had undergone, their group finally arrived at the mansion in the center of the city.

When they reached the mansion, the sun was high overhead in Dry City.

There were a lot of movements in front of Minos' mansion when the group of three finally arrived. Upon entering the building, they passed through a garden and then arrived at the administrative area of the building, where Minos' office was located.

...

Meanwhile, Dillian sat in Minos' chair and was busy talking with the three soldiers from the Black Plain Army. He looked at the three and ordered, "Make preparations for the new recruits. Within three months, we will double the current contingent of our soldiers."

"Carl, how many immigrants have arrived in the city during the past few days?"

One of the soldiers promptly responded, "Over 4,000 people have moved to our city during the last week, Butler Dillian."

"Oh! That is good. With such an influx, we will be able to expand the plantation area even more..."

As Dillian was speaking, secretary Mia, as usual, rushed through the office door and then went over to Dillian's side and informed with a low voice, "Butler Dillian, Mr. Eduard is here along with the crystals from the trade in Stone Island."

After hearing this, Dillian's eyes lit up as he grinned. This was exactly what they needed right now!

"Oh! That was faster than I expected. Let him in right away," he said while also saying goodbye to the three soldiers who were here to hand him some reports.

Before long, the three men entered Minos' office with smiles on their faces and were adorned in clothes with the Nash family's symbol.

Upon seeing them, Dillian quickly greeted them and invited them to sit and enjoy a cup of tea.

Eduard then said while handing a spatial ring to Dillian, "Butler Dillian, as discussed in our previous agreement, here are 1.8 million low-grade spiritual crystals for the products that were sent to Stone Island."

"Oh! That's great," Dillian exclaimed in satisfaction at the quick delivery.

Eduard then smiled and added, "We'll be staying in the city for a few days, so if you need anything from Stone Island, just let us know, and we'll do everything we can to help you."

"Hmm, we will certainly need..."

The four men then talked for a while before they eventually parted, leaving Butler Dillian alone in the room.

He then started pondering about the next steps.

'With these crystals, we will finally be able to increase the area being cultivated from 100 to 200 hectares! And we will also be able to hire another 10,000 people for agriculture.'

"With the leftover crystals in Dry City trade..." Dillian murmured in a low voice as he calculated with his fingers, thinking, 'We can afford to fund the two alchemists in the city for the next three months and still buy 50 more high-level grade-1 spiritual weapons... and a low-level grade-2 array...'

The Butler Dillian continued to do his accounts while thinking about what they could buy with the resources available at hand. However, despite the abundance of crystals, they were responsible for a city with nearly 60 thousand inhabitants right now!

And unlike the other sovereigns, Minos provided a 70% subsidy to the two alchemists in Dry City. This alone and along with the payment of city officials, including the soldiers and farmers, already accounted for more than 75% of what they were earning from the trade of their resources.

Therefore, the surplus of crystals for purchasing weapons and spiritual arrays was not high at this time. After all, raising the population level with spiritual pills was one of Minos' primary goals for the Black Plain.

...

While Dillian and the other members of the Black Plain government strived to conduct business as efficiently as possible in Dry City, at the moment, Minos and Ruth had stopped their journey to rest in a city that was located in the heart of the Cromwell Kingdom.

"Ruth, let's head straight to the hotel first, and then we can look for a restaurant to eat..." Minos gazed into his partner's eyes and spoke ambiguously.

Having spent the past two days fighting and traversing through a dangerous region where they couldn't 'relax' together, both of them wanted their private time of fun in a hotel as soon as possible so that they could continue with their other matters more peacefully.

Ignoring the lingering sexual tension between them was not an easy task!

"Hmm, I'm not hungry either. Let's do this first..." Ruth replied with her face subtly flushed with anticipation.