The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon hearing Richard's words, Minos immediately realized possibilities that he had not yet considered.

At no point had he considered the existence of Luke since this fellow truly was not relevant to him, and he had not heard the name of such a person in a long time. So Minos thought he had no contact with anyone outside the northern region and the five high-level states he was currently connected to.

Minos judged that to gain access to a peak state, he would have to visit one of these places and spend years traveling to such locations. That was why he had never used some alternative plans to counter Abe's actions.

But upon hearing from Richard that Luke had identified the posters of missions launched by Abe's people, this emperor immediately identified the opportunity in front of him!

"Your Majesty?" Richard asked, noticing the silence on the other end of the line after his previous words.

Minos' guards, Gavin and the young Spiritual General were also watching Emperor Stuart with curiosity, even without knowing the content of his conversation with Elen's father.

Minos then said. "Richard, do you have any method of communicating with Luke?"

"Yes, I do..." That fellow said in an uncertain tone, not knowing what Minos wanted. "Abe used a high-level bird, an amazing creature, Your Majesty. Such an eagle is at level 70. It is so fast..."

"Cough! Cough!"

Hearing Minos' coughing on the other end of the line, that man refocused on the subject and said. "Right. Because of that eagle he used to deliver the message, we can communicate with him quickly, Your Majesty."

"Perfect." Minos laughed in that mausoleum, feeling it was his chance to deal with Abe.

"Very well, I want you to send a letter to Luke and some resources I will pass on to your family. I want him to hire ten high-level Spiritual Saints in one of those guilds and send them to Dry City to be under my command." He said, surprising both the man on the other side of the communicator and the people in that dark area.

"Ten high-level Spiritual Saints?" One of those imperial guards thought to himself, interested in what Minos intended to do.

Gavin looked at Minos, sensing that such a fellow had thought of something to accelerate the local plans. 'That will probably make my revenge happen faster!' He clenched his fists in anticipation.

"That..." Richard said on the other end of the line, thinking that that would be both too much and too little.

It was a lot from a financial point of view. It certainly would not be cheap to bring ten such specialists from the Western Empire to the Black Plain. But on the other hand, although such individuals could indeed help the local situation, they could not act against Abe with just these people.

After all, the Spiritual Sage protecting Abe was difficult to deal with!

Minos then said. "I want to use these individuals to protect Dry City when I leave for the Flaming Empire to deal with the Saints Killing Sect. At that time, I will take some time to settle my affairs there, which could be quite detrimental to the Black Plain if we don't have help."

"These individuals will give me the time I need to settle my affairs and complete the previous plan."

"I see..." Richard, Gavin, and others heard that, understanding what Minos was planning.

"Very well, Your Majesty. I will send the message and the resources necessary for him to do this service." Richard commented after a few seconds in silence.

"Hmm, thank you. I'll settle with the Nash family in the next few days..." Minos commented, grateful for this further contribution from Elen's family to his interests.

Richard smiled across the line, feeling his family had gained a lot by promising to do something easy.

But then he said. "But, Your Majesty, it will take a while for these experts to come here from the Western Empire. The distance is not small."

"I will wait," Minos said on the other end of the line. "Ask Luke to confirm when he gets the mercenaries. I will delay my plans for the Flaming Empire until these individuals reach the Black Plain and understand the kind of service I want from them."

"In the meantime, I will stay around Dry City to ensure that new incidents like the previous one are not repeated."

"Sigh..."

"I understand." Richard said, after sighing as he remembered that terrible time in which even his family had lost some relevant members.

Patriarch Nash, Luke's father, had suffered greatly in that event and was still recovering in the Dry City General Hospital, the place in the region that had the treatment for his case.

Also, because of this, this man was talking to Minos at the moment while he was at the Nash family headquarters on Stone Island.

Anyway, with that settled, the two finished their conversation since it was costly to keep the arrays of their communication devices running.

After resolving this, Minos rose from his seat and handed that item to the young Spiritual General in front of him. "You are liberated." He said to the young man before seeing such a person running from there, returning from where he had come from.

Minos then started his way toward the exit of this mausoleum, followed sideways by Gavin as the imperial guards escorted them.

"We will postpone our visit to your family headquarters a bit, but that will be for the greater good." Minos said as he looked forward, anxious to finally start acting firmly against his recent opponents.

"Hmm, I know..." Gavin said, not thinking that was a bad thing.

With more time, Gavin could better prepare himself to review his family members who wanted to kill him. But, at the same time, he had lived in this place for years, so he knew the risk of destruction that these people would suffer if neither he nor Minos was around.

That way, this man thought it was worth waiting for these ten specialists that Luke would hire for them in the Western Empire.

"Good that we will have time to finalize our preparations," Gavin commented with determination in his eyes.

"What do you intend to do after that?" Minos looked into the eyes of this red-haired fellow.

Gavin was the closest thing to a friend that Minos had managed to get in all his years as leader of the Black Plain. And since this fellow was exceptionally talented, he naturally had an interest in this person continuing in his state.

"I don't know. I don't even know if I'll survive." Gavin was sincere since he really did not think much about what he would do if he survived and managed to finalize his affairs with that sect and the Rowse family.

"Hmm, when you make up your mind, let me know about it." Minos commented as he patted this fellow on the back just after they departed from inside the mausoleum and encountered the busy streets of the Dry City core.

...

While Gavin worried about his revenge, the news of his location had finally reached his family and former sect!

At this instant, Mortimer was finishing listening to Abe's message to thank him for the earlier tip and to encourage this man to send people to the Black Plain.

'So that wretched bastard really is with the bloody Minos...'