The Rise of the Black Plain

Two days quickly passed, and by this time, the reports from Russ, Winston, and Lionel had finally arrived at that organization's headquarters.

All those people that Minos expected to receive the results of the invasion of the Dry City had already read those reports and got to know a little better of the 'reality' of such a place.

As a result of such a thing, an emergency meeting had been called by the headquarters of this noble family of the Brown Kingdom so that these facts could be presented and discussed among the most prestigious individuals.

Not all the elders had received the reports of those three. Still, such individuals were influential when it came to making important decisions, such as the one presented in front of this power. Because of this, nothing better than such an occasion, where the most eminent figures could debate such a matter quickly and safely.

...

In a large hall of the Gill family's central government palace, ten people were seated around a large rectangular table as they debated the subject of the Dry City.

Each of these individuals had already reached the 6th stage of cultivation. The weakest was at level 51 and the strongest at level 56.

The Gill family was just a mid-level power, with only 18 Spiritual Kings in their ranks, 8 of whom were just subordinates, as in the case of Winston.

That way, all the nobles of this noble family were in this place, ready to decide the future actions of such an organization.

As for the rest of the experts of this family, as much as some were even stronger than some of the elders in this room, they didn't have the same privileges as those with the surname Gill.

Such subordinates would be definitively notified of any family decision, and some could even be consulted on some issues. But none of them had the right to vote in the Council of War, the subdivision that had the power to decide that organization's life and death actions.

Such a subdivision had a superior position to that of the family patriarch, but, in general, it was only assembled in exceptional circumstances, such as the present one. So, in usual times, everything would be decided by the patriarch, similar to how the Hayes family of the Cromwell Kingdom operated.

But while in that family, the patriarch did not hold a position in the Court of Justice, in the Gill family, the patriarch had the chair of the president of the Council of War.

And as such, right now, the patriarch, Liam Gill, level 56, was speaking to the other members of the Council of War.

"Our family successfully took over a city with about 150,000 inhabitants and 1,000 guards. A city that, despite its precarious position, now has a profit of more than 20 million low-grade crystals per year."

"A city that was handed over by its own sovereign to our family. A place that no one else knows about its reality."

"Elders, this is the reality of the new Dry City, which is now under the domain of our Gill family." He said as he made his white beard tremble and droplets of saliva left his mouth.

"These are the information described by those responsible for the group sent to the Dry City, which is taking care of that place while we make our decision."

"That is, we claim sovereignty over that place officially, or we use that son of Albert Stuart as a puppet. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these actions. Still, we need to make a choice as quickly as possible, or someone else can do it for us." He said, looking from time to time in the directions of each of those nine people there.

Finally, when Liam paused in his speech, one of the most prestigious elders in this family rose from his chair and began to state his preferences. "Friends, you all know me, and you know that normally I would prefer to act officially. But in this situation, I would particularly like to get to know this place a little better before we communicate to higher authorities."

"Our family is only the fourth mid-level organization in the state, and House Austin may pass us in the next centuries if our situation doesn't get better!"

"It is true..."

"Those cocky Austins improve every year!"

"It will be a disgrace to our House Gill to be left behind..."

Several comments were made after that elder mentioned this subject amid sighs of regret and discontent.

That same old man from before then continued. "Anyway, if we don't take advantage of the opportunity ahead of us, maybe it's not just the Austin family that will pass ours in the future. Maybe Cole, Tate, Rios, etc., will pass us on in the future too if we don't do something!"

"At the end of the day, if we don't take any risks, we will lose our positions to those willing to do so. So, this time, I vote and ask the rest of us to choose to deal with the Dry City in secret for a while!"

"Hmm, I agree with elder Alexander!"

"Even if we held the Black Plain in our possession for just three years, that would already be more than 60 million low-grade crystals for our family!" A strong, bald man said this at the same time as he gestured with his hands. "And hell, with so many crystals, we could nurture 10,000 more Spiritual Generals and 10 Spiritual Kings!"

"We just invested these crystals in our strengths, and in less than 50 years, we could become the fourth strongest family in the kingdom!"

Hearing this, the most greedy people in that place swallowed their saliva in anticipation as they wondered how much they could gain from it.

Crystals generated crystals, and with more forces under their control, the Gill family could certainly gain new territories in the future, which would yield even greater wealth!

Mainly individual wealth, which could help these people and their direct descendants to become even stronger...

"Indeed'¦ It's only three years! I've heard that the king rarely asks for information from the Black Plain, and other noble families don't send their members to that city..."

"I think it's worth the risk..."

"Yes! At least we can analyze that place more carefully for a while... At worst, we can just say we didn't know anything!"

"Hmm, and as a region with sovereignty, unless there is some treason, there is no way that place can be punished because it has developed! So, even if someone finds out that we had relationships with that place, we can still escape from heavy punishment!"

"Yes! At the end of the day, the responsibility for communicating anything rests with the young sovereign of that region. We have nothing to do with it! We just have a spiritual academy in that city. That is all..."

Several comments of agreement resounded through that hall for several minutes after Liam presented the problem.

And at the end of that emergency meeting, the Gill family had decided to wait a while longer before trying to annex the Black Plain through official means!

They knew that this would likely fail. If the Brown family discovered that location, the king would probably use the excuse that the young ruler of the Black Plain was in rebellion against the kingdom... Hence, even if they had a justification for taking the Dry City, they would likely lose it to the state in a short time.

However, if they waited, they could at least get some benefits from that place. Consequently, it had been decided that a new group would be sent to the Dry City in the future to help manage and protect that location.

They didn't want to do it right away because it would draw the attention of the other mid-level families, who were always watching each other's movements.  But they also didn't want to take too long and see that city being taken over by another power.

Thus, it had been decided that the Dry City would continue to be ruled by Russ for the next two months. From then on, they would send a more extensive and stronger group there!

...

While the Gill family orchestrated their actions, two young blondes were lying on a bed while playing with each other, in a particular area of Old Stone, on Stone Island.

"Ahhh~"

"I missed you, Elen..." A young woman trembled in excitement as she and her partner reached their climax....