The Rise of the Black Plain

After getting close to where Minos was standing, Todd saw that this sovereign was greeting some people, and so he decided to wait for a moment.

But after seeing some of those people walking away from young Stuart, this member of the Cohen family came closer to Minos and congratulated him on his progress.

"Minos, congratulations on reaching level 50!"

"If those people who participated in the last edition of the Spiritual Tournament knew that, I'm sure their jaws would drop to the floor." He said in good humor.

"Hehe, thank you. But I'm not so sure about that... Some of them have certainly reached level 50 as well." Minos commented while Abby and Ruth were at his side, and he had a cup in one of his hands.

"You're being modest, haha. But anyway, I'd like to talk about some more formal matters with you..."

"Oh?"

"I have recently been analyzing the local situation. As a result, I concluded that it would be very favorable for House Cohen to have an even deeper alliance with the Black Plain..."

"I also believe that the family is very likely to agree to that..."

"In that case, I would like to propose a more involved agreement between our organizations." He said confidently.

Todd originally was not a core member of his family, despite being above-average talent for the standard of the regional noble houses.

But after the business with Minos became significant for House Cohen, his status had changed, and nowadays, he even had the chance to have a word in some family matters.

Because of this, Todd was aware that even if he did not represent the patriarch at this time, what he was planning would not be difficult for the family leader to agree and ultimately decide to sign an alliance agreement with Minos.

"So, that's it..." Minos said in a low voice as he understood Todd's intentions.

Young Stuart knew that Todd was probably already thinking something like this even before this recent promotion to the 6th stage. After all, there wasn't much for this descendant of the Cohen family to do in the Dry City that would take so many weeks...

The Cohen family store in this town actually had a good business flow. But, the local subordinates of this organization could handle that. So, any administrative work that he could do should not take so long.

Therefore, Minos knew of Todd's intentions even before this young man said those words to him.

As for Todd's direct manner of speaking, well, Minos preferred his business to be done in such a manner. That's because any deal like this young Cohen wanted would only be made when there were advantages.

So, there was no harm in Todd exposing his thoughts that he wanted to sign such an agreement so that his family would grow even more. Plus, it didn't bother Minos to know that his ally wished to take advantage of this relationship.

It was evident that this was the only reason such a person would want an agreement with the Black Plain!

After all, who would agree to commit to something that could lead to their own destruction without any guarantees?

It would be stupid to do something like that without any advantages!

On the other hand, there was no harm in wanting to profit from situations where the other party would also receive something important. Consequently, there was nothing wrong with Todd's way of proposing such a thing from Minos' perspective.

This sovereign valued such behavior since the other party would not behave in an irritating manner, trying to appear to be doing something for the Black Plain and not for himself.

Minos then thought about the matter for a moment and said. "Well, I am interested in a military alliance with the Cohen family. But we'll leave it to talk about the details of that tomorrow in my office."

"Uh, okay." Todd replied in satisfaction. "But anything the Black Plain needs, as long as it's in our power, we'll do our best to help."

Hearing this, Minos just nodded to Todd as he watched this young man walk away from where he was, going to talk to the other people in this hall.

'Well, unlike the Miller family, Stokes family, and the House Hayes, the House Cohen has no advantage that makes me have to offer much to them... After all, they are the ones who desired this.' So, he thought to himself as he greeted other people.

Young Stuart didn't want to increase the power of regional organizations that much without a great need for it. And as much as he wanted to raise regional power, he wanted to do that with the Black Plain under the command of that!

Unless there was a need, he would not use his Silver-grade techniques in deals with the regional powers. Instead, he would let these families subordinate themselves to him without giving them much in the first instance.

After all, even though the expected behavior for the family that would ally themselves with him was to be them joining the Black Plain in the future, that was not something certain. Someone might think that having a few people with Silver-grade techniques would be enough, and that might cause these powers to take decades to realize that it wasn't that simple.

So, to avoid delays or difficulties generated by variables like this, Minos would not offer such favorable conditions to all his future allies!

...

While Minos was thinking about what he could compromise with Todd, that festive occasion continued in that hall, with many people drinking and talking in loud voices.

Among those people, Abby's parents seemed to be the most satisfied in the place, having big smiles on their faces, almost as if they were proud of the achievements of a good son...

"Haha, Oliver, you are fortunate to have a daughter like Abby..." One of the Spiritual Kings of the Miller family said this while tapping that young girl's father's shoulder. "I wish my daughter could give me such a good son-in-law..."

"Don't tell me about it... My granddaughter is the same age as Abby, but she's dating some young men without much of a future..."

"Ahh, it truly is a shame." Someone else commented while sighing in disappointment and also a little envy.

"Hehe, don't be like that. Maybe they just haven't had the right opportunities yet." Oliver said this while having a big smile on his face.

On the other hand, Abby's mother was thinking of other things at the moment...

'I have to talk to little Abby about some things... Minos has very fast cultivation, and if this continues, they might become incompatible for reproduction in the future.' She seriously thought as she looked toward Minos and his two girlfriends.

This experienced woman knew very well that the chances of the pregnancy happening and working out would only decrease as the level of those involved increased. And such a thing would only become more complicated if there was a significant difference between each person's physical qualities and cultivation levels.

Because of this, Nicole was already worried about alerting her daughter about such a thing so that Minos and Abby could give her grandchildren before the difference between the two increased even more...

However, this woman also knew that it would not be easy for Abby and Minos to have a child shortly, even if they started trying that.

Even though young Stuart had just raised the quality of his Physique, he still only had a King-grade Physique, while his girlfriend had a Saint-grade one.

So, the chances of pregnancy working out at the moment would not be significant. But still, Nicole had to warn her daughter.

Even if the chances were small, they should start trying to do this as soon as possible!

'Hmm, I'll talk it over with her tomorrow... I also have to teach her and that other young lady to control him a little more, or they will have to share him with even more people in the future...'

...

While Nicole thought about the motherly conversation she needed to have with Abby, the previous festive occasion continued for a few hours until the people who had participated in this event left that mansion.

After such a thing, it was not long before Minos went to his room accompanied by his two beautiful girlfriends, who were eager to feel his changes more intimately...