The Rise of the Black Plain

The naval base of the Black Plain Army was a strategic place not only because it was the only sea defense of Minos' territory. But also because it carried the valuable resources that made most of the services and projects of that young man's government possible.

Hence, it was in Minos' interest that the second city on the Black Plain would be built in the vicinity of that base.

With this, the new city could have a more convenient cargo port for shipping local resources overseas. At the same time, the naval base could fulfill its intended role of protecting the region's coastline.

On the other hand, by building a city's basic infrastructure in that area, Minos could have more soldiers in that base and provide higher quality services for those staying there during the war.

That would provide better conditions for the soldiers under Grayson's command to perform their duties of protecting the coast of the Black Plain, as well as having those more critical services available, without having to come to Dry City.

Finally, by having a city's basic infrastructure in that area, the Black Plain government could eventually develop a large city more quickly when millions of migrants came to this territory.

That would significantly increase the people-absorbing capacity of this territory, and it would be much more practical for the Minos government to deal with possible future migrations.

In short, there were many advantages to having a naval city, and Minos wanted to build one of his own!

So, the local government was already making the essential preparations for this, which would eventually serve to settle people in that area, close to the naval base.

And understanding the basics of this, this man was quick to join the list of workers that would be part of this service, happy to have the opportunity to earn double his typical salary.

At the same time, he was pleased to learn that the government was taking actions that would eventually bring to life the investment funds available at the Bank of the Black Plain. Specifically, the one in which he had invested part of his crystals.

For now, those investment possibilities were just promises from the government, something that local citizens could not be sure how long it would take for it to happen and give a return for them.

So, by signing up for this service, this worker from Dry City was getting confirmation that the government already had everything planned and was starting to put such things into practice.

That was great news for him, who had already invested his crystals!

Anyway, after him, it was not long before more people passed through the Dry City Mercenary Guild, many having joined that list of workers.

But not everyone had done that. After all, many were more fearful for their lives!

And since they did not know for sure how their safety would be guaranteed, several had not immediately decided or even given up on the possibility.

In any case, Dry City was in turmoil because of this, with many families euphoric about the opportunity and also about the indications that Naval City-1 was about to begin.

And not only those who had invested in the future services of such a city had been pleased about this, but also those former residents of Maritime City.

Many people felt that this Naval City-1 would be the natural replacement for that destroyed city. And since many people in Dry City had grown up and lived in a seaside city, many missed certain things that could only be found in places near the sea.

Not only them, but many fishermen were very interested in this. After all, it would be interesting to live near their place of work!

And as much as these people, for the most part, preferred to live in Dry City because of the local opportunities, suppose the government was to develop a seaside city of the same quality as this place. Then many here would wish to return to living near the sea!

With that, thousands of people had been pleased to discover the government's plans, even if many had no relation to the workers who would be doing that initial job.

...

While the population was beginning to get euphoric, Mia and Dillian were in the office of the local sovereign, dealing with the affairs of the government in Minos' absence.

"In the last few days, more than 43,000 people have made personal accounts at the Bank of the Black Plain. Among them, almost 40% of business owners have joined our virtual payment system." So, Mia reported to Dillian as she sat across the table where this man was reading some papers.

"Oh?"

"That is an outstanding number, considering that this bank opened its doors only a few days ago." He said in admiration at such a thing.

"True."

"But on top of that, we were able to get these people to trust the bank and deposit together about 9 million low-grade crystals."

"Of those amounts, more than half are already invested in the funds created by us." She said this while having a smile on her face.

Things were going well for the Bank of the Black Plain, so she could not imagine how far they might go in the future.

Mia knew that the local government could not afford to prepare for the future entirely, as that would be genuinely impossible considering the local potential.

Minos could collect the crystals earned during the war. Still, eventually, the number of immigrants could very quickly exceed the number of people the Black Plain might have the capacity to hire!

That was the problem!

No matter how good the local products or the services were, people would not work for free. And since the local government did not use slave labor, it was virtually impossible to prepare for the future thoroughly.

But things could be very different with the Bank of the Black Plain!

That's because the citizens of Dry City could slowly make their investments, slowly creating the reserve of crystals that the Black Plain would need to make hires in the future.

For example, a person who created a bank account and started investing would try his best to make more investments during the war period.

Even if a person did not have a large number of crystals, as the war could last for months, even the poorest in Dry City could invest a few thousand low-grade crystals.

And precisely with this, with the monthly investments and the duration of the war, the government of Minos could get a sovereign fund with the capacity to finance the future of the Black Plain!

That was what excited Secretary Mia!

Anyway, hearing Mia's excited comment, Dillian smiled, pleased with the development of this matter.

"Well, it's good that the inhabitants are trusting us..." He said as he did some counting. "Soon, I'll be making my own investments too, hehehe."

"Oh?" Mia looked at him in surprise.

But soon, she understood.

Despite their excellent position, none of these people from Minos' government had shares in the profits of Dry City. Instead, they just received their good salaries, but all of it belonged to young Stuart at the end of the day.

As such, Dillian could not help but think about his future, when the old Dillian might want to retire...

He would undoubtedly gather many crystals just by working for Minos.

But hell, there is no harm in having even greater wealth by investing his crystals while at the same time helping that young man to develop this territory!

So, like Dillian, Mia was soon thinking about this possibility, something that had not yet come up in her busy mind.

'Hmm, I have about 40,000 crystals... I think I'll invest most of them!' So, she thought that as silence permeated that office of young Stuart.

"Well, Mia, besides that matter, we have to make arrangements for the arrival of those families."

"Oh?" She said in surprise, smiling at the numbers she was imagining. "OK, butler Dillian."

"We already have the basics prepared, so as soon as the young master gives the signal, we will put the plan in place to best welcome those allies."