The Rise of the Black Plain

As they walked through the passenger port of Maritime City, the three Spiritual Kings of the Silva family continued to talk about their investigations.

Urban, the group leader, then continued with his speech while the other two listened intently. "They were last seen after they were killed less than three days later. Considering that time, they must have been killed within a radius of up to a thousand kilometers from where we are."

"Thus, there are three possibilities for the place of death for those three. Which is the border of the Kingdom of the Waves to the north, the border of the Cromwell Kingdom to the south, and finally the Black Plain to the east."

Hearing this, the two men nodded when the red-haired one decided to say something. "Chief Urban, there are few cities in this total area, but there are some pretty busy places on the coasts of the Cromwell Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Waves. I believe Sarah's group was probably killed in one of these places." 

Immediately after Scott finished speaking, the muscular man quickly backed him up. "Hmm, there's that town of Hadia, where the Black Market is in the Cromwell Kingdom, which can be quite dangerous. Those miserable pirates and thugs may well have tried to target our comrades."

And that was a reality in the north of the Central Continent. So, what had happened to Peter was not an unusual thing to see. In fact, if someone were well informed in this region, finding out about some cases like the one that occurred with the young Sergeant happening every 1 or 2 years would not be difficult!

Because of this, Oscar couldn't help but worry about this fact. Moreover, for him, a subordinate of the powerful Silva family, this would be a great humiliation!

But he couldn't help but remember that possibility. After all, turning a blind eye to a problem wouldn't solve it!

Urban then nodded in agreement and said dismissively. "Cough, there is this possibility. These insects that depend on captive labor are truly a difficult pest to contain..."

As a military family, the Silvas had never been involved in human trafficking or the slave labor system. In fact, for this family that valued individual strength so much, there was nothing more shameful than relying on other people's power!

From this organization's point of view, only the weak would use forced labor!

"There's also that nameless town on the coast of the Kingdom of the Waves. That place is full of these scum..." Scott was saying something when he remembered another place. "By the way, there is that Yellow City too. Although we got the news that the bandits part of that place were eliminated, we don't know what happened after that."

The Silva family knew a little about what had happened to the group of bandits led by Gul. After all, one of the merchants freed by the Minos' group was a member of that organization.

But they didn't know everything.

That man had left the Yellow City even before Gul's death, so the result of that Minos' mission was not known to them.

Finally, upon hearing this, the group leader nodded his head in agreement and spoke again. "Other than that, only the Black Plain remains. Besides the Dry City, there are only a few small villages in this region. But, even though it's easier for us to start looking for clues around here, I don't think it's worth it."

"Haha, there's no way this could have happened here. It would be a waste of our time to stay in this sterile place!" The muscular man nodded with a big smile on his face.

"It certainly doesn't make sense to search in the place with the least possibilities..."

The three really couldn't believe that that group, who could even fight a Spiritual King if they joined together, could have been eliminated on the weakened Black Plain!

Even if such a thing had happened, in their opinion, it would have to do with other regions. In this case, searching around here would probably be meaningless...

As for the information about the young Stuart running this place, that was another thing that didn't catch the attention of these Spiritual Kings. All of them had already reached this stage of cultivation even before Minos' birth, so they didn't know this young man.

Hell, why would they care about a junior who had been unconscious for several years?

They even knew what had happened between Albert and the Silva family, and the development of that matter, as they received this inside information. But they didn't give a shit about Minos.

Unless they were given the order to do something related to this young man, these three would not put Minos in their eyes.

Finally, the three left the port part of that town, arriving at where they had previously left their spiritual beasts.

That place looked like an extensive 'nature' reserve, where beasts could be housed while their 'owners' were away. There were several different buildings in that place, with small swamps, fields, artificial caves, lakes, and other forest parts.

It was like a great mix of different habitats for each type of spiritual beast.

Finally, when the three retrieved their spiritual beasts from that place, they soon left the city, heading north into the territory.

Urban then quickly said as he stared at the barren horizon in front of him. "Let's go to the Kingdom of the Waves first. There are fewer cities in the border region of this state, so this will facilitate our investigation."

...

While Urban's group began its journey, Minos was currently at his mansion in the Dry City.

Night had already fallen in this city, and the weather was pleasant, making a cold that would make anyone wish for a hot bath.

And as such, the young Stuart had taken the opportunity to use his bathtub in his courtyard, from where he could admire the beauty of the starry sky in this part of the Spiritual World.

He had already done his last cultivation session of the day in the Spatial Kingdom and was now just relaxing before the dinner he would have in about an hour.

Anyway, he was calmly sitting in that bathtub when suddenly the door of his residence opened, and a young woman with blue hair appeared in that place.

"Ah!" Abby made a sound of surprise when she saw that Minos was shirtless, using the bathtub in that area.

"Abby?" Minos asked doubtfully. At the same time, he turned his head and saw his young friend standing by the door, her face completely red. "Alright, Abby, you can come." He said.

"But..."

"See, there's a towel here with me." He then grabbed a towel from the side of the tub and showed it to her.

After that, she stopped to breathe for a moment and then approached a wooden bench that was there and sat down. "You know I always come to talk to you at night. You could have told me to come later!"

"Haha, and what fun would it be? A little teasing doesn't hurt, Abby." He laughed and said. "If you want, you can sit here with me. I promise I won't do anything."

Hearing this, Abby felt a little willing to try. The night was enjoyable, and the weather was perfect for getting into that hot bathtub. But not only that, talking on an occasion like this reminded her of the times with her friend Mona...

'It's just a shower, never mind!' She convinced herself. "Do you promise you won't try any provocation?"

"Of course! I'm a man of my word."

"OK." She then approached that place and took off her clothes that covered her beautiful body, leaving only her underwear. "Do not look!" Abby reminded him promptly.

After that, she sat down beside where Minos was, still not fully entering the water. She was sitting on the edge of that tub while her feet were in the water, passing the heat of that place to her.

'Ahh, it's truly nice to do this.' She thought for a moment as she saw the back of Minos, who was right beside her.

His back felt stiff like he was under stress or something. And seeing this, Abby couldn't help but offer her help. "You look very stressed, Minos. Let me help you."

"Oh? And how are you planning on doing this?" He asked with a smile on his face, still not turning to Abby's side.

"With my innate ability."