The Rise of the Black Plain

While thinking about these possibilities, King Brown was becoming more and more curious about the figure of Minos.

At first, this young man seemed like a lucky young man who, after a great torment, had taken advantage of some good opportunity that had come his way.

But as Thomas thought more about this young man's actions and how this tied in with the information they already had, King Brown began to see Minos' distancing himself from his peers. 

Minos seemed to become much closer behaviorally speaking to regional experts than to juniors of the younger generation.

So, this monarch couldn't help but be impressed by the accomplishments of Albert's son.

'That young man seems to be far more intelligent than his father... I would like to meet him in the future.' So Thomas thought to himself, while he had a usual countenance on his face, still observing those members of the Silva family in that place.

He then put those thoughts aside and tried to decide on the matter brought up by the patriarch of the Silva family. 'What do I do with this information?'

'What Otis reported is not out of our expectations for the forces on the Black Plain.'

'As much as these attitudes are unusual, this is not proof that he is a threat. On the contrary, considering that Albert's son even asked for independence, it is normal that he would try to ally himself with forces from my state. Not to mention that since his state would be weak, it's quite rational to invest in defenses like that, at least in a first moment.'

'Regardless of whether we have granted him independence, he would have to deal with the other families in the region, who would undoubtedly try to force agreements with him.'

'That's all quite sensible, and it doesn't mean that the forces in that place are a threat to the kingdom...'

'On the other hand, even if I can use this as an excuse to invade that place, we are already negotiating a deal with this young man's forces.' He pondered seriously, as the silence in that room made it so that every person there could hear Otis' irregular breathing.

King Brown saw no advantage in using this to justify action against the Dry City of Minos. Not because there would be no advantage in taking such a place, but because the disadvantages would be too significant.

First, because invading that place would not be so easy. 

Either they would have to send a large number of high-level cannons, something the royal family did not have, or the king himself would have to act.

But neither option looked good...

The Brown family had fewer than 40 cannons similar to those of the warships that attacked the Black Plain Army's naval base. After all, these items were not very useful in battles since cultivators could dodge or protect themselves from the effects of this type of item with some ease.

That is, cannons capable of breaking a medium-level grade-2 barrier were huge items that fired balls of significant sizes. Because of this characteristic, as long as one was attentive, it would be tough for even Spiritual Generals to be injured by such a thing.

Because of this, this kind of weaponry was usually only used on ships, as regional naval battles were not easy and usually relied on long-range and powerful elements.

Without the ability to fly, a fight at sea would be problematic for people who need support for their movements... And as such, these cannons usually stayed on the ships of prominent families.

But moving these cannons would not be easy at all since they were enormous, and spatial rings could hardly carry them.

But even if all this work were done, this kind of item would not be so effective against the defensive dome of Dry City!

That's because that dome had many medium-level grade-2 defensive arrays operating simultaneously to defend that location. In other words, even if someone could attack that dome with sufficient power, it meant that only a section of that defensive dome would be destroyed.

Anyone attempting to invade Dry City in this manner would almost certainly have to deal with the consequences of doing so through a 'small' entrance, where the forces of this town would be concentrated...

In other words, it would not be easy!

And as for the possibility of destroying such a dome entirely, well, King Brown could forget about that.

The Collins family group that had attacked that naval base had dozens of such cannons, with several rounds of ammunition for each weapon. 

But even then, that group had barely managed to destroy that single barrier.

As a result, in order to destroy that dome, King Brown would most likely need to use all of his cannons, act on his own, and still rely on the assistance of other levels 59 Spiritual Kings.

He would have to ask for help from other regional royal families and thereby owe favors to such organizations...

But that was only the problem of invading such a defensive dome... If they managed to destroy this thing totally or partially, they would still have a battle that could generate several casualties for their organization.

That is, that king knew of the existence of Spiritual Kings in that city. That meant that there would undoubtedly be the potential for some of the experts of the Brown family at the 6th stage to fall at that location.

And that was something unacceptable to this king since he was already trying to reach an agreement with Minos!

'There's no point in acting rashly just because the Silva family had losses in that place!' Thomas concluded in his mind as he focused on the direction of Otis and Adrian. 'Not to mention that those two probably sent forces to the Black Plain on their own...'

"Otis, I reject your request." King Brown said in a vibrant tone, causing those two Silva family members to frown in shock.

Neither of them expected such a thing. After all, they had practically done all the work for the Brown family to be justified doing whatever they wanted on the Black Plain. 

The Brown family had the knife and the cheese in their hand!

All that remained was for the king to decide to do the obvious and take the opportunity to enjoy the possibilities behind the changes in that place.

As such, these two individuals were shocked by what they had just heard.

Gulp!

"Pardon?" Adrian said in shock as he looked at Thomas with his mouth open.

But while he and the patriarch were quite surprised by this, things were somewhat different for the people in that royal hall.

The people there were all either trusted members of the royal family or people of high importance. So, they all knew what was going on between the Brown family and the organization behind Dry City.

Hence, it hadn't come as a surprise to any of them that the king had decided not to go through with what Otis Silva intended.

"It's not worth it. The costs would be too high..."

"And doing it just for the sake of the Silva family seems a bit too bad for us."

"We can enjoy the resources of that place without getting involved in anything! We just need to make that young man bend his knees, and we'll get a big slice of the profit from that region..."

Those Brown family experts commented among themselves as they watched the shocked reaction of the two pillars of the Silva family.

General Silva then turned to those two and said. "Patriarch, supreme elder, His Majesty has indeed refused your request."

"Considering the current situation, such a proposed thing would not compensate for the losses we would have..." He said vaguely, without going into details about the negotiations with the Black Plain.

He was angry to find that the organization behind such a place had dealt such a blow to his birth family. But as a member of the royalty, this General was aware that reaching a peaceful agreement with Minos would be better than fighting against this young man's army.

So, he couldn't help but understand King Brown's decision.

Thomas then spoke again. "Otis, Adrian, I know your losses are not small, but you must bear the consequences of your own actions."

"As for my royal family, since this case does not seem to hold an advantage for us, for the moment, I can do nothing to help you but give you advice."

"Gather your forces and isolate yourselves for a time while you recover from these losses. That's what I would do if I were in your place..." He said as he stood up and prepared to leave that place.. "Anyway, good luck in whatever you guys decide to do."