The Rise of the Black Plain

Hearing this, those three people who were talking earlier turned toward the direction of that soldier and frowned at him.

"Visitors?" Minos muttered in a low voice as he remembered what he had done in the Cromwell Kingdom during his recent period in that state. 'Well, I left some clues in that place for the Chambers family to find me here, but it's no surprise that other powers found them too...' 

When Minos had gone to sign the Soul Contracts with the Hayes family elders, he had left clues in more than one place in the Cromwell Kingdom. After all, he had to do something for his chances of catching his prey to be significant.

So, even if the people who found one of those clues first destroyed it, there were still other ways for him to be tracked down by the Chambers family. 

One way or another, this had happened, and the Chambers family, the one most eager to find Minos, had found one of those clues.

But even though they had destroyed what they had found and even eliminated some people, this had not stopped other powers from finding the traces left by Minos.

Therefore, more people than this young sovereign wanted to attract had made their way toward the Yellow City.

"Looks like we caught more fish than we wanted to..." Eda commented to the group while still sitting in the same place as before, with a worried look on her face.

She was the new person in charge of this base, and as such, she could already tell that her time here would not be so smooth.

'If someone else has found us, then it's only a matter of time before more families in search of the competitor Minos come to Yellow City.' She concluded.

Finally, while Minos and Eda were thinking about these unwanted visitors, Ernest asked that soldier. "Sergeant Lonnie, tell me more about it." 

"Yes, Lieutenant Ernest!"

"Uh, a few minutes ago, the lookouts at the southern exit of Yellow City sent out the warning that a group of 3 carriages passed through that entrance."

"In that group were 11 people, with 4 of them being Spiritual Warriors, 6 being Spiritual Generals, and 1 being a level 51 Spiritual King." The soldier reported the findings regarding these visitors.

After hearing this, the three people soon realized that these visitors were not a threat for the time being. However, that did not mean that they would not bring trouble!

Minos then asked. "Is there a symbol on those chariots?" 

"Yes, young master. The soldiers on watch in that area described the symbol of the royal family of the Cromwell Kingdom."

'Cromwell family, uh? That's more trouble than I thought it would be...' Ernest thought to himself.

"Why does the royal family of that kingdom want to get involved with young Minos? Is there some disagreement between you?" Eda asked, looking eye to eye with young Stuart.

She knew that Minos had the ability to cause trouble wherever he went. So, she would not be surprised to find that even the Cromwell family already had some quarrel against him.

And since she didn't know all the details of the trips Minos had made into the Cromwell Kingdom, she couldn't be sure if this was some kind of hunt or something else.

Upon hearing this question, Minos smiled and said. "Haha, not that I know of. At the very least, I've never met with people from that family, except for the opening ceremony of the final of the last edition of the Spiritual Tournament..."

"But anyway, they're probably here to try to build relations with me." This young man then got up from the armchair he was sitting in and quickly thought about what he should do.

"Sergeant Lonnie, authorize the interruption of the defensive array."

"Oh?" Those two Spiritual Kings made the exact sound of surprise as they listened to Minos' command.

"Yes, young master!"

At the same time as that, that soldier promptly rushed towards the specific location of that secret base to have this done urgently.

Interrupting the defensive array might seem like an odd thing to do. Still, it was actually the sensible thing to do in this situation. That was because, unlike the enemies they wanted to hide, these people from the Cromwell family were not a threat to this place.

If those visitors felt the barrier created by a medium-level grade-2 array, it would only attract suspicion to this place. And as a consequence, Minos and the soldiers at that base would have to get used to the idea of a potential enemy knowing about a secret Black Plain Army post!

That would not be good!

But without this defense measure, as long as unwanted visitors did not enter the area of the local government mansion, they would not be aware of the soldiers' presence here.

That is because this base was located underground in this area, where a few meters of dirt and concrete separated this base from the first floor of that mansion.

Hence, due to the low cultivation of the people in this base and the people in that Cromwell family group, it would not be easy for one side to perceive the other. Therefore, as long as those visitors from that base were more significant than the distance from the outside sidewalk of that mansion to that base, even Eda could not be sensed by those people.

Consequently, interrupting that local defensive array could be the most efficient way not to attract attention from those visitors.

Nevertheless, after that person left, those two Spiritual Kings quickly understood the reason for Minos' previous order. And soon, Ernest questioned him about how they should deal with it. "What should we do, young master?"

"Sigh..."

Minos sighed and looked at that level 52 woman. "Well, Eda, you can stay here at the base and wait to see what happens."

"As for you, I will send you to the Spatial Kingdom now." He said, looking at Ernest. "I will deal with these people myself."

"What?" 

"Young Minos, those people can certainly recognize you if they see you now!" Eda promptly protested, as she remembered that, although different, young Stuart was not unrecognizable.

He had increased two stages since the Spiritual Tournament's last edition. But because he was so young, his appearance had only become more refined after those two promotions.

Other than that, anyone who knew him previously would be able to recognize him now!

"Don't worry. I'll wear a mask." Minos said without caring much about this warning from Eda.

He already had such an item in his spatial ring. And considering his current level, those Cromwell family members would never think that this level 50 person was the finalist competitor of that last edition of the Spiritual Tournament!

After all, Minos had increased 11 levels in about four years, something unbelievable in this region considering the stages of cultivation he was in before and now.

"That..."

"Lieutenant Eda, don't worry. They won't recognize the young master. And in the worst-case scenario, he can settle this matter quickly." Ernest said with a smile on his face as he made a gesture with one of his fingers, running it across his neck.

"Haha, that's the spirit!" Minos then said this as he tapped that Lieutenant's left shoulder and sent him into the Spatial Kingdom.

After that, Minos promptly gave his last orders and said goodbye to Eda.

"Well, when I finish this matter, I will come back here to let you know so that those defenses can be activated again."

"OK."

"See you later!"

...

As Minos was leaving that secret base, the group of three Cromwell family carriages had just stopped in some part of Yellow City.

As they stopped at a large boulevard, the 11 people there were quick to get out of those carriages, beginning to observe their surroundings.

"What happened in that place?" A Spiritual General asked aloud as he looked at the abandoned buildings of Yellow City, as well as some empty spaces that seemed to have been opened recently.

"I just look at the mosses on those buildings..." Someone commented as he pointed his finger toward a cluster of houses that already had mosses and low plants spreading across the walls and doors. "Those houses look like they've been abandoned for a while."

"Hmm, that's very strange.... But, unfortunately, we don't have any news concerning this local reality!"