The Rise of the Black Plain

In the blink of an eye, a whole week had passed!

After all these days, the groups coming from the Maritime City had finished arriving in Dry City along with the last soldiers of the Black Plain Army.

There were no problems during the days that this massive group of immigrants was on the road. That was because the Minos forces had made the Counter-Revolutionary Army troops on the Black Plain unstable.

And considering that there weren't many natural beasts in this area of the Black Plain, the immigrants' trip had been smooth.

After this, they arrived in Dry City and were quickly met by the soldiers at the immigration posts, where they had gotten their citizen IDs and permission to enter the local dome.

Upon doing so, each of those people had been shocked to find a green, vibrant place in the middle of the Black Plain and much more developed than their old city.

Not only did Dry City seem larger than Maritime City, but the average strength of the locals was more significant than in that now non-existent coastal location.

On the other hand, the average citizen of Dry City had a much higher purchasing power than those people who had come here last from Maritime City. And these immigrants couldn't help but notice this when observing the clothing of the local citizens, the standard of living in this city, where commerce was powerful, and the supply of services resembled that of the large regional cities.

Because of all this, the immigrants, who were previously very fearful about their future, quickly changed when they got to know this place. 

The promises made by the soldiers to them were no longer so doubtful, and just by observing this city for minutes after their arrival, most of the immigrants already believed everything.

They would obviously have to get to know this place better to understand what might have been exaggerated and what was under reality. But their first impression was already very good at that point!

With this, the dozens of thousands of immigrants from that city had arrived in this place with good impressions.

They all had been quickly accommodated in their new homes, which they would only have to begin paying a few months after their arrival.

Previously the local government had prepared itself very carefully to receive the population of that now destroyed place. Because of this, it had not been difficult to accommodate so many new citizens at once.

So, the number of 'living' neighborhoods in Dry City had increased considerably in this brief interval of time.

Now it was up to the local government and organizations, businesses, and families to adapt their strategies to this new consuming public and labor force!

And that was what Mia was taking care of at this very moment!

...

In the government mansion of Dry City, Mia was at this moment working in young Stuart's office, sitting in her boss's armchair.

Minos was away from his position as a local ruler to take care of the affairs of his war of independence. On the other hand, Dillian was at the General Hospital caring for the soldiers and allies who had suffered most in the recent army actions.

Consequently, the job of administering Dry City had fallen into the lap of this woman, the secretary to the local ruler, the number 3 person in this city.

And that was what Mia, Peter's fiancée, was doing right now alongside some local government officials who were there to report some more recent data.

"Secretary Mia, we finally have the latest data regarding the local population." One of the three people on Mia's opposite side of the table said this.

"After the arrival of these nearly 140 thousand immigrants from Maritime City, Dry City has reached the 469 thousand population mark." The same person from before said this in satisfaction while having a smile on his face.

For him, a native of Dry City, someone who, like Mia, had been here since before Minos arrived, it was very gratifying to see this place grow so much. More than that, after all, he was directly participating in the local development!

As such, he couldn't help but smile as he talked about it.

"469 thousand?" Mia repeated this information as she remembered that there were only about 30 thousand individuals back then!

She then leaned her back against the armchair she was in and pondered about it. 'Wow! It doesn't even seem like only six years have passed! We have done so much in such a short time...'

Mia then remembered some previous data about the operation in that city and asked. "So, how many inhabitants of the Maritime City have we lost?"

"As far as we know, before our attack, there were about 200 thousand inhabitants in that place. But not all of the survivors chose to follow our soldiers, so we don't know exactly how many died there."

"But we assume that of the remaining 60 thousand or so, less than half of them died in that place due to the conflict commanded by Lieutenants Eduard and Angela."

"So, that's how it is..."

"That truly was a tragedy." Another government official commented, lamenting over the loss of these people.

"Well, there's nothing to be done. That is war, and casualties happen." 

"Anyway..."

That man then continued. "With this population increase, the average level of our citizens has dropped quite a bit."

"Oh? Well, that was expected..." She commented in a low voice.

That was normal. After all, many people with low talent and levels had arrived in Dry City in a short time. 

Previously the average level of the local citizens was increasing because the number of monthly immigrants was much lower than the number of inhabitants already under Dry City good conditions.

Since so many people had arrived at once, it was to be expected that the average strength would drop.

"Now, the average level of the local citizens is at level 33."

'Level 33, huh? That's not bad.'

'That number will probably increase pretty quickly.' Mia pondered as she considered that matter.

After that, one of those other people then stood up and started reporting his information. "As for the items collected from all the raids around our territory, we've managed to increase our crystal reserves to about 180 million of the low-grade ones and half a million of the medium-grade ones."

"Oh?"

"Good! Our safes had lost over 20 million just on the investments for those operations alone..."

"Good thing we were able to collect those amounts and still add another 50 million!" Someone from the financial sector commented in satisfaction.

"Hmm, and that could help us invest in the renovations of the Cultivation Tower and other local public buildings." Mia said, remembering that with the recent increase in population, the government would have to improve local services.

After all, previously, even the local population had to alternate between using places like the Cultivation Tower, so if nothing were done, things would only worsen!

And unlike residential buildings that were relatively cheap to build, the cost of cultivation rooms was not cheap. Because of this, Minos' government had not been able to improve this and other services enough in the short time since the operation he had led in the Maritime City.

"Yes. Currently, the Cultivation Tower can only accommodate 210,000 people a month."

"I'm afraid that if we don't act fast, these people who have just arrived in our city will not be able to access this service."

"By the way, speaking of these newly arrived people, we have heard that there are some orphaned children among the immigrants." The last person who had not yet informed Mia of his affairs here said this in a serious tone.

"They are with friends of their relatives, but I believe that not only them, but our future immigrants will need a new service just for them."

"You mean?"

"I think we should set up an orphanage in Dry City." 

"Oh?"

"That sounds like a good idea... I believe there are many orphans around our region due to the recent wars." 

"Hmm, that's what I thought."

"There are many orphans in our region, and there will be many more soon. So, as the ones responsible for this reality, we have to make amends for our actions through these children."

"They will have a potential to be part of our territory and have a decent life here while we keep them away from the desire for revenge."

"We can save these children from marginalized lives due to the misunderstandings of life."

....