The Rise of the Black Plain

After a few minutes after Minos' group suddenly attacked those individuals from the Gill family, almost all of those newcomers to Dry City were knocked out.

However, due to the army's lack of arrays capable of sealing those enemies' spiritual cultivation, those unconscious had not met the same fate as the numerous cultivators captured by Dry City forces in the past.

On the contrary, every time one of those people had fallen unconscious to the ground, one of the weaker soldiers at that location would gather those individuals in one spot and watch over them.

Such people were unconscious, without energy, and wounded. In a situation like this, unless they had hours to rest or had the opportunity to cultivate, they would not recover in a short time. 

Therefore, it wasn't difficult for them to stay under the control of these weaker soldiers as the rest of Minos' group dealt with the enemy remnants.

And when Minos' soldiers had knocked out all those people, only the level 55 opponent was still standing.

This man was exhausted at the moment, his clothes soaked in sweat, blood dripping from a cut on one of his arms, while his face was pale. At the same time, he had long since lost the sparkle in his eyes and was only fighting because of his will not to fall easily to his opponent.

If it weren't for this, such a person would have already fainted on the battlefield!

On the other hand, Minos stood there in front of this person, constantly deflecting this opponent's attacks. He could have defeated that Gill family expert long ago. Still, since his opponent wanted to fight, young Stuart had allowed this Spiritual King to try everything against him while he had just dodged whatever came his way.

Because of this, this individual had only received the initial blow from Minos, which had hit one of his arms.

Anyway, as he watched this exhausted man, that was with his own tongue out and dripping in sweat, Minos finally said something. "Look around you. Your group lost!"

"Why are you still fighting? Don't you see that they are all fine?"

"Hah... Hah... Hah..." But only the sound of this man's breathing reached young Stuart's ears.

Minos shook his head from side to side and then began to talk about his intentions. "I don't want to kill the people in your group, much less enslave you."

"I want you people of the Gill family, not only your group, but those who will be coming in the next few weeks, to subordinate yourselves to me!"

"As long as you do that, I will protect you from the Silva family, and some of your more talented members may even have a chance to grow under my wing in the future." He said calmly, still watching that man taking inconsistent steps.

'Silva family? Subordinate us?' He thought to himself as he used what little energy he had left to reason about what was happening.

This Spiritual King might be practically out of energy and physically exhausted. However, he still had the minimum necessary to understand Minos' words and reason about the implications.

So, he, with his centuries of experience, had not failed to identify certain clues in the young Stuart's speech.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..."

'So, this group does have Beatrice and our other members under captivity! What's more, they rule Dry City!' He pondered as he took a hasty breath.

After understanding this, he clenched his fists tightly, feeling a strong negative feeling traveling through his body. Yet, at the same time, he understood how the Gill family had suffered because of this young man's group in front of him.

He could see that the Gill family elders, including himself, had made decisions that created the current situation. Circumstances which this organization had to flee from House Silva and be surprised by the opponents here... But just because they had chosen this path, that did not mean that he would not have anger at the people who had manipulated them into making such choices!

As such, he felt terrible to know all this and still be defeated by an enemy who wanted to subjugate them.

He then tried to suppress his chaotic breathing and asked. "What if I don't agree to surrender?" 

"Nothing will happen today, I promise you. No one will die." Minos said while he had a peaceful smile on his face. "But in the long run, I won't be able to guarantee your family's safety against the Silva family..."

"On the other hand, I will not allow an enemy to leave my city alive. So, you guys will have to be imprisoned here for quite a while..."

"Furthermore, since I don't have arrays to seal the cultivation of all the people in your family, I will have to buy a lot of these items... Consequently, you will have to work in the local plantation fields to pay for it!"

"Do you think it's better to live like this than to live as subordinates of my organization?"

"Let me tell you. As subordinates, you will not have many advantages with me, as well as you do not have with the Brown family."

"But, at least, you will have your freedoms as you have had until now. You will still receive my protection and the promise that you will have chances to receive opportunities in the future."

"Whether those opportunities will be taken that is not up to me, but they will exist."

"So, which do you prefer? The hard way? Or the easy way?" Minos then released a fraction of his cultivation, just enough to pressure that individual without knocking out this Spiritual King.

Sensing this and thinking about Minos' words, this Spiritual King felt lost for the first time in many centuries. He understood that the easy way, subjugation, was indeed the most attractive to him. But that didn't mean that the Gill family would benefit from it.

He knew nothing about this enemy force, plans, numbers, nothing. Such an organization could very well be composed only of the people in front of him, and these promises from this young man would be empty.

And joining a crew already traveling on a defective ship might not be the best of decisions...

On the other hand, he could not go against these people. He could be killed if so these enemies of his wanted, or he would become a hostage, who would have to live the miserable life of slaves.

And for the proud Spiritual King, it was tough for him to accept such a thing!

So, while he faced this difficult decision, he sometimes thought that one alternative was the best and sometimes thought that the other was the least bad solution.

It was horrible not being able to distinguish a clear path in front of him, which he could easily understand and accept. But unfortunately, time did not stop, and he had no option but to make a decision!

"Hah... Tsk!"

"All right, we'll do it the easy way." He said, right after making a sound with his tongue and accepted the fate he thought was less destructive.

Minos then stopped pressing that man and smiled, satisfied. "Haha, you're not so stubborn!"

"But don't be sad, this decision of yours, you will consider it yourself as the best you have ever made in your entire life." He then made a gesture with one of his hands, indicating one of the entrances to the local wall, and said. "Well, since that's the case, let me introduce you to your new home!"

"Welcome to Dry City, my subordinates!"

After those words were spoken, the soldiers in the surrounding area laughed in satisfaction, as they had already started carrying those people who were unconscious to the carriages in the surrounding area.

In this way, it was not long before all those people passed through the gates of one of the entrances to the local wall. However, as opposed to heading towards the built-up part of Dry City, almost all these people had stayed at that edge of the area protected by the dome.

After all, they would need to pass through the immigration checkpoint to receive identification as citizens. Only after this would they begin to be integrated into the local population!

Hence, they had stayed in that place, where little by little, they were waking up from their unconscious states, understanding what had happened, and going through the immigration procedure.

It was challenging to wake up and find themselves in a completely different situation, in such a passive position. But their superior had already accepted such a thing.... Furthermore, as most of them were already subordinates, it didn't take long before they tried to accept their new destinies!