Several hours had passed since the end of the battle between the guards sent by the Gill family to the Dry City and the local soldiers.

In this past time, all those individuals had been sent to the prison, where the guards who were in more complex situations received support from the local doctors.

Minos didn't want any of them to die, as he didn't want the Gill family to worry about the possible failure of their troops.

That might be unlikely from their point of view. Still, there would undoubtedly be those more cautious people in any organization who would have dangerous ideas...

And this sovereign wanted to avoid problems with such individuals.

In fact, Minos not only wanted these people not to think about the failure of those guards, but he also wanted them to think that everything had gone well!

At least that was his intention in the short term...

Additionally, because he did not want to act until he knew his exact situation, he immediately called Abby to accompany him to the local prison the moment Russ and Winston awoke.

...

Minos and his girlfriend quickly passed the local Dry City prison entrance. Then, they went directly to the level where the most dangerous prisoners were.

With over 200 people currently serving their sentences in this facility, it was no longer possible to group all the prisoners, as happened before when Celeste and Neal arrived in this city. As such, this building was finally functioning at its peak, following the scheduled subdivision.

Finally, after walking and descending many stairs, the couple arrived at the place where two members of the Gill family were.

Both no longer wore noble clothes and armor, while they didn't look so wounded either. They were pretty pale and without spiritual energy, but their situation was already much better than before.

On the other hand, Russ' lucidity had returned after he woke up in this place and realized that his life wasn't over... Of course, he was sad about his current circumstances, but heck, getting a chance to live and see tomorrow was enough for him not to collapse.

As the two looked at the floor of their cells, with worried and regretful looks, they finally heard the same voice as before, which had scared them considerably in the previous battle.

"Well, welcome to my city!

" Minos said, opening his arms and looking in the direction of those two with a smile on his face.

"It's a shame you came here intending to attack us, but since you're here, I hope you're prepared to live the next few centuries in this place!

"

Gulp!

"You are mistaken! Mr. Minos, we were coming to support your city!

"

"Unfortunately, ten years ago, Mr. Albert had died, and we decided to show our regrets on this significant date!

" Russ said in a weakened tone as he knelt beside the bars of the cell he was in.

Hearing such a thing, Winston suddenly looked at the man with a disapproving glance, but he said nothing. 'This guy's face is truly hard. No wonder he survived the previous battle...'

"Oh? Do you want to keep this comment? You know, I don't like lies, and if I find out that's not the truth, I'm afraid I'll have to punish you severely.

" Minos provoked.

"Maybe crippling your spiritual cultivation?

"

Gulp!

After swallowing his saliva in fear of what he had heard, Russ stopped talking and stayed quiet in his cell, looking at the floor and waiting for Minos' purpose here.

"Well, it doesn't matter if you're intent on telling the truth or not... Abby.

" Minos called his girlfriend's name at the same time he opened Russ' cell.

"If I remember correctly, you were running this guy earlier, right?

" Minos asked as he looked towards Russ.

"I think we'd better start with him, Abby.

"

"OK. This person won't take long to tell you everything he knows.

" She commented in a low voice, her hands already glowing with blue energy as they approached the face of that individual.

"No! What is it? No…

" He started to try to get away from Abby's hands while screaming in fear, fearing what might happen.

But all this was futile. With his cultivation sealed, even though Abby was of a lower rank than he was, this man couldn't resist this young woman's strength.

And soon, it wasn't long before Russ began to feel the effects of that innate ability.

...

"He's ready to talk.

" Abby commented.

"Hmm, very good.

"

"What's your name?

" Minos asked as he looked into the eyes of Russ, who was sitting on the floor of that cell at the moment.

"Russ Gill.

"

'What a strange name…' Minos thought for a moment.

"What was your purpose in coming to the Dry City?

"

"Dominate the city through force. Take local sovereignty in the name of House Gill.

"

Hearing this, Winston, who was not far from Russ, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood at how honest this fellow was being. 'Why is he saying these things? Is it because of that girl?'

But while that Spiritual King had his concerns, Minos continued his interrogation.

"After taking over the Dry City, what would you have to do?

"

"Send a crow with the message to the family and then start running this place.

"

"How many days do you have to do this?

"

"Three weeks.

"

"What will happen if the family does not receive this information on time?

"

"There is more than one possibility. But since we're not dead, the family would likely send a group of Spiritual Kings to the Dry City to find out what happened. After that, they would likely report the case to the royal family.

"

"And what will happen if your family finds out you were successful?

"

"Depending on the information sent, they could vary from sending stronger people to rule this place to just keeping us here. Then they would probably try to annex this region officially, with a request to the royal family.

"

'So the royal family will be involved in this one way or another…' Minos closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a growing weight on his shoulders.

"In any case, how long would it take your family to notify the royal family?

"

"I'm not sure. There are several variables involved. But certainly, not long. From one to six months.

" Russ replied while he had a weird look on his face, almost as if he was intoxicated.

"One to six months?

" Abby muttered, getting a bit startled by this information. 'If so, then in less than a year, we could have royal troops surrounding this place...'

'Damn it. It's too soon!'

But while Abby was concerned about this, Minos remained with the same serious expression as before and continued to pursue this matter.

"What if I use your lives to trade with the Gill family? How much more time can I earn?

"

"Would they give up something on your account?

"

"Probably not... Even with my status, my life would still be less valuable than the Black Plain. So, negotiations won't work.

"

"I see... So apparently, I'll have to risk luring the Gill family into a trap.

" He muttered as he thought about what could be done.

For Minos, the only alternative here was to risk the greed of that noble organization. If he showed how good the Dry City was to the right people, maybe, just maybe, the House Gill wouldn't let the royal family know about this place quickly.

And that would be the best scenario for the Dry City, considering that the information had already leaked.

Now what Minos could do was just contain the damage that the discovery of the Gill family would do to him, sooner or later.

And if he could only deal with the Gill family, then at least in the short term, he and the Dry City might still have time to develop!

...

While Minos was dealing with the problems of the Black Plain, Elena was currently on a small ship, a few kilometers away from Stone Island.

After a few days traveling, she had hired this service to take her from the Peninsula of Waves to her homeland.

As such, it hadn't taken her long to reach this place, from where she could now see the northeastern part of Stone Island, where she would continue her journey to the capital, in the central part of this state.

'Ah, how good it is to be back....' She thought to herself as she felt the sea breeze in her face.