The Martial Unity

His chat with his father gave him some clarity on what the future held. Before, Rui did not have a clear idea of what was to come of the many changes that he had introduced to the Kandrian Empire.

Now, however, he had listened to his father’s intentions for the future and had gotten a good idea of what was to come for Kandria.

Most people in his position would have despaired at what was to come.

Yet, when he thought about the prospects of fighting true battles against many different Martial Masters from different nations around East Panama, he could not help but grow extremely excited.

There were many things to look forward to.

“For now, however, my new ambition to elevate Kandria to even greater heights will need to wait for quite some time until I have reached my previous levels of power.” Emperor Rael directed a pointed look at Rui. “Let us begin the transfer soon. We can begin with your plan of compensating your domestic stakeholders and priming them to support my faction. After that, I will speak to as many as I deem fit and lobby them to my side. Only after I am certain that I have earned the support of as many of your stakeholders as possible can you void all the contracts that bind them to you and abolish your faction.”

Rui nodded in agreement, satisfied with this arrangement.

It minimized his work.

Emperor Rael had firmly gotten the message that Rui was not interested in being his political second-in-command or political lieutenant.

Thus, he proposed a plan that required Rui to take merely one final action as a political leader before finally tossing the role away by releasing his political power and letting his father inherit it.

In this context, the ‘political power’ that Rui had essentially boiled down to two types: explicit and implicit. The former was the hundreds of contracts that Rui had signed that contained non-compete and exclusive clauses that restricted his stakeholders from extending certain capital, goods, and services. The latter simply boiled down to a willingness to support.

His father could handle the latter quite well. He was charismatic and compelling, and more importantly, he was extremely credible with a long proven history of extreme competence and brilliance. Rui priming his stakeholders to consider him as a person to invest in was merely the cherry on top.

Yet, that was not the only thing that Rael wanted to consult Rui on.

“At this point, you possess the highest amount of experience with the Divine Doctor, the Elder Tree, and the time-accelerating dungeon,” his father pointed out. “Your insights into managing them and keeping them secret will be highly valuable.”

“I don’t think you need my help in that regard.” Rui shook his head. “You kept Sage Sayfeel hidden all this time, after all.”

“Because I knew what I was dealing with,” his father pointed out. “That is simply not true here.”

That was a fair point.

“The Divine Doctor is the easiest to handle,” Rui remarked, shrugging. “He is the hyper-obsessive type. Just let him play with the alien flora lifeform, and he will be satisfied. He doesn’t need anything beyond that and basic necessities.”

“And how much can he be trusted?” The Emperor’s eyes narrowed. “What is the probability that he will betray us?”

“…He is a psychopath,” Rui slowly began. “Looking into his eyes is unnerving because it is like looking into the eyes of an inhuman thing posing as a human. He is also a bit of a narcissist when it comes to his medical capabilities.”

“…That does not inspire much faith in me.” the Emperor frowned. “However, he has no incentive to betray me and every incentive not to.”

“…Incentives can be created, my son,” he calmly continued. “It is called bribing.”

Rui shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. He cannot be bribed with wealth, resources, or power. Trust me, I have tried. The arrangements that I have made with him are a powerful shackle on him.”

“…I am unable to verify that claim, but I have trust in your evaluation.” His father’s tone was sincere. “In that case, dealing with the Divine Doctor will be a lot simpler. I shall have an alias and a fake identity prepared for him and have him work in the Kandrian Institute of Technology.”

Rui raised an eyebrow with confusion. “Aren’t you going to build a super-secret laboratory in the middle of nowhere to hide him there?”

“That is a sub-optimal solution,” his father calmly replied. “Under the current circumstances, the risk of such extravagant moves being discovered is too high. The rumors of your breakthrough in combination with my recovery from the Eternal Dream Disease have put all eyes on us. For now, at least, leave the Divine Doctor alone.”

Rui stirred, finding himself in agreement with his father.

“What about this Elder Tree of Legend?” His father inquired. “It isn’t even human. I am much more troubled with the notion of trusting in the intel of an intelligent non-human species.”

Rui smiled nostalgically as his memories of the Garden of Salvation returned. “If that tree cannot be trusted, then no one can. It is, in my evaluation, a Sage-level creature; it could have easily taken me captive and forcefully extracted all the value that I could possibly provide before killing me, yet…”

His gaze turned to his father. “It never once exploited me despite how easy it would have been.”

That was indeed a deeply compelling argument, even his father had to admit. “…I need to speak with it.”

Rui nodded. “I have already begun working on it.”

“…Good,” his father nodded. “The dungeon is a nonsentient asset; thus, the only question regarding its performance is whether the Divine Doctor can unlock it.”

Rui’s eyes grew more certain. “He’ll figure it out. That man is undoubtedly a genius. He will need time, but he will succeed.”

“Time he has,” the Emperor reassured him. “There is much that needs to happen before I can even begin to plan its usage.”

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