The Martial Unity

The shock of the investigative report spread through the upper echelons of human civilization. It shook the political, economic, and intelligence spheres of East Panama as countless investigative efforts into Rui’s campaign for the throne were conducted with the intention of verifying the veracity of the Fraud of Harmony report.

They came from allies, enemies, and even neutral spectators. They scanned every inch of the public record and sourced every ounce of intel from information brokers, relying not just on covert means, but also overt means.

Over the span of days, the astronomical investigative capital poured into the matter already produced several results that were gaining immense traction in the upper echelons of East Panama.

[Interviews with all former members of the harem of the Void Prince reveal shocking inconsistencies!]

[More evidence surfacing in support of the Doppelganger Prince Theory!]

[Interviews with former employees of the Rui Faction reveal a strange memory loss incident!]

[Preliminary analysis into the decision-making patterns in the week before the recovery of the Emperor of Harmony and the three years prior seem to indicate knowledge of recovery!]

[‘Power transfer and return was too smooth,’ claims politician!]

Report after report from the astronomical efforts demonstrated anomalies that, in isolation, had been missed before when they had originally occurred. However, with the sheer amount of investigation directed to these matters, every anomaly, no matter how small, was magnified and demonstrated to the entire world. None of it was definitive proof, but it most certainly fueled the suspicions against the Kandrian Empire. People realized that the investigative report was not bullshitting even if they weren’t able to verify the evidence collected by the research agency responsible.

Regardless, the longer the suspicions remained, the more it damaged the Kandrian Empire’s reputation as well as its veneer of credibility and trust.

Emperor Rael knew that he couldn’t stop the investigation into the Kandrian Empire, nor would he if he could. The more he tried to crush any and all investigation into the Kandrian Empire, the more suspicion he would be inviting upon himself.

Yet, that wasn’t the only development that hurt the Kandrian Empire.

Shortly after the investigative report shook East Panama, the East Panamic Treaty Alliance resumed its attacks on all Kandrian allies with even greater fervor than ever before. It became exceedingly clear that any and all Kandrian allies would have to pay an even greater price than they had before.

Prime Minister Edward knew exactly what he was doing.

The only reason allies allied with the Kandrian Empire was because they had faith and trust that surpassed the fear they had of the East Panamic Treaty Alliance.

Prime Minister Edward chipped away at the trust they had in the Kandrian Empire with the investigative report while also increasing their fear of the East Panamic Treaty Alliance by making each attack more aggressive, dedicated, and brutal.

The remaining potential allies were each in a twist.

Was it really worth allying with the Kandrian Empire in spite of the increased danger from the East Panamic Treaty Alliance?

Many of the remaining undecided Sage-level and Master-level nations who had previously been leaning towards the Kandrian Empire now began reconsidering the wisdom of their decision.

There was still no definitive and incontrovertible proof that demonstrated beyond all doubts that the Emperor of Harmony had defrauded the entire world. However, that didn’t matter. If someone was named as the prime suspect in a series of murders, one would not invite that person into their homes at night even if there was no absolute proof.

There was too much at stake.

Even if there was only a ten percent chance that the allegations were true, there was too much at stake. One would not go sky-diving if parachutes had a ten-percent chance of failing. The more there was at stake, the less risk one could afford to take. In this case, if the Emperor of Harmony had knowingly and intentionally defrauded the entire world of a whopping one-point-seven trillion gold coins, then what would stop him from doing it again?

Even if one was charitable and assumed that he had only done it out of pure self-preservation because he hadn’t wanted to die, then could he not be doing it out of self-preservation now? After all, the fate of the Kandrian Empire was at stake. If he lost the war, not only would the Kandrian Empire be destroyed, he would also be dead.

Thus, from the perspective of the undecided potential allies, it was not impossible that the Emperor of Harmony had chosen to defraud them a second time out of desperation to win the war.

All of this was part of Prime Minister Edward’s plan.

He didn’t need to prove the truth.

He just needed to cast enough doubt and then put enough pressure to see all the remaining potential allies fall into line one after another. However, as much as Emperor Rael would love to jump into convincing the undecided allies, he still had bigger issues to deal with.

“I need to quell the escalating paranoia of existing Kandrian allies.” His eyes narrowed as he walked towards a large conference hall in the Kandrian Royal Palace, escorted by two Martial Sages. “Thankfully, none of our allies have done anything extreme.”

Politicians, rulers, and leaders were not as impulsive and panicking as investors. Thus, the inferno of bond and equity panic-dumping that had taken place in the finance industry was not seen in the political sphere. Thus far, while existing allies had released a few statements and requests to the Kandrian Empire upon the shocking investigative report, none of them had decided to defect from the Kandrian Empire. At least, not yet.

It was too premature and too impulsive to destroy an alliance without even hearing from the Emperor of Harmony first. However, that didn’t mean their patience was infinite. If the Emperor of Harmony failed to quell their concerns rapidly, then they would truly reconsider the wisdom of allying with him and defect from the Kandrian Alliance.

STEP

He arrived before a conference hall, inhaling deeply before composing his image.

What happened from here on out would determine the future of the Kandrian Empire.

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