The Martial Unity

Rui’s vision for his father’s funeral was ostentatious. No person in the history of Panamic Civilization had ever had the most powerful leaders of the entire world attend their funeral. Not even Sage-level powerhouses would dare try to secure that honor for their late leaders. It was simply far too extravagant for a funeral.

The Royal Funeral Committee stared at Rui with a stunned expression as they tried to process his words.

They found themselves in between a rock and a hard place.

On the one hand, just the thought of defying Rui’s will or questioning him was a terrifying notion. With his father gone, the only man who perhaps had the ability and power to put Rui in check was gone. Rui had become an uncontrollable entity that not a single person dared to oppose openly.

On the other hand, what he was asking of them was just impossible. They were already struggling to put together a royal funeral worthy of the Emperor of Harmony. Because of the recent string of catastrophes and tragedies, they found themselves short-handed and struggling to fulfill their duties.

Ordinarily, the royal funeral committee would not have met such resistance. People would have moved out of the way to ensure that everything would have gone exactly as they pleased. Nobody wanted to be known as the one who dishonored the late Emperor of Harmony. But due to the brewing political storm and the presence of all the Martial Artists in the nation, even their formidable mandate was not able to smooth things out.

Now, Rui wanted to expand their duties by adding the leaders of Sage-level nations, groups, and organizations across the entire world. It was an unacceptable demand, even if none of them had the courage to say it out loud, causing a deafening silence to hang in the air.

“Your Highness.” The calm, but firm voice of Secretary Claris cut through the silence. “What you are demanding of us exceeds the scope of this committee. Take a look at the number of members we have here; we are clearly not equipped with the manpower and the resources to fulfill what you seek from us.”

The other members of the committee turned towards Secretary Claris with gratitude, amazement, and concern. The lack of reverence in her tone was pointed, so much so that others worried that the Void Prince could take offense.

But Rui looked unperturbed. “Then have the Ministry of Domestic Affairs transfer additional personnel to the committee. Have them assign you a bigger committee workplace.”

“That is very difficult to do, Your Highness,” Royal Secretary Claris informed him, not backing down. “Have you forgotten about the damage and destruction done to nearly a quarter of the nation? Right now, almost all of our personnel in the nation have been transferred to dealing with the aftermath. In comparison, the priority of even the Royal Funeral Committee is lower.”

Rui’s expression darkened at those words.

Indeed, the destruction that the Kandrian Empire had suffered was more important than even honoring the Emperor of Harmony. There were massive housing shortages that had plagued the entire nation for all the people who had been evacuated. There was a lot of lost infrastructure on the eastern side of the nation that was crucial to the smooth operation of the nation, including energy and communication technologies.

Then there was the ensuing economic crisis that had swept over the nation already. Much of the world had slowly transitioned to a wartime economy, making it less moved by the rapid drying up of capital and credit and a spike in unemployment, but it was still brutal, undoubtedly exacerbating national instability and volatility.

Rui clenched his fists. “…Do it anyway. I must address the world together and at once for what I have in mind to take effect. I will personally intervene with the management of the destruction inflicted upon the Kandrian Empire. I have means at my disposal that would not otherwise be possible, and some ideas to drastically reduce the damage. Tell the minister that I want as many personnel transferred to this committee and postpone the funeral by two days, if it is more viable

.”

She raised an eyebrow. “…Are you sure you would like to delay your father’s funeral by two or three days?”

“Yes,” Rui spoke with a grim tone. “I would like to honor him and his passing as soon as possible under normal circumstances. But unfortunately, the moment his funeral is complete, the throne war will commence in full force. It’s not ideal, but if my father were here, I’m sure he would agree to this measure to preserve the integrity of the nation at its weakest moment.”

The secretary’s expression grew complicated. It didn’t seem as if she strictly disagreed with those words.

“Even with those measures, we simply are not in a position to accommodate so many powerful leaders. It is not as simple as booking a room for them. These are leaders of Sage-level nations and demand and expect treatment proportional to their status. We do not have an endless amount of luxury hotels and quarters, especially with the destruction inflicted upon the Kandrian Empire. We will encounter significant resistance in trying to reserve these for the most powerful leaders of the world.”

Rui pulled out his royal amulet, tossing it to the Royal Secretary Claris. “Here, use this.”

The older woman’s reflexes were painfully slow, causing her to fumble and almost drop the priceless artifact. “Y-Your Highness?”

“That amulet represents my authority,” Rui spoke with a steely tone. “Tell every single person who makes life harder for you that they will become my personal enemy if they do not comply. That goes for hotels, diplomatic housing facilities, their guests, and so on. This, along with the fact that half of humanity’s leaders are already in humanity because of all the Martial Artists here, and we should be able to gather them in two days. I don’t mind paying a personal visit to any impediment. You can also borrow aid from the Martial Union and the Water Sect. I will command them to help you. Whatever the case, make sure you do the bare minimum and gather everybody in the Kandrian Empire in a few days, got it?”