The Martial Unity

“…And so, I have obtained a mandate and am here to negotiate with you.”

Despite being alone with the most powerful man on the continent, Princess Ru did not feel too afraid. Not just because she had resolved to stake everything, but also because she knew that her elder brother was not a crude man.

She gazed at his ethereal body seated opposite her, glimmering lightly as the bright light of the morning sun permeated through his translucent body, which acted as a prism, causing the white light to split into its rainbow colors.

It gave his presence an ephemeral halo, as if his existence was of numinous origin.

Rui’s ethereal eyes bore deep into the golden depths of her irises. “I’m glad you’re here, Ru. I want to resolve this immediately and hopefully arrive at a good resolution.”

The atmosphere between them was amiable, contrasting with the tense mood between them at the royal funeral last night. The fresh morning air and the warmth of dawn made the air more optimistic and hopeful.

“There are some major concerns that my new stakeholders have conveyed to me,” she began with a serious tone. “The first is incompatibility between your idea of law and order and the Martial culture of their nations. The second is the penal system that you intend to put in place, and how strict the penalties are going to be. It is one thing if you intend to fine them, it is another thing if you intend to execute them for their crimes. These are the foundational concerns with your vision. Additionally…”

“…there is also the issue of clarity,” she continued with a composed tone. “Exactly what is the enforcement apparatus of your regime going to look like? Do you intend to have judicial trials, or will you have inquisitors make their judgment on the crime and inform you? What kind of representation will Martial Artists have in the formation of your legislation? These are among the issues that I have been tasked with obtaining some clarity on and potentially some concessions.”

“All valid and reasonable concerns,” Rui admitted calmly. “Let me begin by saying that I do want my regime to be harmonious with the Martial World, and I do not want it to be too intrusive. The thing that I’m largely concerned about is undue damage to life and property. I also acknowledge that law and order need to adaptively evolve to the people who live under it. Let me begin by answering some of your questions, the ones that I have the most clarity on.

He raised a finger. “I have a rather simple system in mind. When it comes to enforcing penalties, I will enforce the law on the Martial Sages myself. I will recruit some Martial Sages and have them enforce the law on Martial Masters. Martial Masters for Seniors. Seniors for Squires. And Squires for Apprentices. They will use force to either imprison and enslave for mandatory Martial labor or execute them if the crimes are too severe.”

“Secondly,” he continued, raising a finger. “I will give them an opportunity to represent themselves in a judicial trial overseen by an international judicial department of my new organization. Everybody deserves the opportunity to represent their interests and fight for justice. But these will not be extremely elaborate trials, and we will make use of our mind sense and sensory Martial Art techniques to establish guilt or not. Justice will be meted out swiftly.”

“Thirdly, the penal code, as in, the punishments meted out to the Martial Artists for each crime,” he continued. “This is where you will have some flexibility from nation to nation. This is where my regime will adaptively evolve to suit the culture of the people under it. I will conduct annual referendums among the people of that nation to evaluate how Martial supremacist their culture is. Unfortunately, there are nations where even the common man is highly Martial supremacist, and they will object if I make Martial murder punishable by death. In those nations, we will have a lighter punishment. I’m guessing the Naraka Sect and the Marallakian Martial Consortium will be on that list, but so be it.”

Princess Ru grew enthusiastic at that. It was a solid concession that made his regime more bearable. “I presume you’re going to task the Ministry of Harmony and me with conducting those referendums, yes?”

“Yep, you’re in charge of harmony, little sister. Fourthly, the laws and order themselves. In other words, the legislative,” Rui continued to the next point. “This is the toughest part, but I think I have reached an acceptable compromise.”

Princess Ru grew curious even as she remained silent, waiting patiently.

“I will exclude nations that do not wish to be subjected to my regime,”

he remarked. “Only those nations that want law and order from their Martial Artists will come under the jurisdiction of my regime.”

Her eyes widened with shock at the major concession, before quickly collecting herself. “…There must be a catch.”

He smiled at her appreciatively. “Yes. There are actually multiple catches. The first catch is that those nations that refuse to partake in my regime will still be forced to harbor humanitarian embassies within their territory. These humanitarian embassies will be tasked with the duty of sheltering and evacuating anybody who wishes to escape those nations, human or Martial Artist. These nations do not have the right to refuse this. My regime will build massive humanitarian embassies protected by powerful forces connected to world bridges that will allow for people to escape those nations at any time they want.”

She instantly understood what his goal with that idea was. “You want to make it so that unreasonable Martial violence will cause that nation to suffer by the mass exodus of people.”

He nodded. “Additionally, nations that reject my regime will also be deprived of mass breakthroughs and will have lower priority for negatron supplies. And this applies only to Sage-level nations. Weaker nations will have no choice but to submit to my regime, willingly or unwillingly. I may be considerate in the face of power, but that is all. The Martial Sages of those nations will be deprived of a chance of obtaining eternal youth. They will grow weaker without access to resources that the Kandrian Empire has great control over. And they will eventually be left in the dust Martially and in terms of development and prosperity, since they won’t receive investments.”

He shrugged. “That is the only compromise I’m willing to offer. No negotiations will be permitted. Take it or leave it. If you choose to leave it, then I really will enforce my vision of the Martial World with ruthless force. If you accept it, however, I will create a Ministry of Harmony meant to ensure that my regime adaptively evolves to its people, and I will allow Sage-level nations to avoid being subjected to my jurisdiction. The penal code will be adaptively evolved to suit each nation in accordance with the will of the people.”

She could tell from his tone that he truly would do as he says if she refused this offer. She also doubted that she could persuade him when he had taken such a hard-headed stance.

The decision was obvious.

“I accept those terms on behalf of my stakeholders.” She nodded. “The penal code concession and the choice to opt out will be enough to satisfy them. I should be able to get them to understand that this is their best-case scenario.”

“Good, because it is the best offer I can make,” Rui remarked, before a wry smile emerged on his face. “Stay here for a few hours, though. We need to make it look like you really fought hard for them to extract these benefits from me.”

An amused smile emerged on the young lady’s face.

“I had the exact same thought.”

Thus, the quickest negotiations ever ended.