The Martial Unity

“The risks to civilization are one thing, but there is still the risk that you might die in a confrontation with the Fear,” Mother Maeria remarked with a serious expression. “If you die, then Panama falls into chaos, and NOVA will seize the opportunity to wage war against the Panama Continent. Your Age of Prosperity and everything you have worked for in the past six years as Emperor will fade away. All the gains that your continent has made since the Unfolding eight years ago will disappear.”

Rui’s expression grew complicated.

If he had come across this before he became Emperor and before he became a father, he would have jumped straight into this without giving too much thought to the consequences. But now, he had to consider the ramifications it would have on the Kandrian Empire, the continent, and the true world.

“In the worst-case scenario, it might even delay Project Interstellar,” the Divine Doctor warned. “Any kind of instability will cause the long-awaited Race to the Stars to fade.”

Six years had passed since the Panama Continent got its hands on negatron matter, and after tremendous development, the Panamic Alliance was ready for its first bid to the nearest star system about four-point-two light-years away. Even with negatron matter, such an astronomically unfathomable distance was not instantly easy to cross. It not only required mind-boggling sums of negatron matter, but also tremendous amounts of energy. Over the past five years, the Panamic Space Organization had launched space stations, probes, and even some minor operations in the solar system, all to build up familiarity with space operations.

Now, they were to take a huge leap forward with an interstellar operation, bridging the massive distances to other stars by warping the very fabric of space and time to form a world bridge.

It was an important milestone.

Rui’s instincts even tingled in an unsettled manner at the coincidence of learning the likely location of the Fear so close to when they were about to establish interstellar contact.

“A delay in Project Interstellar is better than a disruption in our civilization, causing the careful coordination needed for Project Interstellar to be destroyed, leaving our space operators stranded in a star system four-point-two light years away,” Rui replied with a serious tone of voice. “I want to deal with this before we launch for space. As for my potential death…”

His eyes closed. “…That is a reality that every Martial Artist has to contend with. Death is our shadow. We are prepared to accept it, but rest assured, not before we fight our damndest to resist it. The only thing that concerns me about it is…”

His first thought was not about the Kandrian Empire or the Panama Continent.

His eyes closed. “…That is a reality that every Martial Artist has to contend with. Death is our shadow. We are prepared to accept it, but rest assured, not before we fight our damndest to resist it. The only thing that concerns me about it is…”

His first thought was not about the Kandrian Empire or the Panama Continent.

Nor the true world.

It was about Ria.

If he died, she would have grown up without a father.

She would also be forced to ascend the throne.

He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. “…I won’t let that happen.”

If nothing else, he needed to ensure that his daughter would not lose her father. Thankfully, he had a pretty good idea how to ensure that she would have a father even if he died.

He turned towards the Divine Doctor. “I will need your help regarding a certain matter.”

The Divine Doctor raised an eyebrow with a hint of uncertainty, but simply nodded. “I have contingencies for my death, I won’t reveal them to any of you, however. In regard to the risks and dangers that the true world faces, we need to get all seven civilizations on board,” Rui told them with a serious expression. “We also need to get Jormungandr on board.”

Mother Maeria’s expression grew thoughtful. “The light elves and dark elves will naturally side with you. As will the therianthropes. The dwarves will also acquiesce to reason. The West Moridian Alliance will also likely accept the importance of such a plan, even if they will need some incentives. But…”

Her expression grew complicated. “The biggest issues are the Evolutionary Army, the Giants, and, of course… NOVA.”

Rui’s expression darkened at the name. “I can handle the Evolutionary Army.”

Mother Maeria directed a knowing gaze at him. He had revealed to the First Mother the fact that he had inherited all of Anthea’s memories with the metamorphosis. She wasn’t exactly surprised that he had a lot of insights into how he could get the Evolutionary Army to yield at the moment.

“What about the giants?” The Divine Doctor asked with an intrigued tone. “They don’t have very many technological measures, since only a minority of their population is technologically sophisticated, those who are least afflicted with their hunger.”

Rui smiled. “The Suneater owes me one. I’m sure he’ll agree to it. With elven technology and its propensity for mass production, we should be able to come up with a continent-wide solution within a short timeframe.”

“Not if the giants don’t eat it,” Mother Maeria warned.

“I can deal with that,” Rui replied. “The only problem is…”

His eyes sharpened.

“NOVA.”

“NOVA is rational,” Mother Maeria remarked. “If presented with all the information, she will likely come to the same conclusion as us. She’s also the most intelligent being in the world. She may be of help if we somehow—”

“No.”

His tone was unyielding. “We will not share any of this with NOVA. I don’t trust her. No, I do trust her, actually.”

His ethereal eyes flickered with bloodlust. “I trust her to use this information to act against Panama’s interests and to wage a diplomatic war against us.”

Mother Maeria frowned at those words. “I understand that you don’t like her, but perhaps you should—”

“No.” Rui shook his head, cutting her off. “You’re the one who doesn’t understand. The war never stopped as far as she is concerned. She bombards our continent with covert operations to sow dissent and create division. She has lost the over direct war, and now every second of every day, she spends her entire time trying to destroy our civilization from the inside. Now…”

He turned towards Mother Maeria with a pointed expression. “What do you think such a person will do once she learns that an extremely dangerous and terrifying esoteric alien presence exists within the Panama Continent that could destroy the entire world?”