The Martial Unity

“From the moment that the Esoterist unveiled them, MECHAS were already destined to be a part of our future,” Rui replied. “The very initial iterations and generation of MECHAs has allowed Martial Apprentices to fight against Martial Squires head-on and maintain a battle for a short period of time. That in and of itself highlights the endless potential of MECHAS. You would be beyond foolish not to cash into it. On top of that…”

Rui swept a knowing gaze across all the clan leaders. “MECHAS allow you to control Martial Artists. It will allow you to be more than just appointed leaders and truly usurp control of the Sekigahara Confederate if it becomes popular.”

“You are broaching highly sensitive and inappropriate topics, Prince Rui,” the patriarch of the Shinken Clan cast a warning glance at Rui. “Let us not speak of such untoward matters. The Sekigahara Confederate is a Martialocracy and is ultimately ruled by Martial Artists. We simply execute their will.”

Rui smiled mysteriously. “Yes, I’m sure that all of you have not considered the things that I mentioned. Not at all.”

They glared at him silently for speaking the unspoken.

“Regardless of the politics, not having MECHA Martial Artists will mean that the Sekigahara Confederate will fall behind all other Sage-level powerhouses,” Rui informed them. “Including the Esocline Federation. Now, that would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”

They didn’t display any outward emotions, but it truly was horrible outcome to have to subject themselves to.

“Perhaps it would be better to go all-out with MECHAS to the point that they can no longer be removed from the nation,” Rui suggested. “It may get you fired, but at least you will ensure that your nation won’t be left behind in the long run.”

This was something that they had certainly considered.

The stage that they were in was the most crucial stage. If they failed to at least commence integrating MECHAS into their military and state, then they would forever fall behind their competitors.

For example, he knew that the Kandrian Empire had already begun aggressively adopting MECHAS on a wide scale. The Martial Union was less enthusiastic but still understood the importance of doing so.

He was sure that most nations had begun doing what they could to adopt MECHAS.

“Well, it’s your choice at the end of the day,” Rui shrugged. “I think you would be extremely foolish not to adopt MECHAS, but hey, I’m not in charge of the Sekigahara Confederate. I’ve already completed all my purposes here in the Sekigahara Confederate, so I will be departing right away after a short sleep to recover from the Martial Mind use. I would recommend that you uphold your end of the bargain and keep my advice in mind.”

Soon enough, his meeting with the leaders of the Sekigahara Confederate ended as Rui prepared himself to continue his journey.

He had wasted more than enough time on the Sekigaharans. Had he known that the Gigabrain would have made him sleep for thirty-six days for a battle that barely lasted ten minutes, he would not have activated. He didn’t have much time, considering that he intended to visit every single Sage-level powerhouse and as many Sage-level and Master-level nations as he possibly could.

And thus, less than half a day later, Rui was fully ready to depart from the Sekigahara Confederate. He received a formal farewell from the leaders in a rather tedious farewell ceremony before finally departing from the Sekigahara Confederate, exiting the port of transit.

“Next destination, the Britannian Empire,” Rui heaved a sigh.

If there was one nation that was less interested in visiting, it was the greatest enemy of the Kandrian Empire.

For a moment, Rui felt the urge to simply skip past it and move on to the Republic of Gorteau. Then he remembered his conversations with his father.

The Britannian Empire was like a shield for the Kandrian Empire due to its geographical position in between the Kandrian Empire and the Beast Domain.

If the Britannian Empire fell, the Kandrian Empire would suffer the most due to losing this shield.

“Fine, I’ll help them,” he grumbled.

He had several Sage-level nations and Master-level powerhouses in between that he intended to stop by briefly and empower.

Doing this would truly strengthen East Panama.

It would remove pressure off of everybody, including the Kandrian Empire. It would allow human civilization to adapt to the Beast Incursion much quicker and with less pain than it otherwise would have.

His voyage through humanity was a circular one, one that began at the Kandrian Empire to the Sekigahara Confederate, and then would go clockwise through human civilization until it ended at the Esocline Federation.

The Esocline Federation needed his help the least because it was almost absolutely devoid of Martial Artists, barring the hundred MECHA Martial Apprentices.

Rui was also not worried about the nation because it had the Esoterist.

As long as the nation had him, it would be just fine and would fare much better than most. His solutions were genius and highly effective.

Meanwhile, the powerhouses of East Panama needed the most help.

He had stabilized Sekigahara and ensured that they would join the Sage-level taskforce. Now,

it was time to strengthen all nations sufficiently so that all of them would be prepared to fight without their Sages.

It was going to take a long, long time.

He didn’t mind that, of course.

He knew that by the time his voyage and mission was complete, several years would most certainly have passed. He looked forward to exploring the diversity of human civilization and discover Martial Art that he had never seen before in his entire life.

He was certain that he would find new dimensions of power to expand his adaptive evolution

and get closer and closer to fulfilling Project Water.

He was certain that he would make progress in his long, long journey to enlightenment.

It would be a journey that enriched not just his Martial Art, but also his soul.

And thus, he set out, eager to explore what Gaia had to offer to him.