The Martial Unity

Chapter 3482: Desiring Future

”That is why I have changed and refashioned a part of the manifold into an outer space research facility,” the Emperor of Harmony revealed. ”Currently, the Esoterist and the Astromind are working on a huge project to accelerate our space infrastructure development by decades. With the manifold, we will be able to complete projects that would otherwise take too long in just a matter of years. Julian has already begun creating paradigms of hybrid esoteric and conventional technology that have allowed us to begin integrating elements of true world technology into our projects. For instance...”

He pulled a commpad device, skimming through the data in it before projecting a three-dimensional hologram midair.

It was a three-dimensional blueprint of a space station with several sections and components shaped like a tube with several passages connecting to a central command center within the tube.

The Emperor of Harmony skimmed through several more blueprints of rockets, spaceships of different sizes and different purposes, as well as outer space defense, mining stations, and other space infrastructure.

All the spaceships featured the symbol of the Panamic Alliance, reflecting human civilization’s resolution to work together to protect their species from other species and civilizations.

However, that wasn’t what drew his attention the most.

What drew his attention the most were the MECHAs.

The Esoterist had even created outer space MECHAs for the Martial Artists of the future.

”Is that really necessary?” Rui raised an eyebrow. ”MECHAs are still a niche, no?”

The Emperor of Harmony shook his head. ”You’ve been disconnected from human civilization for too long in the past twelve years, partly because of all the time you spent in the Beast Domain, but also because you have been away from human civilization after the Unfolding. The fact of the matter is that, on average, fifty percent of new Martial Apprentices in the past six months have been MECHA Martial Artists. We also recently gained our first MECHA Martial Master, who is able to fight Martial Sages head-on without being defeated easily.”

Rui’s eyes widened at those words.

Now that he thought about it, it had been nineteen years since the Esoterist had unveiled MECHAs at the Human Summit shortly after the Beast Incursion into human civilization.

In those seventeen years, MECHAs had undoubtedly come a long, long way, especially thanks to the manifold that made seventeen years equal to two hundred and thirty-eight years. MECHAs had already reached the Master Realm at their very peak and had achieved Sage-level power in nations beyond just the Esocline Federation.

They had achieved a level of power that only Rui and perhaps Tokugawa Ieyasu had achieved within the Master Realm, and this was despite the fact that MECHAs were still in the growing infancy compared to all the possibilities. Governments around the world had invested heavily in MECHA training and education, creating a whole new field of MECHA designers, and had invested equally heavily in MECHA manufacturing and training facilities.

”Forty percent of all the rebuilt infrastructure that the Beast Incursion destroyed is actually dedicated to MECHAs,” his father commented. ”It might have been unclear before, but now we know without any shadow of a doubt that the future is MECHA, to some extent.”

Rui’s face lit up with an excited smile. ”Nice.”

Emperor Rael’s eyebrows rose. ”Nice? Do you really find it so? Most Martial Artists have been rather depressed about this development. Apprentices can fight Squires. Squires can fight Seniors. Seniors can fight Masters. The new wave of Martial Artists has outshone them in ways that they could never have fathomed in the past. MECHAs are systematically destroying everything that we have held as absolute truths. The dominance of Martial Art as it exists today is crumbling from attacks from not just the outside, but also from the inside.”

Rui shrugged apathetically. ”Power is power. Not to mention, it would be good if there were more powerful opponents that could challenge me in the future. And MECHAs are also perfect for that.”

Rui had made peace with MECHAs a long time ago, from the very moment they were introduced, in fact. He didn’t care for any of the drama surrounding the topic within the Martial World.

”There is also the Blood Path and the hemosapien children,” The Emperor of Harmony remarked. ”The girls have recently started menstruating, and we have discovered something rather... unexpected outcomes.”

Rui’s expression grew concerned. ”Are they especially incapacitated by it?”

”The opposite, actually,” the Emperor of Harmony remarked, heaving a strained sigh. ”They’re empowered by it. The blood makes them stronger somehow. We think that something about the process is improving their hemokinesis and their output by an order of magnitude.”

”What?!” Rui’s eyes widened with shock. ”The girls are stronger?”

”Significantly, this has caused immense consternation and fear in half of our population for, well, understandable reasons,” the Emperor of Harmony remarked.

”Maybe we should breed with the therianthropes to cancel out the influence,” Rui remarked with a huff as he fell into thought. ”Still, those girls are going to be super strong when they become the equivalent of Martial Sages.”

His eyes lit up at the very thought of it.

He couldn’t wait to fight a grown-up Arastia a century from now, or so while she was at her very strongest, he couldn’t even imagine just how unfathomable power she would have.

Especially if she becomes a MECHA martial artist.

Would he even stand a chance against such absurd levels of power? She was shaping up to be hundreds, if not thousands, of times more powerful than any Martial Artist could ever hope to be. It was possible that she could even surpass the Martial Transcendents without even achieving Transcendence.

”The future is exciting.”

Rui’s tone was one of sincerity.

He just wished the future were now, when he needed this conflict and stimulation at a time when he was rapidly reducing the number of people who could even fight him head-to-head without being defeated easily.

He almost wished there was some way he could travel far into the future, where he was no longer top dog.