The Martial Unity

Rui was satisfied with the plan that he had come up with under the constraints that he was forced to operate under, two of them, specifically. He wanted to make sure he extracted the giant esoteric ore deposit under the trunk of the tree before Deacon Industries became explicitly aware of its existence. He definitely would not consider taking it after they had already extracted it and begun transporting it.

Which meant he had to act as soon as was humanly possible. Given that condition, the plan he had created definitely maximized that outcome. The second the final layer of branches was being destroyed before they could reach close enough to get a glimpse of the esoteric ore, he distracted and obscured their vision with a few special smoke grenades before quickly extracting the boulder and immediately leaving the area. The two of them reached the tunnels they were headed for extremely swiftly without any hitch, just as they had planned.

What they hadn't accounted for was a crazy overpowered grade-ten Martial Squire launching a gigantic long-range and wide-area wind attack that ended up severely hurting many of his own comrades. It was an insane thing to do, and Rui did not think Chairman Deacon would overlook such a transgression.

Still, it didn't matter. What mattered was that even though it was diluted when it reached them, it was enough to disrupt the Void Step technique when it slammed into them.

Rui and Kane almost reflexively got back together in a state of heightened alertness and adrenaline. Only a brief moment had passed when the Void Step technique was inactive, and the next moment, they had restored it.

And yet, the damage was done.

"What?!" One of the patrolling Martial Squires exclaimed as his senses just barely caught some figures appearing and disappearing into thin air. Deacon Industries had set up patrolling Martial Squires around the walls to ensure that any Martial Squire that entered the floor and happened to discover it would end up dying so that the secret would not spread.

Even if it is for just a brief moment. Even if it was just the barest of silhouettes.

Rui and Kane had been exposed.

The two of them immediately dashed out off the floor.

"Damn it!" Kane cursed. "That fucking psychopath! He probably killed the most immediate Martial Squires around him given how off-guard they probably were. What on Earth was going through his brain?! He definitely has a mental disorder! I'm putting all my savings on that bet."

"Calm down," Rui said despite his grim expression and severe tone. He was forcing himself to keep his composure regardless of how much they had been exposed. He was well aware that if there was one way to screw the situation up more than it already was, however bad that was, it was to begin panicking and make even dumber choices.

He cooled his mind as he analyzed the situation.

('That Martial Squire who was a hundred meters away from us when Void Step was disrupted is really the only problem,') He first concluded, before stopping in his tracks.

"What are you doing?!" Kane urged him.

"Calm down, Kane," Rui sighed heaved a sigh. "They're not chasing us."

Rui took the liberty to sit down on a boulder. "Frankly, we should have killed that Martial Squire then and there even if it was extremely risky. But everything happened far too quickly. It doesn't help that we had specifically primed our minds to complete the operation without any superfluous thought processes to ensure we don't dilly-dally. That has come back to bite us in the ass partially, even if killing there was a serious risk. That Martial Squire has almost certainly already regrouped with the others, and we cannot kill him now."

Rui tutted with a frustrated expression. Had he known that there was a grade-ten Martial Squire volatile enough to launch a powerful attack on friendlies impulsively due to being subjected to a smoke screen, he would have altered his plan, or at the very least, added preparations to counter it.

But alas, he did not possess precognition. There was no fathomable way for him to have come to know of the information of this unfortunate event ahead of time. Anyone who could have deduced the exact unfolding of such an event would probably possess a mind that utterly dwarfed even his.

He quickly analyzed his situation, the information that he could be certain about, and the various possible outcomes that could eventually be yielded by this occurrence.

('That man sensed us,') Rui narrowed his eyes. ('His reactions when facing are direction are absolutely an undeniable indication of that. However, we were outside the range of clarity of the senses of even particularly high-grade Martial Artists. Meaning, it is extremely likely that what he sensed was limited to noticing our existence, and not gleaning any specific details about our persons. At most, he may have noticed that there is more than one presence even if he had great sensory techniques. Unless he had a grade-ten sensory technique, there is a very little chance he actually sensed any of our physical traits.')

With that realization, he calmed down a bit. Unfortunately, that was the extent of the good news barring the fact that they had succeeded in their operation. The bad news was that the core of their operation was probably revealed. Frankly, even if Rui successfully managed to kill him there, the fact that a patrolling Martial Squire died to Martial Art techniques would still reveal the same amount of information more or less as it did now that he was alive.

Essentially, the moment he vaguely sensed their presence, the damage had already been done. Now, Rui had to find a way to best navigate the consequences of this unfortunate outcome. Should he and Kane continue to operate as always, or should the two of them change their modus operandi? He wasn't sure, but he would need more information, and time to consider all his options.