The Martial Unity

"You're telling me five Martial Seniors have died just like that?" 

"Yes...Master Haishi," Senior Zenshin bowed deeply. 

"This is despite being provided with the necessary resources to maintain the Martial Heart continuously at all times within the forest?" She asked.

"…Yes," Senior Zenshin gritted his teeth.

Her mouth curled with contempt.

She wasn't even in the room physically, yet her merely projected image seemed to generate an avalanche of weight that wrung the very air he breathed.

"The height of incompetence," She declared. "The Carnil Mafia has no use for Martial Artists who are too weak to even survive."

Senior Zenshin was not pleased. As someone who was entrusted with the security of the Gereign base of the Carnil Mafia, these failures fell on his shoulders.

"Continue the operations," She ordered. "That goes for yourself. Obtain the Ecstasy Plum Fruits, or die trying. I can assure you that the importance of the narcotics supply far exceeds that of your lives."

"Yes, Master," Senior Zenshin narrowed his eyes. "When will the reinforcements be arriving?"

"I alone will be arriving under the guise of a Martial Senior, initially." She announced. "I will oversee the Gereign Base when I arrive. It is far too important to be left in the hands of Martial Seniors, as I had expected. Once I arrive, we will be able to expand our operations tenfold. No number of Martial Seniors can overrun us with my presence."

"Yes, Master,"

"How are the Ecstasy Plum Fruit yields going?" Master Haishi asked.

"We've procured eight of them," Senior Zenshin replied. "However, the estimated yield was apparently one-fifth of the yield of our usual large-scale operations that we've halted."

"Eight is highly insufficient for Lord Carnil's machinations," Master Haishi's eyebrows curled as she glared at Senior Zenshin. "Increase your yield. Work harder. The Carnil Mafia has invested much in you over the past three centuries. If there ever was a time to prove you are worth it, it is now, during the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the Underworld has, to ascend to greater heights."

The call was cut, leaving him to heave a deep sigh as a surge of rage welled up within him. He didn't even know what his assailant looked like, yet he pictured how wonderful it would be to watch the light of the man's eyes when he finally got his hands on him.

"I almost hope he reaches me," The man gritted his teeth. 

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the assailant, whoever he was, was targeting the weaker Martial Seniors first and then moving on to the stronger ones. After all, the sole three high-grade Martial Seniors of the Carnil Mafia had yet to be untouched in their exploration operations for the Ecstasy Plum Fruit.

The fourth Martial Senior yet to be ambushed was a grade-twelve Martial Senior who was on the cusp of being a high-grade Martial Senior.

Senior Zenshin was the strongest of them all, thus following this pattern, he would be the last to be attacked. 

Perhaps for the first time in his life, he regretted being the strongest. Had he been weaker, he would have had the opportunity to run into the hated assailant before anybody else. 

There wasn't the slightest shred of doubt in his mind that he would rip the sinner alive. While he displayed a docile demeanor before Master Haishi, that was because he had boundless gratitude for the Martial Master who had taken him under her wing and trained him.

His true nature was the polar opposite.

He gritted his teeth as his fists clenched, his mouth curled with hatred.

"I'm going to find and tear you apart with my own two hands." Rage overflowed onto his face.

BEEP

He glanced at the communication amulet at his waist, reading the message he received.

"What?!" His eyes widened. "Senior Bernete is… dead?"

He gritted his teeth. 

Only three Martial Seniors remained. 

"DAMN IT ALL!" He bellowed, shaking the ground with sheer rage. 

Martial Seniors were being picked off one by one with ease. Most organizations would be broken and in shambles with such a loss, but this was not the case for the Carnil Mafia, not only did this organization have the power to tap into the massive Martial Artist population of the Kandrian Empire, they even had the power to attract Martial Seniors from across the continent.

As the Underworld of a continental powerhouse, their power was proportionally high. They simply were not responding the way that Senior Zenshin had hoped. After all, once Master Haishi arrived, the operations would be able to expand massively under her protection. 

Essentially, he would be deemed unnecessary and incompetent.

He clenched his fists. 'That cannot be allowed to happen.'

However, now there were only three high-grade Martial Seniors left. Although the assailant's stealth was absurd, and his power was certainly great, he didn't think that he would lose.

For now, he needed to investigate the death of Senior Bernete. It wouldn't be long before he would have to report to Master Haishi about this incident as well.

"What is the profile of the killing, same as the previous ones?" Senior Znehsin asked, growling at the scout when he met up with him. 

"N-No, sir," The man gulped. "The corpse was arranged in a peculiar manner. With its arms and knees folded to resemble a chicken."

"What…?" Senior Zenshin's eyes narrowed. "Chicken…? If I'm not wrong, that is something that the Vale Syndicate does."

The Vale Syndicate was the leading Underworld organization of the Republic of Gorteau and was the Underworld force that harvested supplies of narcotics from the Gereign Region to sell in the Republic of Gorteau.

His teeth gritted. "Has it been those bastards from the very get-go?"

"We don't know yet, sir, but we have begun investigating," The man remarked.

"Find out everything there is to know! If the Vale Syndicate is involved then this may very well turn out to be a war," Senior Zenshin narrowed his eyes.

Yet he couldn't hide a savage smile. A known organization with a known presence in the Gereign Region was better than dealing with some singular elite assassin with ungodly stealth.