The Martial Unity

The Rui Faction began setting up at a remarkable speed. Just a month after announcing his bid for the throne, the core foundations had been established.

He employed his wealth to purchase a massive high-end business complex at the heart of the Town of Hajin that could comfortably fit his new staff comprised of hundreds of members initially, due to accommodate thousands, eventually.

With the hundreds of billions of credits from his Hungry Pain contribution and the billions of gold that he had gotten from his deal with Prince Raijun, it was no effort to purchase what he needed to get his hands on.

Once his staff got to work, the speed of growth of the infant incomplete faction was high.

Very rapidly, a financial division was hired that was given some authority in the accounts of the Rui Foundation. This team would handle various mundane financial matters such as calculating budget, estimating expenditures, and documenting taxes, among other things. Rui did not want to so much as dip a toe in this matter because of how astonishingly boring and mind-numbing it was.

That was why ensuring the man in charge was competent and trustworthy was important.

"So, Mr. Dolius Meafeau, I read that you were the chairman of the top venture capital guilds in the nation before you retired," Rui remarked casually. "Why apply to my faction for the position of director of finance?"

The elderly man smiled. "I retired shortly after the debacle of the Shionel Dungeon. It was one of the most exciting econopolitical tussles that I have ever witnessed in my entire career. At the time, I didn't know who the Voider was, but he had earned my deepest appreciation and admiration. And now, the Voider has bid for the throne. My instinct tells me that this is not an event that I want to watch from the sidelines."

A small hint of mischief cracked at the end of his smile. "It also would not be bad to be appointed as the Finance Minister of the nation."

He was incredibly qualified. No one with his education, experience, and accolades would apply for the lowly position of director of finance of any ordinary organization.

But he did so for Rui's faction.

Rui accepted him in a heartbeat after verifying his intent with various Martial Masters.

Another important division that he needed to pay attention to was the intelligence division. Timely and reliable intelligence was vital for a faction to function.

Now that he was creating his own faction, it was not appropriate to rely on the Martial Union or the Beggar's Sect.

The Beggar's Sect had allied itself with Prince Raul, meaning that there was a conflict of interests between himself and the organization.

It was a shame.

They had had a good partnership and working relationship, but unfortunately, he could no longer trust them the second he was revealed to be a prince.

The Martial Union's intelligence services were still more trustworthy, but not entirely. They were not morally above manipulating information to make themselves look more favorable to him.

"Mrs. Flamella Vering," Rui remarked, seated before an older woman. "You were the former director of the Kandrian Bureau of Intelligence. You can imagine my surprise when my secretary informed me about your application for the position of Director of Intelligence in my soon-to-be complete faction."

She simply stared at him with a blank expression without making so much as a twitch.

"…" Rui waited for a moment. "I was hoping you could tell me more about your reason for application."

She closed her eyes. "I have had my eye on you ever since I learned of the fact that you tricked my intelligence surveillance when you sneaked into the Shionel Dungeon."

"Ah…" Rui smiled back as he recalled how he had tricked the Martial Union into believing he was in the Kingdom of Violis while he sneaked away to the Martial Union.

He had long forgotten about that, but apparently, some people hadn't.

He put her through even more verifying, requesting even the Truthseeker herself to vet and verify her intent before he appointed her to the position of director of intelligence.

Once he appointed competent and credible people to the directors of divisions, he completely delegated the structuring and hiring process of the positions in their departments to them. He didn't want to deal with more boring administrative work.

Thankfully, the more he delegated, the less work he had.

That wasn't saying much, of course, considering he still had a huge amount of work after delegating, but it was still manageable.

Funnily enough, he found the boring work of creating and leading a faction to be far more tiring than even the most difficult training processes for his technique project techniques.

It was soul-draining.

It made him all the more resolute to find the Divine Doctor and avoid the throne, for the task of Emperor would be a much greater burden than what he faced now.

By the time the Rui Faction was fully established and set up at its massive headquarters in the heart of the town of Hajin, three months had fully passed.

"…And with that, all systems are running smoothly and soundly, Your Highness," His secretary informed him.

Rui sat at the table in his new extravagant and ostentatious office.

Never had he imagined that he would be in the position that he was, doing the things that he was doing.

It was at moments like this that the consequences of his father's decision truly hit him.

The air grew melancholic.

He opened his eyes.

A single remark escaped his mouth.

"It's time."

"…Your Highness?" His secretary tilted her head.

"Call for a press conference," Rui remarked. "Invite all the top national and international corporations and services in the news and information distribution sector of East Panama."

His secretary widened her eyes at that instruction. "…And the purpose?"

"Only inform them that I have an important announcement to make," Rui replied. "I intend to announce the official commencement of my campaign and more…"

His eyes narrowed. "The world will listen to what I have to say."