The Martial Unity

Had it not been for the micro-expression control that he had been trained in, as well as the Mind Mask that he had put on, Rui didn't think he would have been able to remain as composed as he appeared to be.

He remained silent as he tried his best to maintain his calm and exposure, simply staring at Guildmaster Bradt from behind his esoteric ore-stuffed suit.

"Not so much as a twitch, hm?" Guildmaster Bradt mused. "Remarkable, you're not like the other Martial Artists, but I suppose that's just preaching to the choir at this point, given the series of impossible feats you've pulled off."

Rui stared at him, refusing to utter a word. There had to be a point to bringing this up.

"More importantly, believe it or not, I didn't discover your identity by myself. I actually stole it from a good old friend of mine, a few hours ago,"

Rui's eyes narrowed.

"Someone you're familiar with, Chairman Deacon," Guildmaster Bradt informed him. "He has launched his entire intelligence department into a highly secretive investigation against you, and your little friend."

Rui struggled to maintain his composure as he reeled from the impact of what Guildmaster Bradt had just told him. Chairman Deacon had already discovered his identity?!

Rui furiously thought about the means by which his identity was revealed, realizing that being exposed at the Root floor had probably been the tipping point, allowing the investigation to reach him.

An immense amount of anxiety was born in his heart.

worst fears had come

of his identity, the game had entirely changed. He desperately needed protection,

He cursed as he realized how much trouble he was in. It wasn't that he couldn't think of any way to protect his family, he just was deeply unwilling to pay the price that the Martial Union demanded

hanging. He loved them far too much to be able to not take great measures to protect them. But at

need another solution!') He realized, returning his attention

said a word to him, his silence was

telling the truth at the moment. Lying to Rui, will all of his senses and understanding of patterns was almost impossible. On top of that, Rui knew that he had no reason to lie, and every reason to tell the truth. Chairman Deacon knew that Rui had a connection to the Kandrian Empire, the Martial Union specifically, it

For Rui still possessed the map that he had given him. That map was most valuable to him when he was the only one who had received it from Rui. The more people got

the course of their interactions, Rui had proven to be far too careful to allow for any opening. He couldn't even manage to

close to the Shionel Dungeon, which was no different from his natural guardian at this point. He couldn't touch Rui even if he brought an army with him. Rui could do far too much damage, it wasn't worth

ago when his most entrenched spies deep inside Deacon's staff had managed to come across the intelligence. He had immediately conducted furtive surveillance

being able to come to a decision immediately. He had been thrust into a crisis that was unlike any that he had ever dealt with before in either of his two previous lives, the sheer unfamiliarity of his circumstances with the high stakes

Almost.

in deeply as he calmed his

broke