Chapter 2135: Resource Allocation

Rui had to admit that his father and the Martial Union had made the manifold far more useful than it had been on its own. Although he had found a way to make do without resources when developing his Muspelheim and Niflheim techniques, he had to admit that things would have gone a lot smoother if he had the Martial Union's resources when developing those two techniques.

Now, with the manifold armed with the best of what the Kandrian Empire as a whole had to offer, it truly was as though the Martial Union was buying time, relative to the rest of the world.

He spread his senses across the entire manifold, taking a good look at all the progress that had been made by the two most powerful forces of Kandria.

At first glance, one might find it surprising that not all of the space had been dedicated to Martial Art.

Only eighty-five percent of the space had been dedicated to Martial Art.

The remaining space had been dedicated to non-Martial-Art-related activities. He spotted some rather large research complexes as well as entire building complexes dedicated to the management of the rest of the manifold.

After all, all the infrastructure and training resources weren't going to manage and maintain themselves. An entire department of divisions and teams was required to manage the whole thing from end to end.

"The question is how you're going to manage having so many civilians working on a national treasure without causing any leaks..." Rui narrowed his eyes.

It didn't matter how much the Kandrian Government and Martial Union worked on vetting their staff. Putting so many people in direct exposure to such an important secret would undoubtedly cause at least one of them to leak precious intelligence in one way or another. He had his doubts until he found another massive section dedicated to vast expansive residential blocs.

"Ah... I suppose they cannot leak information if they never leave the manifold ever again."

It was a brutal strategy to seal any and all intelligence risks, yet highly effective nonetheless.

Emperor Rael most likely decided to make the secret hiring program specify 'for life' and 'can never leave' conditions.

He didn't need to resort to dark means, either.

The world was filled with all kinds of desperate people who were willing to do anything to escape their hellish circumstances. It would be quite easy to use those circumstances to get them to agree to extreme conditions, even if Kandrian wages and remuneration would undoubtedly be like heaven to them.

Many would call that exploitation, but Rui knew that neither his father nor the Martial Union cared about such principles. By the standards of this brutal Age of Martial Art, just not forcefully enslaving them and making them work against their will could be considered quite virtuous.

Rui could technically push back this unethical arrangement if he wanted, with his authority over it, but the truth was that he didn't care about it either.

He was more interested in evaluating how well his father and the Martial Union had made use of the space of the manifold, and whether it was the most optimal division of resources or not. In that regard, it made complete sense to dedicate an overwhelming majority of the space to Martial Art and only a minority to R&D.

After all, the greatest constraint to Martial Art was time.

Cultivating Martial Artists took a lot of time.

Cultivating Apprentices took years.

Cultivating Squires took more than a decade.

Cultivating Seniors took multiple decades, often more than a century.

By the time one reached the upper Realms, multiple centuries were required.

In comparison, building a single Sage-level siege weapon of mass destruction took eighteen months on average.

It was precisely this massive disparity in the time needed that Martial Artists had not managed to render siege weapons obsolete even if they were vastly superior in combat in many ways.

Thus, had anything less than eighty percent of the space been dedicated purely to Martial Art, it would have been called a travesty.

"Alright, time to check out the combat arenas."

Rui dove as he surged to the Master-level section, coming across a vast field surrounded by a solid dome that restricted all outside vision into the dome. A prudent measure, considering how harmful Martial Embodiments were to the human mind. Eventually, he found himself touring the entire combat arena for Martial Masters.

STEP

"Nice..." Rui murmured, sweeping his gaze across the entire area. "I assume this is armed with the power to ensure that the power of Martial Masters is contained within, right?"

"Yes, Your Highness," the manager of the arena remarked eagerly. "We cannot afford to have the rest of the Kandrian Martial Chambers experience adverse effects from the combat sparring between two Martial Masters."

Rui nodded.

The place was a little cramped for Martial Masters, of course, however, he had to admit that the benefits astronomically outweighed this particular shortcoming.

"Alright, I'm booking this place for myself," Rui announced.

"Of course, Your Highness," the manager nodded enthusiastically. "How long do you wish to book it to your name?"

Rui smiled. "Indefinitely long. I'm not leaving until I have completely satisfied my requirements for this place."

"Er, I'm afraid monopolizing of any given resource is not allowe—"

"I own the resource," Rui retorted calmly. "Partially, anyway. I can make use of any resource unless both the Martial Union and my father personally interject. Until then, it is mine for however I want to use it."

As far as Rui was concerned, he was entitled to at least this much, considering how much he had gone through to find and escape from the dungeon, before bringing it back home and sharing its ownership with his father and the Martial Union to compensate for his discretions.

He had earned the right to override the interests of others for the safety of his own, to a reasonable extent.

"Alright." A small grin cracked at the edge of his mouth. "Time to send commissions to all Martial Masters in the Kandrian Empire."