Chapter 2184: Preparations

Rui needed to exert an immense amount of self-control to ensure that he didn't give away his intentions through his reactions. Thankfully, his Martial Mind was stronger than theirs; thus, they couldn't sense his intentions directly the way that he could theirs. In other words, he wasn't a liability to his own mission given to him by his father.

However, it didn't change the fact that he needed to comply.

"I'm willing to peacefully adhere to the legal protocol of the Panamic Martial Federation," Rui reassured. "I hope the Panamic Martial Federation will, however, grant me the grace of retrieving my clothes and belongings."

"Of course." The lead Martial Master nodded. "You shall be treated in a manner befitting an exalted Martial Master."

Rui fell into thought as he quickly prepared himself for what was to come.

In ordinary circumstances, he had plenty of reason to be extremely wary of his current predicament.

After all, the Panamic Martial Federation was quite certain that he was aware of the methodology behind the mass Apprentice breakthroughs. On top of that, as an organization that reflected the will and was not independent of the Martial World, he knew that the organization was experiencing a tremendous amount of pressure from its constituents to extract the secrets of the mass Apprentice breakthroughs from him. In other words, he needed to ensure that the pressure did not overwhelm his capacity to navigate the trial carefully.

Thankfully, Martial jurisprudence typically did not take as much time and was not as elaborate as normal human jurisprudence.

The reason for this was simple.

Martial Artists simply lacked the patience to deal with extensive legal protocols that were common in the non-Martial World.

This worked in his favor.

After all, a prolonged legal procedure would cause the Kandrian Empire to lose stock of the extra Martial Apprentices that he had left behind to ensure that it could pretend new Martial Apprentices were being mass-produced even when he was not around.

"I'm ready," Rui remarked, having procured the things and having made the preparations that he needed to. "Good. We will escort you to the quarters that will serve as your house arrest premises," the lead Martial Masters strictly informed him. "Until your trial is complete and a verdict is delivered, you are prohibited from activating your Martial Heart and your Martial Mind. Any attempt to do so will be deemed as hostility and we will execute you on the spot, as we are authorized to do so."

Rui hated what he heard. However, he had no choice but to adhere to these regulations for now.

There was no chance of escaping the stronghold of the Panamic Martial Federation. He would get hunted so fast, it wouldn't even be funny.

However, in turn, he couldn't leave his mission either.

It would be one thing if he had simply rejected his father's request in the first place. However, now that he had accepted and given his father his word that he would complete it, he couldn't back out.

On top of that, the only way to get out of this problem was to ensure that the mission actually succeeded.

If the High Martial Judge decided to sentence him to imprisonment or a criminal Martial labor program, he was screwed.

He needed her to acquit him, or else he was screwed.

For that, he could only hope that she was as desperate to get her power back as he strongly suspected that she was.

The Martial Master guards escorted him through the Panamic Martial Federation to a highly secured housing unit that was heavily guarded by Martial Masters. One look at it and it didn't feel very welcoming, given how strict the security was.

"This will be your housing quarters, Master Rui," the head Martial Master informed him. "We will return when your trial is due. You may access all the resources you need for your hearing inside where a dedicated staff of assistants will aid with everything you need."

Rui nodded as they headed inside.

It wasn't long before he found himself inside the compound, perched inside his own designated house arrest room.

Much to his surprise, even the house arrest quarters were quite luxurious, with plenty of space and extravagant amenities. He felt like he was in a hotel on a vacation rather than house arrest.

"Perks of being a Martial Master, I suppose," he remarked. "However, I don't have time to indulge in all of this."

He needed to prepare for his trial that was tomorrow.

There wasn't much time for preparation. However, there wasn't too much to prepare for either. He just needed to make sure that he had identified the most optimal strategy that would maximize the probability of him getting out of there alive and, well, with Sage Kole Kellin journeying back home to the Kandrian Empire with him.

Upon arrival, he began planning.

From the very start, he knew that the lack of sophistication in Martial litigation would work against him because that meant there was less room for loopholes. The process was incredibly simple. He would be presented before the judge, who would have gone over the case files prior to the hearing and would proceed to ask him a bunch of questions. By the end of the session, she would come to a judgment and would sentence him to whatever she deemed fit.

In other words, it all came down to how well he could manipulate her.

Ordinarily, he would be quite pessimistic about his chances of success.

After all, Martial Sages were deeply insightful. He doubted she was any different; her senses did not need to be suppressed even if she had sealed off her Reams of power. In other words, it was highly unlikely that he would be able to deceive her as a Martial Master.

If not for his trump card, he was sure that he was doomed.

"But even with my trump card..." He narrowed his eyes. "I need to make sure that I execute my offer to her."