Rui was taken aback by this strange and abrupt request from the Beggar Sage's inheritor. He truly hadn't expected to run into the Beggar Sage in an alleyway in a district in Hajin and receive the request to help all of human civilization.
His eyes narrowed as he fell into thought.
It was entirely possible that everything the man uttered was a lie. It would be wise of Rui not to take his words at face value even if he didn't explicitly disbelieve them. It was all a matter of balancing risk.
"The risks are most certainly far greater in not heeding my warning and request, Dawnbringer," the Beggar Sage mused with a knowing gaze. "I would not have deployed a direct vessel of mine in order to speak with you this way if this was just a trick. On top of that, I'm not interested in destroying my reputation as a credible information broker just to get my hands on a piece of your Martial Art. If I'm correct and you choose to distrust , then you will lose everyone you love and care about. You will lose this mighty empire of which you are the crown prince."
Rui considered his words for a mont before heaving a sigh. "Continue."
The Beggar Sage grinned. "Good choice. As for what you seek, there is too much to go into right here and now. It is best if you tune into the Human Summit that Adventurer's Guild plans to hold in about a month."
Rui was not pleased by that response.
"So you expect to join a task force and help you out with a problem that you're not even going to fully tell about right now?" he growled.
"It's too dangerous to spread this information through the normal channels of the Beggar's Sect. Using ordinary communication technology is also too dangerous," the Beggar Sage warned him. "Trust as the greatest expert on communication. The probability of an information leak is the integral of a function of complexity of the ans of communication and assimilation. Coming up with a complex plan to get you to read the intelligence that will be broadcasted anyway is not worth the risks."
"If it's too dangerous to spread the information, then wouldn't broadcasting it be even worse?" Rui raised an eyebrow. "Broadcasting it with powerful solutions, including your own, will be the panacea. On top of that, the Human Summit is still only limited to the powers and forces of humanity and not available to the common man. It will still be highly classified to the common man," the Beggar Sage replied with a asured tone. "We need you to co through. Otherwise, we're in trouble, Young Master. Do not make things difficult for yourself and for human civilization."
His gaze sharpened. "There is too much at stake here for you to be overly concerned about the exclusivity of your Martial Art."
Rui could feel the weight in his words.
He did not utter them easily.
If soone as powerful and functionally immortal as the Beggar Sage was this threatened by what was to co, then it certainly was sothing that was deeply serious, for not even the third Great East Panamic War had moved the Beggar's Sect.
Rui stirred at his words. "…Fine. However, if I find out that you have deceived in so way, you will regret it. That, I promise."
"Very well," the Beggar Sage accepted his words easily. "Then, I presu you are inclined to join this taskforce?"
"I don't like how in the dark I am, but yes."
"Good." The Beggar Sage grinned. "In that case, welco to the task force. Good to have you. Our mbers include myself and a few of my friends. The Ecologer and the Esoterist. The taskforce is structured as such. I am the intelligence gatherer. I gather all the information that exists and is relevant to the Beast Incursion. The Ecologer is the analyst; she processes all the information and diagnoses the problem. And you and the Esoterist are solution providers."
Rui stared at him knowingly. "Esoteric technological solutions and Martial solutions."
"Correct." The Beggar Sage nodded. "Martial Art and esoteric technology are what brought us to our dominant position in the world. And they will sustain us past this apocalypse."
"And when you say Martial solutions…"
"We require sothing that is low in difficulty, high in dissemination viability, and high in effectiveness against beasts and monsters," the Beggar Sage continued. "As long as you can co up with that, you will have completed your role in the taskforce."
Rui heaved a sigh. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. You said I have a month, right?"
"Correct, that is when we plan to host the Human Summit," Beggar Sage confird. "You will need to present your solutions by then. Anything works and you will have plenty of ti to refine it in the future, but human civilization desperately needs a stopgap for what is to co."
"That won't be necessary," Rui replied. "I already have sothing in mind."
The full Tree of Life was too large for it to satisfy the 'low difficulty' and 'high dissemination viability' conditions, but it was possible for him to prepare a simplified and diluted version of it, similar to what he had done with the voidlet techniques, that was easier to learn.
On top of that, a month might have been too little ti for everybody else, but with the manifold, that was fourteen months. He could easily whip up sothing to help all of human civilization.
Ordinarily, he would have demanded heavy compensation, but he knew that they weren't really in the circumstances to treat this as a simple business transaction. On top of that, the biggest reward for his contribution was the survival of the Kandrian Empire, for if the rest of human civilization fell, then all that pressure would fall on the shoulders of the Kandrian Empire.
"Good to hear," the Beggar Sage replied. "Well then, good luck and goodbye."
SSS!
His eyes rolled backward as his brain spontaneously lted, killing the vessel then and there.
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