What unfolded before the eyes of every power in Gaia shook them to their very core. The entire world was drowned in his water as they watched a fleet of warships enter a wormhole that allegedly connected them to Barnard's Star, many light-years away.
Then, again with Sirius.
Then, again with Procyon.
Three fleets of warships transmitted to three distant light-years despite a pointed absence of the necessary energy.
"This…" Pri Minister Jas fell to his seat in the Pri Minister's office in the Britannian Empire. "So this is the power of a Martial Transcendent…"
He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. He had expected that Rui would pull off so shenanigans when he ordered the fleets to gather near the Interstellar Gate despite a marked absence of the energy needed to open a wormhole to distant star systems.
Pri Minister Jas had never had the opportunity to actually stand in the presence of Transcendent Emperor Arthur, thus he had never experienced the might of a Transcendent in person.
It was overwhelming. It had been overwhelming even the first ti when Rui had broken through the Transcendent Realm in battle. However, it was even more overwhelming now because he was much closer to Gaia than he had been when he was at the edge of the solar system.
And the fact that Rui could casually get rid of the energy requirents needed for the Interstellar Gate with his own personal power was truly shocking.
He was even more powerful than the youngest Pri Minister had realized.
"You're overthinking it."
The relaxed voice of Edward drew the young Pri Minister's attention. Edward sat opposite him with uncharacteristically informal attire and a casual expression, sipping so tea as he skimd through the reports of Rui's shenanigans. "Don't get too worked up about the Emperor of Water. You should accept that he is the de facto leader of our continent."
Pri Minister Jas glared at his predecessor.
Ever since he retired after the Laminar and Nebular Wars, the man had completely lost all sense of severity and tension. He appeared to have been unburdened, almost hovering above the ground like he was unsusceptible to gravity.
Clearly, he had taken to retirent like a fish to water.
"Just because you are alright with Kandrian supremacy does not an I am," Pri Minister Jas hissed, sharpening his blue eyes. "We were once stronger than them, and now we, and almost every other nation in the world are their vassal state, essentially. We have bowed our heads on multiple levels, including the Void Order Regi. It's humiliating!"
Pri Minister Edward was unbothered by the anger of his successor. He knew it was not possible to talk the kid out of it. He himself had had a powerful ego his entire life, and it had taken him many years after the death of his enemy-turned-friend to shed it.
"It's inevitable," the forr Pri Minister remarked quietly, studying the actual water from Rui's Martial Embodint curiously. "He's not only a Martial Transcendent, but even before he broke through, he was far and away the strongest Martial Artist and controlled breakthroughs, even if it has increasingly beco universal. You can't beat that. Might as well just accept it."
Pri Minister Jas couldn't accept it. He admired the Britannian Empire of the past, which was a force to reckon with, not the Britannian Empire of the modern era, which bowed its head to the Kandrian Empire.
"You sound a lot like the Emperor of Harmony rather than the Iron Minister as they used to call you," Pri Minister Jas grumbled. Edward didn't even bother denying the influence that his late friend had had on him after they had put their differences aside. "I have lived a long life. Who I am now is a product of centuries' worth of experience. I don't expect you to understand."
Pri Minister Jas huffed lightly as he turned towards the footage of Rui casually opening portals to distant star systems with his own personal power, imposing his will upon the very fabric of reality.
"In order to resist a Transcendent, we need a Martial Transcendent of our own."
Edward snorted at those words. "Keep dreaming. None of our Martial Sages are there yet. We only have three Transcendent Candidates, and none of them are Britannian yet."
"I wasn't talking about new Martial Transcendents, but old," Pri Minister Jas retorted.
Edward's expression grew complicated. There was a ti when his loyalty to the Transcendent Emperor was fierce, but then he disappeared for years. According to Rui, the man was only temporarily out of existence and would return in a century, of which almost ten years had already passed. By the ti the old Martial Transcendents would have returned, there would be many more Martial Transcendents across human civilization; he didn't think it would change anything.
Ultimately, for now, human civilization was firmly within the grip of the Emperor of Water, making it extrely unlikely for anybody to successfully challenge Rui's power.
"There are more important matters to focus upon," Edward warned his successor. "The enemies we share outside Gaia are much more of a threat than the overreach of the Kandrian Empire. Those Nebulars would have destroyed us if not for the Emperor of Water. And the Laminar Civilization would have certainly annihilated our entire planet if not for him."
Pri Minister Jas's expression grew grim. That was very true. No matter how much he wanted to focus on trying to restore the power of the Britannian Empire, it was not the most pressing issue. The alien forces in the cosmos were more powerful and dangerous than they could have ever imagined. Just a few months ago, not a single person would have imagined that there was not only alien life, but that alien life was so ubiquitous. Even outside of hostile alien life, the pioneers had discovered signs of life, and even so microbial elentary life in other star systems.
It ant that the cosmos was not unoccupied.
He turned back to the feed of the fleet of warships moving through the Interstellar Gate with a more serious expression. "Let's hope these reinforcents are enough."
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