The Martial Unity

If there was a Martial Senior anywhere nearby, it would be game over and the two of them would die in a heartbeat.

('This is going to require some finesse, unfortunately,') Rui sighed. ('I can't brute force my way through this with power or a grade-ten stealth technique. I'm going to have to be allowed in.')

Rui scoured through the intelligence that the Floating Sect had on the Graheria Kingdom's military security and anti-espionage measures.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as comprehensive as he wanted it to be, much to his surprise. He had expected that the Floating Sect would be ahead of the Kaddar Regions in the intelligence battle. After all, infiltrating the Floating Sect covertly was damn near impossible given how isolated from the rest of human civilization it was. There was simply no chink in the armor to wriggle into.

Except one. Trying to become a guardian as an initiate, but unfortunately, that was too difficult because it was impossible to disguise their prominent Martial Squires in an attempt to make sure they don't get recognized. The Floating Sect forced Martial Squires to be transparent with their Martial Art, otherwise, they would die in challenges or lose their chamber.

In order to sneak a Martial Squire into the Floating Sect that none of them recognized, they would need to break a brand-new Martial Apprentice into the Squire Realm after faking his death. Then they would need to make him secretly train from scratch and hope he has what it took to become a truly elite high-grade Martial Squire. Once they became an elite high-grade Martial Squire, they would then need to have this unheard and unseen

However, because the training for Martial Squires was not something that could be normally accelerated, this process would take more than a decade, to possibly multiple decades.

Unlike Rui, and Kane to a certain extent, reaching higher grades in the Squire Realm was not something that less extraordinary Martial Squires could do in a matter of a few years. It was simply an unfeasible plan.

The Floating Sect could infiltrate the nations of the Kaddar Region more easily, however, not too well because of the isolation and the distance, and it was difficult managing a spy network.

Rui figured that he ought to be grateful that they were able to at least supply him with this much information.

"Military complex G49," Rui murmured. "Heavily guarded military base and a research and development facility on the outskirts of the nation."

A rigorous security system requiring every person who entered the facility to show identity proof, verify clearance level, and, if necessary, demonstrate the purpose of the visit. A complex array of protocols, which was pretty standard for top secret nation security matters.

"Hmmm, the probability of a Martial Senior being in the base, or in that region of the nation is not low," Rui murmured.

He knew how fast Martial Seniors were. He recalled the matriarch of the K'ulnen Tribe crossing massive distances from the K'ulnen village to the battlefield in seconds. Senior Ceeran in turn had also swiftly crossed dozens of kilometers before Rui even learned about it. If the Martial Senior was alerted, he was not going to take long to reach the military complex.

"I really need to figure this out and make sure my plan is rock solid, or else there will be consequences," Rui murmured. "The good thing is I don't need to get too close to the package to be able to sense it."

The best part was that he could completely bypass standard military anti-espionage measures. His Riemannian Echo was unstoppable barring special gravitic environments like the Ajanta Island.

However, given how absolutely gigantic the complex was, he wouldn't be able to sense the package and gain information on it from outside the complex.

('Which means I definitely need to infiltrate and enter the military complex and get close enough to sense it properly before leaving.') Rui mused. "I ought to do some personal reconnaissance and get a good understanding of the kind of security that they have going on rather than just trusting the intelligence of the Floating Sect, it's better for me that I have a good personal understanding of the matter before I formulate a way to enter the G49 complex."

And that was exactly what he did. He quickly packed some potions and the necessary supplies before adorning some of the typical attire of the Graheria Kingdom.

Soon enough, he left Ajanta Island heading towards the Graheria Kingdom, having memorized a map of the Kaddar Region and the Graheria Kingdom.

Leaving Ajanta Island was a pain in the ass because he needed to avoid surveillance, thus he needed to maintain a high altitude and only descend after he left the Kaddar Region. After that, he needed to circle back and enter the Kaddar Region once more before finally heading towards the Graheria Kingdom.

It was a time-consuming and tedious process that made him understand why Martial Squires didn't leave the island to complete missions.

Regardless, his work only began once he entered the Kingdom of Graheria.

The Kingdom of Graheria was a densely populated and ethnically diverse country, much to his delight. This made it easier to blend in as someone from the Kandrian Empire. It wouldn't raise any questions or make him instantly identifiable as an outsider, necessarily.

Furthermore, the population density truly was a saving grace, it meant that as long as he had his Mind Mask on, he was basically invisible.

Furthermore, the protocols at the port of entry for arriving travelers were also lax due to this, he essentially just swooped through within five minutes.

('Alright, now I need to get to the south of the nation and get a good look at area G49,')

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to speed through at top speed, not without killing people, and sky-walking attracted far too much attention, thus he simply walked as fast as he could. It wasn't too long before he reached his destination, watching it from afar.