CHAPTER 2067 CONSIDERATIONS
While the Divine Doctor and Rui studied the alien lifeform, other developments began to unfold across Kandria over the next few days.
A single rumor had begun blazing through the upper echelons of the Kandrian Empire.
A rumor that staggered anybody who heard it.
"Final Prince Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria has broken through to the Master Realm."
The elite, rich, and powerful in well-connected circles increasingly began hearing this piece of information passed around more and more.
Normally, they would dismiss it as nonsense.
A thirty-five-year-old Martial Senior, which was deeply anomalous in and of itself, breaking through to the Master Realm?
Who would believe such a thing?
Why would anyone believe such a rumor, especially when it was about the Final Prince of all people?
In the past six years since Rui had been revealed as the Final Prince of Kandria, countless rumors has flooded the Kandrian Empire about him.
Some whispered that he wasn't really the emperor's son. That the Emperor had faked their blood relationship because he found Rui to be fitting for the throne. Some whispered that he was actually responsible for the collapse of Prince Randal, Princesses Raemina, Ranea, and Rafia.
Some whispered that the current prince was a fake.
All of these rumors, however, had been dismissed as nonsense.
This was just the latest rumor to join the large pile of nonsensical rumors regarding the Final Prince.
But it persisted. (C) content.
This was because it came from multiple sources that independently reported it.
A leak from the staff at the Royal Palace.
A leak from the Kandrian Institute of Biotechnology.
A leak from the Martial Union.
A leak from an independent investigative guild.
They kept leaking faster than people could dismiss them.
It gave the naysayers pause even if they were deeply skeptical.
The Final Prince was thirty-five years old if he truly had broken through to the Master Realm at his current age, then he will have shattered the previous record by half.
In fact, he would have matched the previous record for the breakthrough the Senior Realm with his breakthrough to the Master Realm.
"That's impossible!" It was an exclamation that was not uncommon among those that could not bring themselves to believe such an outrageous rumor.
Over the next few days, the rumors continued to grow louder and stronger, spreading far beyond the confines of Kandria.
"Verify these immediately," a powerful masculine voice commanded, emerging from an even more masculine man.
He sat on an extravagant chair at a wide table at the center of a large extravagant office. An extravagant crest shined on the chest of his attire.
A coat of arms featuring a golden lion at its center.
The Britannian Empire.
He was none other than Prime Minister Edward Gel Dermont III of the Britannian Empire.
He read through the reports supplied by Britannian spies rooted in the Kandrian Empire as his eyes narrowed.
"It is deeply unlike that these are true but…" His deep voice rumbled. "…verify the veracity of these claims."
"Yes, sir."
His assistant swiftly left the prime minister's chambers to convey his command to the Britannian Intelligence Force.
His gaze shifted to the profile documents of the Final Prince featuring a picture of him.
"Prince Rui Quarrier Silas Kandria…" He growled. Britannia was hardly the only powerhouse that had a pronounced interest in the latest rumor surrounding the most famous prince of the Kandrian Empire.
In the depths of the most heavily guarded complex in all of the Republic of Gorteau sat a suited man at the desk.
The President of Gorteau.
He frowned, reading through the reports that the director of the Federal Intelligence Bureau had supplied. "…Is this real?"
A heavily suited man standing before him. "We have strong reason to believe that this isn't merely empty gossip, Mr President."
"So you mean to say…" He tossed the documents on the table. "…that this kid, who also turned out to be the crown prince of the Kandrian Empire, is also now a Martial Master? Are you kidding me?"
His eyes darkened as he met the gaze of the director of intelligence. "Tell me, if he truly is a Martial Master, what is the probability that he will become a Martial Sage?"
The air pricked all those who stood in his vicinity.
"…Dangerously high, Mr President. He has retained his youth and will almost certainly retain it even more when he consumes a potion sooner or later. His rate of growth will be extremely high compared to Martial Masters. The conditions to reach the Sage Realm are correlated with relative power. Thus, it will be highly beneficial to his growth in the Sage Realm."
President Raymond narrowed his eyes. "…What is the recommended response by the Federal Security Agency?"
"Elimination, Mr President." The Director of Intelligence firmly asserted. "The Final Prince of Kandria has caused us to suffer losses multiple times in the past. If he truly is a Martial Master, the threat that he represents is quite high. The potential threat he represents as a potential Martial Sage is even higher. Furthermore, killing him will weaken Kandria even more, triggering a second Throne War by depriving them of their next Emperor."
The president narrowed his eyes coldly as he fell into thought.
"…Purely hypothetically, but what are our options in eliminating him?"
On the very opposite side of East Panama, the Sekigahara Confederate, too, had taken notice of the rumors of Rui's breakthrough to the Master Realm.
"…This will be fun." A woman clad in the ethnic attire of the Tanaka Clan remarked. She smiled coldly. "Kandria's future is bright with that young man at its center."
Her eyes grew frostier. "Perhaps a bit too bright."
Her gaze swept across the round table of the thirteen other individuals who shared her smile.
They were the leaders of the fourteen clans of the Sekigahara Confederate.
"Kandria…" One of them remarked. "…is changing."
His eyes sharpened. "Times of change are no different from times of weakness. I wonder if there ever will be an opportunity like this ever again."
The others understood what he meant as they fell into thought.
The three powerhouses came to have their own considerations regarding the recent developments.
Regardless, the future of the East Panama would change more than anything of them could ever imagine.
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