CHAPTER 2074  THE TRANSFER OF POWER

The two of them immediately began working together to ensure that the transfer of power would go smoothly. "It won't take me too long to void all the agreements and contracts now that news of your return has spread through the world," Rui calmly remarked. "However, I doubt that you want me to get rid of all of them at once."

The Emperor of Harmony nodded appreciatively. "Should you let go of all your power faster than I can make it mine, then the probability that I may fail to monopolize it is now low enough."

Rui shrugged. "I think you're underestimating how popular you are, Father. Too many people hold you in far too high regard for anybody to possibly win that power from you."

"Be that as it may," his father continued. "It is not worth taking a risk for. I want to minimize the probability of anything going wrong."

"…Fair enough," Rui nonchalantly remarked. "What plans for the transfer of power do you have? I was thinking of holding a mass conference with my stakeholders to tell them that I would eventually be planning to support you and prime them to join you. However, that is a crude way of going about it."

Rui was just extremely impatient to get it over with.

"…It is a bit too straightforward and may very well do more harm than good." The Emperor of Harmony shook his head. "You need to remember that the stakeholders of your faction are deeply displeased by my return. In their minds, they have been denied their rightful influence on the next emperor due to my return and have suffered immense losses."

Rui was aware of this, of course.

"There are ways to get around this," he pointed out. "For one, I can financially compensate them significantly with all the wealth I got from the donations to my campaign."

Emperor Rael frowned at his son's suggestion. "That is surely impossible. Campaign donations are spent on campaigning. There is no way you can repay all of them since you have spent the majority of it on bribing high-ranking government officials."

"That's true, but the good part is that I received capital from all over East Panama," Rui smirked, "while the only people that we need to compensate are stakeholders within Kandria."

Emperor Rael understood where Rui was going with his plan. "However, compensating only domestic stakeholders will earn you the ire of foreign stakeholders."

Rui shrugged. "If I were a Martial Senior, I would be worried. But I am a Martial Master." "…Still, even if you did receive donations from foreign stakeholders, surely most of the wealth you received came from within Kandria."

"That's true."

"In that case, you shouldn't be able to compensate your domestic stakeholders since the total capital you received is not that much greater than the capital you received from within Kandria, which is what you're seeking to repay."

"That's also true," Rui admitted. "However, out of all stakeholders, I do not need to financially repay the Martial Union. They learned about my deception, as you know, and I already settled my debt to them for free after I won a Martial duel and wager to them." (C) content.

"...That sounds exactly like something they would do." Emperor Rael heaved a soft sigh. "And considering that a large portion of my donations came from them, I can actually manage to repay the others from the wealth that I got from them. It's close, but I should be able to fully repay all of them in this manner," Rui explained. "Hmmm… in that case, your plan does have merit." Emperor Rael nodded appreciatively. "Less than one percent of campaign runners return donations in the event of their losses; thus, you shall earn deep appreciation from each of them, which, in turn, shall make them more sympathetic and willing to support me instead."

Rui nodded. "Those were my thoughts as well. Probably the best way to turn them sympathetic."

"That's not all," the Emperor realized. "It can allow you to abolish your faction a lot sooner since you can justify that by the lack of funds. I see; that was your main goal, wasn't it?"

Rui shrugged. "Win-win if you ask me."

"Hah," Emperor Rael mirthlessly laughed. "I suppose that is true. Your plan has merit. The only issue is…"

An amused smile appeared on his face. "Can you actually sell that you are truly devastated by my return?"

That was a question that Rui hadn't considered.

It might prove to be a little difficult.

"I've fooled lots of people about lots of things," Rui impassively remarked. "I don't foresee any issues in that regard."

"It's going to be a little different this time," his father warned him. Rui's expression darkened. "Because of how close the timing is to my breakthrough?"

Emperor Rael nodded seriously. "A son randomly breaks through to the Master Realm at the age of thirty-five while the father simultaneously breaks out of the curse of the Eternal Dream Disease. Two events that should be impossible somehow happened nigh simultaneously."

It wouldn't take a genius to suspect that something fishy had taken place.

"Of course, they won't arrive at the truth when considering the various possibilities," the Emperor calmly stated. "The truth, your story, is actually quite absurd and fantastical. However, many might come to think that it was a fraud from the very start. After all, deception is far more likely than the notion that I was able to recover from the Eternal Dream Disease."

"We have the Divine Doctor as proof, but…" Rui's expression grew complicated.

"…Revealing that we have the Divine Doctor at our service will put an even bigger mess on our hands," Emperor Rael completed his thoughts. "Put aside any thoughts of revealing any of the super assets that you have bestowed upon Kandria. The Silas Clan's joining of the Kandrian Empire significantly increased the tensions between Kandria and the other three powerhouses. Elder Tree, time-accelerated dungeon, and the Divine Doctor are things that must remain secret. At the very least, not before I have fully regained all my power."