Star Genesis took a deep breath. The former Formation Elder had done most of the talking since she hadn't been entirely sure how to react to Kyle's sudden appearance, but as the current Formation Elder, she also had to say some things.
"Your armor proves part of your capabilities in the field of Formation Arrays," Star Genesis transmitted to everyone with a polite voice. "However, we are still not entirely sure why this is relevant. You said your business is business. Am I right in assuming that you're willing to offer your services?"
The other people of upper management furrowed their brows.
The Sect Master, Disciplinary Elder, and Head Elder were more concerned with this person's loyalty, while the Treasury Elder was concerned about the monetary aspect.
"That's correct," Kyle answered. "I am willing to offer my services."
"Do you intend to join our Sect?" the Sect Master asked.
"No," Kyle answered. "I do not intend to join any Organization in the Secondary Sector for now. I am a free agent, and I want to remain a free agent. I am offering to design and set up Formation Arrays for your Sect. I realize that asking an external person to build your most valuable and fundamental defenses poses a security risk. I promise that there will be no hidden tricks or backdoors in the Formation Arrays."
"I'm willing to swear an oath, assuming you accept my services."
The members of upper management discussed Kyle's offer privately for quite a while. Just based on the fact that they were talking for several seconds meant that there were some things they were unsure about.
When they were done talking, Star Genesis looked at Kyle again. "Sir, we can't make a decision without additional information."
"Ask, and I shall answer," Kyle answered.
"First, are you fine with us designing the oath you are going to make, assuming we accept your services?" she asked.
"You can design one, and I will tell you if I will speak the oath or not," Kyle answered.
Upper management discussed a bit more before Star Genesis turned back to Kyle.
"Do you swear on your Realm that your Formation Arrays can be managed by us fully? Your Formation Arrays must be stable and easy to manage," Star Genesis asked.
Kyle nodded. "Yes, I can include that in the oath. Anything else?"
"Do you swear that, even if you join another Organization, you will not tell them what Formation Arrays we have or how they work? Can you also swear that there will be no hidden weaknesses or backdoors?" she asked.
"I can swear that there are no weaknesses that I am aware of," Kyle answered. "I can't swear that there will be no weaknesses. I don't know what I don't know. There will also be no backdoors."
Star Genesis nodded. "Can you swear that you will not take any hostile actions towards the Mountain River Sect for the next 1,000 years?"
"Yes," Kyle answered.
Star Genesis asked a couple more questions, and Kyle answered all of them.
The members of upper management nodded at each other before Star Genesis looked at Kyle again.
"Lastly, we would like to test your capabilities in a more direct manner," she said. "We can see that your proficiency in the field of Formation Arrays is high, but we can't be sure that you know how to design the Formation Arrays we require."
"I'm not afraid of a test," Kyle answered.
Star Genesis nodded. "Can you demonstrate the weaknesses of our current Formation Arrays?"
"If you're fine with me slightly damaging your current Formation Arrays, I can do so," Kyle answered.
Star Genesis and the Treasury Elder talked for a bit.
"As long as you keep the damage to a minimum, yes," Star Genesis said.
"Activate your defensive Formation Arrays and watch," Kyle spoke arrogantly.
Star Genesis' Energy stretched to several Bases all over the headquarters and activated them.
In almost an instant, a barrier appeared around the headquarters. The barrier could block several attacks of a Fulfilled Crusher before it would run out of Energy.
At the same time, space warped inside the headquarters, expanding the distance between the shield and the buildings.
A distorting fog of darkness filled the space, making it difficult for attackers to sense their surroundings.
An additional, poisonous fog appeared as well, draining the Energy of any attacker.
A Sensing Formation Array that could peer through the fog was activated.
A Concealing Formation Array was activated, which clouded all perception coming from outside the barrier.
Additional Concealing Formation Arrays were activated, which isolated the components of the other Formation Arrays.
In terms of Formation Arrays, the Mountain River Sect was definitely above average for its level of power. They had four Fulfilled Crushers, but their Formation Arrays were as advanced and powerful as those of Organizations with eight Fulfilled Crushers.
"Please, sir," Star Genesis spoke politely, gesturing towards the distant barrier.
The other members of upper management looked at their numerous Formation Arrays with pride. With these Formation Arrays, they could fight against a group of six Fulfilled Crushers.
The former Formation Elder looked with skepticism and malicious anticipation at Kyle.
He wanted to see what this guy could do against their defenses.
Meanwhile, Kyle just looked at the Formation Arrays calmly for a while.
"Your defenses cover each other's weaknesses," Kyle commented.
The former Formation Elder smiled with pride.
"But they don't cover a Formation Array's most fundamental weakness," Kyle said. "Every single one of your Formation Arrays is susceptible to the same thing."
Star Genesis and the former Formation Elder furrowed their brows.
They were not sure what he meant.
In their eyes, their defenses were solid.
"Enlighten us," the former Formation Elder spoke with a provocative tone.
Kyle snorted before lifting his right leg.
Then, he stomped onto space.
A wave of Space Energy with space manifesting properties washed over the Formation Arrays.
The space inside the barrier shrank to its normal size, while the Barrier weakened.
The different fogs became less dense, and the Concealing Formation Arrays became blurry.
Every member of upper management looked at their Formation Arrays in horror.
It was more than clear that all of their Formation Arrays had lost a significant part of their power!
How?!
Their Barrier Formation Array was supposed to block attacks and protect the other Formation Arrays!
How did all of their Formation Arrays suddenly weaken?!
Yet, just one second later, all of their Formation Arrays returned to normal.
It was like they hadn't been weakened at all.
Kyle snorted. "If I had just a bit more Energy, all of your Formation Arrays would have been broken," he said. "For now, your Nodes, Connections, and Bases have just been moved slightly and need some rearrangement. This shouldn't be too expensive."
While most members of upper management were still confused and horrified, the former Formation Elder and Star Genesis realized what had happened.
The former Formation Elder became awestruck, while Star Genesis became shocked by Kyle's insane speed of progress.
They knew what Kyle had done.
Using Space Energy to manifest space didn't mean that things were less likely to move. It just returned everything to how it would be without any manipulations done to space. The Minor Fragment of Spatial Stasis was the most essential component when it came to constructing Formation Arrays.
The entire point of the Minor Fragment of Spatial Stasis was to keep the components locked into space so that they retained their actual formation.
This was considered a manipulation of space.
When Kyle had manifested space around the Mountain River Sect, the Space Energy, keeping the components in place, weakened significantly.
The components jittered, which made the Formation Arrays unstable.
If Kyle had used more Energy, the Energy inside the Connections would have become chaotic, and the Nodes would have received the wrong kinds of Energy.
The Connections would have been corroded by the changed Energies, and the Runes on the Nodes would have been ruined. All the components would have fallen out of place, and all the Formation Arrays would have collapsed.
With a mere stomp of Kyle's foot, he could have annihilated all of their Formation Arrays.
In front of Kyle, these Formation Arrays might as well not exist.
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