Before long, the intelligence team received a full list of requirements in order of importance that needed to be scouted within a certain range of the G’ak’arkan village. The intelligence department got to work immediately, there was a lot of lands to be covered, after all.
Furthermore, they needed to take the environmental survey and recording devices with them that would allow them to measure the environmental parameters of the candidate locations for their soon-to-be settlement to occupy.
However, that alone wasn’t enough. Once the choice was made, the diplomatic team would need to send the data of that location back to the Martial Union, to commissioner Derun who would then make the necessary preparations and dispatch another cruise ship with the supplies and personnel that would be necessary to make the settlement work.
“I had suspected it would be the case, but I guess that hill paralleling Vilun mountain is indeed the best choice,” Rui sighed.
He was in a meeting with his diplomatic team in the conference room as they piled through all the reports and data that the intelligence team had painstakingly gathered across twenty days. They had curated and sorted all of the viable venues within range of the G’ak’arkan Tribe
“There are many merits to colonizing the G’una Hill, but there are other candidates as well, sir,” Stemple remarked. “For example, the flattened crater at the center of the island seems like a good place to settle.”
“No, that’s a bad idea.” Rui shook his head. “Haven’t you memorized all the previous anthropological and environmental data the Martial Union has collected on Vilun island?”
“Uh… no?” Stemple sheepishly admitted.
Of course, this wasn’t necessarily a fault of his. It wasn’t really his business as an assistant diplomat to memorize data that was well outside his expertise and purview and did not possess any direct relevance to his job as a member of the diplomatic team.
“That crater… was created by the clash between Martial Seniors,” Rui smiled weakly, sighing in admiration.
The many assistants in the room jolted as they halted their work, turning to Rui in shock.
“Tha-That’s impossible!” Zeyra’s eyes widened. “That crater is nearly two kilometers in diameter and nearly a hundred meters in depth at the center!”
Rui couldn’t blame them for their shock, he hadn’t been any less shocked himself when he had come across the report himself.𝒪𝗏𝓛xt.𝐎𝐦
He had never seen a Martial Senior in action, but now he realized that may not have been a bad thing. If he stood too close to a fight between them, significant injury from just the aftereffects was guaranteed. Death was the worst-case scenario.
The assistants assigned to the diplomatic team began to gain a clearer understanding of why hostilities hadn’t broken out in the previous diplomatic endeavor with Senior Ceeran. If they had broken out, the G’ak’arkan Tribe would be annihilated through and through barring the stronger Martial Squires.
“Regardless, the other Martial tribes avoid that spot because it served as a battleground for some of the powerhouses to intercept enemy powerhouses before the battle takes off into the air, building our settlement there is utter suicide,” Rui shook his head.
That was a pretty good reason to avoid that location.
It took a while, but the diplomatic team finalized the location. As Rui had predicted, choosing a hill, that too one that was closest to the G’ak’arkan Tribe was the best idea. The elevation was important to Rui because it allowed them to demonstrate the utility of their techniques at a height, which was relevant to the G’ak’akran Tribe.
Once the decision had been made, Rui sent the data to Martial commissioner Derun.
“Hmmm, definitely a logical choice,” She told him when he called and informed her of their choice. “I’ll start making preparations immediately. It shouldn’t take too long, as long as Senior Ceeran sends me the profiles of Martial Artists of the Longranger Sect as soon as possible.”
Rui nodded. “Understood. I haven’t had a chance to inform him of the choice of locations yet, but I will let him know as soon as possible.”
“Good,” She nodded as she read through the data that Rui had sent her.
“Another thing,” Rui remarked. “I wanted to inquire regarding the matter of authorization of the second plan of action that I had proposed to you.”
Her expression did not change at his words, but Rui could sense the hesitation in her demeanor.
It was understandable, what he had proposed was much riskier than the more innocuous plan of building a settlement on the island to show off the explicit and implicit utility of the techniques of the Martial Union on a day-to-day business as well as their value in physical conflict.
“Unfortunately, your other proposal and request are not nearly as easy to grant as this one. It will take more time for me to come to a decision on that. Thankfully, it is not something that can be rushed anyway, I want to make sure that I am absolutely certain before using my authority to facilitate something of that sort,” She replied.
“That’s understandable,” Rui nodded. “Personally, I think that your prudence and thoroughness are quite apt. I myself am bogged with the mission so I do not have much time to speculate on the pros and cons of yet another potential plan when I am burdened with having to manage the execution of the ongoing mission at the moment.”
“Good, be sure to focus on making sure the settlement operation runs smoothly. I cannot guarantee I will approve your other plan if the settlement operation succeeds, but I can definitely guarantee you that it will never receive my approval if you are unable to make sure the settlement runs smoothly. Although you have received some basic training and tutelage from Carl in the humanities and social sciences in one month, do not think that running a self-sufficient settlement on a foreign island is simple or easy.”
“Of course, I can assure you I don’t have any hubris in regard to this matter,” Rui nodded.