The Martial Unity

Chapter 3572: Growing Child

It was difficult for either Amare or Julian to imagine being Rui outclassed when it came to his cognition, but given how firm he was about the gap between them, they had no choice but to accept it.

“What are you going to do about it?” Julian’s expression was grave. “How are you going to defeat an opponent who outclasses you in the parameter that has served as your greatest strength?”

Rui frowned. “Rude. There is more to me and my Martial Art than just cognition. I have great mastery of other means of adaptive evolution, you know?”

“I am not trying to deny that you have great mastery in other means of adaptive evolution, but I’m saying that your mind and cognition have played an important role in your success and in your dominance. Your decision-making driven by your Martial Mind is one of the greatest reasons for the success that you have achieved in your career as a Martial Artist,” Julian continued. “And you have never faced a situation where they were insufficient relative to your opponent. I don’t think you have any experience fighting against an opponent who is even more intelligent than you are.”

Rui shrugged. “Maybe not. But it is hardly an insurmountable hurdle. Even if my cognition and my mind are at the very center of my Martial Art, I have still honed many aspects of my Martial Art over the years, including my body, my skill and technique, and my subconscious mind. I’m not concerned that I’m a one-trick pony with nothing else to me aside from my thoughts and cognition. That has not been the case ever since I developed the Metabody System as a Martial Squire.”

“Still, it is disconcerting that NOVA is above you in this regard; it means that she will be an absolute menace to deal with, won’t she?” Amare raised an eyebrow.

Rui stirred at Amare’s words. “Maybe. The issue is that it appears that she is having trouble harnessing the full power and potential of the people that she has gained control over. And it makes sense that she does. She doesn’t have their muscle memory, so she would not be able to make the best use of their body the way they can. The human mind is an incredible instrument of computation. And millions, billions, and even a trillion of them should be impossible for her to control directly. It all depends on how well she manages to solve this problem, which will decide how much of a menace she will be to deal with as a combat opponent and as a general enemy.”

A smile emerged on Rui’s face. “I look forward to fighting her for real someday. The attacks that she mounted on our mining operations and mining base, I sense, were partially an experiment to test how well she can manipulate her people. I could tell that she was not going all out, even if she did deploy a huge number of forces to attack us.”

“That’s chilling to hear.” Julian’s expression grew severe and grave. “The fact of the matter is that she will likely grow at an exponential rate if she has truly managed to transfer her consciousness to a quantum supercomputer.”

Rui nodded. “She will likely become a threat that exceeds even the Dragon Emperor, who was extremely dangerous himself. I think she is far likelier to succeed in her ambition of world domination than he ever was.”

“…I will have to see if I can accelerate my projects, then,” Julian’s expression grew more serious. “This is too important for me to neglect. I don’t mind burning away my lifespan for this.”

Rui huffed lightly. “You don’t need to worry about your lifespan as long as you have me. Just work on your projects and do your best, and that’s enough.

The man smiled. “I appreciate that, Rui.”

Rui was about to respond by reminding him that he didn’t have to be so grateful, given how little of a favor it was, when the door to the orphanage swung wide open.

“I’m back!” The boisterous voice of Arastia drew attention as she placed her hands on her hips.

Her long, flowing red hair swayed with her movements while her red eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. She had outgrown her infantile charm and had entered adolescence. Her clothes were composed of Martial attire with a blood-red flower embroidered on the chest, a choice that she had made.

Her eyes lit up as she spotted Rui and Amare. “Uncle Rui! Aunty Amare!”

“You’ve grown taller, Arastia.” Rui smiled as she charged towards him for a hug.

“You finally came back!” The young girl exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him with a fiercely strong grip.

“You’ve also grown stronger,” Rui muttered with some interest, feeling the power that she was able to exert. “How has your training been going?”

“Great!” she replied emphatically, hugging Amare tightly. “It’s always fun to test my hemokinesis in so many different ways. Every day I train, I learn something new about my power!”

Max and Mana emerged through the door after her, carrying her clothes, among other things, with them.

“You should have let us know you were coming ahead of time, big brother,” Max remarked, closing the door behind him. “We would have prepared something for you.”

“Arastia has been eager to show off how much stronger she has gotten in the past few months,” Mana added. “You should humor her desire for a spar.”

Rui smiled at the nodding girl. “One of these days. I am busy, but I will show up here more often thanks to teleportation and negatron technology. So we can spend time together every day.”

“Every day? Yes!” She threw her hands into the air with an eager expression. “We get to train every day!”

Rui studied her with a curious expression, trying to gauge her growth and her power. What he found to be especially interesting was how her growth trajectory differed from that of normal children and even normal Martial Apprentices who did manage to break through to the Apprentice Realm at her age.