The Martial Unity

Given that the Shionel Confederation was a through-and-through corporatocracy governed by the Shionel Merchant Guild, they were naturally involved in all kinds of commercial trades and industries, and real estate was certainly part of it.

Now, they had just been given the chance to acquire a large amount of uninhabited area if and when they cleared the Shionel Dungeon, given that the Shionel Dungeon fell inside their territory.

Perhaps other nations would have treated it as a base of sorts, and armed into a national inventory for storage of military resources, among other things. Perhaps some would treat it as a shelter in times of disaster.

But not the Shionel Merchant Guild. It would undoubtedly choose to make the bold and highly capitalistic decision of turning the Shionel Dungeon into a real estate commodity even after the dungeon had been explored and plundered.

"But how do you know what their plan with the Shionel Dungeon is definitely going to be turning into real estate?"

"I studied the Shionel Merchant Guild's history, and more important the history of the current guildmaster Bradt Partick," Rui explained. "Once you look at the decisions they've made in different kinds of circumstances, it becomes rather clear what the decision they will make is going to look like."

Rui had become even more certain of his prediction on Bradt Partick when he looked at the legislative bills he passed ever since he was elected as the guild master. The man was a ruthless capitalist. An absolute proponent of free markets, and economic liberty. It had very quickly become evident to Rui that this man viewed everything as money, and that he had no bottom lines. One of his first legislative acts as guildmaster was to leave the East Panamic Narcotic Drug Convention, a convention that had been ratified by forty nations, including the Kandrian Empire. This was directly based on his philosophy of individual libertarianism and free-market capitalism. The man had decided that if adults wanted to ruin their lives with narcotic drugs, they had every right to and that the state had no right to restrict that.

He had revealed in a press conference additionally that, funds that were being funneled into the underworld through the black market for narcotic drugs, would not be funneled into law-abiding manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors, thereby invigorating the economy of the nation significantly and dealing a powerful blow to the underworld and the black market.

That same year guild master also left the Slavery Convention and legalized slavery within the Shionel Confederation, declaring that even human lives were products that could be exchanged.

Of course, this still needed to be abided by the law as forcibly enslaving a person through violent means was still a violation of the law, constituting battery and assault, as well as unlawful slavery.

He had set up an executive branch within the government that overlooked and regulated slavery and ensured that the slave industry was not violating the many laws that it had the propensity to violate.

"Those aren't the only examples, the man has gone to levels you won't believe when it comes to commercializing and capitalizing everything into goods or services. I am very confident that regardless of what shape or form he and the Shionel Merchant Guild will find a way to commercialize and capitalize the Shionel Dungeon in some way or the other. I suspect they will find a balance between turning some of it into government property while selling the rest free to the Shionel Confederation." Rui calmly analyzed the situation. "Regardless of what form it takes, they need accurate and precise information on the Shionel Dungeon's geography topography, and layout before they can make any venture with it," Rui continued. "Thus my ability to sense extremely large distances accurately and precisely inside the dungeon, and also memorize it extremely accurately thanks to my Mind Palace will be priceless in the eyes of the Shionel Merchant Guild. Accommodating our disruptions to the market with some limits will become one hell of a deal for the Shionel Merchant Guild."

"Hm…" Kane scratched his head, deep in thought. "I gotta admit, you've thought this through incredibly well."

"Thanks," Rui smiled.

"I'm curious though," Kane continued. "Do you really need to drain each floor of as many esoteric substances as possible? I feel like if we just take a little, that wouldn't be as much of a challenge."

"The whole point of the venture is to push ourselves, Kane," Rui explained. "Why do you think I even set an objective as high as being the first individual to clear the dungeon? Do you think it's for fame and money? No, it's because being the first to clear the dungeon and its resources is extremely difficult, and it's only because of the sheer difficulty of the objective that I managed to push myself to create extremely powerful techniques. You need to set high standards for yourself, otherwise, you'll grow comfortable with lower standards. Acquiring all the esoteric resources and supplies of the Shionel Dungeon is a high-enough target, that has already aided in my growth."

"That's extreme, you know," Kane raised an eyebrow. "Are you really willing to go that far to get stronger?"

"I'm willing to go that far to develop my Martial Art and go even further down my Martial Path," Rui corrected him before raising an eyebrow. "Are you perhaps having second thoughts?"

"No, just curious," Kane shrugged. "But coming back to the main point, you intend to buy off the Shionel Merchant Guild with an accurate and precise map of the Shionel Dungeon, to let you off the hook for disrupting the market?"

"Among other things yes," Rui nodded.

"And what about the Martial Union?" Kane raised an eyebrow. "They're not going to be happy you threw them off the scent and are hurting their team of Martial Squires by being too successful, right?" Kane asked.

"True, at that point, I'll have no choice but to placate them with an attractive price, we'll probably make a bit of a loss, but it should be able to handle our expenses, I hope."