She paused for a moment, before continuing. "We certainly can supply you with the intelligence you seek, however, it will take quite some time before we are able to arrive at our bare minimum degree of certainty and verify its veracity to the highest degree. Furthermore, the intelligence that you have specifically requested from us not only is very broad but also high in its requirement for depth of detail. We will need additional time in order to collect all of it as per your specifications, and even more time in order to guarantee its authenticity."
Rui simply stared at him. "How long?"
She got up from her chair, before heading plucking some documents from the many shelves of them across the room.
She sat down before him, carelessly opening it right in front of him uncaring for whether he read it or not. And he could see why.
[The sun was red, but the bunny still ensured that there was no grass left. That was why the river washed away the dream and left only biscuits behind before a mountain bounced atop the cushion]
It was incoherent.
'Coded script.' His eyes narrowed. 'No wonder they're so nonchalant about this information.'
She drew his attention when she closed the document, pushing it to the side. "It will most likely take a year or two before we have accrued every ounce of the intelligence you seek while also being able to guarantee its accuracy to the highest degree. If you wish to purchase this information sooner, you will have to compromise on the amount and the depth of detail, or the degree of authenticity, if you are willing."
That was certainly much longer than Rui had expected. Yet her tone did not make it seem like her answer reflected poorly on the Beggar's Sect.
'It's the opposite.' Rui realized.
Sage-level nations were extremely powerful in every regard, including their intelligence-gathering capabilities and their ability to conceal strategic information. An enormous amount of capital and funds was dedicated to training agents of the highest caliber and developing the best anti-espionage technology that existed. Given that the world knew of the existence of the Beggar's Sect, it could be expected that powerful nations would come up with systems of intelligence safekeeping that were specifically designed to counter the Beggar's Sect's modus operandi.
With that in mind, Rui could understand why not even the Beggar's Sect could just wave their hands and pull that information out of nowhere as they did with himself and the Floating Sect, a Senior-level organization with much more limited resources.
The fact that she still confidently guaranteed that they would be able to provide him with the intelligence he wanted showed that the Beggar's Sect was confident in circumventing all the anti-espionage measures that Chairman Deacon had in his corporation and personal executive staff.
He probably would not find another organization that was not only as incredibly competent and effective as the Beggar's Sect but was also so open to selling information to him. He would be a fool to refuse this deal.
"I don't require the information immediately," Rui replied. "A year or two sounds fine to me. I accept that offer."
Sian smiled at him. "We are glad that you are willing to accept that offer. However, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that this is a transaction, not a donation. The intelligence that you seek to commission from us will require a lot of time and an enormous amount of human resources that took an enormous amount of time and capital to set up in the first place. The price for these services is quite high, even for Martial Seniors."
"Name your price." Rui simply remarked.
"Given that you are a Martial Artist, we won't name a monetary price," She remarked. "Instead, we will commission your Martial Art services by having you engage in various missions or operations that are relevant to your skill set. We will even allow you to choose the kind of operations or missions that you want to engage in. You can focus on targeting more difficult and higher-value operations or focus on easier and lower-value missions, the former will allow you to fulfill your payment to our sect much sooner than the latter."
Rui considered her words.
He had expected that it would come down to this. He had nothing else to offer but his power, which was a lot. The only way he could possibly engage in transactions with a powerful organization like the Beggar's Sect was by paying with his Martial Art.
He wasn't averse to this option.
Instead, he actually welcomed it. As a Martial Senior, he was extremely inexperienced. Spars with Ieyasu, no matter how intense, as well as spars against the guardians every now and then were all he had.
That was far from enough.
He needed real experience in the Senior Realm, and while his general experience as a Martial Artist was most certainly very relevant, the paradigms of the Martial Heart and how it impacted combat was something that he needed to understand and master.
The only way he could do that was through sheer and raw experience. He needed to throw himself into adversity against other Martial Seniors and Senior-level threats and forge himself as a Martial Senior, and missions were the best way of doing that while also earning some money and making the payment for the intelligence that he was going to purchase from the Beggar's Sect.
He knew they were the best way since he had used missions to hone himself when he entered the Apprentice and the Squire Realm.
"How long would it take for me to fulfill my payment to the Beggar's Sect through these means?" Rui asked.
"Several years at bare minimum, could very well be much longer." She replied immediately.
Rui wasn't particularly pleased to hear that. He knew how valuable the services of a Martial Senior, it went to show the sheer value of the services that he was purchasing from the Beggar's Sect.
Thankfully, he was not short of time. He had a little under seven years left before it was game over for his family. He was certain that he would be able to fulfill his payment to the Beggar's Sect before that timeframe ended.
