It wasn't half a day later that the report on the outcome of the operation had already been compiled and delivered to Chairman Deacon.
"The Martial Apprentices got annihilated before they could even reach the target?" The man frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Does the Orphanage have Martial Artists in it asides from Rui Quarrier?"
"Our sources say there are two Martial Apprentices from the Orphanage who are currently part of the Hajin Martial Academy. There are no Martial Artists residing in the Quarrier Orphanage at this moment. The bodies of the Martial Apprentices were never found, it appears they were swiftly and covertly taken down. This points to at the very least a highly elite Apprentice-level covert guard detail, possibly a Squire-level detail," The intelligence director indicated. "Someone wants them protected."
"It's him," Chairman Deacon felt an immense surge of vindication.
Now he wanted to abduct the entire family even more.
"Send in half of all our Martial Squires at once, Also, send Martial Squires to the Kandrian Empire to reinforce our base." The man ordered with a furious expression. "There is no way that they can cope with that. Hurry it up, the more time we waste, the greater the probability that we won't catch him."
"Yes sir," the intelligence deputy director nodded. "Rest assured I do believe that even if it is a Squire-level detail, it is highly unlikely to be able to protect the Orphanage from the Martial Squires that we have at our base. I am quite confident in this assessment of mine."
"Good," Chairman Deacon nodded. "Make sure you don't fail."
"Yes sir,"
Chairman Deacon wasn't happy when the operation failed another half day later.
"What's going on?" Chairman Deacon growled. "How can every single Martial Squire disappear without a trace? There were high-grade defensive Martial Squires deployed among the ones that were sent to abduct the Orphanage. How can they disappear without any trace of a battle?!"
The deputy director grimaced at his boss' anger. "The level of protection the Orphanage has has exceeded my expectations. Frankly, for this level of covert protection, the protective detail must have either a plethora of grade-ten Martial Squires or…"
"…Or a Martial Senior," Chairman Deacon gritted his teeth.
He clenched his fist as they quivered with anger.
BANG!
"DAMN IT!"
The deputy director was startled as Chairman Deacon slammed the table in a moment of rage.
"Only someone who knows that his family is being targeted by someone with many Martial Squires would dare to go as far as giving his family this level of protection," Chairman Deacon gritted his teeth. "Deploying Martial Seniors…"
He considered the prospect of doing that, but as angry and hateful as he was, he couldn't easily choose to go with such a drastic decision. No entity could deploy Martial Seniors to other nations without incurring significant consequences. Martial Seniors were like tactical nuclear weapons.
Sending Martial Seniors to another nation to inflict damage against that nation's interests, such as killing a guard detail and kidnapping civilians was no different from one nation firing a nuclear weapon at another country.
It was nothing short of a declaration of war that couldn't be hidden.
As angry, hateful, and vengeful as Chairman Deacon was, he simply could not do something that would certainly be interpreted as a declaration of war by the Martial Union, and the Kandrian Empire as a whole.
The Shionel Confederation was a baseline Sage-level nation, however, it stood no chance against a powerhouse like the Kandrian Empire. Chairman Deacon didn't dare go too far. Martial Squires were one thing, they were small enough for it to be swept under the rug. But a Martial Senior was not something he could send.
On top of that, he couldn't afford the loss of a Martial Senior if the Martial Senior did end up falling in battle. Deacon Industries had suffered a huge blow recently, and although it was still much better off than before, he did not want to take any unnecessary risks that didn't yield any material benefits.
In fact, his vendetta was the only reason that the was pursuing this matter this much. But even that had limits.
"Sir!"
Chairman Deacon frowned as his secretary barged in, interrupting their meeting.
"What is it?"
"Sir, a black-haired and a green-haired individual in full-body attire were briefly spotted in the western port!" His secretary immediately reported. "The eye-witness testimony of the individuals matches their description."
Chairman Deacon's eyes narrowed as his eyes bristled with anger. "Western port? That faces the Kandrian Empire and they would directly be on track to return home. Find out what wing they were in as soon as their identity verification is logged into the database! Send Martial Squires, no, our Martial Seniors to scan the entire transit port looking for them! I want confirmation on their identities as well!"
He was not necessarily convinced that those were Rui and Kane, after all, black hair was unusual, but could easily be faked.
Chairman Deacon had no intention of letting them go if they really were who they were, fortunately, it appeared that they weren't aware of exactly how acute their crisis was. Why else would they choose to leave the Shionel Confederation officially and openly?
Chairman Deacon was relatively certain that, as long as they really were Rui and Kane, they would definitely be caught.
"Send word to the border patrol agency," Chairman Deacon ordered. "Order them to engage in maximum surveillance of the western transit port with the authority vested in me as a member of the Shionel Merchant Cabinet. Mobilize our personnel and swarm every wing of the transit port, I want teams of Martial Artists grid searching the entire facility. Send word to the transit security team to be on the lookout for those two. In the worst-case scenario, order a full lockdown of the entire western transit port. Those two are not leaving the Shionel Confederation alive!"
He rattled off orders to his subordinates as he grew increasingly determined to capture Rui and Kane, in the worst-case scenario, he would ensure that at the very least they would die. What he could now allow was for them to get away alive, retreating to the Kandrian Empire.
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