I predict a LOT of assists from Rui here. Which might be more impressive then if he did his usual mele stomping tactics.

So it looks like they might be planning a similarly impressive debut for their Senior as Rui had. Enough that his comment "your techniques are inferior to ours" is put into perspective.

He could also agree to price techniques by "length of time" it takes a sample representative to Master the technique. And each trade is done one at a time. If one side is offering up techniques that are too easy... then they will eventually go into debt and have to offer up a "free" technique until sufficient days get used up to put the sides back at parity. And... each side can clearly stack the odds by offering up a Martial Artist with the greatest affinity with each technique.

And... the twins are about to steal his Relic. That could be quite a problem!

So... the target should be one of the tribes the Long rangers are already fighting? And making sure to fight in "outnumbered" conditions when they can will be super impressive. Much more then smuggling on a minor invasive species would be!

And the day they find out the "Mind Mask" technique is a thing... they will blow their minds! Because after all, they never actually killed those "weak mortals" the powerful Martial Artists took orders from! Nor did those "weak mortals" flinch under the aura of Seniors. As for the lack of retaliation fir the original killed sailors... well... we will see what story Rui eventually comes up with.

Well - as long as they are careful to strictly follow the Unofficial Rules of war... then it would work!

Rui is not working on any techniques in his free time? Odd. Or is he being way too "hands on" to do that?

There is no way this settlement will be packed up once they have the techniques they need from a single tribe. Expecially not when they can make a handsome profit as a trade post buying up those "worthless exotics".

Wait.. isn't Kaine the one who is really prone to running away and hiding? Why are they giving him a free trip to a remote island?

Ok, this was an insulting and racist depiction of a "primitive language". Real world dialects with a simplified word count make up the lack with layers of complicated grammar!

Looks like offers to join in tournaments sponsored by the Martial Union might be valuable!

Would be better if they continued to accept the more marginal applications who truly need a trustworthy contract system. And the more graceful and civilized bankruptcy procedures the Open Concortium facilitates... the better their reputation! In fact... I wonder if the Duvalt leaders wish to expand that Open Consortium to be their method of government!!🤯

That is EASY problem to fix. Ves merely needs to make more Open Books totems!

The rule "50% non-Hexer" only works if it applies to BOTH total numbers and company size. Otherwise they can cheat the system by accepting a bunch of tiny women-owned companies from out of State. Or a single large company to "balance" all the Hexxer ones. The LMC itself might count as "50%" all by itself after all. Might also need a rule stating that both 'male owned' and 'female owned' companies can't drop below the... 35% mark. Otherwise you know the Hexxers are gonna mandate female-only business.

And yet Ves is STILL one provocation away from flipping the table and leaving. The only way to convince him to land on another planet in the future is if they are setting up another branch. Because Ves is getting increasingly more antsy about being 'associated' with Duvalt.

Oh... you are right! Gloriana is absolutely the person to bribe! Expecially if she thinks this will force Ves to pick a planet and stay there!

Keep in mind a big check with that many zeros is ALSO an implied threat! If Tristian refuses he will soon find his commissions drying up and tons of extra "fees" added to his business dealings. But yeah, Ves won't mind if Tristan reports this conversation.

Don't worry too much Ves. Letting Ark settle into the Clan in baby steps will be good long term progress. And also let Reggie's ego get knocked around by the two new Ace members before Ark joins.

That also gives Lucky time to manufacture the perfect gem for Ark!