“Let it be known throughout the realm!
From this day forward, the wandering swordsman Yu shall assume the position of Grand Warden of the Sui Regulator of Great Yan!”
Inside the solemn imperial palace, the Emperor of Great Yan sat upon his dragon throne while a minister standing beside him read aloud the imperial decree.
Yu.
Before the campaign against Sui, this name would probably have meant absolutely nothing to anyone.
Yet one year after the war began, it had become a name discussed throughout the imperial palace and across the entirety of Great Yan.
After all, this was the man who had single-handedly reversed the course of a seemingly hopeless war.
His appearance had put an end to the Emperor’s agonizing indecision over whether to commit all of Great Yan’s remaining military strength to the campaign against Sui.
This one man had displayed combat power comparable to that of a god, nearly shattering Sui’s entire body on his own.
Following that battle, many began referring to him as a “Living Catastrophe.”
There was little doubt in anyone’s mind that he would soon rise through the ranks of Great Yan’s leadership and become one of the nation’s most powerful figures.
And sure enough, less than a month after the victory, the Emperor established a new organization responsible for handling the aftermath of the war against Sui.
It was known as the Sui Regulator.
And Hongyu had been appointed to its highest position.
Grand Warden.
As the minister finished reading the imperial decree, everyone eagerly awaited the appearance of the legendary individual who had defeated Sui.
Before long, Hongyu stepped forward.
He was dressed in an ordinary set of casual clothes.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire court, Hongyu casually took the official token symbolizing his authority as Grand Warden.
He gave the Emperor a slight bow, then leisurely walked back down from the platform.
Watching Hongyu’s utterly carefree behavior, the Emperor sitting on his throne couldn’t help twitching at the corners of his mouth.
‘This fellow really does have some nerve.’
‘And he genuinely seems to have no interest in fame or fortune.’
‘What normal person would show up to an imperial appointment dressed like that?’
‘Even if he doesn’t want to wear official court robes, couldn’t he at least show a little respect for the occasion?’
Yet this man had simply arrived in the same plain clothes he always wore, looking as though he had purchased them from some roadside market stall for a few scraps of silver.
And now he was standing there yawning.
Looking at Hongyu, the Emperor couldn’t help recalling a secret meeting they had held on the very day Sui was declared dead.
If he remembered correctly, Hongyu had said something along these lines.
“Your Majesty, Sui is not truly dead.
Its consciousness has survived in a new form.
I can locate it, but I’m afraid…
I cannot truly destroy it.”
“Therefore, I would like to request that you establish an organization in Great Yan specifically tasked with handling any future incidents involving Sui.
We could call it the Sui Regulator.”
“I understand that Great Yan has only just begun recovering from the devastation of war, so there is no need to commit significant manpower to this organization.
I alone will be sufficient.”
“If you have concerns, you need not grant the Sui Regulator any substantial political authority.
However, when it comes to matters involving Sui, I sincerely ask that you reconsider.”
“As for the finer details, we can discuss those later.”
The Emperor had been rather astonished.
Here was a man who could potentially tear through the entirety of Great Yan with a single hand, yet he had approached the Emperor with such humility.
And all for the sake of handling Sui’s remaining affairs?
Given Hongyu’s strength, there was probably nothing stopping him from doing whatever he pleased throughout Great Yan.
Still, since that was the case, the Emperor saw little reason not to grant him a certain degree of authority over matters involving Sui.
After all, Sui had become an incredibly troublesome problem for the nation.
If someone was willing and capable of taking responsibility for that problem…
Wouldn’t that be rather convenient?
“Granted.”
And just like that, the Emperor accepted Hongyu’s request.
…
…
…
Almost immediately after receiving the Grand Warden’s official token, Hongyu left the imperial palace.
He didn’t even bother exchanging a single word with anyone else.
He simply walked straight out.
Once he had put some distance between himself and the palace, he casually weighed the expensive-looking token in his hand before fastening it to his waist.
Although he didn’t particularly care about his official position, possessing this token would make many things considerably easier.
At the very least, he wouldn’t have to spend years navigating the treacherous world of imperial politics just to obtain the authority to deal with Sui.
As for the Emperor’s willingness to establish the Sui Regulator, along with the astonishing speed at which he had done so…
Well, Hongyu had expected all of that.
And why was that?
Ahem.
Because Hongyu had cheated, of course.
That’s right.
He had planted a mental suggestion directly into the Emperor’s consciousness.
After all, he needed the Emperor to trust him completely.
Although Hongyu had no idea what sort of strange thoughts were going through the Emperor’s head at the time, he couldn’t be bothered to investigate.
As long as the ability worked, that was good enough for him.
He had no interest in wasting his breath trying to persuade people.
His eloquence wasn’t particularly impressive anyway.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Right now, the most important thing was to locate the fragment of Sui’s consciousness that had escaped.
According to his estimates, assuming nothing unexpected had happened, Sui’s remaining primary consciousness should have already transformed into Shuo, the eldest brother of the Sui siblings whom he remembered from his previous life.
The only question now was when Shuo would divide himself into twelve separate fragments.
With that in mind, Hongyu extended his consciousness across the entirety of Great Yan, searching for the lingering traces of Sui’s aura.
Before long, he discovered Shuo in an uninhabited region near Great Yan’s border.
The colossal being was currently in the process of splitting himself apart, carefully dividing his divine authorities.
‘Oh?
What perfect timing.’
Hongyu examined the enormous creature before him, whose body was large enough to blot out the sky.
With every portion of divine authority Shuo separated from himself, his aura grew noticeably weaker.
Of course, Hongyu had absolutely no intention of killing Shuo.
What kind of joke would that be?
Shuo was the eldest brother!
How could Hongyu possibly bring himself to kill him?
‘I still want to meet Nian, Dusk, Ling, Shu, and all the other Sui siblings.’
‘There’s no way I’m actually going to kill Shuo!’
In fact, one of the biggest reasons Hongyu had requested the position of Grand Warden was something he remembered from Arknights in his previous life.
If his memory served him correctly, the Sui Regulator had always been a major source of trouble for the Sui siblings.
Although he didn’t know exactly what the world would look like by the time he returned to his original era, that didn’t mean he couldn’t eliminate this particular problem in advance.
And Hongyu’s solution was incredibly straightforward.
‘Why don’t I just become the boss of the Sui Regulator myself?’
‘Then every future member of the organization will have to answer to me!’
To accomplish this goal, Hongyu had even gone so far as to hypnotize the mighty Son of Heaven himself.
Well, in truth, it wasn’t because he had some particularly elaborate scheme.
He simply couldn’t be bothered to think too deeply about things and had chosen the most direct solution available.
Concealing his presence not far from Shuo, Hongyu patiently waited for him to finish dividing his divine authorities.
When the process was finally complete, Shuo appeared to be struggling with a rather fundamental question.
Who exactly was he?
His newly formed consciousness had yet to fully establish its own independent identity.
Seeing this, Hongyu casually flexed his fists.
‘When it comes to matters involving the soul, I’m something of an expert.’
‘And it’s not like I can’t perform a little personality correction with my fists…’
‘Heh.’
…
Half a day later.
Hongyu stared at Shuo, who had been thoroughly pummeled by his personality-correcting fists and somehow transformed into an enormous brown dragon-shaped bubble.
He fell into deep contemplation.
‘Did I…’
‘Did I mess something up somewhere…?’
The highly respected Grandmaster Chongyue of Great Yan was proficient in far more than just one form of martial arts.
Whether it was swordsmanship, spear techniques, saber techniques, palm strikes, kicking techniques, or even grappling, every martial discipline could display astonishing power in his hands.
However, one thing had always puzzled those who knew him.
Grandmaster Chongyue seemed to possess a particularly deep fascination with fist techniques.
Once, driven by curiosity, a soldier stationed in Yumen asked the Grandmaster about this preference.
Chongyue’s answer was rather thought-provoking.
“Sir once demonstrated a technique that left an unforgettable impression upon me.
When I first began studying martial arts, that technique was my greatest nightmare.”
“Among all the techniques Sir used against me, fist techniques were by far the most common.”
“And it is precisely in the art of the fist that I have never been able to find a way to counter his techniques.”
“Even now, I continue to recall his fist techniques and search for a way to overcome them.”
“Yet to this day, I have not succeeded even once.”
“That is why I continue striving to perfect my martial arts.”
Eventually, someone repeated this explanation to Sui’s second eldest sibling, who was currently buried under an endless mountain of miscellaneous paperwork at the Sui Regulator.
After hearing Chongyue’s words, the second sibling offered a much simpler interpretation.
“So basically, he got beaten so badly that it traumatized him.”