Their commission was suspicious.

2. Has courage. Someone who can hunt dangerous species with me even empty-handed.

3. Like me, I grew up not in the capital but in a border region.

4. They are younger than me, because that makes them easier for me to control.

5. Ideally, it should be someone with a pure and innocent smile.

Holy crap, did I even laugh at myself?

Don't mess with me.

Chen Luo was a little flustered.

Although Esdeath had reservations about Chen Luo's refusal to grant her marriage, given his outstanding performance today, she decided to give him a chance to fight for his own happiness.

Once I've recovered my energy and strength, I'll personally beat Chen Luo until he doubts his existence.

Only the strong are fit to dominate the weak!

Esdeath never considered the possibility that she couldn't defeat Chen Luo.

As for the reward to be given to Chen Luo, the young emperor ultimately decided to save it for Chen Luo and give it to him whenever Chen Luo wanted it.

Although the young emperor would not refuse Chen Luo whatever he wanted, a reason was still needed to justify it.

For example, it requires Orichalcos, which is needed to manufacture Imperial Arms.

After Chen Luo obtains the method for manufacturing Imperial Arms, although it is not necessary to use Orichalcos to manufacture them, Soul Steel or something similar can also be used, but Orichalcos is indeed a precious resource.

Although Orichalcos is rare, even the most precious item will eventually become commonplace after Chen Luo handles it for a while.

"General Esdeath, your arrival is actually timely. All three of your subordinates are here now. You should decide for yourself how to deal with them," the young emperor said, pointing to two of the three beast warriors being held down by the elite guards beneath the throne.

“General,” Liva, the only one not pressed down, said, bowing his head.

Of the three beastmen, only Riva no longer has black feathers.

"Hmm." Esdeath nodded and then looked at the other two Beast Warriors who were being held down.

Niu, that petite noblewoman, has six feathers on her body.

While he didn't reach the level of the ministers or Sheila who were utterly wicked, this situation still shows that he killed quite a few people.

Daidas has two black feathers on his body. He is a battle maniac who believes that defeating strong opponents will grant him experience points, thus making him stronger.

He has little interest in killing, but he is very interested in defeating the strong. But how can he not kill in the process of defeating them?

The two subordinates who were being watched by Esdeath lowered their heads in shame, not because they were ashamed of their mistakes, but because they were ashamed of showing such an embarrassing state in front of Esdeath.

But they had no choice. Although the ones suppressing them were ordinary elite guards, the pain caused by the black feathers was unbearable.

They probably won't be able to unleash their full combat potential until they've completely gotten used to the pain.

“Your Majesty, since they do indeed have black feathers, any explanations seem futile. However, since the angel said that one can do good deeds to reduce the pain caused by the feathers and decrease their number, let them continue to serve under me, charging ahead on the battlefield, and atone for their sins by serving the Empire.” Esdeath turned to the young emperor and said.

"Hmm, that makes sense. And considering they didn't intend to rebel, and they just followed General Esdeath to quell the northern rebellion, let's spare them." The young emperor nodded.

Those without black feathers are not necessarily loyal subjects, but those with black feathers are not necessarily those who want to overthrow the empire.

Take Heshen, for example. Whether he was good or bad is debatable, but he was truly loyal to Emperor Qianlong.

Didn't you see how miserably Heshen cried when Emperor Qianlong died? (He was afraid of dying.)

That's one of the reasons why the black feathers falling from the sky don't kill people immediately—to give even the most sinful people a chance to shine.

Letting them die a quick and painless death would be a reward, while suffering a fate worse than death would be a punishment.

"Pay back the debt? I have a bad feeling about it..." Chen Luo shook his head as he looked at the two beast warriors.

Especially Niu, who has six feathers on her body, she'll probably never be able to pay off her debts in this lifetime.

After all, serving the empire and waging war for the empire are not necessarily all good things.

Therefore, even if they fight for the empire on the battlefield, they may not be able to atone for their sins.

After all, these feathers weren't issued by the Empire.

The amount of money you get from killing an enemy on the battlefield to clear your name might not be as much as helping an old lady cross the street.

But these two three-orc warriors do have some use.

Strictly speaking, although Chen Luo created a setting where doing good deeds could clear the black feathers' name, and the feathers would fall off, this was indeed not a lie. However, how many good deeds should one do to atone for the crime of killing someone is a very important question.

According to calculations, if we consider the frequency and number of good deeds Chen Luo performs during the awakening talent progress bar, the first black feather is worth two EX-level talents.

Don't underestimate the good deeds Chen Luo did in those two years.

Although Chen Luo was just an ordinary person at the time, and sometimes did small things like helping old ladies cross the street, he did save lives, and he saved more than one person.

Chen Luo sometimes feels that his experiences during those two years were a bit too bizarre, even from today's perspective.

Chen Luo's experiences during those two years cannot be replicated, especially when the life-saving incident is taken into account.

If one cannot perform acts of kindness at the level of saving lives, but only acts of helping others for pleasure, it would take at least 5 to 10 years to achieve that goal.

To neutralize the second feather, four EX-level talents are required.

The third one has 8 EX-level talents, the fourth one has 16...

Most importantly, these black feathers didn't start falling from the first one, but from the last one.

For example, if Ernest wanted to lose a single feather and return to the Nine Feathers Realm, he would need to do good deeds worth 1024 EX-level talents.

Therefore, if you have more than three black feathers on your body, you will probably have to suffer from the torment of black feathers for the rest of your life.

After Esdeath assured them that she would look after the Three Beasts, Neu and Daidas were also released.

What remained were the officials kneeling in the palace, all of whom had a considerable number of feathers on their bodies.

The way these people were handled was very problematic.

The confiscation of their property was inevitable. The wealth plundered by these officials and nobles was enough to rival that of a nation. Taking all that money would be enough to pay for several years' worth of the country's taxes.

This would provide financial resources for disaster relief and a general amnesty.

While the young emperor was deep in thought, Chen Luo also glanced at his task completion progress bar.

The Rebirth of the Empire: 80%

The Rise of the Revolutionary Army: 0%

Although the source of the empire's corruption, the capital, has now been cleaned up, punishing the wicked is not enough. The young emperor has much more to do afterward, such as confiscating property and stabilizing the situation.

Moreover, although the capital city is the source of corruption, corruption problems also exist in other towns and cities, and may have become deeply entrenched, which requires drastic measures.

The last 20% might be more difficult to handle, and Chen Luo is prepared to wait for a while.

The Rebirth of the Empire: 81%

Well, it looks like the task might be completed faster than expected.

Once the events in the capital are publicized, even the most stubborn person would probably choose to tone it down for the time being, right?

Chen Luo was actually wondering what would happen if he filled both progress bars to the maximum.

An empire was reborn, and then the revolutionary army overthrew it?

Double rewards?

Hmm, after imagining what might be included as a double reward, Chen Luo shook his head and banished the thought from his mind.

The task of rebuilding the empire is easy to accomplish; it can be done through brute force. However, the rise of the revolutionary army is much more troublesome. It will take Chen Luo at least a month to nurture the revolutionary army to a strong enough level before successfully overthrowing the empire.

To make the revolutionary army rise, force alone is not enough; it also needs to win the hearts and minds of the people.

But the problem is, the empire has already been reborn, so who still cares about the revolutionary army?

Chen Luo would rather use this month to complete some other tasks.

If it really came to that, at least tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of people would die.

Chen Luo wouldn't risk the lives of hundreds of thousands just for a reward.

As long as there are new customers in the bar, Chen Luo will have a constant stream of commissions.

Chen Luo hasn't reached the point where he's extremely lacking in commissions yet. Even if he does reach that point, he can still earn primal stones by applying for an identity mission.

Not long after, General Bud returned to the palace with the Minister of the Interior, Sauer.

"Your Majesty!" The Minister of the Interior, Sauer, bowed respectfully to the young emperor.

At the same time, Sauer glanced gratefully at Chen Luo standing next to Esdeath, but when his gaze swept over Esdeath, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes.

It's clear just how ferocious Esdeath is!

When the Minister of the Interior, Sauer, saw Minister Ernest appear on the execution platform, he knew his chance had come. And when he saw Minister Ernest's final charge—the murder of the reigning emperor's biological parents—Minister Sauer knew that the empire might be saved.

After the Minister of the Interior, Sauer, arrived at the palace, Chen Luo and Esdeath took their leave.

Esdeath was a general, and she couldn't get a word in edgewise about what was going to be discussed, nor was she interested in it anyway. So, Esdeath left under the pretext of showing Chen Luo around.

As for the Revolutionary Army... the Revolutionary Army has never been seen as a danger by the Empire.

The empire may be rotten in other aspects, but it remains incredibly powerful in terms of military strength.

If the empire were to change from this point on, even if the revolutionary army were several times stronger, it would not be able to shake the foundation of the empire at all.

“From today onwards, this is your room,” Esdeath said, pointing to a room.

"I don't suspect anything, but just to be on the safe side, I'd like to ask where your room is?" Chen Luo asked after a moment's hesitation.

"What do you mean by asking that?" Esdeath's eyes turned cold.

"I was just asking, but your attitude is making me even more uneasy." Chen Luo looked at Esdeath's expression, and his suspicions deepened.

“This room.” Esdeath pointed to the room she had just shown Chen Luo.

"I knew it! I told you, give me a private room!" Chen Luo emphasized excitedly.

"Tch." Esdeath curled her lip in displeasure and casually pointed to a room across the hall for Chen Luo.

"Anyway, there aren't many people in my mansion, so you can stay in whichever room you like," Esdeath said.

My house is very big, feel free to stay anywhere.

As the youngest and most famous general in the empire, Esdeath still possessed a mansion bestowed upon her by the emperor, even if she had no interest in such things.

Although Esdeath is not often in the capital, she cannot do without a general's mansion.

"Give me the key." Chen Luo held out his hand to Esdeath.

"Which room? My room? Don't worry, I don't lock the door at night," Esdeath said, patting Chen Luo on the shoulder.

Even if Esdeath didn't lock the door, no one would be foolish enough to attack her.

Those who can successfully ambush Esdeath will not be stopped by a door at all.

“No, I meant the key to my room.” Chen Luo pointed to the door opposite Esdeath’s room.

“It’s inside the room, you can go get it yourself,” Esdeath said.

"Let me ask first, you don't seem to have any spare keys or anything like that, do you?"

"Hmm, are you worried that I won't be able to come to your rescue immediately if danger occurs? Don't worry, I usually just kick the door open," Esdeath reassured her.

"..." Then I'm even more scared.

They'll run away in a second! This General Esdeath's mansion is impossible to stay in for even a second longer!

Chapter 974 Night Raid? No, the Eastern Depot!

"Lolo?" Esdeath inserted the key into the lock and easily opened Chen Luo's room.

Yes, Esdeath does have a spare key.

When Chen Luo asked if she had a spare key, Esdeath only replied that she was used to breaking down doors, but she did not deny that she had a spare key.

Esdeath isn't stupid. Breaking down the door would make too much noise. What if her prey gets away?

This is the philosophy and wisdom of hunters.

Moreover, not damaging the cage is also a preparation for the next hunt.

What if the cage is damaged? How will you enjoy your prey inside? What if the prey escapes through a crack?