You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Otherwise, death and extinction of the clan would be a minor matter, but it might even cause harm to thousands of innocent people...

To be honest, if the former prime minister was only involved in governing as a cabinet minister, he would still be very calm. The reason why he was so nervous was that in addition to being the "Minister of Finance", he was also given a second identity:

The guardian of the deposed emperor!

Yes, when Iori found him and invited him to join the cabinet, he boldly made a request, which was to spare the little emperor's life!

He might have been prepared to be executed...but he didn't expect Iori to agree so easily.

Iori smiled slightly: "You must think that I am entrusting the little emperor to you to raise, because there is some kind of conspiracy behind it, right?"

"No!" The Finance Minister was terrified.

"Honestly speaking, the little emperor poses no threat to me, just as you pointed out before. Not to mention that his memory has been wiped and he has started a brand new second life, even if he secretly forms a clique and waits for an opportunity to rebel... it doesn't really matter."

That's actually a good thing - Iori smiled.

The minister sensed the murderous intent behind the mask and shuddered.

“I spared his life not out of sympathy, nor did I have any conspiracy.

First of all, talents are rare, and your identity and experience are indeed valuable to me.

Secondly, he inherited the blood of the first emperor, and I have not yet completed a thorough analysis of the 'Supreme Emperor', so I had no intention of killing him. "

Iori said casually, "In fact, it's the same if we confine him and raise him like livestock... It all depends on your performance."

"Yes……"

The Finance Minister bowed his head deeply.

The revolutionary army and the old nobles had all come to him privately, hoping to find collaborators in the cabinet. The Minister of Finance was on good terms with them on the surface, but in fact he was constantly collecting intelligence and then handing it over to the emperor's trusted samurai... He had no choice.

loyalty!

Only by being loyal to His Majesty the Holy King can we save the deposed emperor and allow the bloodline of the late emperor to continue.

At this point, he no longer had any hope in the old empire...but the late emperor had been kind to him, so out of personal feelings, he still hoped to protect the child and let him grow up safely.

Fortunately, His Majesty the Holy King of the New Empire is not a narrow-minded person like Ernest. He has the courage and skill of the first emperor. Such a confident king often disdains to lie.

"Okay, you can step down now. From now on, you have to work harder for the empire. Do you understand?"

"As you wish, Your Majesty!"

Watching the Finance Minister leave cautiously, Iori stood up calmly and went to another reception room.

He was not worried that there would be any problems with the little emperor. Firstly, the Minister of Finance was not a fool. Secondly, his strength and influence could not be shaken by a child. Thirdly... he was not without countermeasures.

The little emperor's tutor is the disguised blond handsome man named "Lan". He is both the little emperor's supervisor and protector. If anyone wants to murder or kidnap the little emperor, Lan can repel them.

Next, Iori went to the second room and met Mr. Fashion, and he was not so polite to this person.

He had kept this man and even entrusted him with important tasks simply because he valued talent and had no replacement candidates. But now that he had a supercomputer, he no longer needed this guy.

So Iori was quite direct and asked right away: "Do you want to die or live?"

Chapter 160: Esdeath's Challenge Again (Update)

To live or die, that is the question.

——It was the first time in Mr. Fashion’s life that he felt so scared.

It's not like he hasn't seen powerful people before, for example, the former minister Ernest, who had real power comparable to that of the emperor in the old empire. He could decide the life and death of tens of thousands of people with a single word, and even the great nobles and local officials could have the power of life and death.

But the sense of oppression emanating from Iori is by no means comparable to that of Ernest or the little emperor!

No matter how cunning, cruel and vicious Ernest is, he is just a "human being" with flesh and blood. He still needs to eat, drink water, rest and sleep. If he is stabbed with a knife, he will bleed, and if his head is cut off, he will die.

It may be strange to say this, but Esquire has no reverence for “human beings.”

Perhaps it was because he had conducted too many human experiments. In his eyes, no matter if they were peddlers or royal relatives, they were essentially flesh and blood and internal organs wrapped in a layer of skin. There was no fundamental difference between them.

--even himself.

The reason for serving Ernest and other powerful people is simply that they provide funds and privileges to promote research.

Therefore, Mr. Fashion has no sense of morality or ethics in the ordinary sense. If necessary, he can even use himself as an experimental material. Everything is for the pursuit of "art" and "aesthetics".

Or, that's what he thought...

But today, at this moment, Mr. Fashion suddenly realized that he was not so "pure".

Fear, uneasiness, terror, awe...all the weak emotions that only belong to human beings...all emerged from the depths of his heart!

What frightened him was not the power, but the gap in life levels.

Iori simply stopped restraining his breath and released it naturally, which made Mr. Fashion terrified. It was like the difference between a tiger and a rabbit.

In just a few tens of seconds, in the awkward silence, Mr. Fashion recalled his feelings as a "human being" and firmly believed in one idea from the bottom of his heart:

He can't die!

Especially I can’t die at this man’s hands!

It sounds ridiculous, but for Mr. Fashion, there are many forms of death, and if the Holy King in front of him were to do it... it would be like crushing an ant with your fingers, without any aesthetic appeal.

If he was going to die, Mr. Fashion hoped that at least he could choose the way of death.

"I am willing to offer my eternal loyalty to Your Majesty!"

He didn't even ask "why": Why was he threatened like this for no reason when he was a cabinet minister?

Because he knew that the key was not Iori's motives - that was something he could not change.

Even if Iori simply dislikes him, he must accept this reason!

The key to the matter lies in what kind of answer Iori wants!

So, faced with the multiple-choice question given by Iori, he decisively backed down...

Smart guy——Iori waved his hand disinterestedly.

What happened next was very simple. As the price for Iori to forgive him, Mr. Fashion made three rules. From now on, whether overtly or covertly, only extremely heinous death row prisoners or dangerous species could be used for experiments, and every research result had to be reviewed before it could be officially used.

To be honest, Iori originally wanted to kill him, but as the saying goes, a man of insight becomes a wise man, Mr. Fashion took the initiative to show his loyalty, so Iori hesitated and decided to keep him.

After all, the supercomputer was produced by Chaldea, and the data stored in it, ranging from quantum theory to basic mechanics, are all physical parameters in the Type-Moon world.

The basic parameters of different worlds are slightly different. After all, there are extraordinary powers...

Therefore, the "Crown (supercomputer)" requires a large amount of training and reference data to successfully build a large model of the world of "Aka: Kill Online" before it can officially start working.

Originally this was a very tedious job, but now that Mr. Fashion has been conquered, all he has to do is let him conduct the complicated basic experiments of the project, and then hand over the data results to Iori (of course it is impossible to let others know the true purpose of the throne and the crown).

This is equivalent to hiring a coolie!

I have to find a way to get Kurotsuchi Mayuri's experimental data, and then build a large model of "Soul Society" with the "Spirit System" as the core!

-

After dealing with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Science with a few words, Iori quickly found the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nadezhda, the Minister of Military Affairs Esdeath, and the Minister of Religion, Hermit Anning.

These three people were not the most loyal to him, and two of them could even be considered allies, but there was almost no possibility of betrayal, especially after Iori demonstrated his strength and skills, their original position had completely slipped to that of "subjects".

At the beginning, Iori needed to persuade Nadezhda with reason and emotion, but now the superior-subordinate relationship between the two parties is clear, and Nadezhda has recognized Iori's status from the bottom of her heart - the same is true for the leader of An Ning Dao.

Only Esdeath is different. She has been Iori's "die-hard fan" from the beginning to the end, of course, the premise is that Iori is stronger than her.

Iori's mission for Nadezhda is to establish an intelligence organization.

Previously, in order to allow Nadezhda to participate in the government, Iori gave her the position of Foreign Minister to increase her weight in the political arena...but later it was discovered that Iori took it for granted.

In the cabinet system of modern society, the Foreign Minister is naturally a very important position, but it is different in "Aka" because the empire is surrounded by barbarians and small countries whose strength is crushed by the empire, and there are not many diplomatic relations to deal with!

Without a political system that can enable equal communication, the role of diplomacy will naturally not be evident.

It cannot be said to be unimportant, but it cannot be compared with departments such as finance, internal affairs, and military.

So Iori plans to make use of Nadezhda's expertise and let her take charge of the intelligence organization:

"Let's call it the Imperial Comprehensive Investigation and Statistics Bureau!"

Iori added: "There is no need to lurk in the dark. This is a pure data collection agency. For example, we need to investigate and make comprehensive statistics on the population, age distribution, farmland area, civil servant ratio, gender ratio, disposable income distribution, etc. of each state and county.

In short, I want to know exactly how many people, how much land, and how much income the empire has... Not data modified by local tyrants and officials, but the real situation!"

"This...I understand!"

The one-eyed female general's expression froze, knowing that her task sounded tedious and unrewarding, but in fact it was a fight against the entire conservative faction... As long as the data statistics could be completed smoothly, then no matter what kind of reforms the new empire carried out next, there would be sufficient data support.

However, the strength of resistance from local “powerful people”... is also imaginable.

That's why Iori called both the leader and Esdeath.

Let An Ningdao act as the eyes and ears to investigate and verify the true situation. And if there is more serious resistance, or even armed conflict... then there will be an opportunity for Esdeath to appear.

Although Her Majesty the Queen did not mind fighting, she disliked the tasks ahead as being too cumbersome and overkill. She did not think that a group of local tycoons and old nobles could produce any powerful opponents, so she was very resistant.

Then she put forward a condition, that if it was met, she would obediently lead the troops to "suppress the bandits."

"I can feel...you're getting stronger again."

The Ice Queen looked at Iori with envy, jealousy, or admiration. "It's only been a few days, and you're completely different. I can't even see your back. I can only vaguely feel the difference... Tell me, what on earth have you been through?"

Well, it's not surprising that Esdeath would ask this question. It's even natural:

There is probably no one in this world who desires power more than Esdeath!

However, this involves many secrets, and Iori naturally cannot tell her everything, not to mention that there are other people present.

"Then change the conditions~"

Esdeath took a deep breath, a burning fire of battle rising in her ice-blue eyes.

"Fight me again... I, Esdeath, challenge the Holy King of the Empire, Aizen Iori!"

"Okay, but you know the rules. If you want to know what power is, then use your body to feel it!"

Chapter 161: I will run over ants without killing them (5.5K)

At the Guards' parade ground next to the imperial palace, fully armed soldiers cleared the area and guarded all sides to separate the inside and outside.

The powerful imperial bosses were standing scattered in the surrounding stands, some whispering or keeping silent, but all staring at the field with deep eyes.

The news that the Imperial General Esdeath had challenged the Holy King was not blocked intentionally, but was allowed to spread. Almost all high-ranking officials, generals, and dignitaries learned of this shocking information.

Some say that Esdeath is wild and unruly and wants to challenge the authority of the Holy King. Others say that the Holy King is afraid of Esdeath's military achievements and power and is trying to eliminate this threat, or use a failure to undermine her prestige.

After all, the fact that Iori and Esdeath had fought before was only known to a few imperial weapon users. In everyone's eyes, Esdeath was still a powerful man who had never been defeated. Although the Holy King had demonstrated unparalleled power, he might not be able to suppress Esdeath... at least it wouldn't be easy.

God cannot bleed!

Once one appears in an embarrassing state in front of others, the ambitions of mortals will grow wildly, and they will covet the throne in the sky.

If the Holy King, who ruled the empire with absolute power, were to lose to Esdeath in terms of force, or suffer considerable damage... then it would be a silent clarion call for the evil spirits who were unwilling to remain dormant.

In contrast, those who hope that the country will be saved or benefit from the new imperial system are extremely worried about something similar happening.

Therefore, no matter whether it is the high-ranking officials of the old revolutionary army or the emperor's close confidants, from the cabinet ministers to the sect priests, everyone is paying attention to this battle.

Unexpectedly, as a party participating in the war, His Majesty the Saint King had no intention of resolving the issue behind closed doors. Instead, he openly allowed others to watch the battle, but he was not responsible for their personal safety. If they were affected, they could only blame themselves for their bad luck!

The common people naturally knew nothing about this. Those who came to the training grounds were all well-known figures, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nadezhda who had just been given great power, the former member of the Night Raid, Akame, the Minister of Finance, and of course the people from Anningdao and the Revolutionary Army...

There are actually more than a hundred people in total, and they can be divided into four or five factions... This is considered pretty good, as every dynasty is equally complicated when it is first founded.

However, it is worth mentioning that when everyone gathered together, it was obvious that almost all the powerful imperial weapon users and elite troops were Iori's direct descendants or supporters. Although other factions also gathered a few imperial weapon users and were in charge of some troops... their strength was completely disproportionate.

It is no wonder that people are so concerned about this confrontation. After all, in a sense, this is also a challenge from "military power" to "royal power". Only when a rift appears between Esdeath and the Holy King, these old people from the old era will have a chance to turn the tide.

--boring!

Esdeath squinted her eyes and glanced at the stands with disdain.

She was a pure soldier and had no interest in politics, but she was not stupid and knew very well what these people were thinking, so her expression was quite cold.

The brains of these insects are probably filled with rotten things, and everything is related to the power struggle... It should be said that in their cognition, people of the status of Esdeath and the Holy King would never do anything meaningless, it must be related to the ownership of the royal power.

Otherwise, there is no need to take the risk personally, right?

This line of thinking is not wrong, but it will only make Esdeath laugh:

Rats and insects that spend their entire lives snatching carrion will never be able to understand the behavioral logic of the strong!

What is so precious to them is easily accessible to Esdeath, but what Esdeath pursues is a realm that they can never reach!

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect so many people to come, even though I warned them... Could it be that they misunderstood something?"