Chapter 275

"It's been a long time, Nadjeshda."

Lubbock was being held down by Esdeath with one hand, but it felt like that hand weighed hundreds of pounds, and his entire shoulder was tilted to the side, but he didn't dare to move at all.

"It's been a long time, Esdeath."

Nadjeshda remained seated, watching Esdeath as calmly as possible.

Just like when they parted, Esdeath is still wearing that white military uniform and a white hat, looking very capable.

"I never expected you to find this place."

"Of course I won't find this place, but your people will come back here on their own, won't they?"

One of their own? That is, Lubbock behind them!

Nadjeshda and Lubbock both understood Esdeath's meaning. She had followed Lubbock here, but Lubbock shouldn't have been exposed. Why would Esdeath know that Lubbock was a member of Night Raid? Did she already know Lubbock's identity?

"So, Esdeath, did you come here to arrest us?"

Nadjeshda asked Esdeath a question, her heart pounding with anxiety. The only people in the base were herself, the boss, and Lubbock, who had returned with a message. Everyone else was out. This meant that if a fight broke out, she and Lubbock would have to face Esdeath alone. Lubbock possessed a Teigu, but Nadjeshda didn't. The two of them against Esdeath were no match!

"Arrest you? No, I'm here to invite you."

"Inviting us?"

Esdeath's answer puzzled Nadjeshda.

"That's right, I'm here to invite you to join me."

Esdeath placed her hand on Lubbock's shoulder, a smile on her face.

"Join my country."

"Your country? You founded a country?"

Nadjeshda's eyes widened in surprise. She knew Esdeath was strong, but she never expected Esdeath to have established a country. Where was it? Could it be in the north? Had the Northern Tribes been wiped out, and Esdeath established a country in the north?

"Founding a nation? No, not yet. After all, there is still a young emperor in the Imperial Capital. I will only be able to take the throne after he abdicates, but his abdication is not far off."

"What?"

Nadjeshda was shocked. Did Esdeath mean she wanted to usurp the throne?!

"You want to be the emperor?"

Incidentally, Nadjeshda is against the ministers, not the emperor. The Revolutionary Army's slogan is also against the ministers, not the emperor. Nadjeshda, in particular, believes that the emperor is controlled by the ministers, so as long as the ministers are eliminated, the country can still be saved. Therefore, when she heard that Esdeath wanted to become the emperor, her eyes widened.

Seeing Nadjeshda's surprised expression, Esdeath didn't answer, but instead asked a question.

"Hey, Nadjeshda, to whom do you think this country belongs?"

"To whom does it belong? Naturally, it belongs to the emperor."

Nadjeshda answered directly.

"No, Nadjeshda, you're wrong. This country belongs to its people!"

Esdeath's serious answer Nadjeshda completely stunned.

Am I hallucinating? Do you want to hear what you're saying?

If anyone else said something like that, Nadjeshda might believe it, but if Esdeath says something like that, I won't believe a single word!

"What's wrong, Nadjeshda? Is it because your understanding is not enough that you can't understand what I'm saying?"

Esdeath was very serious, while Nadjeshda's expression was quite subtle.

Esdeath saw that Nadjeshda remained silent, so she continued speaking.

"This country has been ruled by nobles for thousands of years, but for all these thousands of years, it has been the ordinary people at the bottom of the country who have suffered. And these ordinary people who suffer are the most numerous people in this country. Aren't they the masters of this country? Because without them, there would be no army, no farmers, no merchants, and everything in this country would cease to exist!"

"The Revolutionary Army claims to be for the people, but in reality, Revolutionary Army high-ranking members are also nobles. You should know this better than I do. You keep saying you want to overthrow the ministers, but after you overthrow them, all you do is turn those fat pigs into your people. The nobles will still be ruling this country."

"To put it simply, can you be sure that the Revolutionary Army you've joined won't turn back into what the current minister is like?"

Nadjeshda remained silent in the face of Esdeath's question, because she believed that Esdeath's words made sense. As a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Army, Nadjeshda understood the situation within the Revolutionary Army's upper echelons. They were also nobles, and some of them were corrupt, although they were better off than the nobles in the Imperial Capital.

But she was curious as to why Esdeath would have such thoughts.

The truth is, Esdeath certainly didn't think that way. The reason she could say so much was entirely because Li Yue taught her. She would repeat what Li Yue said, and from beginning to end, it was Li Yue who was teaching her to speak.

"So what are you planning to do?"

After thinking for a while, Nadjeshda asked again.

"It's very simple. Overthrow the current emperor, kill the ministers, use my army to purge the rot in the Imperial Capital, and then make the southern rebels surrender. Once they surrender, I can select some of them to join the cabinet."

"Cabinet?"

"The bureaucracy established by my new government will consist of a cabinet composed of several ministers who will jointly be responsible for governing the country's economy and people's livelihood. If the Revolutionary Army surrenders, I can also grant them the qualifications to enter the cabinet. Of course, the premise is that those who want to enter the cabinet have sufficient ability."

"The Cabinet... several ministers."

Nadjeshda was a smart woman and immediately understood the advantages of this cabinet system. With several ministers, there would be no one to dictate the system, which was indeed a good idea.

"And what about us? You say you're inviting us, but we're just a bunch of assassins."

"Your task is even simpler. In the country I have established, civil officials are not qualified to manage any armed forces, and you will be responsible for managing them. The armed organization I have assigned to you, Nadjeshda, has only one task: to supervise these ministers! If any problems are found with them, you can act first and report later!"

491. The Establishment of the New Empire

Execute first, report later—the emperor has granted special permission!

This power is so great it's practically heavenly!

Nadjeshda accepted Esdeath's invitation. Besides being genuinely interested in Esdeath's plan, Nadjeshda was also intrigued by Esdeath's threat. Everyone else had left the base during the Night Raid, leaving only Nadjeshda and Lubbock. If she refused Esdeath, she felt she would most likely be killed by Esdeath.

Therefore, whether for the bright future depicted by Esdeath or for the lives of himself and Lubbock, Analytical Tower chose to break away from the Revolutionary Army and Esdeath Esdeath's new empire, thus transforming from a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Army into a high-ranking member of Esdeath's new empire.

Speaking of the Revolutionary Army's high command, one interesting point is that Nadjeshda led Night Raid in assassinations in the Imperial Capital, diverting a lot of the Revolutionary Army's attention and keeping Esdeath tied up in the Imperial Capital. However, after capturing the Imperial Capital and seizing power, the Revolutionary Army put Akame, the only survivor of Night Raid, on the wanted list as an assassin, claiming that the new nation could not bear the burden of darkness.

Lifting Akame's wanted status would have been a simple matter of a word, and could even have elevated Akame to the status of a hero. But the Revolutionary Army refused to do so, wanting to discard Akame after she had served her purpose. Not only was Akame wanted, but the most ridiculous thing was that Nadjeshda, the leader of Night Raid, wasn't wanted. Instead, she became a high-ranking official in the new country. Her subordinates worked themselves to the bone, risking their lives, only to be blamed, while the leader rose to power. How ironic!

Of course, although Nadjeshda became a high-ranking official in the country, she did not live long. In the final war, she used up her own lifespan to unleash the power of the Imperial Susanoo, and her life force was exhausted. She would soon die because her life force was depleted.

Therefore, none of the Night Raid ended well.

But following Esdeath is different. Esdeath gave them the position of overseeing all officials, especially those in the cabinet. They have great power, but they are not responsible for managing people's livelihood. They only need to specialize in one thing, and what they specialize in is exactly what they are good at: killing. This will be very easy for them to adapt to.

Thus, without the Revolutionary Army's knowledge, Nadjeshda, on whom they had placed their high hopes, had chosen to join the ranks of the enemy she feared most.

Nadjeshda acted swiftly. After agreeing to Esdeath's request, she immediately began gathering the Night Raid members outside and informing them that they had switched sides.

"Huh? Esdeath?"

The others in the Night Raid widened their eyes upon hearing Nadjeshda's words.

What the hell? Shouldn't I be helping the Revolutionary Army fight the Imperial Army? How come I suddenly joined the Imperial Army?

"It's not about joining the Imperial Army, but Esdeath, because Esdeath also can't stand the Empire anymore, and she wants to overthrow it."

"Boss, you're not kidding, are you?"

Former Imperial soldier Brand couldn't help but ask.

"That's Esdeath, she's the Great General of the Empire, how could she want to overthrow the Empire?"

"That's right, that's what she said."

Just a few hours ago, she wouldn't have believed Esdeath would think of overthrowing the Empire, but Esdeath's plan was too complete, clearly meticulously planned, especially the cabinet system she mentioned and the supervisory position she was given—acting first and reporting later, with the Emperor's special permission. If you said something like that just came to mind on a whim, she would absolutely not believe it.

Nadjeshda explained Esdeath's plans to everyone, especially the cabinet and oversight system. Even those who weren't highly educated could tell that these systems were far superior to the current imperial system.

"How could she have thought of these things?"

"Is this still the Esdeath I remember, the one who only knew how to kill?"

As an Imperial soldier who had served in the military, Brand naturally knew about Esdeath's situation. However, the Esdeath described by Nadjeshda was completely different from the Esdeath he remembered, which shocked him greatly.

There is only one truth.

Nadjeshda clasped her hands together.

"What we see of Esdeath is actually an illusion."

"So, she foresaw this situation from the very beginning when she joined the Imperial Army?"

"That's right. Such a detailed and meticulous plan cannot be devised overnight. It must have taken a long time of careful thought and research to come up with. She has long been fed up with the empire and wanted to overthrow it."

Nadjeshda couldn't help but sigh when she thought that Esdeath only knew how to bully others with force. She realized that she was the real fool who had been deceived without even knowing it.

Fortunately, they and their group were somewhat useful, and Esdeath took a liking to them and extended an invitation. Otherwise, given Night Raid's current situation, if they had attacked Esdeath while believing they had enough intelligence, they probably wouldn't even know how they died.

After all, Lubbock, the intelligence agent who had remained undetected in the Imperial Capital, had actually been exposed by Esdeath long ago. If Lubbock could be exposed, then all the other members of Night Raid who thought they were undetected must have been exposed as well, such as Leone. On the surface, there were no wanted posters for them in the Imperial Capital, so they could move freely in the Imperial Capital to gather intelligence.

Now it seems that their intelligence gathering was practically happening right under Esdeath's nose, and Esdeath saw everything clearly!

Thinking of this, Nadjeshda couldn't help but sigh.

"Esdeath, what a terrible woman."

"Yes, Esdeath is a terrible woman."

Everyone nodded in admiration, except for Akame, who was frowning in thought.

Is Esdeath really that scary?

While the Night Raid marveled at Esdeath's terror, Esdeath returned to the Imperial Capital and began her own operations. With a few days until her army's return, she planned to use those days to accomplish something.

For example, causing trouble for the Imperial Guard in the Imperial Capital.

The main military force in the Imperial Capital consists of two parts. One is the Royal Guard, which is commanded by General Budo. The Royal Guard is numerous and similar to the Imperial Guard of ancient times. General Budo is also very powerful. The Budo family uses the ancestral Imperial Arm, Raijin's Wrath, which can release lightning and even summon thunderclouds. Like Esdeath's Essence of the Demon, it is a very powerful Logia-type weapon and can even fly by controlling electromagnetic forces.

Besides the Royal Palace Guard, there is the Security Force, which is also a permanent armed force stationed in the Imperial Capital. However, the Security Force is not used for fighting, but for monitoring the security of the Imperial Capital in peacetime.

However, in this era of ministerial rule, the guard force is now filled with nothing but trash and perverts.

Esdeath deliberately provoked a fight and massacred the guard. This action surprised the nobles in the Imperial Capital, but they were only surprised and did not care. Because of Esdeath's status and power, the nobles thought that she must have done this because the guards had made a stupid mistake and offended Esdeath. They did not think that Esdeath had any special purpose.

Besides, they're just a security force. If they get killed, they get killed. At worst, we can just replace them with a different group. They're all useless people used to scare civilians anyway.

The minister didn't care either, and was even quite generous. In order to win Esdeath over, he told Esdeath directly that not only would killing them be fine, but Esdeath could even choose someone she approved of to control the guard. After all, the guard was killed because someone in the guard was blind, and such blind people deserved to die.

Thus, under Esdeath's arrangement, the Three Beasts entered the Imperial Capital Guard, took control of the Imperial Capital Guard, and directly controlled the armed forces in the Imperial Capital except for the Royal Palace.

After doing all this, Esdeath went to see General Budo, saying that someone said Budo was the strongest person, and she, Esdeath, disagreed, so she wanted to challenge General Budo.

Budo didn't believe he could fight Esdeath because he thought Esdeath was a madwoman. However, after the ministers learned of this, they actually got the emperor to order General Budo to fight Esdeath and determine who was better.

The minister felt that Esdeath, this war-loving madwoman, just wanted to fight for no reason, so he might as well go along with her wishes and help her make this battle happen. In any case, this could be considered a gesture of goodwill towards Esdeath, and it would make his alliance with Esdeath even stronger.

Therefore, under the emperor's order, General Budo was forced to compete against Esdeath.

The result of the contest was that Budo was completely dominated by Esdeath.

In terms of the abilities of their Imperial Arms, Bud and Esdeath's Imperial Arms are not much different, but Esdeath's fighting style is much wilder than Bud's. Most importantly, Esdeath has Li Yue helping her from behind.

Li Yue immediately unleashed her Dream Power, instantly controlling Budo. He was then brutally beaten by Esdeath and collapsed, severely injured.

Once Budo collapsed, he was bedridden for a month or two. As a result, the entire armed forces in the Imperial Capital were in Esdeath's hands. The guard force was controlled by Esdeath's Three Beasts, while the royal guard was taken over by Esdeath. Esdeath's reason for taking over was very straightforward: she had injured Budo, and during the period when Budo was unable to work, she took over Budo's work.

The ministers were initially worried that Esdeath have ulterior motives after taking over the palace guard, but when they discovered that Esdeath didn't come to work the next day, they were no longer worried at all.

In his view, Esdeath's words were merely a gesture of respect to Budo, and she had no real intention of taking over the palace guard.

It's good that she has no thoughts. It means that Esdeath has no thoughts about the palace or him, and that's enough.

However, what he didn't expect was that Esdeath didn't go to the palace to take over the royal guards because she wanted him to think that Esdeath had no ambitions. As far as Esdeath was concerned, without General Budo, even if the royal guards numbered 10,000, they would be useless.

After completing these tasks, Esdeath went on another Night Raid, bringing all the Night Raid members back to the Imperial Capital and then cramming them all into the Imperial Capital Garrison.

Yesterday, Nadjeshda informed them that they were to Esdeath Esdeath's side, and today they've already entered the Imperial Capital and even joined the Guard. The Night Raid members are astonished by this speed and efficiency.

After the Night Raid Raiders joined the guard, Esdeath ordered the Three Beasts to remove all the wanted posters posted on the streets of the Imperial Capital. Of course, only the Night Raid's posters were removed, since the entire guard was now Esdeath's people. As for whether this would expose the Night Raid Raiders, the possibility was almost zero.

Tatsumi hasn't joined the Night Raid yet, and they haven't carried out many assassinations, so they're not that famous yet. The ministers don't care about the Night Raid at all. They think it's just assassins or dead people. People die every day in the Imperial Capital.

This led to a situation where, despite being Night Raid, the ministers were completely indifferent, and consequently, the nobles didn't take Night Raid seriously. After the wanted notice was lifted, Night Raid could even walk openly on the streets of the Imperial Capital. Even if someone with a good memory saw Night Raid and went to the police station to report them, the police would simply say that they weren't assassins, and that they were even one of their own, leaving those who were hoping to report Night Raid and collect the bounty completely bewildered.

The Night Raid also learned what it meant to have power and get things done. During this time, they were also prohibited from carrying out assassination missions to prevent disrupting Esdeath's plans. However, they could use their status as the guards to do some things in the Imperial Capital, such as arresting nobles who were causing trouble in the streets.

Under these circumstances, Esdeath's army finally returned to the Imperial Capital from the north.

With the army back, she can easily take control of the situation. For example, if chaos breaks out in the Imperial Capital, she can use her army to quickly bring the entire Imperial Capital under control.

Therefore, after the army returned, Esdeath did not hesitate to take action.