The Empire's Three Pillars!

The Northern Snow Region.

Outside the Star Gate Base in the valley.

A figure shrouded in a loose black robe walked slowly through the wind and snow toward the heavily guarded gate, which initially surprised the Army soldiers, who then immediately became alert.

Because it's so strange.

Where are the patrolmen outside? Where are the lookouts in the shadows?

Normally, even if someone were to come, they would be accompanied by at least two squads of soldiers, but this person was all alone!

"Stop!"

"Who goes there!"

About twenty Army soldiers near the gate quickly drew their long swords from their backs and swiftly surrounded the man in black robes.

"If even the lowest-ranking soldiers of the Main Battle Legion possess such speed and spirit, how can the Empire possibly win? Sigh—"

The man in black robes lifted his hat, revealing a charming and beautiful face—it was none other than Melard Oarburgh, the former commander of the Imperial Assassination Force!

With a charming smile on her face, she bluntly ordered the surrounding soldiers, "I am a high-ranking officer of the Empire. Take me to your commander. I want to surrender!"

Just then, two sharp whooshing sounds rang out in the arena.

The next second.

Two men dressed only in black suits, white shirts, and black leather boots appeared one in front of and one behind Melard. The first man glanced at Melard and then spoke.

"We are personnel from CIPHER POL, an agency under the World Government. We are now in charge of interrogating and investigating you. We hope you will not resist in any way."

"Of course, they genuinely want to join you. Please be gentle when you ask them questions, okay?"

Melard swayed her hips and made a seductive request to the other party.

"You're lucky. We don't need to rely on criminal detention and interrogation anymore, so you don't need to worry about that."

But the CP member remained unmoved, his attitude still indifferent, and took out a black handcuff from his jacket pocket and walked over.

"You need to bring this with you before that."

"Ah?"

Melard immediately covered her pink lips, feigning surprise and displeasure, and said, "Does it really have to be? I won't do anything strange!"

"Reach out your hand."

"All right."

Melard reluctantly and obediently put on the handcuffs; after all, they were useless to her, except they made her wrists a little uncomfortable.

"Where do we go now?"

"Interrogation room."

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Capital...

Akame and Mine have successfully escorted Captain Sabatini of the Imperial Intelligence Corps back and immediately informed Gozuki, the new commander of 'Oarburgh,' about Haki.

Gozuki's first reaction was definitely surprise.

The idea of condensing one's own aura into a Formless armor with actual defensive capabilities does sound a bit far-fetched.

However, he is also a master who can unleash his aura and sense auras, so he is relatively easy to understand.

But.

In any case, Gozuki couldn't possibly report to the emperor based solely on Akame's empty words, so he directly engaged Akame in a real sword fight.

Of course, neither side uses Teigu or Shingu.

After all, whether it's 'Murasame' or 'Kiri Ichimonji', once a cut is made on the body, the consequences are very serious.

That's all.

In this battle, which was less like a superior and subordinate and more like a master and disciple, Gozuki personally experienced the existence of Armament Haki and the effects of Observation Haki.

The former can indeed block the blade's attack, and after Coating around the blade, its slashing power is significantly increased.

The latter, seemingly just an advancement in sensing aura, actually possesses an ability to predict actions that is extremely troublesome.

There was just one thing that greatly disappointed him.

Akame claimed that she naturally mastered Haki through Imitation Magic and learning when fighting powerful enemies, but he fought Akame for almost two hours and still had no clue how to counter her.

Therefore, he could only helplessly accept the gap in talent.

At this point, Gozuki's confirmation is complete.

He immediately took Akame with him and boarded a large, Danger Beasts bird-like spaceship, arriving at the Imperial Capital at top speed.

After going through layers of checks, they finally entered the imperial palace, which existed in another dimension, through the "Gate of Life" of the "Eight Gates Golden Lock," and reported the matter of the Haki to the emperor.

The emperor also had some knowledge of the matter of aura, because he regularly practiced the Physical Arts of the Imperial Fist Temple.

Although he certainly lacks combat experience, his overall strength is actually quite good outside the Imperial Capital.

It's a pity that due to the limitations of his talent, he has been unable to master the ability to sense auras and is still at the level of actively releasing auras.

Therefore, the emperor did not hesitate at all and immediately summoned Air Force Admiral Budo and the head of the Secret Service, Najenda.

"So this is what Haki is?"

Najenda, with her short, neat, snow-white hair and a graceful figure hidden beneath her suit trousers, looked Akame up and down with her perfectly intact eyes and said thoughtfully.

"Based on the intelligence provided by the prisoners we captured, this ability to transform aura into Formless armor should be called Armament Haki, while Akame's ability to perceive with even greater precision and predict actions is called Observation Haki."

"Besides that, there seems to be something called Conqueror's Haki, but we only know that it seems to be an innate talent, without asking about its specific effects."

At this moment, General Budo finished his thought and spoke up.

"Your Majesty, the matter of the Haki should be communicated to the Imperial Fist Temple as soon as possible, so that they can send someone with extensive experience in Physical Arts to participate in the research. At the same time, I hope to have a match with this Akame!"

"What?"

"This"

The Emperor, Gozuki, Najenda, and even Akame herself were all taken aback, but they immediately understood Budo's intention: he wanted to try to master the power of Haki.

"Since Akame says she mastered Haki in a desperate situation, then I expect you to use that Teigu 'Murasame' and go all out!"

General Budo turned his gaze to Akame and said in a deep voice.

"This is inappropriate!"

The emperor immediately stood up to stop him, and said angrily, "General Budo, the empire is now facing an unprecedented invasion from Otherworld. What will happen if something happens to you?"

"Your Majesty, do you remember the Logia user that Minister Najenda mentioned before?"

General Budo knelt before the emperor, head bowed, and calmly stated his thoughts.

"Based on the intelligence we have, these people who can transform their bodies into natural elements are immune to any attack except Armament Haki. Therefore, if I do not master the power of Haki as soon as possible, it will be difficult for the Empire to defeat them!"

The people Xuan Hall all fell silent.

General Budo was determined that if he couldn't master Haki, he'd rather die by Murasame's sword.

After all, if the empire cannot deal with Logia Fruit users, it will inevitably be defeated and destroyed in the future, and as Admiral of the empire, he could not possibly live on.

Therefore, the result is the same.

Awakening and mastering Haki during the fierce battle with Akame is the only hope to change this outcome!

"Finally, I suggest that Esdeath be ordered to return to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible, just like Brand. Although she is stronger than me, she still needs the power of Haki!"

"Koko, all three of you... you are all pillars of the empire!"

The emperor hesitated.

"If anything unexpected happens, then I hope you will surrender to that World Government in order to preserve the royal bloodline!"

After speaking, General Budo raised his head to look at the emperor, revealing a confident and determined expression.

"However, I do not believe that the three of us will die here!"