Chapter 211

Two days after the army marched south, the temperature gradually rose.

It was early autumn in the Empire, and the weather was not hot; the occasional cool breeze made people feel refreshed.

They were now deep within the Empire's territory, and the Imperial Capital was right before their eyes.

Finally here; the Imperial Capital was the main battlefield.

As they gradually approached the Imperial Capital, they occasionally encountered merchants on the main road. Seeing the army, these merchants immediately drove their carriages to make way, heads bowed, not daring to look directly at the army.

But upon seeing the blue-haired female general at the head of the team, the merchants were clearly somewhat surprised.

"General Esdeath is back. Didn't she rush to the Jibei battlefield?"

"Could it be..."

A merchant didn't dare to continue speaking.

"Don't talk nonsense. Look at the momentum of the army; does this look like they were defeated? This is clearly a triumphant return."

"But a campaign of that scale should take at least half a year or a year."

The merchants whispered to each other, and the previous fear and resentment had vanished.

If there was an army in the Imperial Capital supported by the common people, it must be this one.

The army's marching direction was not into the Imperial Capital, but to the military camp on the outskirts. The news of the great victory in the Jibei had already been sent back, and three generals were waiting quietly for Esdeath's return in front of the camp. They were Esdeath's confidants, all Teigu users, collectively known as the Three Beasts.

Among the three, there was an old man, a strong man, and a cute girl?

The old man was dressed like a butler and was named Liver. He was a former general of the Empire who was imprisoned for offending the powerful, but was later saved by Esdeath. His loyalty was extremely high. His Teigu was 'Water Dragon Possession: Black Marlin', a ring-type Teigu that could manipulate any liquid.

The strong man was named Daidara, a battle maniac. His Teigu was named 'Two-Handed Axes: Belvaac'. The two axes were usually one, but could be detached from the middle. After throwing the axes, as long as they still had power, they would track the enemy.

The last 'girl' dressed like a cute girl was named Nyau. Although this guy looked like a cute girl, he was actually a trap, meaning a man dressed in women's clothing.

Nyau's Teigu was 'Military Music Dream: Scream'. This Teigu was a flute; blowing different music could manipulate the enemy's emotions and physical state. It was an auxiliary Teigu.

The three stood straight in front of the military camp at this time, and upon seeing Esdeath's figure, they immediately greeted her.

"General, you've worked hard on the journey. Your subordinates have prepared a celebratory banquet for you."

The old man Liver spoke, bowing forward as he spoke, one hand pressed to his chest. The white gloves on his hands and his attire made him look like a butler. He was the captain of the Three Beasts.

"No need for a celebratory banquet yet. I will take you to see the Little Emperor in a while, but first, let me introduce a colleague to you."

The Three Beasts were somewhat confused.

"A colleague? Did the General recruit talent in the Jibei?"

"Yeah, this time I picked up a treasure; I recruited an assassin from another country."

Hearing Esdeath's words, the old man Liver frowned slightly; members of assassination units generally had complicated backgrounds.

But Liver wouldn't say anything; this was Esdeath's will, and he wouldn't disobey it.

"I'll tell you in advance, this colleague of yours is a member of the top-tier assassination unit. I've fought him before, and if it comes to individual combat ability, his strength might not be weaker than mine."

The Three Beasts were shocked and looked at Esdeath somewhat sluggishly.

"Strength... not weaker than you, General?"

The trap Nyau swallowed his saliva; his voice was somewhat neutral.

"Bai Ye."

Esdeath shouted toward the back of the army, and the Three Beasts stared fixedly in that direction.

A man with black hair and black eyes, carrying a long sword at his waist, walked over. The man's figure was not burly, but he gave people a sense of sharpness.

"This is your colleague from now on, Bai Ye."

Esdeath looked at Su Xiao.

"These three are also my subordinates."

"Yeah."

Su Xiao responded; he had already recognized the three.

The trio was called the Three Beasts. Although their strength was not weak, they all died in a later mission. Among them, the strong man died the most cleanly, being killed in seconds less than five minutes after appearing.

"Pay attention to your tone when speaking to the General."

The old man Liver spoke, his gaze unkind.

"Don't mind that. Bai Ye's personality is just like that. Members trained by top-tier assassination units all have personality flaws; he's considered the most normal one."

"I was presumptuous, General."

Liver bowed again.

Su Xiao didn't care about Liver's tone; why should he bother with a guy who would die as soon as he appeared?

"It's getting late, let's go see His Majesty."

The four of them got into a carriage and headed to the Imperial Capital. The Imperial Capital covered a large area and belonged to a large city. The entire city was stepped, and the more central the location, the higher it was.

The center of the Imperial Capital was the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace could be called a city within the Imperial Capital, which showed how large the Imperial Palace was.

The entire Imperial Palace was a bloated circular shape with layered pointed buildings, and the highest point was even over a hundred meters tall.

The carriage traveled through the Imperial Capital. There were many pedestrians on the streets of the Imperial Capital, dressed in gorgeous clothes. This was the capital of a country, and economic prosperity was a matter of course.

The sun hung listlessly on the horizon, and the entire Imperial Capital was shrouded in dim sunlight. It was already 6:00 PM.

The carriage drove to the front of the Imperial Palace. This should have been a heavily guarded place, but after the guards at the gate saw the logo on the carriage, they just asked a simple question and let them pass, not even needing Esdeath to show her face.

The Imperial Palace was quite large, and after the carriage drove for a while, it arrived in front of the main hall of the Imperial Palace.

This made Su Xiao somewhat surprised. You have to know that this was the Imperial Palace; how could the General drive the carriage to the front of the main hall? They should have gotten off outside the Imperial Palace and walked to the main hall.

It seemed the Little Emperor was more useless than imagined; at least Esdeath didn't care much about the Little Emperor.

Getting off and entering the main hall, the main hall was very solemn, with a red carpet laid on the ground. On the innermost side was a seat cast from gold, and the position of the seat was relatively high; that was the Emperor's seat.

A boy who looked thirteen or fourteen years old was sitting on the seat; this was the Little Emperor.

The Little Emperor was thin, giving people the feeling of being malnourished, and his purple clothes were even more incongruous, looking somewhat effeminate.

Although he was the Emperor, he had no sense of majesty. Su Xiao felt that this was a very weak boy.

Esdeath led Su Xiao and the other four into the main hall, and after walking a few meters in front of the Little Emperor, she knelt on one knee.

Rather than saying Esdeath was kneeling on one knee, it was better to say she was half-squatting on the ground, and the kneeling leg didn't touch the ground. This posture explained a lot of things.

Looking at the Little Emperor again, his expression didn't change; it seemed this was a normal situation.

Su Xiao followed suit and half-squatted; kneeling was absolutely impossible.

At this time, he was already considering whether to take action and capture the Little Emperor; this boy looked like a soft persimmon.

Standing beside the Little Emperor was a fat old man with a big beard.

The fat middle-aged man had white hair and beard, but because of his obesity, there were no wrinkles on his skin. Fine clothes and food made this old man not look old. If it weren't for his full head of white hair, some would believe he was a middle-aged man.

This fat old man was the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister who controlled the Little Emperor.

The Prime Minister was holding a plate of meat in his hand, standing beside the Little Emperor with his big belly sticking out. That plate of meat was for himself to eat, not for the Little Emperor.

After a preliminary observation of the situation, Su Xiao decided to give up. He was not sure if the key was on the Little Emperor; this needed long-term planning.