"Your Majesty!"
A tall, corpulent man, holding a piece of meat in his hand, stood before Naruto with no respect whatsoever.
While eating the meat, he handed a document to Naruto and said with a smile, "This is today's execution list. Please approve it."
This fat man was Minister Honest, the Imperial Minister who had placed the young Naruto on the throne and then manipulated him like a puppet, monopolizing all power in the Empire.
"Execution list."
Naruto took the document Minister Honest handed to him and glanced at the names on it. There were hundreds of them, which secretly shocked him. Moreover, Minister Honest said this document was only 'today's' execution list.
In other words, he had to execute so many people every day?
This was simply insane!
"Minister!"
Naruto tightly gripped the document in his hand, lowered his head, and asked in a low voice, "Are all the people on this document truly deserving of death?"
Although he already knew the answer in his heart, Naruto still wanted to hear how this minister would respond.
"Hmm?"
Minister Honest paused his eating when he heard Naruto's question, staring at him in surprise for a moment, then said with a laugh, "Of course. These people are the Empire's parasites. The crimes they have committed are so great that even dying ten thousand times would not be enough to cleanse their sins. Please approve it quickly, and then let—never mind, I'll do it myself."
With that, Minister Honest swallowed the meat in his hand, walked directly in front of Naruto, snatched the document from his hand, then picked up a nearby seal and heavily stamped it on the document.
Such an overstepping act should have been a capital offense, yet Minister Honest did it so skillfully, indicating that he had done such things many times before.
As for whether the people on the list had truly committed crimes—of course not. A small portion of the people on that list were the minister's political enemies, while the majority were innocent individuals who had inadvertently touched upon the minister's interests, or were even completely unaware.
Minister Honest had no particular reason for killing those innocent people; he simply disliked their names, or even used them just to fill up the numbers.
"Done!"
After stamping the document with the seal representing 'the Emperor,' Minister Honest nodded with satisfaction, then picked up the document and prepared to leave, but suddenly heard an angry voice.
"Honest!"
Naruto suddenly burst out, rushing furiously in front of Minister Honest and throwing a punch at him.
Bang!
Minister Honest hadn't expected the Emperor, who usually obeyed his every word, to suddenly attack him. Caught off guard, he took a solid punch from Naruto to the face.
However, Minister Honest only looked like a big fat pig, but was actually full of muscle. So Naruto's punch, instead of hurting him, only made his own hand ache as if he had punched a stone.
"Your Majesty!"
After Minister Honest recovered, he narrowed his eyes at Naruto, then smiled and asked with concern,
"Why did you do such a thing? Do you think your humble subject has done something wrong? Or has someone spoken ill of your humble subject to you?"
Although everything about the Emperor was almost entirely under his control, and without his permission, ordinary people could not approach the Emperor, let alone advise him, there were some exceptions, such as the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army, General Budo, who led the palace's Imperial Guard.
He was an upright, rigid, old-fashioned man who served the Empire wholeheartedly. Even though he knew that Minister Honest treated the Emperor as a puppet, monopolized power in the court, and even eliminated dissenters, he did not interfere. He merely used his authority to protect some officials who still had a conscience.
'Did he complain to His Majesty while I was away because I killed a few officials protected by General Budo last time?' Minister Honest suspected in his heart.
"No!"
Naruto raised his head and said arrogantly, "I just simply wanted to hit you!"
"Ah?!"
Minister Honest was stunned for a moment when he heard Naruto's words, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha, so that's it. As the saying goes: If the monarch wishes his subject to die, the subject must die. If Your Majesty wishes to hit this old subject, you may do so at any time. Would you like to punch this other side of my face too?"
With that, he even brought the other side of his face closer to Naruto with a smile.
'From the Emperor's reaction, it shouldn't be that old stubborn General Budo who said something to him; otherwise, he would definitely mention the names of those officials protected by General Budo. It seems someone else complained to the Emperor when I wasn't around.' Minister Honest's face was smiling, but in his heart, he was wondering about Naruto's sudden change.
Finally, he concluded that someone must have complained to the Emperor and slandered him in front of the Emperor while he was unaware.
"Hmph!"
Naruto turned his head away, not looking at his hateful face, and said angrily, "No, just disappear from my sight! I don't want to see you right now!"
If this scoundrel didn't leave soon, he would probably be unable to resist hitting him again.
"Yes!"
Minister Honest's smile remained unchanged when he heard Naruto's words, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Then he said with a laugh, "Since Your Majesty does not wish to see this old subject, then I shall take my leave."
"Come!"
As soon as Minister Honest walked out of the palace where Naruto was, the smile on his face instantly vanished. Then he roared with a twisted expression, and immediately the guards outside the palace all knelt down, trembling.
"Your Excellency, Minister!"
A soldier in armor came before Minister Honest, knelt on one knee, and respectfully said, "What are your orders?"
"I want to know who His Majesty has been in contact with during this period—no!"
Minister Honest glared at him with a twisted expression and said coldly, "During this period, whether it's a mouse or a small bird, as long as it's a creature that has been alone with His Majesty, investigate them all thoroughly. I want to know what His Majesty has been in contact with to cause this change today!"
In this world, there existed miraculous weapons called 'Imperial Arms.' Each Imperial Arm possessed incredible abilities, and among them were some that could transform people into other creatures.
Minister Honest believed that it was very likely that an Imperial Arm user with such an ability, taking advantage of the guards' inattention, had come into contact with the Emperor and spoken ill of him, which led to the Emperor's sudden change in attitude toward him.
How lovely and obedient the Emperor used to be. Now he even dared to throw a punch at him!
"Yes!"
The armored general immediately bowed his head respectfully upon hearing Minister Honest's words.
"Hmph!"
Minister Honest snorted coldly, then turned and strode out of the palace, muttering softly, "If I find out who is bewitching His Majesty, I will absolutely make sure they die a horrible death. Hmm, coincidentally, there are a few annoying fellows on today's execution list; I'll use them to test out some new torture methods."
"And Your Majesty—"
Minister Honest suddenly sighed, then stopped and looked back at the palace where the Emperor was.
He whispered, "You must not disappoint me!"
If it weren't for the fact that this was the last remaining royal bloodline, he would definitely replace the Emperor based on the Emperor's actions just now.
---
"Damn it!"
Inside the palace, Naruto rubbed his slightly swollen hand, his expression somewhat ugly. He had punched someone, but the person he punched was fine, while his own hand was swollen. It was too embarrassing.
"This body is too weak!"
Naruto twisted his wrist, then moved his body around and said somewhat melancholically, "To train such a weak body to become strong, I don't know how long it will take."
If this body were strong enough, Naruto would have directly killed that scoundrel Minister Honest just now.
His punch at Minister Honest just now was not purely out of anger; it was more to test the strength of his own body and Minister Honest's power.
The result was obvious: he only confirmed that his current body was extremely fragile, but he couldn't discern Minister Honest's strength at all.
From the current situation, Naruto felt that it would probably take at least a month or more to train this body to the point where it could kill Minister Honest.
This was assuming Minister Honest did not possess other abilities. But as the Empire's greatest traitor, Minister Honest surely possessed extraordinary powers beyond his own.
From his past life memories, Naruto knew that this world also contained miraculous weapons called 'Imperial Arms.'
The so-called 'Imperial Arms' were 48 irreplaceable weapons developed a thousand years ago by the Empire's founding emperor. To maintain long-term rule, he used unimaginable financial and political power to gather the world's top craftsmen, using legendary and extremely dangerous species as materials, along with rare metals like Orichalcum and a large number of lost secret techniques.
Each of the 48 Imperial Arms possessed unique abilities. Powerful combat-type Imperial Arms could even grant their users the formidable combat power to take on a thousand men.
Over the past thousand years, although many Imperial Arms held by the Empire had been lost, the very first and strongest Imperial Arm was still under the Empire's control, and it was the Imperial Royal Family's ultimate weapon.
"Imperial Arm, Supreme Throne—"
Naruto recalled the information about Imperial Arms from his past life memories, and his heart couldn't help but stir slightly.
The ultimate weapon controlled by the Imperial Royal Family, named National Defense Machine God · Supreme Throne, was called the first and strongest, the origin of Imperial Arms, and the strongest Imperial Arm at the pinnacle of all Imperial Arms. Legend has it that National Defense Machine God · Supreme Throne even possessed power comparable to that of gods, and only those with the Imperial Royal Family's bloodline could activate it.
Unfortunately, Naruto's current identity was the last bloodline of the Imperial Royal Family.
However, that Imperial Arm was definitely controlled by Minister Honest now. Even if he was the Emperor of the Empire and possessed the only bloodline that could activate that Imperial Arm, he would probably need Minister Honest's permission to even get close to the Supreme Throne.
"Damn it, do I have to just watch that scoundrel kill so many people every day?" Naruto clenched his fist unwillingly. With his current physical condition, killing Minister Honest would probably be impossible in the short term.
"No, absolutely not!" Naruto suddenly stood up and said with determined eyes, "Even if it means mutual destruction, I will kill that guy!"
"Your Majesty!"
At this moment, a deep, heavy voice came from outside the door. "Your subject, General Budo, requests an audience with Your Majesty!"
Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this name. With a thought, information about this person immediately appeared in his mind: General Budo, the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army, deeply trusted by the Emperor, wielding the Imperial Arm Thunder God's Rage · Adramelech, another 'strongest' person in the Empire.
Although he was upright and rigid, he served the Empire wholeheartedly. Even toward Minister Honest, he showed no courtesy whatsoever.
"He sounds like a trustworthy good person."
Naruto muttered thoughtfully, then called out toward the door, "Come in."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The voice from outside came again, and then the palace doors were pushed open. A burly figure in dark red armor strode in.
This man was none other than the Empire's strongest man, General Budo.
"Your subject, General Budo, greets Your Majesty!"
General Budo came before Naruto, knelt on one knee, and respectfully bowed, then raised his head and looked at him with burning eyes.
He asked, "Your subject heard that Your Majesty had a conflict with Minister Honest and has specially come to protect you. May I ask if Your Majesty is injured?"
He had long been annoyed with Minister Honest, but due to the ancestral precept that 'military generals must not interfere in politics,' and the Emperor also obeying Minister Honest's every word, he had no choice but to let him run rampant.
But if Minister Honest turned against the Emperor or even dared to harm the Emperor, it would fall right into his hands.
As long as the Emperor spoke and said that Minister Honest was disrespectful to him, he could immediately lead the Imperial Guard to eliminate Minister Honest.
Unfortunately, Naruto did not know General Budo's thoughts, nor did he know if he could trust him, so he did not answer General Bud's question. Instead, he tentatively asked, "General Budo, can I trust you?"
"Of course!"
Upon hearing Naruto's words, General Budo immediately puffed out his chest and replied without hesitation, "Your subject is a military general, not skilled in words. Whatever Your Majesty wishes your subject to do, you only need to give the command. Even if it means your subject's death, General Budo will never hesitate!"
"In that case—"
Naruto heard General Budo's words, pondered in silence for a moment, then said, "Just now, the minister approved an execution document from me, but the people on it are not those I wish to kill. I want those people to live. Can you do that for me?"
Naruto thought he would use this matter to test this person first. If he could do it, then he would try to trust him for now.
"Your humble subject accepts the command!"
Upon hearing Naruto's words, General Budo immediately raised his right hand, heavily struck his left chest, and declared loudly, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty! As long as your subject still breathes, Minister Honest will absolutely not be able to harm a single hair on those people!"
Having said that, General Bud immediately rose and quickly left the palace, as if afraid that Naruto might suddenly change his mind and retract his previous order.
---
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