"General Sora, what did you say?"
Unable to believe what he had just heard, the minister even began to doubt if he was getting old, experiencing hallucinations or something!
"Hmm, didn't you hear me clearly?"
"Alright then, I'll say it again. If you want it, bring the money!"
Seeing the minister's shocked and disbelieving expression, Sora thought to himself, "Is the minister really that naive?!" It's just asking him to fork over some money, what's so strange about that? Did he expect me to give it to him for free?
Sora didn't realize that in the minister's eyes, his image had never been so "grand." Here was a guy who dared to sell the empire's supreme power, commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers!
The minister had always considered himself the greatest villain in the empire's thousand-year history, but now he realized that compared to this god-like figure before him, he was still far from being the best!
"Ge-General Sora, how much do you want?"
Even the minister felt like beating this scoundrel who didn't value the empire's assets, but the thought of immediately gaining full control of the empire's military power filled him with excitement. This mix of wanting to curse and cheer was truly conflicting for the minister.
Seeing the minister's cautious yet eager expression, Sora grinned and extended a finger—
"One million gold coins!"
His tone was calm, but the words he spoke were earth-shattering!
Hearing Sora's price, even the minister was nearly scared out of his wits, his chubby face twisting in horror.
"General Sora, your price is too high! My annual salary is only 100 gold coins. Where do you expect me to get that much money?!"
The minister's voice carried a hint of anger, and this was after he had tried his best to suppress it. One million gold coins? That was almost one-third of the empire's annual tax revenue!!!
"Haha, Minister, do you think this is expensive? No, no, no, no, no!"
Seeing the minister's furious expression, Sora curled his lips and shook his finger, continuing:
"This token can command 200,000 soldiers of the empire. That means I'm only charging you 5 gold coins per soldier, Minister. Is that really expensive? These soldiers were painstakingly trained by the empire, and the resources invested in them far exceed this amount!"
"Moreover, Minister, don't play poor with me. One million gold coins is nothing to you! But for me, it's different. I have so many mouths to feed at home, and they need to eat every day! I'd like to give you a discount, but I can't. If this continues, I'll have to go begging!"
Although exaggerated, Sora wasn't entirely lying. The girls at home were not easy to raise, spending money like water. If he didn't take this opportunity to extort the minister, he might soon have to lead them in plundering again.
"Can you make it a bit cheaper?"
Although still unhappy, the minister's anger had noticeably subsided. After Sora's analysis, he felt that the price seemed quite reasonable. After all, an empire-trained soldier was worth only 5 gold coins!
"No, not a single coin less!"
Sora answered firmly without hesitation.
Joking aside, given the minister's fervor for this token, even if it were ten million, he would still buy it! In this situation where he held absolute advantage, why should he offer a discount?
Crossing his arms, Sora closed his eyes, signaling that if the minister didn't agree, there was no need to continue the discussion.
"Fine, one million it is!"
Although he really wanted to kill this shameless extortionist, after much hesitation, the minister finally gritted his teeth and agreed. One million was a lot, but compared to the treasures in his private vault, it wasn't much. The minister was just being stingy, reluctant to part with his wealth.
Clearly, unlike a pure miser, the cunning minister knew what was more important than money!
Curling his lips, Sora knew this would be the result.
"General Sora, can you give me the token now? As for the one million gold coins, I'll have someone deliver it to your residence later."
His heart ached, but the thought of immediately gaining full control of the empire's military power filled the minister with excitement.
"Hahaha, Minister, that won't do. I only mentioned one of the conditions earlier."
Deliberately teasing the minister, Sora said something that left the minister stunned.
"What? One condition?!!"
The minister's expression darkened instantly. He was truly angry this time!
Damn it, one million gold coins wasn't enough? This guy actually has more conditions? How greedy can you be?!!!
For the first time in his life, the minister hated these insatiable people, especially those greedier than himself!
And such a person was standing right in front of him!!!
"Don't get excited, Minister, don't worry, I won't ask for more money, really, really!"
"Moreover, this is truly the last condition, and it's quite simple for you!"
Seeing the minister's furious and agitated state, Sora quickly adopted a tone of comforting a child. He didn't want to push the minister too far and risk him backing out. After all, this token was useless to Sora, and he really wanted to get rid of it!
"Hmph, speak!"
Feeling that he had been thoroughly angered by this pair of scoundrels today, the minister had even lost his appetite for meat. He spoke with a tone of displeasure.
At this moment, the minister didn't believe a single word from Sora. This guy was a scoundrel, a complete scoundrel! Anyone who trusted him would be unlucky!
"Hehe, before that, let's invite the little mice hiding on the roof to come down first."
Instead of directly stating his condition, Sora looked towards the rafters, curling his lips as if hinting at something.
"Since General Sora has spoken, you all come out!"
Frowning, the minister didn't understand Sora's intention, but he still spoke.
As soon as the minister finished speaking, there was a rustling sound, and four figures appeared beside the minister. They were the minister's personal executioners and secret guards—the Four Rakshasa Demons.
For Sora to discover the existence of the Four Rakshasa Demons, the Minister was not particularly surprised. After all, this bastard was a freak who could even take down the old man Budo. It would be abnormal if he hadn't noticed them!
The four who appeared were the new generation of the Four Rakshasa Demons: the tall, blue-haired weirdo Ibara, the burly bearded uncle Sten, the tall and charming Suzuka with her unique attributes, and the dark-skinned, sexy girl Mez.
Having trained in the Imperial Fist Temple since childhood, mastering advanced martial arts and fist techniques, and growing up by eating the monsters from the back mountains, they possessed the ability to freely manipulate their bodies. Although they were not Teigu users, each of them had undeniable combat prowess!
"Minister, cough… General Sora, General Esdeath!"
Although their confidence in their strength usually made them quite arrogant, they knew their place in front of Sora and Esdeath, the two strongest in the empire. Ibara, the strongest of the four and their leader, stepped forward with some awkwardness and nervousness to greet Sora and Esdeath.
Yes, awkward and nervous. Whether it was Ibara, the bearded uncle, Suzuka, or the blonde, sexy Mez, they all felt a mix of embarrassment and tension.
Normally, even in front of the so-called strongest in the empire, the well-trained four wouldn't feel this way. But there was no helping it—they had accidentally overheard something they shouldn't have!
Although they knew that neither the Minister nor General Sora were good people, they had never imagined that these two scoundrels were secretly engaged in such dark and despicable deeds—trading the empire's military power!
One soldier for five gold coins? Damn it, this could probably be considered the "darkest deal" in the empire's history!
Although they weren't well-read, they didn't need to think hard to know that if this got out, these two scoundrels would definitely be remembered for generations, leaving a stench in history!