"So you're here to collect taxes?"
Zenith threw the controller in his hand onto the table. On the screen, the character he was controlling was currently being hit by Serie's 66-hit combo, completely emptying his health bar and scoring a KO.
Ever since Serie saw Zenith playing games that one time, she had developed a strong interest in these new-age video games. Role-playing, side-scrolling platformers, arcade fighting games—she wanted to play them all, and she especially loved playing versus matches against Zenith.
The kicker was that Zenith actually couldn't beat her. A certain someone's esports skills had already shown their true colors back when he played the GBA, and history was simply repeating itself.
It was obvious that these members of the Military Police were very awkward. Standing in the spacious office, they glanced up at the plaque hanging above Zenith's head that read "Heaven Rewards the Diligent" and felt a profound sense of awe despite not fully understanding it.
"Um... theoretically, we are here to collect taxes, but we also don't have to be."
The Military Police squad leader's expression revealed his inner struggle. He currently had two choices. One was to sacrifice his life for duty, following the nobles' orders to announce the plundering of this land's wealth.
The other was to rebel against the royal government's nobles, coming from the people and going to the people, and join this clearly promising new faction.
Choosing between the two, even an idiot would know what to do. The moment the thought of surrendering to Zenith arose, he suddenly felt the world open up before him. The MP leader immediately stood at attention, placed his left hand behind his back, and brought his right fist to his chest.
"Lord Zenith, we are here to expose the shameless inaction of the royal government!"
Seeing Zenith's amused expression, the MP leader spent the next five minutes giving an impassioned, tear-jerking description of how the noble he answered to had ordered him to extort taxes, and how extravagantly and debauchedly that noble lived on a daily basis.
"My lord, I strongly despise these actions and utterly detest those nobles who only know how to indulge themselves. Therefore, as long as you dispatch your troops, my lord, I will guide the army and strike directly at the enemy's heart!"
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This wave of maneuvering completely left Zenith at a loss for words. *Seriously, bro, I've seen cowards before, but I've never seen someone fold this fast.*
*I arranged for you guys to take a tour so you'd realize the gap in our strength and back off, not so you could drop to your knees at the speed of light!*
Paradis Island only had a little over a million residents in total. Even if he crammed all of them into his territory, the population density wouldn't even match a third-tier city from the modern era.
What did he need so much territory for? The SPW Foundation couldn't manage it all anyway, and training new members took time.
"I'm very pleased that you could say these things to me. However, I really don't like that you're trying to find more work for me to do."
Zenith waved his hand. "If you guys want to stay, go outside and report to the registrar. If you want to leave, take the train yourselves. I'll deal with those messy nobles on my own."
After a moment of thought, Zenith held back the MP leader who had just spoken. "Hey, you, what was your name again? Come take a walk with me in a bit."
The MP leader looked thrilled. He had bet right! When the boss asks you to take a walk, it means you're either taking the fall for something or getting a promotion. Right now, there was no blame to take, which meant his good days were finally here.
"Yes, my lord! My name is Damian! Damian Wayne!"
"...That's a great name. Don't use it next time."
Zenith glanced at the DC Universe in his world list. *You actually dared to share a name with Batman? Don't you know how lethal that name is to one's parents?*
Since he was now one of his own, Zenith saw no need to hide anything. He grabbed Damian by the collar and launched off like a catapult, flying right out the window and into the sky.
"You point the way, and I'll fly. Hurry it up. After I teach those brain-dead nobles a lesson, I still have to get back to my game."
Seeing Damian's blank, completely blue-screened face, Zenith slapped him on the back of the head.
The percussive maintenance reboot method passed down by the older generation worked like a charm. Damian instantly snapped back to his senses and quickly got his bearings in the air.
While guiding the way, he didn't forget to pitch himself. "My lord, are you in need of a lackey? I'm a professional when it comes to being a bootlicker!"
Zenith accelerated on the spot, stuffing Damian's stomach full of wind to make him obediently shut up.
*If you want to be my lackey, you should at least have some decent selling points. Big boobs, long legs, a nice ass, or white hair, red eyes, and twin-tails—you gotta have at least one of those, right?*
*Take Jotaro, for example. He definitely has the big boobs, long legs, and nice ass. If he came over to be a lackey, I'd absolutely be willing to take him.*
On Paradis Island, the only ones who could truly be called nobles were the Reiss family. The other so-called nobles were more like disposable pawns placed in the open to draw fire.
The bloodline of the Eldian royal family flowed through the bodies of the Reiss family. This bloodline made them far stronger when they transformed into intelligent Titans.
Most importantly, one needed both royal blood and the power of the Founding Titan to activate The Rumbling—the act of unleashing the countless sixty-meter Titans sealed within the walls to destroy the world.
The ones who had traded land with Zenith and then gotten crooked ideas were exactly these incompetent fools thrown out into the open.
Standing at the door of the king's bedchamber, Zenith knocked. "Your Majesty, time for a midnight snack, Your Majesty. Stop sleeping, Your Majesty."
Even through the door, Zenith could smell the debauched atmosphere inside. *This puppet king really knows how to party. Can his body even handle it?*
*Knock, knock, knock.*
Zenith continued knocking, the frequency getting faster and faster, until the person inside finally couldn't take it anymore and got up to open the door.
A few women's gasps echoed from inside, and then the door swung open with a bang. The puppet king glared with a furious expression.
"If you don't have a good reason for this, you better prepare to apologize with your life!"
The moment the last word left his mouth, a black gun barrel was shoved right into it.
"First, I absolutely hate it when people don't keep their word. When I say tax-free, I mean tax-free. You're not getting a single dime of that money."
"Second, I don't like people causing trouble for me. If I can shove a gun barrel in your mouth once, I can do it a second time. I hope you can be a little more sensible."
The second Zenith pulled the barrel out, he heard the puppet king start screaming for the guards. Without a shred of hesitation, Zenith shot him right in the leg.
In the original plot, humanity's loss of Wall Maria led to a food crisis. This idiotic king's chosen solution was actually to send 120,000 of the old, weak, sick, and disabled to the front lines to die.
The fact that Zenith didn't just blow his brains out right then and there was already him being generous.
"Keep yelling. I went with the perfect stealth route of a peerless assassin—I already knocked out all the guards in the palace."
The puppet king gasped, the intense pain causing his entire face to contort.
"Hurry up and give me a straight answer. Do you understand what you need to do now?"
The puppet king grabbed the door handle and slowly slumped to the floor, screaming with a sob in his voice,
"I understand, I understand! Do whatever you want! Just get me a doctor, a doctor! I've been shot! I'll die without a doctor!"
*What a useless piece of trash. As a king, even a puppet king, this is way too disgraceful. He's practically smearing the good name of kings everywhere.*
"Damian, you're in charge of the cleanup. Once you're done, keep an eye on him. If he still doesn't know his place and tries to cause trouble for me later, then you can just be the king instead."
Talk about a stroke of incredible luck! Damian knew he had just made the most correct choice of his entire life.
Being crowned king was right before his eyes. What? You say the puppet king has to mess up first before it's his turn?
*Heh heh, whether he messes up or not is entirely up to me, his supervisor, isn't it!*
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