Lord of the Truth

Chapter 1360: The Crazed Prime Minister

BlinkBlink — Robin slowly opened his eyes, his vision adjusting to the light. A gentle smile formed across his face as he immediately recognized the figure before him.

”Well, well... would you look at that? Who do we have here?” he said warmly, amusement dancing in his tone.

”Father,” Theo replied with calm reverence, bowing in formal greeting.

Robin’s expression lit up with joy. ”Come here, boy! Haha!” he laughed heartily as he stepped down from the bed and pulled Theo into a tight embrace, one hand gripping his shoulder. ”It’s been far too long!”

”Indeed, too long... One hundred and seventy years!” Theo exhaled, his voice tinged with reflection. ”Since then, I was purchased into your service, led campaigns and conquered numerous kingdoms, ventured to another planets, returned to establish the Empire of the True Beginning... After that, we launched countless invasions and expanded for many decades. Eventually, you completed your coronation, and you entered deep seclusion... And somehow, all of that unfolded in less than 170 years!”

Robin chuckled and gave his son a knowing pat on the shoulder. ”You’ll have to get used to numbers like that, my boy. At the peak of the Emperor Realm, our strength and vitality grant us lifespans that stretch across millennia. In the grand scheme of the cosmos, we’re still barely toddlers. Hehe.”

With a gesture, Robin guided Theo toward a nearby chamber furnished with a few simple yet elegant seats. He motioned for him to sit, then followed and settled into a chair with a soft sigh.

”Before we say another word—tell me honestly: is everything well within the Empire? Has anything significant happened in my absence?”

Theo leaned back slightly, a confident smile rising to his face. ”At this point, Father, problems have learned to fear us. They’d rather run than face what we’ve become. Externally, our unstoppable legions dominate the Young Belt. We’re currently engaged in open war with three separate empires—two based in Sector 99 Young, and the third in Sector 100 Young. And despite their resistance, we’re crushing them mercilessly. It’s only a matter of time before they either surrender or fall to ruin under the pressure of our might.”

He paused, then gave a strange little chuckle. ”As for internal matters... the Crazed Prime Minister is overseeing everything. He’s—well—slightly unhinged, but I must admit: his reforms have reshaped the very soul of the Empire.”

Robin arched an eyebrow, a glint of curiosity sparking in his gaze. ”A Crazed Prime Minister, huh? Wait a second... don’t tell me— Kristan Burton took the reins?!”

”That’s the one,” Theo nodded. ”Little Richard appointed him out of nowhere, claiming you personally recommended him as well. At first, we all opposed the idea—monitored him closely, challenged every decision he made. But over time, we stopped resisting. Regardless of how bizarre he seems, one thing is undeniable—he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Robin leaned back with a satisfied smile. ”That’s good to hear. But tell me, in what way is he Crazed?”

Theo furrowed his brow, as if struggling to find the right words. ”It’s hard to explain... he’s erratic. Utterly unpredictable. One moment, he’s crafting mighty laws that subdue entire planetary systems, and the next—well, he’s banning laundry on Fridays!”

Robin blinked. ”...Huh?”

”Yes! No laundry on Fridays,” Theo repeated, half laughing. ”But then again, he also represents the Empire in interstellar negotiations with such skill that we managed to absorb an entire planetary nation with barely a drop of blood spilled. That kind of brilliance elevated his prestige beyond imagination.”

Theo raised two fingers, signaling another example. ”He’s deeply invested in the upbringing of the Burton family’s younger generation. Under his orders, we’ve established elite academies for spiritual cultivation, physical combat, energy manipulation—even training on ridding Terra and Draco beasts, plus education in administration, leadership, and commerce. The children of the family are growing in an environment perfectly engineered to forge future rulers and visionaries.”

He paused, then added with a wry smile, ”And yet, at the same time, he randomly issued a law that all Burton children must wear soft, fuzzy red shoes until the age of ten. No explanation. Just—fuzzy red shoes.”

Then Theo let out a loud, unrestrained laugh, his shoulders shaking from the force of it.

”Eighty years ago,” he began, eyes sparkling with amusement, ”that lunatic inaugurated a military-grade industrial facility—one entirely dedicated to manufacturing mid-tier epic-grade armaments. The event was nothing short of grandiose, with full ceremonial processions and a media broadcast that reached every corner of our vast dominion.”

He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a juicy secret.

”And once it was all over, right after the ribbon was cut and the speeches ended... he took off his clothes—all of them—and ran through the city streets stark naked, laughing like a child as confused guards and officials scrambled in panic!”

Theo raised an eyebrow and gave a wry smile.

”And his eccentricities don’t end there. He has some truly bizarre personal habits. For one, he snacks on ice cubes, constantly crunching on them under his teeth mid gatherings. And the way he dresses...” He shook his head. ”He insists on wearing this ridiculously tight necktie that grips his throat so hard the veins in his neck bulge visibly. It’s unsettling to look at, honestly.”

”....”

Robin’s lips twitched, barely able to hold in his laughter. The mental image forming in his head was far too vivid, far too absurd. He raised a hand to his face, pressing it against his mouth as he tried desperately to stifle the grin.

Unpredictable? That man wasn’t just unpredictable—he was a walking anomaly. Clearly, something deep within his psyche had been tampered with. Robin could practically see the damaged pieces of Kristan’s mind, fragments warped and twisted, likely as a result of whatever experiment or ritual Richard had subjected him to. And yet... to think that after all that, the man was still capable of speech—of coherent thought, even of governance—that in itself bordered on a miracle.

Robin cleared his throat, steeling his expression into something more formal.

”Ahem. In any case—does anyone keep him in check? Because if he keeps operating like this, one day his randomness might not be so harmless. It could throw us into serious danger.”

Theo gave a light shrug, his voice calm.

”He’s not alone. The senior members of the Burton family stand around him like a protective council—they serve as his ministers and advisors. And Lady Emely, has her eyes locked on him. She doesn’t let anything slip through her fingers. I’d say any major decision passes through multiple filters before it ever takes effect.”

Robin nodded in approval and tapped his hand lightly against his thigh, drawing a close to the topic.

”Good.” He narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression shifting back into curiosity.

”Now... tell me something important.” He leaned forward, the question escaping his lips with sharpened clarity.

”How the hell did you manage to get here in just a few hours?”

He had ordered Neri to transmit his coordinates to the Shadow Swords, who were stationed in Nihari. The logical expectation was that they would relay the message to Theo, who was stationed deep within Mid Sector 100, and the journey—under any known method of travel—should have taken no less than three weeks. A full month, even, if there were complications with the wall. Yet here Theo was, standing before him, as if he’d simply walked across the street.

”Technology!”

An almost childlike excitement spread across Theo’s face—an expression rarely seen on the stoic strategist. He wasn’t usually the one explaining mechanisms or artifacts, but now he looked genuinely thrilled. With a quick motion, he slipped off a bracelet and a pendant, and handed them to Robin.

”Here. See for yourself.”

Robin arched a brow, accepting the items carefully with both hands. He turned them over in his palms, examining the subtle energy flowing through their engravings.

Theo began to explain with a clarity that suggested this wasn’t just theory—he had used these items himself.

”That’s a Rapid Phase Bracelet, forged using the sixth-stage of the Path of Space. Its core function is to accelerate travel through space corridors by lowering the friction between dimensional layers. To put it in simpler terms—it’s like pouring oil beneath a stuck object. It doesn’t create a new path—it just lets your body slide through the path faster.”

He exhaled softly and continued.

”It’s a complementary artifact—it doesn’t replace space portals, but enhances using them. Sadly, production of these items ceased ages ago in the Interas Galaxy. The market was small, the costs enormous, and no empire was willing to invest in large-scale production. But recently, we discovered a set of seven at an ancient relic auction, and we obtained them through our own methods. Let’s just say they didn’t come cheap. Each one cost us 1.1 million energy pearls.”

He then gestured broadly as he moved on to the broader picture.

”Jura, Orphan’s Blood, Greenland and Nihari—they’re all part of the same natural galactic cluster in Young Sector 99. That’s why movement between them is practically instantaneous. The space portals form near key celestial landmarks like Poison Rock and other core planets.”

”But,” he added, ”as our great Empire sprawled across the sector, we began to notice a limitation. The farther a destination is, the longer the transit time—even with the portals. For instance, if you were to enter the Jura Portal and try to reach Planet S-157, you’d have to wait ten full minutes before emerging on the other side. And that’s with the bracelet active.”

He inhaled deeply, then launched into his final point.

”You may have noticed, Father, that it took you nearly two full weeks drifting through interstellar space before you reached the barrier between belts. Those two weeks? That’s the physical distance between Planet Jura and the beginning of the Middle Belt. So if we were to conquer a planet near that edge, it would still take two entire weeks to travel back to Jura via the portals. And if we dared use ships instead? That journey would stretch to months—possibly seasons if we’re unlucky.”