Chapter 1049 -

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Kuro’s words stunned Joshua. Being stared at by Kuro, he even sobered up a little.

“The road is walked by people…”

He muttered this and stared at the ground for a while. Suddenly, he smiled bitterly. “That’s not the same. I can’t be the first. I’m the ‘Emperor’, but I’m a fake. I don’t have any noble blood. I’m just a commoner.”

Astya does not have an Emperor position, or rather, there is none on the sea. The title of ‘Emperor’ is more about pirates or people who are extremely dominant. This is a title. Without this noble class, the largest noble class is ‘King’.

So Joshua called himself ‘Emperor’, and no one gave him much trouble. But he also knew that he was a fake, without any natural jurisprudence, nor did he have the attributes of a ruler.

Kuro pointed at Joshua and said, “Don’t get it wrong. Since you call yourself an ’emperor’, you should do something that is beneficial to people. What you do is not what an ’emperor’ should do. What an emperor should really do is to be a role model for people and motivate them to move forward. Whether it is a Pirate Emperor or other emperors, they all lead by example. If you don’t lead by example, why should people follow you?”

“You have done well before. Whether it is as a mediator or as a person, you have done well. Why can’t you do it at this point?”

What Kuro said hit Joshua where it hurt.

Although such a man has done everything very well, there is still a hierarchy in his heart. Don’t think that he is the ‘Emperor’, but he is only persuading civilians. Beyond that, he can do nothing except publish the waste paper order because he doesn’t dare to do it because he didn’t put it into action.

And for such a man, Kuro did not mind helping.

“If the Duchy of Faya does as you say, it is equivalent to being gone. If the two countries attack together, if the great nobles do not resist, it is easy to be annexed by the other two countries. After that, it will be the attack of the Duchy of Semtex and the Duchy of Felton until a new unified country is chosen. But that kind of war, with two Yonkō (Four Emperors) standing behind, the casualties will be yours. Don’t think that the pirates will fight for you. The people who will be injured in the end will still be the people of Astya. Do you want that?” Kuro said slowly.

Joshua slowly raised his head. The drunken flush on his face gradually disappeared and his expression gradually became serious. “I don’t want this!”

“Then you know better than me what to do.” Kuro exhaled the smoke and smiled.

Joshua held the newspaper and stared at Kuro for a while before finally turning away.

Walking out of the theater, Joshua stood at the door and looked at the people who were still in grief on the street. His gaze gradually turned from blank to firm.

He turned to the back of the newspaper, where there was a small headline—’Farrier Joshua, Illegal Person!’

A small headline took up a small part of the newspaper. The gist of it was about a man named Paretel Joshua, who had always called himself the ‘Emperor’ of Astya, but in the past, he was trapped in the love and care of his people and did not make a fuss about it. However, he colluded with external forces and tried to become the real owner of the Duchy of Faya. The death of the king is suspicious of him. Now, this man is no longer a citizen of the Duchy of Faya and is offered a bounty of 100 million Berries, dead or alive.

He was wanted by the nobles in the Duchy of Faa, and he was no longer a member of the Duchy of Faa. It was because of this newspaper that he wanted to ask Marine, but that kind of thing was his drunken nonsense. He knew very well that Marine could not do anything. No matter how strong that Marine was, they would not do such things in the kingdom.

He was just going to give it a try. What if…

But the Marine’s words woke him up.

Yeah …

The Emperor himself is a person who leads by example. If I don’t take the lead, what qualifications do I have to call myself the Emperor and what qualifications do I have to ask others?

He had to do it first!

Joshua took a deep breath, pulled out the handkerchief on his waist, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The sudden gunshot made the people on the street cry.

Joshua glanced at these people and shouted: “People!!”

The sound made these people look over. When they saw that it was Joshua, the panic and surprise that they should have heard the gunshots disappeared at this moment. They just looked at him quietly.

He also raised the newspaper and showed them the part of the headline and said loudly: “Emperor of Astya, your guardian, I, Paretel Joshua, have been defined as a criminal by the Duchy of Faya!”

These words shocked everyone. They opened the back of the newspaper and noticed the small headline.

This news immediately diluted their sadness over the death of the king.

“No way! How can Joshua collude with external forces?!”

“External forces, Marine?! It’s impossible. Marine came here to make the Duchy of Faa a joining country, and we don’t believe that Joshua will do anything to assassinate the king!”

“These nobles are bullshitting! Let’s not listen to him, Joshua, it’s okay, we won’t catch you!”

The citizens shouted loudly.

In response, Joshua just shook his head and shouted:

“That’s not the case. What I want to say is that those nobles don’t care about our life and death, they only care about their own interests. They don’t care about what happens to the Congress of Faya, and they don’t care about our life and death. They only care about their territory, and they don’t even want the country. How can such people complete the unification of Astya? Those people use our lives wantonly for their own selfish desires. For this, I just want to say that we won’t do it!!”

“My people, my people! As the Emperor of Astya, I will now order this most loyal city of mine. We will be independent. We will resist any order and invasion. From me, I will protect you until you resist. You fight!”

“As a pioneer, you will choose whether you want to be the real master of Astya or the sacrifice of the nobles!!”

Joshua’s voice resounded throughout the street, and the lingering sound also reached the ears of Kuro who was watching from above.

“Wanted?”

Kuro opened the newspaper and saw the small headline and smiled:

“He’s quite smart to know the power of a famous person. Unfortunately, he did it wrong.”

If a person can influence the entire city, he should choose to stabilize it at this time and not in this way. For something like this, even if Kuro did not say it, he would make the same choice.