Found It

The Old Duke urged him to complete the marriage alliance as soon as possible, refuting Zhou Ming's excuses until he was left speechless.

However, Zhou Ming still refused to marry immediately on the grounds that "the timing isn't right, and I'm not mentally prepared."

At the very least, he would wait a year or two before considering taking an Empress.

"You brat—"

The Old Duke was a little angry, his beard and hair bristling as he glared with an enraged expression... As the master of over thirty million square kilometers of land and the Supreme Overlord of hundreds of millions of people, the Old Duke possessed considerable authority. Whenever he became angry, his opponents often trembled in fear.

But Zhou Ming remained unmoved, still insisting on his own plans... The Old Duke's little "kingly aura" was far too childish to him.

"Fine! Brat, I'll give you one more year. After one year, you must marry Aier Sha!"

The Old Duke left those words behind. Seeing that Zhou Ming still did not nod, his old face reddened, and in the end, he could only snort heavily before leaving.

Thus, the fuse for a conflict was buried.

Several months later.

One day in July.

Outside a guild establishment on the busiest street in the imperial capital, two men and one woman emerged.

The three of them were Shut's team, dispatched by the Azure Hand Guild Headquarters to the Orunian Empire to carry out the mission of "finding the Self Connector."

Having just stepped out of the Azure Hand branch established in Orunia, all three wore gloomy expressions and were in terrible spirits.

They found a nearby tavern, ordered a few dishes, sat down at a table, and began drinking in silence.

"Three years. We've been searching for three years, and we