The Missing Princess

As the Sea Clearing Kingdom National Guard, the Empire Heavenly Pivot Battle Group, and the Star Sand Guard fully deployed throughout the city, the night in Cloud Joy City seemed to be pressed down.

A large number of figures moved about, and patches of alchemical lamps went out between blocks of the street.

On the top floor of the Sea-Hued Grand Feast, Su Ming stepped to the edge of the terrace. He unfolded his tablet, and more than a dozen airships descended from the clouds under his control, lining up in formation above the city and unleashing large floodlights.

Bright beams of light fell upon the streets, squares, and warehouse districts, illuminating every detail of the fleeing figures.

Cloud Joy City has become a true city that never sleeps.

In the lower sky, flocks of griffins circled back and forth, their sharp cries drowning out the Clamor on the ground. Every now and then, explosions sent flames billowing up, and Crushed Stone and dust were hurled into the air by shockwaves, only to fall back down in beams of light.

The river surface was cut into alternating light and shadow by magic and the beams of light from the airships, like a long scroll that had been torn apart.

Su Ming glanced at his phone; a message from Xialike popped up.

"These griffins are of good quality, thanks!"

In the previous battle against the Divine Covenant Faction, Su Ming captured a large number of griffins, and he naturally looked down on such air force.

But Xialike liked it, or rather, he had no other choice.

Su Ming simply sold them all to him, leaving not even the unhatched eggs in the breeding base. The Star Empire's Griffin Legion thus doubled in size. "By the way, you got a two million discount on your bill," Xialike sent another message. "Did you have a change of heart and give me a discount?"

Su Ming replied expressionlessly:

"I've taken the gem from the engagement ring you gave Chloe."

Xialike, who was initially quite happy, felt as if he had been struck by lightning after seeing this text.

"Su Ming!" he shouted, pressing the voice button, "What did you do to Chloe?!"

Su Ming sighed softly.

Where did this intelligent emperor's IQ suddenly go?

"If I dare to make a move on her, the Bay Owl will not let me off the hook."

Xialike replied instantly, "I won't allow it either!"

Su Ming decided not to bother arguing with this idiot.

"Although Miss Chloe is very beautiful, intelligent, and virtuous, and I enjoy arguing with her, we also have a very pleasant working relationship..."

He furiously typed a long string of numbers, estimating that Xialike were already red-hot, before saying, "However, Chloe still has that ring, and it seems he even secretly wore it."

After the message was sent, there was a moment of silence on Xialike's end.

After a while, this love-struck emperor finally came to his senses.

"The gem is of great use to you, so Chloe is giving it to you."

But the next second, his emotions jumped from being shaken to the other side.

"She still keeps the ring, which means she still cares about this marriage!"

"Maybe," Su Ming said. "I think the material of that ring setting is quite good; it could sell for around a hundred gold coins."

Xialike was completely unfazed.

"Chloe has always been very clear about these things; she even makes you give me the money from selling the gems."

"But when he left, he still took such an expensive ring with him."

Xialike became happier the more he thought about it.

"That means she wasn't really planning to end it!" "How could I have been so stupid!"

Su Ming looked up at a flock of griffins flying in the distance, then looked down at his phone.

A clever love-struck mind—that's really illogical.

****

Another officer strode over, ready to report the military situation to Xialike.

But as soon as he approached the command area, he was startled by the Emperor's appearance.

Xialike stood there, holding the tablet-shaped alchemical communicator provided by Bone King, his expression shifting back and forth, sometimes gritting his teeth, sometimes laughing like an idiot.

The attendants around him kept their eyes down, seemingly oblivious to everything.

The officer hesitated to step forward for a moment.

Zhapulai noticed this, sighed, took the report, and took it upon himself to handle the matter for Xialike.

Xialike is still sending messages to Su Ming:

"Su Ming, Chloe is in the Radiant Holy City, right?" "Do you think she'd even see me if I went to find her like this?"

Su Ming felt somewhat helpless; he wasn't a relationship advisor.

And is Xialike really not afraid of courting disaster by consulting with such a quack?

"Regarding the state visit, have your Foreign Minister Fernand go to see Ainuobia on my side."

Ainuobia immediately sent a private message: "(???)"

"@Su Ming, where do you think I'm going to find another gem worth two million gold coins?" Xialike completely ignored Su Ming and continued talking to himself.

Su Ming really wanted to block the other person.

But this is a "hotline" channel between the two countries.

Currently, all parties within Cloud Joy City are launching a joint operation, and all collaborative information is being exchanged and synchronized on this channel.

Yes, this is a large working group, including military and diplomatic officials from both sides.

Now, no one else in the group dares to speak; they're all pretending to be dead.

Su Ming, seeing the constant stream of @ mentions, finally realized this wasn't a big deal. (The rest of the text appears to be a series of random characters and symbols, possibly a corrupted file or a corrupted file.)

So he simply enabled background access and locked this guy and Chloe into a separate group.

The "Cloud Joy City Temporary Battle Group" has finally been restored to normal operation.

A message immediately popped up in the channel.

"Can you griffins stop pooping everywhere?!" said an officer from the Final Bone Mad Machines. "There are people down below!"

"Army brothers, this is force majeure," a Star Empire officer replied, clearly in a good mood.

"Get out of my way," Zhapulai said sternly. "They've got anti-aircraft weapons."

There was a brief silence on the channel.

The Star Empire officer, who had been being sarcastic just moments before, immediately sobered up.

"Received, sorry bro, I'll adjust it right away!"

****

Hansite and Younier also arrived. Below, even the ordinary residents who weren't being arrested were anxiously watching everything happening in the city.

Younier approached Su Ming, her voice filled with worry.

What will happen to the people in this city?

"Leave it to Xialike and Sea Clearing Kingdom," Su Ming replied. "After the reorganization, they will initially restore the city's functions and continue the 'franchise' operation policy."

Cloud Joy City is a deformed city; it sells desire and weaves a gray industry.

But it also sustains the livelihoods of countless people who depend on this city. It's not that burning it down will make things better.

"First, let the people here survive, and then we can slowly make changes," Hansite said.

The unicorn, forbidden from running around by Su Ming, lay listlessly on the terrace. Its snow-white mane fluttered in the night breeze, like a flowing sheet of silver frost.

Hansite walked over to her.

"How could this lead to a 'dining Overlord ' incident?"

"Snort!"

Qiluo flicked her tail, the tip striking Hansite. Death continued to occur in the city, souls escaping one by one, drifting on the wind, passing through the beams of light falling from the airship, like a snowfall flowing backwards into the sky.

Hansite looked up at those souls.

"How about another one of those Long River ones?"

He gestured.

"To punish evil and bring salvation to the unfortunate?"

Qiluo immediately shook her head frantically.

"Such a vast area, such a massive causal chain, do you want me dead?!"

"That spell is so complicated!" Hansite exclaimed, somewhat surprised.

"Yes," Qiluo said, "One or two is fine, but any more than that, and that falls into the realm of gods."

****

The chaos in Cloud Joy City continued unabated throughout the night.

Once Su Ming confirmed that the situation had largely stabilized, he went back to sleep. When he woke up, it was already nine in the morning. Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, and he could faintly hear commands and the sound of wheels outside.

After washing up, Su Ming sat down at the dining table.

Grilled fish with a slightly charred exterior, thinly sliced smoked meat, steaming hot mushroom soup, sweet berry sauce, and freshly baked bread.

Even though the whole city was engulfed in explosions and fires all night, the dinner table was still laden with food.

"No wonder it's a city with a highly developed service industry, "Su Ming thought to himself.

Ainuobia entered. "President, the King of the Pearl Duchy wishes to see you."

The king also attended the summit yesterday.

"What does he want with me?" Su Ming asked.

Currently, all diplomatic affairs are handled directly by Ainuobia. Even if the problem is significant, it can be resolved after she consults with Su Ming.

"... It's about Princess Ximina."

This name sounds familiar.

Su Ming recalled that several months ago, the King of the Pearl Duchy had sent an envoy to propose a marriage alliance with him. The chosen candidate was their third princess, Ximina.

"Didn't I tell you to refuse back then? How come there's something else going on?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

Ainuobia shrugged.

"They refused, but Ximina ran away."

She paused.

"They are still missing."

Su Ming was speechless.

Even if he wouldn't accept the marriage proposal, he shouldn't be this unwelcome!

Wasn't this third princess running away a little too fast?

He thought about it and agreed to meet with the King of the Pearl Duchy.

****

In the reception room, Su Ming met with the King of the Pearl Duchy. After a series of greetings and formalities, they took their seats.

The King of the Pearl Duchy began by saying:

"I apologize for my daughter's marriage proposal, Chairman."

"These trivial matters won't affect our cooperation," Su Ming said bluntly. "You also don't need to worry about Bay Owl; she won't make things difficult for an innocent girl, nor will she hold it against you who were unaware of the situation at the time."

These words had actually been mentioned before.

The king nodded, but his expression remained somewhat troubled. "But Ximina..."

"Princess Ximina was frightened; let's send her back if necessary," Su Ming said.

The king quickly explained, "We've already sent people to look for it."

He sighed, a sigh that carried the weariness of a monarch and the helplessness of a father.

"We recently finally tracked down my daughter's whereabouts and discovered that she went to Water Chestnut Island."

Su Ming frowned slightly.

This third princess, I hope she doesn't end up like that Janet and get involved with the Plundering Clock. The king, seeing Su Ming's expression, immediately knew the other had misunderstood.

"President Su, my daughter has no combat rank and just enjoys writing in her spare time. There's absolutely no way she would defect to the enemy."

He quickly added.

She is not proficient in government affairs or other technical fields.

No wonder she was so generous in marrying him off here, Su Ming thought to herself.

The king seemed to have read Su Ming's thoughts and quickly said:

"President Su, please don't misunderstand. Ximina is naturally intelligent; she's just simply calm and collected."

"She disliked court affairs and social interactions, but she was not dull-witted."

"Her wishes were consulted before she was considered as a potential husband outside the region."

****

Su Ming did not continue the topic.

"So you came to me because you want to?" The king sat up.

"At the time my daughter traveled to Water Chestnut Island, the information that the orcs were the stronghold of the Plundering Clock had not been made public, and all air routes were not cut off."

"The area around Water Chestnut Island is now sealed off."

At this point, the king's expression turned somewhat grim.

"And now I've heard that they're also searching for and imprisoning humans on Water Chestnut Island."

His hands, resting on his knees, tightened slightly.

"I wonder if Chairman Su has any way to rescue my daughter?"

Su Ming sighed and truthfully explained the current situation on Water Chestnut Island.

The island is very large, and intelligence infiltration into Water Chestnut Island is currently facing numerous difficulties.

The naval blockade established for the campaign was even less likely to be broken.

The King of the Pearl Duchy clearly understood this as well.

So he didn't make any excessive demands, but after a moment of silence, he took a flat painting box from his attendant. He opened it, and inside was an oil painting.

The girl in the painting has long, light golden hair, common in the Pearl Duchy, with slightly curled ends that are blown behind her shoulders by the sea breeze. Sunlight falls on her hair and eyelashes, giving her a warm and bright glow.

The dress, a blend of light white and pale blue, resembled foam left behind after waves crashed over rocks.

Looking at the portrait, Su Ming's impression of this third princess finally became more concrete.

"President Su, if you have the opportunity to meet her, please do so to lend a helping hand to my daughter."

Please!

Su Ming took the portrait.

He didn't make any promises that he could definitely keep, he just nodded earnestly.

"If I have the chance, I will arrange for a search and rescue operation for Princess Ximina!"