233: Chapter 234 Young Master... is he the Duke of Zhou?!

Facing this thunderous shout, Zhou Yun was completely bewildered.

He turned his head, glanced with some surprise at these suit-wearing thugs, and then looked at Zhou Tianhao.

"Young Master?"

He chewed over this somewhat strange title in his heart, his expression subtle: "Dad, who are they..."

Zhou Tianhao couldn't help but wince at these words.

He hadn't expected this group of rough men, who were usually full of profanity, to pull off such a shameful spectacle of bowing ninety degrees in unison and shouting "Young Master."

"Ahem!"

He coughed awkwardly and forced an explanation: "That's... employee training. Yes, we just started it a few days ago. It's about the sense of ritual in the service industry."

"Employees?"

Zhou Yun looked at the few men in black suits, whose temples were bulging even while they were fawning, and whose knuckles were thick and covered in calluses. His eye twitched slightly.

With that build and that aura, people would believe them if they said they were going to rob a bank; where was there any trace of the temperament of fruit-selling employees?

Furthermore, their own fruit shop was just a small, humble business in the neighborhood.

His old man had managed on his own for so many years; when did he become so extravagant that he needed to hire seven or eight "fruit sales experts" in suits?

While thinking, his gaze swept over the shop's shelves.

He saw that in the front fruit baskets, the apples and oranges that should have been neatly stacked were now scattered to the side.

A few of the fruits had skin that was slightly shriveled, emitting the stale scent of moisture loss.

Seeing this, Zhou Yun's heart stirred.

He knew that his old man's favorite saying used to be:

"We run a small business. The fruit we sell doesn't have to be expensive or delicious, but it must be fresh. We cannot cheat the neighbors."

Yet, defective products like these with shriveled skin wouldn't even have the qualification to appear on the edge of the shelves in the past, but today they were brazenly displayed in the most prominent position.

Clearly, something special must have happened during the time he was away.

Zhou Tianhao seemed to notice Zhou Yun's gaze on the fruit baskets. His eyes flickered slightly as he raised his hand to dismiss the men in black:

"Are you all still standing there like door gods? My son rarely comes back; why don't you go buy some good wine and food to celebrate?"

"Yes! Don't worry, Boss, we're going!"

The lead man in the suit acted as if he had been granted amnesty, nodding repeatedly, and hurriedly led his brothers out of the shop.

"Clatter!"

The gray roller shutter was pulled down again behind them. The previously crowded shop instantly became quiet, leaving only the father and son standing across the half-empty shop, staring at each other in silence.

Zhou Tianhao remained seated behind the tea table, but his rough, calloused hands were now trembling slightly, unable to be suppressed.

As the chaotic footsteps of his subordinates faded into the distance on the street, the composure in his eyes rapidly dissipated, and his gaze began to waver.

He slowly stood up, came before Zhou Yun, raised his trembling right hand, and patted the latter's shoulder heavily.

"Good lad..." He smiled, though his voice was slightly hoarse, "Is this... a promotion?"

Zhou Yun smiled and nodded. "Yes!"

"Good!"

Zhou Tianhao pressed his palm on his son's shoulder again.

"You've grown up... you've really grown up!"

As he spoke, a glint of moisture flashed in the corner of Zhou Tianhao's eyes.

But fearing his son would see, he turned his head and quickly wiped the corner of his eye with his sleeve, then turned and walked toward the wooden stairs leading to the second floor:

"Let's go, let's talk upstairs!"

...

Meanwhile, the few men in suits who had just left the fruit shop were walking along the bluestone path of the old street.

"Hey, tell me, what exactly does our Young Master do? Why did he suddenly come back at this time? He scared the hell out of me!"

A burly man with a Face full of flesh rubbed his neck, which felt tight from the black suit, and muttered in confusion:

"Just now, when we entered, I thought some big shot had arrived! When he glared, cold sweat broke out on the back of my head immediately..."

"Slap!"

The lead man beside him dealt a crisp blow to the burly man's bald head,

"Is your brain filled with paste? Can't you remember anything? Didn't the Boss explain to us in the meeting before? The Young Master is a City Lord who is expanding his territory in the Heavenly Dao world!"

The bald man who received the head knock rubbed his shiny forehead and said sheepishly:

"I remember, I remember, that's right, you did say that..."

But immediately, his eyes widened, as if he had thought of something incredible, and he grabbed the lead man's arm:

"That's not right! The Heavenly Dao world's newcomer trial only ended a little over half a month ago, right? According to the rules, the Young Master shouldn't be able to return to Blue Star at all! To be able to return, he would have to have been promoted to a Lower-Level City Lord!"

The few men who usually licked blood from the edge of a blade stopped in unison and looked at each other.

"Half a month... promoted to a Lower-Level City Lord? What kind of international joke is this?"

"It is a bit strange..."

"This timing is indeed not normal!"

"Do you think... the Boss intentionally packaged the 'City Lord' identity for the Young Master because he cares about Face? In reality, the Young Master is just working elsewhere and encountered big trouble this time, so he had to come home for help?"

...

The group discussed at the street corner for a long time without reaching any conclusion.

"Alright, alright, stop guessing blindly! Is the Boss's family business something we can gossip about? Mind your own business!"

The lead man waved his hand, stopping everyone's wild speculation, and led the team forward.

However, before they had even walked out of the corner of the old street, a sudden, extremely noisy sound of footsteps and commotion came from ahead.

"Thump, thump, thump, thump—"

The sound was extremely dull and dense, like rolling thunder echoing deep in the earth, as if the entire old street was vibrating along with it.

The eyelids of the men in suits twitched violently. They instinctively arched their bodies, their hands reaching silently toward the inside of their suits.

They saw that at the corner of the intersection ahead, a massive, dark tide of people was surging like a floodgate opening.

It wasn't a few people or dozens of people, but hundreds, even thousands, a terrifying flow of humanity that completely blocked the entire wide street!

What was even more terrifying was that everyone in this group had a fanatical expression, holding various live-streaming equipment and high-magnification cameras, shouting and rushing straight toward the old street where they were.

"What the hell! What's going on?!"

"A gang war? Or a siege? Why are there so many people?!"

"What the hell is going on?!"

...

The men in suits had experienced quite a few storms in their lives, but they had never seen such a terrifying crowd that packed the entire street. Instinctively, they wanted to retreat.

Fortunately, the lead man had been rolling around in the underground world of Jianghai City for many years and immediately saw the clues. He hurriedly pressed his hands on the shoulders of his subordinates on both sides and shouted:

"What are you panicking for! Let go of your hands! This isn't coming for us. Look at their eyes; they aren't even looking at us at all!"

The few men were stunned and hurriedly stopped their steps.

Seeing the crowd approaching, they quickly moved to the side, pressing against the white-washed wall, sucking in their stomachs, barely allowing the nearly crazy, fanatical flow of people to surge past, brushing against the corners of their suits.

At first, the men in suits thought these people were just passing by and that they just needed to yield the way.

However, several minutes passed, and this terrifying flow of people did not decrease; instead, it was like a bottomless pit, people squeezing against people, shoulder to shoulder, with no end in sight!

Finally, the crowd pouring in from behind was completely jammed by the narrow terrain of the old street, the flow speed of the entire street greatly decreased, and finally, it stopped completely.

Amidst the nearly suffocating squeeze, the few men in suits were forcibly pinned in the corner, unable to move, and even had to lift their heads to breathe.

"Hey! Buddy, buddy!"

The bald man, whose Face was flushed red from the squeezing, couldn't help but reach out a large hand and pull a young man nearby who was desperately holding a telephoto lens and sweating profusely, asking loudly:

"What earth-shattering event happened? You guys... where are you all rushing to?"

The young man wiped the sweat from his forehead, turned his head, and looked at the bald man as if he were looking at an unearthed relic:

"Are you serious, uncle? You don't even know this?!"

The bald man was choked up and said irritably: "If I knew, would I be asking you? What exactly happened?"

The young man raised the camera in his hand, his eyes full of fanaticism and worship, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Didn't the voice of Heavenly Dao just spread everywhere? Our Jianghai City has given birth to the youngest Duke in history, the Duke of Flower City, Lord Zhou Yun!"

"Duke of Flower City?"

The bald man frowned and chewed on the name twice. The interest he had just picked up instantly dissipated by more than half.

He had, of course, heard the voice of Heavenly Dao.

The problem was, what did it have to do with him?

But another middle-aged man who was sweating profusely from the squeeze glanced at these men in suits, thinking they were just a bunch of idiots, and said with a tone full of disdain and disgust:

"You don't understand anything, yet you're here joining in the fun, causing trouble? Don't block our view of welcoming Duke Zhou, move aside, move aside!"

Saying this, the man turned his head away with a look of disdain and squeezed forward desperately.

This instantly infuriated these suit-wearing thugs who usually called the shots in the underground world of Jianghai City.

Usually, they were the ones giving others the cold shoulder; today, they were actually looked down upon by an ordinary person?!

"Hey?!"

The bald man's Face turned black on the spot, and he rolled up his suit sleeves, ready to lash out.

However, at this moment, the lead man beside him seemed to have thought of something, and his Face instantly turned pale.

His originally calm eyes were slowly drained of all color.

He gripped the bald man's arm tightly, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Wait... the Boss's surname is Zhou... the Young Master... of course, is also surnamed Zhou..."

"The Young Master just now, just walked back into the shop..."

"And the direction this group of people is rushing toward..."

The lead man slowly turned his head and looked stiffly toward the depths of the old street, at that fruit shop with the gray roller shutter pulled down.

At this moment, the few suit-wearing thugs also seemed to have figured something out.

They looked at each other, the expressions on their Faces instantly freezing, turning into shock beyond compare.

Could it be...

The Young Master... is Duke Zhou?!

The moment this almost absurd thought took root in their minds...

"Shhh—"

A continuous, clear, and loud hushing sound suddenly swept in from far to near like the waves of a forest.

The crowd on the old street, which had been as noisy as a vegetable market, instantly quieted down as if a mute button had been pressed the moment they heard this hushing sound.

The massive crowd shut their mouths in unison, not even daring to breathe loudly.

The few suit-wearing thugs trapped in the corner were bewildered by this sudden, eerie silence, but with the task of buying groceries at hand, the lead man could only frown and say in a low voice to the person in front:

"Buddy, let us through, excuse us..."

However, before he finished speaking, several citizens nearby, who had originally looked solemn, suddenly turned their heads and glared furiously.

They lowered their voices and warned through gritted teeth:

"Didn't you hear us tell you to be quiet?! We are here to admire the heroic bearing of Duke Zhou, not to listen to you causing trouble! Can you be sensible? Shut up!"

"Exactly, no class, why are you shouting during such a solemn moment!"

The others also cast hostile and fierce, serious gazes; thousands of frowning eyes pressed down on them in unison, and the temperature in the air seemed to drop by several degrees.

The bald man's neck thickened, and he instinctively wanted to lash out, but was held down tightly by the lead man.

He looked around, snorted two rough breaths through his nostrils, and finally swallowed his anger.

A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him; the big picture is what matters! I'll endure it!

"Tutututututu—"

Just then, a roar of propellers suddenly came from the depths of the clouds above the old street.

People looked up and saw dozens of all-black, glossy, steel-textured military helicopters breaking through the clouds in the gray sky.

"Clatter—"

As the altitude dropped to a certain level, the cabin doors of the helicopters in the front were suddenly pulled open, and dozens of black high-altitude rappelling ropes were whipped down like steel whips.

Special forces soldiers wearing heavy exoskeleton armor and fully armed to the teeth slid down the ropes like lightning, their feet making a heavy, dull thud upon landing.

Their movements were extremely crisp and swift. After landing, they instantly pulled up an indestructible human isolation cordon outside the gray roller shutter, steadily blocking the crowded human tide on the outside.

Before everyone could react to this scene, another slightly chubby but agile middle-aged figure slid down the helicopter's rappelling rope neatly.

The moment they saw him, low discussions immediately broke out in the crowd:

"Who is this person? Why does he look so familiar?"

"Damn! You don't even know him?! That's our Mayor Zhang of Jianghai City!"

"So it is Mayor Zhang! He often appears on the news! No wonder he looks so familiar!"

"Why did he personally descend from the sky in a military helicopter?!"

"Are you stupid? Our Jianghai City has produced a Duke! If the Mayor didn't come today, that would be the abnormal thing!"

...