234: Chapter 235 I am the one who belongs to the Duke of Zhou!

Under the gaze of thousands of eyes filled with shock and awe, the mayor of Jianghai City raised his hand and somewhat nervously straightened his suit tie, which had become slightly wrinkled from his descent from the sky.

He then took a deep breath and walked up to the tightly closed grey metal roller shutter door.

He stood still and bowed.

This top leader of Jianghai City, at this moment, assumed an extremely solemn and respectful posture as he spoke loudly toward the roller shutter door:

"Jianghai City Mayor Zhang Ze, under orders, has come specifically to request an audience with Duke Zhou! I dare not disturb you for long, I am only here to deliver the invitation to the Congress of Kings and Dukes!"

As he spoke, he reached into his jacket with his white-gloved hands and solemnly produced a gold-stamped invitation.

The Congress of Kings and Dukes!

The moment they heard these four words, the entire street, packed with people, showed signs of erupting into a frenzy!

The four words "Congress of Kings and Dukes" sounded a bit awkward.

But in the entire Great Han Nation, there was no one who did not know of it.

It was a meeting that only Princes and Dukes were qualified to attend, and it was one of the highest-level meetings in the Great Han Nation.

Every time a new Prince or Duke was promoted, the meeting would be convened to determine the development path of the Princes and Dukes, exchange resources, and better cooperate and support one another.

And every time such a meeting occurred, the national government and even the entire citizenry attached immense importance to it.

Because once someone advanced to become a Superior City Lord and created an Imperial Dynasty, they could guide the entire nation to Ascension to the City Lord World!

Blue Star's resources were currently becoming increasingly scarce, so countless people were eagerly looking forward to the prospect of Ascension to the City Lord World.

Once achieved, it would not just be the Ascension of the nation; for ordinary people like them, it would be an evolution of their very life essence!

The significance was immense!

Before Zhou Yun, the entire Great Han Nation had a total of four Princes and sixteen Dukes.

Zhou Yun was the seventeenth Duke of the Great Han Nation!

Thinking of this, everyone became even more excited and agitated.

"That's right! Duke Zhou has appeared, so isn't the new Congress of Kings and Dukes about to begin?!"

"With Duke Zhou joining this time, the probability of our Great Han Nation giving birth to an Imperial Dynasty has increased by another fraction! We are one step closer to Ascension!"

"For Duke Zhou to be promoted to Duke in such a short time, his foundation, strength, and opportunities must be extraordinary! He will surely bring unprecedented assistance!"

"Absolutely!"

"I really look forward to Duke Zhou's speech at the Congress of Kings and Dukes!"

...

Amidst the discussions, in front of the fruit shop, under the watchful eyes of the crowd...

"Creeeak—"

That somewhat mottled grey roller shutter door slowly rose with a dull sound.

Opening the door was Zhou Tianhao, dressed in simple casual clothes, his expression calm but his back straight as a rod.

He was like the most solid shield, standing at the forefront inside the door the moment it opened.

And behind Zhou Tianhao, in the dim light of the fruit shop, that tall, slender figure in a grey robe with a refined face was stepping out unhurriedly.

The moment the Jianghai City Mayor saw Zhou Yun come out, he bowed his body and handed out the gold-stamped invitation with both hands.

"Jianghai City Mayor, Zhang Ze, under orders to deliver the invitation!"

"I invite Duke Zhou to attend the meeting!!"

Zhou Yun took the invitation, nodded slightly at the bowing Jianghai City Mayor before him, and spoke in a calm and gentle tone:

"Sorry to trouble Mayor Zhang to make this trip personally."

"I dare not, I dare not."

Zhang Ze maintained his bowed posture, his voice kept very low.

"This is my duty. Regarding the time of the Congress, Duke Zhou only needs to give notice when the time comes."

"Hmm..."

Zhou Yun glanced at the slightly gloomy sky, then looked at the cover shimmering with a faint golden light in his hand, and said:

"Then let it be in two days."

"Understood."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ze cupped his hands and said solemnly:

"Zhang Ze will certainly convey this accurately. In one day, at the Forbidden City Congress Hall, we respectfully await Duke Zhou's arrival!"

After Zhang Ze slowly retreated, the silence on the old street, which had been forcibly suppressed by the earlier hush, erupted again in an instant like a volcano.

"Duke Zhou!!"

Fanatical shouts exploded from the ground, reverberating layer upon layer between the low residential buildings.

Countless people desperately held their phones high, their lenses focusing in the slightly trembling air.

Several neighbors from the fruit shop next door were pushed to one side of the roller shutter door by the fanatical crowd, their faces pale, barely able to catch their breath, but in their eyes looking at Zhou Yun, they were filled with unspeakable awe.

And the few thugs in suits plastered against the wall by the roadside were completely dumbfounded by this point.

If it was only ninety percent speculation just a moment ago, then at this very moment, the Jianghai Mayor's respectful ninety-degree bow and that shout of "Duke Zhou" had turned that last ten percent into an ironclad fact!

"Baldy..."

A man swallowed hard, feeling his throat go dry, and muttered to himself:

"Since the Young Master is Duke Zhou... then, do we also count as Duke Zhou's people?"

As soon as this was said, the faces of the several big men around him flushed red, and even the roots of their ears seemed to be burning.

An uncontrollable surge of wild joy and fanaticism suddenly shot up from their very bones.

"I am... one of Duke Zhou's people?!"

One big man suddenly couldn't hold back, roared at the top of his lungs, veins bulging on his forehead.

"I am also one of Duke Zhou's people!!"

The person next to him, not to be outdone, also shouted out loud, their grim expressions of 'death-defying resolve' actually scaring the surrounding honest citizens, who shivered and looked at these men in suits as if they were lunatics.

A refined-looking urban beauty who was standing on tiptoes had her ears hurt by this loud roar; she turned her head away in disgust and glared fiercely at these rough men.

Immediately, she clasped her hands to her chest, opened her throat, and screamed in a voice eight octaves higher than theirs:

"I am the one who belongs to Duke Zhou! I want to have Duke Zhou's babies!!"

It would have been fine if she hadn't shouted that, but once she did, it was like triggering some mechanism, causing many women to start shouting and scrambling to be heard:

"Bah! Shameless! You vixen!"

"Exactly! I can tell she's a green tea bitch! I am the one who belongs to Duke Zhou!"

"I think you're the real green tea bitch! Have you no shame?!"

"Take a look at yourself! Duke Zhou's gaze will only ever rest on me!"

...

I don't know how much time passed, but as the grey metal door clattered down, the glaring flashes and physical gazes were completely shut out from the street.

The shop on the first floor was somewhat dim, with only a few rays of light filtering through the gaps in the old wooden shelves.

The seven or eight sturdy men in suits who had just returned were now standing straight, legs tensed, hands pressed firmly against their sides, guarding the old shelves with solemn expressions.

Apart from them, there was no one else in the shop.

But they remained on guard, their large eyes wide open, scanning their surroundings vigilantly, as if they wanted to use their gazes to completely exterminate any virus in the air that might cause harm.

In everyone's actions and posture, a sense of near-sacred solemnity was revealed.

After all, things were different now.

They were no longer the thugs drifting through life at the docks; they were now... Duke Zhou's people!

Working for the seventeenth Duke of the Great Han Nation, they had to look the part!

...