The small, exquisitely carved boy in his mother's arms left Zhong Yun gaping; he hadn't imagined that at twenty-two, he would become an older brother.

Yun Rong’s face glowed with maternal radiance as she looked at her two sons, a smile blossoming at the corners of her lips. Having both sons safe by her side had always been her greatest desire, and now, with that wish fulfilled, she felt an endless sense of contentment.

The infant, whom Yun Rong called Xiao Yu, lay nestled in his mother's embrace, showing no shyness towards the strangers. His eyes, like black jewels, curiously scanned the unfamiliar faces before finally settling on Zhong Yun. He watched without blinking, his gaze perfectly clear.

"This is Xiao Yu’s big brother," Yun Rong said happily, teasing her younger son.

Zhong Yun swallowed hard. The sudden appearance of a younger brother truly left him somewhat at a loss—both surprised and delighted. He glanced at his father, noticing only warmth in his eyes.

Zhong Yun leaned closer. His new brother was sculpted like fine jade, his cheeks rosy and plump, making one irresistibly want to pinch them. A faint joy rose in his heart. He used his index finger to gently lift the baby’s small hand and murmured, "Come on, say 'Gege' (Brother)."

Xiao Yu brought his left index finger to his mouth, sucking on it. His big eyes flickered once, then suddenly he raised his hand and waved it right across Zhong Yun's face. He then burst into a fit of giggles.

"You little terror," Zhong Yun chuckled, rubbing his lightly slapped nose. He turned to his mother, "This kid has quite a bit of strength. He’s going to be a little thug when he grows up."

"Nonsense," Yun Rong chided lightly. "Xiao Yu is only nine months and eight days old; he can’t talk yet."

Looking at the tender infant, Zhong Yun found himself liking him more and more. He rubbed his hands together. "Let me hold him for a while."

"Gently, now," Yun Rong cautioned, handing her son over.

Back on Earth, Zhong Yun had babysat for his cousin for a few days. His manner of holding a child was surprisingly adept, which eased Yun Rong’s worry about him being too rough.

The little fellow was exceptionally well-behaved. Perhaps sensing Zhong Yun was his own flesh and blood, he didn't struggle when held, merely staring curiously at Zhong Yun with those black-jewel eyes.

Holding his biological brother, Zhong Yun felt a profound and marvelous connection of shared blood. "Xiao Yu, I’m your big brother. In the future, you have to listen to me, understand?"

Little Ruo, sitting beside him, reached out a hand, pinched Xiao Yu's cheek, and laughed. "Xiao Yu doesn't look like you at all. He’s definitely going to be a handsome man."

A handsome man? The term felt oddly stiff to Zhong Yun. He corrected her, "A handsome guy."

Indeed, Xiao Yu’s eyes and brows resembled Yun Rong’s, while his nose and lips took after Zhong Pingjiang. He had inherited the best features of both parents. Though not yet a year old, it was already clear he possessed the makings of a true heartthrob.

After a while in Zhong Yun's arms, Xiao Yu began to look drowsy, rubbing his nose with both tiny hands. Yun Rong took him back and carried him to the room.

"When did Yun Qi leave?" Zhong Yun’s smile faded. The thought of Yun Qi, who had gone looking for him after hearing he had a new brother, completely extinguished his good mood.

Zhong Pingjiang knew his son would ask. "A year and a half ago. The two years we agreed upon had passed, and she intended to come look for you then. But we persuaded her to wait. Still, we could only keep her here for six months. She’s quite a stubborn girl."

He recalled the scene when Yun Qi had knelt before him, begging to leave, and he couldn't help but sigh. Though her demeanor was cool, her devotion to Zhong Yun was absolute. Initially, he hadn't been entirely satisfied with her as a daughter-in-law, but after this incident, he had completely accepted her.

"When she learned you had gone to the Mings Kingdom, she entrusted Qin Qianli from the Omi National Management Company to take her to Freedom Star, where she could transfer to a spaceship bound for the Mings Kingdom."

Zhong Yun fell silent. He did some quick mental calculations: the Mings Kingdom was barely ten light-years away. On a standard vessel, it wouldn't take more than a few months. She was likely there already.

But for a young woman to travel to the Mings Kingdom alone—what dangers might she encounter on the way? The thought sent a wave of anxiety through him.

"She was determined to leave, and we couldn't stop her, but we couldn't let her go by herself either. I was planning to follow, but she secretly left before we knew it. By the time we realized she was gone, it was too late," Zhong Pingjiang admitted with regret.

"Dad, this isn't your fault," Zhong Yun could only offer in comfort.

"Oh, and one more thing. Before Yun Qi left, she took a small spatial remote sensor. She was supposed to contact us once a month, but we haven't heard from her in three months now," Zhong Pingjiang said, a shadow flashing in his eyes.

Zhong Yun’s heart clenched. Could something terrible have happened to Yun Qi? He dared not think further. He stood up abruptly. "No, I have to go find her immediately."

"Dad, where was the last confirmed location?"

Seeing his son's resolute expression, Zhong Pingjiang knew he couldn't dissuade him. "The Mings Kingdom."

"Dad, I'll leave the matters here to you. I’m bringing Yun Qi back." Zhong Yun couldn't bear to wait a moment longer. He turned to Chu Tiange and the others. "You all stay here and help my father."

Finally, he looked at Little Ruo, who was clinging tightly to his arm. "You stay put and be good. I’ll be back quickly."

Little Ruo bit her lip, her grip slowly loosening. "Hurry back."

Zhong Yun nodded solemnly.

He spent less than an hour on Yun Qi Star before departing again. He sighed inwardly; it seemed he was destined for a life of perpetual toil.

He left the Mars vessel and its one million mecha troops behind. Taking only Xiao Ling, he piloted the Mercury, along with one million optical brain mecha units, toward the Mings Kingdom.

The Mercury’s speed was even more impressive than the Mars vessel's. This time, it took him just over a month to reach Ketong Star. Revisiting this familiar place brought a rush of complex feelings.

Xiao Ling deftly infiltrated the Mings Kingdom’s virtual network. In the immigration registry, there was no record of Yun Qi having entered the Mings Kingdom.

Not just her name, but no record of anyone even remotely resembling her.

This was strange. Zhong Yun had verified with his father that Yun Qi had indeed claimed to have entered the Mings Kingdom. Now, there was no entry record.

Next, Xiao Ling hacked into the National Data Office, which stored the records of all citizens and immigration data for the Mings Kingdom, including appearances and names.

Zhong Yun decided to start with photographs, hoping to find the identity Yun Qi might be using.

Among over twenty billion inhabitants, he finally located a woman with about 80% facial similarity to Yun Qi, but Zhong Yun stared at the picture and felt this woman was highly unlikely to be Yun Qi.

This woman was named Su Xing, in her mid-thirties—though the photo didn't clearly suggest that age. She was a police officer on Ketong Star, married, with a fourteen-year-old daughter.

The data was thorough and difficult to fake. Police officers interact with many people; a false identity would easily be exposed.

If Su Xing wasn't Yun Qi, there was only one other possibility: Yun Qi had not only changed her name but also altered her appearance to blend into the Mings Kingdom.

That made the search infinitely more difficult. The Mings Kingdom saw hundreds of thousands of entries and exits daily. He didn't know the exact date Yun Qi arrived. Given the interval between her calls to his father, any day within that month was possible, meaning tens of millions of people.

Even counting only new arrivals, that was over ten million. Finding a completely disguised Yun Qi among that crowd would be nearly impossible.

Zhong Yun gritted his teeth and extracted all entrants to the Mings Kingdom for that entire month—a total of over 13 million people. He filtered out Mings Kingdom natives, infants, children, the elderly, and those with excessively low or high builds or exaggerated weight.

Finally, the pool was narrowed down to eight million.

Still too many. Zhong Yun scratched his head in frustration. He considered his options again and filtered out anyone who had left the Mings Kingdom.

According to his father, Yun Qi’s last communication confirmed she was still inside the Mings Kingdom. He concluded that Yun Qi was very likely still there.

Three million people remained.

He paused again and filtered out anyone who had arrived with family members. Yun Qi might seek company, but she couldn't magically conjure relatives.

Then he eliminated all men with beards. Yun Qi had an aversion to excessive hair; if Zhong Yun forgot to shave, she absolutely refused to let him kiss her. Therefore, even if she disguised herself as a man, she wouldn't have a beard.

Next, he excluded those who had previously visited the Mings Kingdom.

This step brought the remaining count down to under one million.

Within this nearly one million most probable candidates, he refined the scope using several keywords: music, single, visited more than two administrative stars, no fixed address, and so on.

Ultimately, he identified 231 individuals who were most likely to be Yun Qi, including both men and women.

After a moment of hesitation, Zhong Yun decided to look for the woman named Su Xing first, simply because he was currently on Ketong Star. He fabricated an identity and stealthily infiltrated Ketong Star.

After more than two years, Ketong Star had largely shed the shadows of the previous incident. The entire planet had turned into a massive construction site, buzzing with fervent activity. Countless people from other administrative stars had flocked here to join the construction legions.

To avoid missing Yun Qi, Zhong Yun did not alter his own appearance, even if it meant encountering some trouble.

Since breaking through Level 20, his strength had entered another explosive phase. In just a few short months, he had reached Level 24, almost advancing one level per month—a terrifying rate. With his current power, self-preservation should be guaranteed. As long as he didn't actively seek trouble, few people would bother him.

Su Xing lived in Antang City. During the riots two years prior, Antang City had suffered relatively minor damage. The city had long since returned to normal.

The police station was the first target during that revolt, and police officers suffered the highest casualty rate. Su Xing, however, was blessed by fortune; she was on vacation then, having taken her daughter to the Capital Star, thus escaping the massacre. Her husband was not so lucky; he perished during the unrest.

At the Antang City Police Station, an unexpected visitor arrived that day, explicitly asking for Officer Su Xing.

P: Not feeling great today, so it's only three thousand characters. I'll try to make up for it tomorrow.