"You proposed?" Ho Ran asked in surprise upon seeing the ring made of diamond on her grandson's finger.

She saw him immediately nod. "Yeah. I also plan to officially adopt Crowthorne as my surname. The system has already changed my status to reflect that so I'm just waiting on returning to New Earth before making the announcement."

'No embarrassment, shame, coyness nor deceit as far as I can tell... Does he really detest the Hamilio name so much? If so, this is fantastic but I've seen Hamilio's give up more for less so this can't prove anything just yet,' she thought.

"Why Crowthorne?" Ho Ran had to admit that, despite her suspicions and wariness, she was elated.

Him proposing of his own volition was a great sign that perhaps he was more normal than he let on and it made her feel vindicated in going through the effort of facilitating his date yesterday evening, even if that came with its own troubles.

As for the whole surname issue, whether a ruse or genuine, it brought her so much secret joy that she almost cracked a smile. Seeing a Hamilio openly decide to abandon the family name as she once did felt good.

It felt really good.

"Hamilio is out of the question for obvious reasons. Ho doesn't work well with English and I have no idea what the maternal name of my other grandparent from my mother's side is, so Crowthorne is all that's left," her grandson explained uncaringly. "It's a nice-sounding name and I don't hate my mother. Win-win."

"Have you ever met Helaina before?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

She, admittedly, knew very little about her oldest living grandchild. Him never having met his mother before surprised her.

Daz shook his head. "No. Well, not after my birth or at least not as far as I can remember. That's exactly why I don't hate her. Perhaps I'll change my surname for the second time if I do ever meet her and learn she's as deplorable as Father is."

"I see. I never knew her well since she soon left the Hamilio household after your birth while only barely maintaining her formal status as Davido's wife. She seemed... disheartened though after what happened with your siblings... I can see her view leaning towards one not too dissimilar to my own. I do hope she was holding a weapon when the system came," Ho Ran expressed.

Daz nodded. "As do I. I would like to meet her."

Ho Ran mulled over a matter a moment before deciding to ask, "Would you like to hear some advice from me in regards to wedding plans? I doubt you've looked into it much."

She watched as he seriously considered the offer before slowly nodding his head. "I think I'd like that, but first we have business to discuss, yes? We've spoken about just me for quite long enough."

"Right you are," Ho Ran agreed with a smile before she got down to work with her grandson.

----------------------------------------

Over 12-hours passed before the reaper was finally set free from his kingly obligations.

Six of those hours were spent ironing out details with his grandmother while the other six were filled by PR, mostly doing interview after interview with the various still-existing media stations of Korea to establish himself as a familiar face and to give the public of Korea a better understanding of his goals and motivations for bringing their nation under his rule.

It took a lot to wear Daz down but today has certainly been an exhausting one. Without hesitation, he fell asleep with Madison in his arms the moment he returned to their hotel room.

The next day, he was granted direct ownership of an abandoned town in the middle of the countryside which would now be monitored 24/7 by the United Korean army. In this town, he had set up a teleportation relay for easy access to the nation.

Of course, the army's monitoring meant basically nothing in the face of Daz's power but it was there mostly to appease the dissenting voice of the public and the powerful few who weren't quite fully accepting of his abrupt leadership.

He understood those voices and he didn't see the people speaking out against him in a negative light for it.

'I may never be understood by everyone but so long as I can protect the majority by eliminating ourselves as an obstacle, then I can live with that. If we make it through what's to come then we'll have all the time in the world to settle minor political disputes once again,' Daz thought as he drove up to Fort Sky with his Ridomochi.

He was here to collect his grandfather to bring him back to Fort Skip.

As he lowered his car to the city centre of Fort Sky, Daz spotted his elderly grandfather waving at him with both arms enthusiastically.

"Someone's cheerful," Daz thought aloud as he landed right next to Lorenzo and then pushed a button, making the passenger-side door open up. "Get in."

"I'm happy to see you too, Grandson," Lorenzo chuckled as he nimbly entered the vehicle. "Lovely car. It is technically a car, right?"

Daz shrugged. "Couldn't tell you. I call it one but who knows what type of vehicle the players would classify it as? It could be a slow cruiser spaceship for all I know."

"Fair enough," Lorenzo replied as he held his chin and smiled. "I notice that sparking ring there of yours. It's very... well, sparkly."

"Diamonds tend to do that when treated with the proper care," Daz answered before taking off with the car again.

GriD CrosS already had its orders to return to Taiwan and guard it against potential Chinese invasion or other threats along with the Yaoguai, so there was no need to get out and say 'hi' to the dishonest hunk of purple crystal, he felt.

"Who's the lucky lady? I doubt it's Aila," Lorenzo asked.

"Aila's dead, Grandfather. How do you not know that with your Survivor's Instinct?" Daz questioned back coldly.

"Ah, poor girl. She was a lot like me," the old man lamented. "I don't really use my Future Vision frivolously and my network of contacts kind of stopped existing when the system hit. I didn't need them anymore, so forgive me for not knowing your previously fiancée tragically passed away."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"How was she like you in any way, shape, or form? Was she akin to you in that you both had multiple sexual partners?" he suggested. "You're not exactly a young girl nor was she a wrinkly old man."

"Ouch. Way to hit me where it hurts. Anyway, if not Aila, then who?" Lorenzo asked.

'Clearly not that regretful over her passing if you don't even care how she died, huh?' Daz thought before saying, "Madison McArthur."

"McArthur? That's a surprise. Powerful bloodline, that one. A bit limited though in the scope of what they can do until level 5, of which, no McArthur has reached in centuries," Lorenzo claimed.

"I don't really care. I love her for who she is, not for whose blood is pumping through her veins," Daz said.

"Good! That's very good. Great, even." Lorenzo looked out the window then said, "... Is she pretty?"

"I will throw you out of this car if you have any thoughts about my fiancée, Grandfather. Useful or not, I would not be averse to painting the ground with the liquid of our 'precious bloodline' that flows through your veins," Daz threatened.

"Okay, so she's pretty. Thanks. That's one curiosity ticked off the list," Lorenzo laughed softly.

Daz raised an eyebrow. "You are older and wiser than most, I assume. You have a motive for provoking me subtly like this, yes?"

"Kind of." Lorenzo dropped his smile and asked, "You're serious about the whole taking over the world for our own good thing, right?"

"Of course," Daz replied without any hesitation.

"Hmm. Be careful with that mindset, Daz," Lorenzo warned. "Always keep an open mind, okay? You may not necessarily need to have total control to have, well, total control. I'd suggest you give out power wherever possible. It'll be easier that way. Let independent nations exist outside of your control, just pressure them to not make mistakes. Like America used to do before the system. Well, minus the wars for oil."

Daz frowned. "I am open to good ideas, but that does not sound like one. Complete rulership of all remaining survivors is the best way to combat what is to come after the tests. We need to be united. There may be cracks if all march under one banner, but at least there won't be fractures formed from multiple banners clashing to lead the fight. That or nations targeting one another for doing the opposite."

"You and the Truthians you're so worried about might actually get along better than you're expecting," Lorenzo said.

"What do you mean?" Daz asked inquisitively.

Lorenzo simply chuckled faintly. "Nothing. I only need you to deal with that lovely son of mine and you only need my help as an esper. Take my advice or ignore it. It's just the random ramblings of a no longer relevant man."

Daz's frown deepened but he didn't speak any further. He wasn't close-minded enough to ignore what sounded like well-meaning advice from a man far more experienced than himself in the sphere of politics.

Of course, esper politics and the politics of a nation were not one and the same but comparisons could be made.

However, he also wasn't foolish enough to trust a Hamilio at his word.

Lorenzo's countenance brightened as he said, "When will I get to meet my great-grandchildren then?"

"While it is possible for Madison and me to have children despite our new different species, I have no plans to do so. In fact, very few children have been born in my entire kingdom thus far," Daz answered. "Something I suspect the system is responsible for."

"I agree. It likely doesn't want the unneeded worry of raising a child when its testing us. I think you really need to want it for the system to relent. I'm not exactly an expert on the subject though despite how many children I've sired. All the kids under three-years-old and all pregnant women seem to be gone too," Lorenzo commented. "oh well. How about Rose? I'd like to meet her."

"Rose? She'd chew you apart and leave you bare like a newborn. Your wit won't help you with her," Daz replied.

"I'm looking forward to it, haha," Lorenzo chuckled.

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Unsurprisingly to Daz, upon returning, Lorenzo took to Fort Home like a fish would take to water.

He was going under a different name to avoid the eyes of any surviving esper families that were keeping tabs on his grandchildren.

He and Daz both knew that Davido would be aware of his return from 'death' but that didn't mean everyone else needed to know too.

Now he was known as Dominic Morana - a former principal of a high school from Italy. As good an alibi as any, both Lorenzo and Daz felt.

Lorenzo was surprisingly good with children and showed enough compassion when helping Emma train the disabled esper youths to gain a bit of a reputation. Enough so for Daz to actually praise the man, though that was all he got, praise.

It would take a lot more than being useful and good at the job he was assigned to earn Daz's trust.

Emma had her suspicions about Lorenzo's identity since he resembled Davido somewhat and considering the fact that Daz, of all people, had instated an apparent stranger to help her with her job... well, it was dubious at best. She did, however, put such thoughts in the back of her mind since they didn't matter.

She would do her job, pointless as it was, and nothing more. She wasn't told to tell him her thoughts and feelings, after all.

He respected that about her if nothing else.

Daz had officially announced his taking of the surname Crowthorne and he and Madison revealed their engagement, resulting in nationwide morale boosts as preparations were started for the ceremony.

They wouldn't be married until the Truthians were handled one way or another but the kingdom was still in high spirits regardless.

Daz took the time to find and thank Master Merit. His advice when they registered at the mercenary guild was one of the key reasons for him deciding to propose, so while he didn't trust the man he felt it only right to tell him how appreciative he was of his words.

As the weeks passed, Lorenzo spent more and more time training him how to further improve his control over his bloodlines, esper powers and internal energy, resulting in his efficiency when using the abilities to increase significantly.

Thankfully, the takeover of Oregon was peaceful with the ruling champion being more than willing to join under Daz's banner so long as he remained in control of Oregon via proxy.

With Daz's semester goal now complete, he focused entirely on helping his citizens achieve their own goals, enriching his ember mastery, and improving his control over his esper powers and the Astral Crystal Control skill.

It wasn't long before it was time once again to use the Altar of Permanence, and thus, Daz found himself in El Dorado.

He didn't meet Sir Albert Guildrose in his home like last month. The old man seemed to be out at the moment so he instead took a moment to explore the city.

Many native Amazonians wandered the shimmering streets of the ancient city as they busied themselves with daily chores, tasks, jobs or just went about their days.

As usual, Daz received his fair share of stares though more and more people recognised him and explained to the newcomers who he was.

It wasn't too long before someone stopped him and asked him to follow them to Sir Albert.

"Ah, there you are, King Da-"

"Crowthorne. That's my surname now," Daz interrupted.

Sir Albert wore a slightly confused expression but nodded regardless. "Okay, King Crowthorne it is. Sorry for not receiving you earlier. I was busy with my research, you see. I assume you'd like for the collected moonlight to be used, yes?"

Daz nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

Sir Albert nodded then spotted Daz's ring. "Ah, congratulations. I assume it was the girl with the speech impediment?"

"The one and only," Daz answered as they walked.

The two idly talked about his proposal and the progress of El Dorado as they made their way to the Altar of Permanence. Once there, Sir Albert asked, "What will it be this month then?"

Daz had thought a lot about what would be most critical to him in his coming altercation with the Truthians.

He already had a personal weapon in the form of Astral Crystal Control. He had Embers now and Rimmy could also help him.

In his mind, there was a single clear choice. The Truthians could also block esper powers somehow and one of his powers would be critical for his success, he felt. "Survivor's Instinct. See if the shrine can give that a Star of Eternity, would you?"

"Of course," Sir Albert happily answered.

Not long after a sorry frown could be seen on his face. "I got some feedback and it's not entirely positive. Apparently, a bloodline needs to be made permanent first, so this would be a two-month endeavour, I'm afraid."

Daz scowled as he knitted his brow in thought. "Give me a minute to consider my options then. I feared that was a possibility."

"Of course, take as long as you need," the old archaeologist happily replied with a kind smile.