"Your country seems very powerful! If I also had such strength, my country wouldn't have…" Vivi said, her face heavy with emotion.
"Haha! Miss Vivi, you still haven't said whether you accept this deal!"
Vivi stared intently at Zhong Chen for a while.
Finally, she made up her mind, stood up, walked over to Zhong Chen, and with a smile, extended her right hand, saying, "Then, I'll leave it to you, Mr. Zhong Chen!"
Seeing this, Zhong Chen also stood up and extended his right hand, taking the young girl's delicate hand.
"Happy cooperation!"
"That's great, Vivi, now you don't have to worry about your country!"
"Yes! I didn't expect to meet Mr. Zhong Chen in the desert; it's truly fate!"
Seeing Zhong Chen and Vivi reach an agreement, Luffy and the others all stood up and offered their congratulations.
"Actually, I once saw Mr. Zhong Chen from afar when I was at the Oilseed Rape Port!"
Just then, Vivi said something that surprised everyone.
"Is that so? It seems you were also in Oilseed Rape when we arrived!" Zhong Chen said thoughtfully.
"That's not right. How could Vivi have been in Oilseed Rape at that time? According to the timeline, shouldn't she have been in Cattleya?"
Unable to figure it out, Zhong Chen could only attribute it to the butterfly effect.
"Alright, it's late; I won't disturb you anymore! We can discuss anything else tomorrow morning! Tina, let's go!"
With that, Zhong Chen stood up, ready to leave. Vivi and the others, seeing this, all bowed deeply to Zhong Chen and said in unison, "Thank you very much for helping Vivi, and thank you for letting us stay the night!"
Seeing this, Zhong Chen merely waved his hand gently, saying nothing.
Watching the backs of Zhong Chen and his two companions as they left, Luffy exclaimed, "Hehe! I didn't expect to meet such good people even in the desert!"
"Indeed, for such a powerful individual to be so approachable!"
"Alright, you guys, Vivi and I are going to shower and sleep! I finally get a chance to shower, so I'm not in the mood to fool around with you!"
"Vivi, let's go!"
"Okay!"
With that, Nami led Vivi upstairs… The next day, early morning, the desert temperature, just touched by the sun, was not yet as scorching as midday, as everyone woke up.
The entire camp was filled with the sight of the Cursed Children everywhere.
"One, two, three, four, two, two, three, four, three, two, three, four, one more time!"
Rimuru and Milim stood in front of all the Cursed Children, leading them in twisting their bodies.
Meanwhile, our Regent was still in a sealed state.
"Nami! Good morning!"
"Ah! Miss Nami! Even after just waking up, you are still so beautiful!"
Luffy and the others, gathered in the hall, greeted Nami as she came downstairs.
Seeing that everyone was already awake, Vivi stood up and said, "We should go see Mr. Zhong Chen now; I think he should be awake by now!"
"Hmm, a strong person like Mr. Zhong Chen must live a very disciplined life!"
"Oh! Then let's quickly go find Zhong Chen! We still need to hurry to the capital to stop the rebels!" Luffy said excitedly to everyone.
"Alright! Then let's go!"
"Hmm!"
As they walked out of the villa, they faintly heard something like "one, two, three, four, two, two, three, four."
Following the sound, they saw the Cursed Children lined up in neat formations, doing calisthenics.
"This… this… Although Mr. Zhong Chen told us, this is just too… too cute!"
Nami's eyes sparkled as she watched over two hundred adorable little ones waving their tiny hands and feet.
You see, these were all Cursed Children. Although they had the Gastrea virus in their bodies, it was precisely because of this that each of them grew to be exceptionally cute.
Not to mention, their genes had already been modified by Zhong Chen and Rimuru. Now, every one of these children could be described as overwhelmingly adorable.
"Indeed, so many children! It seems Mr. Zhong Chen really wasn't lying!"
Zoro, who had still harbored some doubts, completely believed Zhong Chen's words after seeing the scene before him. After all, who would bring a bunch of children to cause trouble?
"Sugoi (Amazing)!"
"Sugoi (Amazing)!"
Luffy and Chopper, upon seeing the scene, had sparkling eyes. Their bodies involuntarily moved to the end of the line, and they started twisting along with the group of children.
"These two guys!!!"
Nami covered her forehead with a look of helplessness, while Vivi, with a smile, tried to console her, "Hehe, it's alright, Nami. There's nothing wrong with it. Besides, a little exercise isn't a bad thing!"
Rimuru, who had been leading the exercises, was incredibly surprised to see Luffy and Chopper sneak into the line.
"Wow! Isn't that Luffy and Chopper? How did they end up here?!"
Rimuru, who had gone to bed early last night, had no idea what had happened. Sakuya had been busy waking Zhong Chen up this morning and hadn't had time to tell Rimuru.
As for the Academy Guard, seeing Lord Rimuru dancing so enthusiastically in front, they wouldn't go up and say anything.
To quote a line from the movie "Flirting Scholar": How dare a subordinate disturb your enjoyment!
However, even though Rimuru was filled with questions, the main task now was to finish this set of calisthenics.
"Four, two, three, four… Stop! Morning exercises over, dismissed!!!"
"Oh, oh, oh!!!"
Upon hearing the end, the little ones dispersed in twos and threes.
"It's over! Let's go over!"
"Okay!"
Rimuru looked at the Straw Hat Pirates walking towards him and asked with a surprised expression, "Wow! You're Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji, and even Vivi!"
Hearing Rimuru call out their names, the group wasn't surprised, assuming Zhong Chen had told her.
"Yes, I don't know who you are…"
"Wow, you're so beautiful, even more beautiful than anyone I've ever seen! Your skin is so good; do you have any beauty secrets?" Nami asked, touching Rimuru's incredibly fair hands with a look of surprise.
Rimuru was a bit flustered by Nami's sudden enthusiasm, and just as she didn't know what to say, a Security Force member who had witnessed the scene instantly appeared in front of them and angrily shouted, "Presumptuous! How dare you be disrespectful to Lord Rimuru!!!"
With that, he drew the sword from his hand, ready to strike. Zoro's pupils immediately contracted upon seeing this—a powerful individual! An absolute powerhouse!
In fact, not just Zoro, but even Luffy and Sanji felt the aura emanating from the other party, which was in no way weaker than Crocodile.
"Just how many experts are there here? How is it that anyone who casually appears is such a strong individual?!"
"Alright! Stop it, I'm fine!"
"This… Yes… Your subordinate withdraws!"
Looking at the smiling Rimuru, the Security Force member could only obey and retreat, warning Luffy and the others as he left, "If you dare to be disrespectful to His Majesty the King again, even if Lord Zhong Chen punishes me, I will never let you off!"
"What!!! The King!!!!"