Chapter 116

·········Seeking flowers·· ···

The Empress was deeply troubled by this.

To this end, she even humbled herself to consult the previous Empress of the Women's Kingdom, Nü Nainai.

Nü Nainai's gaze at the time was peculiar, solemn to the extreme, as she said:

"Snake Queen, you've probably fallen in love with that man!"

Love?

Even a female emperor possessing Conqueror's Haki was startled.

But she showed no sign of it, instead wearing a cold, haughty expression.

"I am the most beautiful woman in the world—how could I possibly like some mere man?"

"You old hag, how dare you insult my beauty? Your crime is unforgivable!"

With that, Empress Boa Hancock kicked Nü Nainai flying.

Nü Nainai cried out mid-air:

"Snake Queen, you must take this seriously—it's lovesickness! Several generations of Empresses of the Women's Kingdom have died from this illness!"

"Shut up, you old hag!"

The Empress, enraged, ordered her two sisters.

"Go and make sure that old hag never speaks again!"

Marygold and Sandersonia set off on their mission.

But they merely gave Nü Nainai a token scolding, and at the end, quietly asked her:

"Has our sister truly fallen into lovesickness, and fallen in love with the Fifth Emperor, Luo Xing?"

Nü Nainai's face was grave:

"I would never be mistaken. But judging by the Snake Queen's behavior, she hasn't yet reached the point of no return. You two must never let the Snake Queen hear anything about that Luo Xing!"

"After all, he is the Imperial Son-in-Law of the Beasts Pirates—he already has a wife. There can be no future with the Snake Queen!"

"If the Snake Queen truly falls hopelessly in love, it will only destroy her!"

Marygold and Sandersonia were terrified and nodded frantically.

On their way back to the palace:

Marygold said: "Our sister has hardly ever asked us to inquire about the Fifth Emperor Luo Xing's affairs—there should be no major problem."

Sandersonia agreed:

"Yes, after all, back in Dressrosa, we never saw the true face of the Beasts Imperial Son-in-Law."

At that time, Luo Xing had always worn the demon-like mask given to him by his wife, Wa.

By the way, Luo Xing's wanted poster photo was thus changed from the original Kachō to the masked image.

Marygold and Sandersonia did not know that,

when their sister—the most exalted Empress in the world—returned to her chamber,

on the wall of her room hung two wanted posters.

One was Luo Xing's original Kachō wanted poster; the other was his masked image.

Empress Boa Hancock gazed dreamily at the two wanted posters, gently biting her lower lip, her beautiful eyes filled with a complex array of emotions.

106. Wa's dream: a multifunctional Cybertronian, solving the problem of having enough to eat

Luo Xing returned to Wano Country.

Zoro, having obtained the Black Blade Shusui and finally gathered all three legendary swords, immediately entered the Five Times Gravity chamber to train.

Luo Xing went to the General's office, where his wife Wa was handling official duties.

Wa, upon seeing Luo Xing, instantly relaxed her furrowed brow and leapt joyfully into his arms.

"Husband, you're back!"

Luo Xing tightly embraced Wa's slender waist, the sweet, intoxicating fragrance filling his nostrils, never enough to tire of.

After a while, Luo Xing said:

"Wife, sit down."

Wa obediently sat.

Luo Xing walked behind her, placed his hands on her fragrant shoulders, and began gently massaging them.

Wa wore a blissful expression and said with emotion: "Husband, you're so good to me."

Luo Xing leaned close to Wa's ear and said:

"If you think I'm good, then tonight you'll have to massage me too—but not with your hands."

Wa's face flushed red; she shot him a look, yet barely nodded—so faintly it was almost imperceptible.

Luo Xing was overjoyed.

Wa's abilities far surpassed Perona's—her massage would surely be incredibly soothing.

Luo Xing noticed that although Wa clearly enjoyed his massage, a lingering trace of sorrow still clouded her brow.

He asked in surprise:

"Have you encountered some difficulty? Tell me."

Wa sighed deeply and said:

"Husband, I'm realizing more and more how naive and childish I used to be."

"I thought that by driving out the old man and that Blackie Oden, and restoring the Kozuki family to power, Wano Country would find happiness."

"But in these past few months as General of Wano, I've realized things are far more complicated than that."

"Wano's barren soil and terrible economy mean that even without Blackie Oden's exploitation, the people still struggle to have enough to eat."

Yamato spoke the truth; the Border of the Kingdom was too poor, poor in every aspect.

The people were poor, the land was poor, the economy was poor.

And these problems were not caused by Kaido or Orochi; they were issues the Border of the Kingdom had faced for centuries.

The Kozuki family's rule had not brought true happiness to the Border of the Kingdom; it merely allowed them to barely survive.

Even the policy of closing the country was formulated by the Kozuki family.

The only one with the strength and potential to improve the situation in the Border of the Kingdom, Kozuki Oden, was a complete fool, lacking any political or livelihood sense.

His defeat and tragedy could only be said to be self-inflicted.

Luo Xing had long been aware of these matters and said:

"Wife, then what do you want?"

Yamato stated with conviction: "I want to create a World of Rice where everyone can eat their fill!"

Luo Xing raised an eyebrow slightly.

If he remembered correctly, in the original story, when the awakened Nika form of Wang Lufei defeated Kaido, he had said something similar.

However, Wang Lufei spoke of letting his friends eat their fill; his realm compared to Yamato's "everyone" was not on the same level.

Luo Xing smiled:

"Wife, your dream is truly great, but realizing it is still too far away; let us start with the Border of the Kingdom beneath our feet."

Yamato turned around joyfully, her beautiful eyes shining like gems as she gazed at Luo Xing:

"Husband, will you help me?"

Luo Xing pinched Yamato's jade nose: "You are my wife; if I don't help you, who will?"

Yamato jumped up excitedly, her long jade legs wrapping around Luo Xing's waist, while her two white lotus-like jade arms hooked around Luo Xing's neck.

"Husband, you are truly too good!"

Luo Xing's goodness always came with marked stakes.

Yamato's massage that night drew upon all her skills; her arms and legs ached.

The next morning, Luo Xing walked into the laboratory.

Inside the laboratory, a Cybertronian stood there.

Cybertronians were mechanical life forms possessing high intelligence, with agile and sensitive movements; Luo Xing had specifically kept one to assist him.

Luo Xing asked the Cybertronian to bring him grain seeds.

How to make the people of the Border of the Kingdom eat their fill?

Luo Xing's previous method was to purchase grain from the outside world.

But this method was unsustainable and very costly.

Luo Xing planned to improve the grain seeds, learning from a certain great man of his past life, to create super seeds yielding a thousand jin per mu.