Red flames illuminated the dim cave. On the throne within, a girl with dragon horns atop her head and sapphire blue eyes was watching Rimuru and his group enter. Beside the throne, a black-haired boy and girl were looking at them with smiles that felt as warm as the spring sunshine, unconsciously inspiring goodwill.
"Master, Sister Sally!"
Before Rimuru and the others could carefully observe the three people in front, Luminous happily ran out, her little hands open, and threw herself into Lu Minghao's arms. Her tender little face rubbed hard against Lu Minghao's chest, filled with the attachment and longing of a child reunited with their father.
"Luminous, long time no see. It seems you've been doing well recently?"
Lu Minghao gently hugged the spoiled Luminous in his arms. He didn't mind showing a little affection to his second subordinate. Of course, the main reason was that Lu Minghao's persona was that of a kind slime, so he had to cooperate with the spoiled Luminous to boost Rimuru and the others' goodwill.
Although Lu Minghao called himself a kind slime with flexible moral standards, he was somewhat aware of the immoral things he had done. Moreover, besides what he had done himself, there were also the things he instructed the Gluttony monsters and several Great Demon Lord-level subordinates to do, which had completely exceeded the scope of immorality.
If Rimuru and the others were to find out, they would probably turn hostile on the spot and fight Lu Minghao before even starting the war with the Orcs. After all, Ellen, who had initially come to inform Rimuru and the others, was almost completely corrupted by the Gluttony Sin and turned into a mindless Gluttony monster.
"Yes, yes, Luminous has been very happy recently, but she still misses Master and Sister Sally the most."
Luminous raised her little head and nodded vigorously. After becoming Lu Minghao's subordinate, Lu Minghao had become the most important existence for Luminous.
"Luminous, is this your master?"
At this moment, Rimuru walked forward and looked at the spoiled Luminous with a smile, then looked up and sized up Lu Minghao. His black short hair, pupils, and the gentle smile at the corner of his mouth, coupled with the fact that he had once saved Luminous, all made Rimuru unconsciously feel goodwill towards Lu Minghao.
"Yes, yes, Rimuru, let Luminous introduce you. This is my most important master, and beside him is Sister Sally. They were the ones who saved Luminous."
As she spoke, Luminous's petite and adorable body climbed up from Lu Minghao's arms and sat on Lu Minghao's neck. Her two little feet dangled in front of Lu Minghao's chest, and her little head rested on Lu Minghao's head. Her fleshy little face gently rubbed against Lu Minghao's hair, looking like a lazy and spoiled kitten.
"Thank you for saving Luminous."
Rimuru looked at Luminous, who was currently acting spoiled with Lu Minghao, and the smile on his face became even gentler. After spending time together, Rimuru had long regarded Luminous as a younger sister. Now, seeing Luminous so attached to Lu Minghao, Rimuru felt even more that Lu Minghao was a kind and gentle person.
Even Benimaru and the others, who were initially somewhat wary of Lu Minghao and Sally, couldn't help but smile after seeing Luminous like this. Although they were only meeting Lu Minghao for the first time, seeing Luminous so attached to him, Benimaru and the others unconsciously began to feel relieved.
"No, no, I should be thanking you for taking in Luminous. After saving her, I had to let her leave first due to some circumstances."
Lu Minghao looked at Rimuru, who was thanking him, and smiled gently. His eyes were full of doting as he looked at the two little feet swaying in front of his chest, and he thanked Rimuru with a gentle smile on his face. Rimuru also smiled in response, and the atmosphere between the two became incredibly harmonious.
"Ahem, may I ask if you are Lord Rimuru?"
At this moment, Canghua's voice came from the throne, attracting everyone's attention. Canghua slowly stood up from the throne and walked in front of Rimuru, looking at him as if assessing the strength of his ally.
"You are?"
Rimuru looked at Canghua, who was scrutinizing him, with a puzzled expression. He had previously learned from Soei that the Lizardmen leader should be an old Lizardman, but now it was Canghua in a human form. The sudden change caused Rimuru to have some doubts in his heart.
"Canghua, the current leader of the Lizardmen tribe. As for the former Lizardmen leader who formed an alliance with you, he was my father."
Canghua looked at Rimuru in front of her without any expression, but when she mentioned the former Lizardmen leader, a hint of sadness and fortitude appeared in her sapphire blue eyes. Rimuru and the others in front of Canghua happened to see this scene.
"That, may I ask about the former leader... Moreover, as far as I know, the next Lizardmen leader should be Gabiru?"
Although he had vaguely guessed something, Rimuru still asked Canghua about the former Lizardmen leader's situation, partly out of concern. He also glanced around the cave. If he remembered correctly, the Lizardman named Gabiru who came to their village a few days ago claimed to be the next Lizardmen leader, not Canghua.
"Father and Brother Gabiru died in battle with the Orcs a few days ago."
After hearing Rimuru's words, Canghua said with a hint of sadness in her voice, but in reality, a spear made entirely of refined steel was standing beside the throne, and one could even smell a faint meaty fragrance if they got closer.
"I'm sorry."
When Rimuru heard that the former Lizardmen leader and Gabiru had died in the battle with the Orcs, he quickly apologized to Canghua, after all, his question had just reminded Canghua of the painful event.
"It's alright, after all, the deaths of Father and Brother were due to underestimating the strength of the Orcs and not waiting for Lord Rimuru to arrive before starting the battle with the Orcs as agreed."
Facing Rimuru's apology, Canghua gently shook her head, indicating that it was all her father and brother's own fault.
"Then, since we have now joined forces, Lord Rimuru, what about the matter of forming an alliance?"
In the next second, Canghua completely concealed the sadness on her face and looked at Rimuru with a serious expression, as if she had entrusted all her hopes to him.
"Yes, I agree to form an alliance. After all, our common enemy is the Orcs, and we also need the strength of the Lizardmen tribe."
Facing Canghua's proposal to form an alliance, Rimuru nodded in agreement without hesitation. If Rimuru was still a little worried that the Lizardmen tribe would all be like Gabiru on the way to the Lizardmen tribe's territory, then after seeing those iron-blooded, elite Lizardmen soldiers, Rimuru's worry had long disappeared.
"Then, as the leader of the Lizardmen tribe, I hereby successfully form an alliance with Lord Rimuru. In addition to our Lizardmen tribe, there are also seven thousand Goblins who have all gathered here."
Canghua looked at Rimuru, who agreed to form an alliance, and a relieved smile appeared on her delicate face. Then, she grabbed Rimuru's arm and told Rimuru about the seven thousand Goblins gathered in the underground cavern.
"By the way..."
After confirming the alliance with the Lizardmen, Rimuru turned to look at Lu Minghao, wanting to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized that he didn't seem to know Lu Minghao's name yet. After all, Loryna always referred to Lu Minghao as Master, and he couldn't possibly call Lu Minghao "Your Excellency Master," could he?
"My name is Lu Minghao."
Across from him, Lu Minghao looked at Rimuru, who was hesitant to speak. After a moment of thought, he understood the reason and smiled, extending his hand to Rimuru while introducing his name.
"Lu Minghao?"
Rimuru took Lu Minghao's hand, but a hint of doubt and excitement appeared on his face, because the name Lu Minghao was completely different from this world. Instead, it was similar to the name of a certain country in the world he was reincarnated from.
"Yes, just like you think, Rimuru, I was reincarnated into this world from another world."
As he spoke, Lu Minghao put Loryna down from his head. Under the surprised gazes of Benimaru and Rimuru, Lu Minghao directly transformed into an ice-blue slime and jumped into Loryna's arms.
"Slime!"
"Yes, a slime!"
"Just like Lord Rimuru!"
In the next second, surprised and shocked voices rang out in the cave. Rimuru and Benimaru and the others stared at Lu Minghao in Loryna's arms. In particular, Rimuru's goodwill towards Lu Minghao increased even more. He didn't expect that there would be another person from another world who had been reincarnated as a slime in this world.
"That's right, as you can see, I was reincarnated as a slime."
After saying that, Lu Minghao's round body gently jumped out of Loryna's arms, and in mid-air, he transformed back into human form. A gentle smile was on his lips as he looked at Rimuru and the others. In particular, his pair of black pupils looked at Rimuru with even more affection, as if he had met someone like himself.
"So... so, Lu Minghao, you're just like me!"
Rimuru stared blankly at Lu Minghao in front of him, his goodwill rising sharply. Looking at Lu Minghao, he always felt that they were natural friends, the kind of beloved friends and relatives. After all, from the moment they met, Rimuru felt that Lu Minghao gave him a feeling, as if the other party already knew and understood him.
But the problem was that Rimuru was absolutely certain that he and Lu Minghao were meeting for the first time, which could only mean one thing: he and Lu Minghao were natural friends. What's more, they had both been reincarnated as slimes.
"Yes, but I didn't expect to meet another person from another world who was reincarnated as a slime. Also, Rimuru, you can just call me Minghao. Aren't we already friends?"
Lu Minghao looked at Rimuru in front of him and nodded gently. Then, he raised his hand and hugged Rimuru's petite body, speaking in an extremely gentle tone in his ear. As a side note, although Rimuru was a thirty-year-old great mage before his reincarnation, his current body was really great, soft and fragrant.
As for the situation of becoming close friends with Rimuru at first sight, it was all secretly arranged and designed by Lu Minghao long ago. From the beginning, he used Loryna as an undercover agent to infiltrate Rimuru and their group, and then deliberately let Loryna expose her background and Lu Minghao's identity as her master, secretly guiding Rimuru and the others' influence on him.
Then, this time, when they met, Lu Minghao once again showed a gentle, kind, and friendly appearance based on his understanding of Rimuru in the original work. In addition, with the identity of being a reincarnated slime and the blessing of Loryna, who had integrated into Rimuru and their group, he directly became Rimuru's beloved friend.
"Yes, yes, we are good friends!"
Rimuru felt Lu Minghao's firm and powerful embrace, and a trace of blush appeared on his fair and lovely face. He subconsciously nodded and replied softly. Seeing Rimuru's shy and cute appearance, Shion on the side looked envious. She also wanted to hug Lord Rimuru like that.
"Um, Minghao, are you also going to participate in the war with the Orcs?"
A few seconds later, Rimuru noticed that the atmosphere was a little strange, especially after seeing the gratified expressions of Benimaru and Hakurou and Shion's envious and unwilling gaze. He quickly pushed away Lu Minghao, who was hugging him, and forcibly changed the topic.
"Yes, after all, my purpose in coming to the Jura Forest is this. After all, the Orc Lord's unique skill [Starved] is a skill that brings disaster to the world. I can't ignore it."
Looking at Rimuru, who was still a little shy in front of him, Lu Minghao's lips curled into a smile, but he didn't tease Rimuru any further. Instead, he revealed a serious and solemn expression, looking like a righteous messenger who was protecting the world... No, in this world, it should be called a 'hero'.
"That's great. With your participation, Minghao, we will definitely be able to defeat the Orcs and the Orc Lord."
After receiving Lu Minghao's answer, a trace of excitement appeared on Rimuru's face. After all, from the moment he stepped into this place, [Great Sage] had been constantly reminding him that the amount of magicules in Lu Minghao's body was at least twenty times greater than his own. Even Sally beside Lu Minghao had nearly three times as many magicules as him.
With their participation, Rimuru believed that this time, the subjugation of the Orcs would definitely be successful.
"Lord Souei, how far away are the Orcs from here? Has the Lizardman tribe prepared themselves?"
At this time, Benimaru stepped forward and looked at Souei, inquiring. Just now, Souei, who was observing the movements of the Orcs, suddenly said through [Thought Communication] that the Orcs' 400,000-strong army was advancing towards this place. Therefore, Benimaru had to find out whether the Lizardman tribe was ready for battle.
"Please rest assured, all 50,000 warriors of the Lizardman tribe are ready and can set off at any time."
Souei, who was on the side, looked at Benimaru and the others looking at him and revealed a confident smile. The 50,000 warriors of the Lizardman tribe had long been prepared for battle, but in reality, these 50,000 Lizardman warriors were all disguised as sub-bodies of the Mother Nest of All Things. Compared to the initial number of 30,000, Lu Minghao had Loryna reproduce 20,000 more to supplement them.
After all, Lu Minghao had created more than 200,000 sub-bodies disguised as Orcs on the Orc side, which was twice as many as the 200,000-strong army in the original work. Then, the 30,000 sub-bodies on the Lizardman side were a little insufficient and had to be increased a little.
Otherwise, as soon as the war started, the Lizardman tribe would all be wiped out before long. How would this grand drama be played out?
"Well, Lord Rimuru, we must set off now. The Orc army is advancing towards this place."
After receiving the news that the Lizardman tribe was ready, Benimaru nodded and looked at Rimuru on the side, speaking seriously. Although the underground cave terrain of the Lizardman tribe's territory could indeed block the Orcs' 400,000-strong army very well, it also limited the display of their power.
After all, if they fought here, they would have to worry about whether going all out would directly collapse the entire underground cave, burying their entire group inside.
"Yes, I understand."
At this time, Rimuru also put away the smile on his face. After looking at everyone present, he directly turned around and walked out of the cave. Seeing this, the others also followed, preparing to face the Orcs. However, in a place where Rimuru and the others could not see, Sally secretly gave Souei a thumbs up.
Looking at Sally's thumbs up, Souei's delicate face revealed a bright smile, because she knew that Lord Sally and Lord Minghao had recognized her acting skills. That's right, from the moment she faced Rimuru and the others just now, whether it was sadness or other expressions, they were all acted out by Souei.
