Watching Rimuru's departing back, Mo Li silently rose to his feet and followed her. After all, he did not want to miss the iconic scene of Rimuru naming Ran-ga. Before Benimaru and the other Great Ogres appeared, Ran-ga, as a supporting character, had the most presence. Moreover, Ran-ga was the only Direwolf who obeyed Rimuru alone. Later, he became one of the Twelve Guardian Saints, the Star Wolf King, with strength comparable to an Awakened Demon King.
Rimuru stood before the Direwolf Tribe, racking her brains over what names to give them, unaware that Mo Li had quietly arrived behind her.
Watching Rimuru deep in thought, Mo Li could not help feeling a little mischievous.
"What should I name them?"
Rimuru had a headache.
Suddenly, someone hugged her from behind and lifted her up. She was startled badly.
"Who is it?"
Rimuru struggled as she demanded an answer.
Mo Li leaned close to Rimuru and said,
"Alright, stop moving. It's me."
Only upon hearing his voice did Rimuru relax. Then she seemed to remember something.
"Ari, weren't you resting?"
Rimuru looked utterly confused.
"It's nothing. I was just worried about you, so I followed you over to take a look. If something happened, I could look out for you."
Mo Li spoke to Rimuru with concern.
"What, still haven't figured out what to name them?"
Seeing Rimuru's troubled expression, Mo Li immediately knew what was bothering her.
"Yeah, Mo Li, help me think of something too."
Rimuru asked Mo Li for help.
"Alright, but only you can name them. After all, I don't have as much magicules as you do."
Mo Li said thoughtfully.
"Oh right, Ari, I have another question."
Rimuru suddenly thought of something and spoke to Mo Li.
"Oh? What question?"
Seeing Rimuru's puzzled expression, Mo Li replied with interest.
"Why are our levels clearly about the same, but I'm fine after naming so many monsters, while you can't handle it after naming only a few dozen? You swallowed plenty of herbs and Magic Ore in the cave too, didn't you?"
Rimuru voiced the question that had been bothering her all along.
The moment he heard the words "can't handle it," three black lines immediately appeared on Mo Li's forehead. However, seeing Rimuru's innocent expression, he suppressed the anger in his heart. After all, who would be happy to hear someone say they could not handle it?
But from Rimuru's words, it seemed Great Sage truly had not told her about drawing magicules from Veldora's body. It had probably guessed that if Rimuru knew, she would not casually name monsters anymore. In that case, he would help keep it hidden too.
"I'm not like you. Aren't you a Predator? You can convert and store what you devour because you have an independent space inside your body for storing things. I don't have something like a Stomach, nor do I have Predator."
"Everything I eat is converted into my magicules by my Special Skill, Gamer. But once you reach a certain level, eating alone is no longer enough. Didn't your Great Sage tell you that? Why do I know more than you do?"
Mo Li explained to Rimuru, then asked in surprise. He was only one step away from becoming a Demon Lord Seed. Devouring Magic Ore and herbs alone was not enough; he needed a far more massive source of energy to support him and take him another step forward. Furthermore, because of his Special Skill, even when he devoured Magic Ore and herbs, he could not absorb as many magicules as Rimuru's Predator.
Although Gamer possessed devouring and conversion functions, it still could not compare to Rimuru's Predator. Therefore, purely in terms of magicule quantity, Mo Li truly was inferior to Rimuru—not to mention that she now had the Storm Dragon as a rechargeable battery.
However, this world did not judge strength solely by the amount of magicules one possessed. Look at the Storm Dragon—despite having more magicules than his eldest and second elder sisters, he was still beaten down by the two of them. So even if Mo Li and Rimuru fought now, Mo Li was completely confident that he could win.
Because Mo Li's Special Skills, Martial Refiner and Mastery of All Weapons, ensured that Rimuru's combat experience was currently inferior to his. Even with Great Sage as an overpowered cheat, she still could not compare to Mo Li. Mo Li would not need to use much effort at all to defeat Rimuru as she was now.
"Isn't it because there have been too many things going on lately, so I forgot?"
To be honest, even Rimuru did not know why. Whenever she was in front of Mo Li, her usually fairly clever mind suddenly stopped working properly. She kept asking silly questions. She had even asked Great Sage what was going on, but Great Sage had actually told her to figure it out herself. That only left her even more confused.
Seeing Rimuru's somewhat dazed appearance, Mo Li found it rather amusing.
"Alright, stop thinking about other things. Let's properly think about what names to give your subjects, shall we?"
Mo Li said to Rimuru.
"No, Ari, you got that wrong."
Rimuru frowned tightly.
Mo Li was confused.
"What did I get wrong?"
Rimuru said with a serious expression,
"They aren't my subjects. They're our subjects."
Hearing Rimuru's words, Mo Li froze for a moment. To be honest, ever since arriving in this world, he had always viewed it from the perspective of a god. Because he knew all the plotlines and secrets of this world, he had developed a feeling of standing above all living things.
It was as though he had always been observing the mortal world from the heavens. But now, facing Rimuru, he felt as if he had descended from the sky.
Only then did Mo Li begin to understand that this world was not an illusion, but real. Whether it was Rimuru or these Goblins and Direwolves, they all truly existed. It was time for him to come down from the heavens and take a proper look.
After coming to that realization, Mo Li suddenly experienced a wonderful sensation. His heart felt incomparably clear and open in a way that was difficult to describe. Even his strength rose by a few degrees.
Feeling the changes in his body, Mo Li realized that his former self had been wrong.
"Rimuru, thank you."
Looking at Rimuru's face, Mo Li spoke with a serious expression.
Rimuru was startled by Mo Li's sudden behavior.
"Ari, what's wrong?"
Rimuru hurriedly asked.
"It's nothing. I just suddenly figured some things out."
Mo Li said with a sigh.
Rimuru seemed to understand, yet not quite.
"Alright, enough talking. Let's hurry and name the subjects, shall we? These are our subjects."
Mo Li said.
Hearing Mo Li call them the subjects of both of them, Rimuru immediately became happy.
"Alright, we'll name them together. They're our subjects."
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