"What son? Can't you see he's Chinese?"
"Still, you have to admit, that Chinese guy's pretty good-looking!"
"True, but he's a bit too girly. If you ask me, the burly builds we Westerners have look much better."
"Exactly. Easterners look so frail, I wonder if they could even take a punch from me."
Noisy chatter rose from the students. Alongside the praise for the pair's looks, there was also contempt for China.
Xiao Ran said nothing about it. Today was Veranica's show, after all. But he had already memorized their faces, and the battles later would surely teach them a lesson they would never forget.
The diplomatic formalities were courteous and tedious, with both sides exchanging compliments while Veranica handled everything calmly.
Her whirlwind bandit demeanor from yesterday was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she truly seemed like a socialite, or even a politician, conversing confidently among the leaders of several countries. Honestly, Xiao Ran knew he could never do that.
Throughout the process, Xiao Ran quietly stayed beside Veranica like part of the backdrop, barely saying anything. He only offered polite replies when someone asked about him, and Veranica deftly deflected any deeper questions that were difficult to answer.
After the pleasantries came a lavish but mediocre-tasting banquet. Neither Xiao Ran nor Veranica found much enjoyment in the food.
Only after lunch did they finally get to the main event of the day.
"Miss Veranica, let's set aside the matter of the Alliance for now."
"I'm sure you understand our main purpose in coming to the Solomon Islands: the Island-Hopping Challenge. Would it be convenient for you to arrange that?"
After several rounds of drinks, the Australia Alliance's diplomat spoke to Veranica with a flushed face.
Today, he had finally learned just how formidable this pirate's daughter was.