Laboon had no idea what the mobile platform on its head was like. To humans, it was indeed very bulky, but to the island whale, wearing it was no different than wearing a straw hat.
The cheers and laughter coming from above even made Labu feel joyful; it could sense the heartfelt happiness of the people on its back.
"Happy fourteenth birthday, Riley. You're becoming more and more like an adult."
"I think I've been an adult for a long time. Why don't you change the adult standards on the island, Dad? The adults on the island aren't as strong as me now, and even Brother Xiong isn't as tall as me."
Girls typically start growing earlier, a characteristic that can be seen in the lines on the elementary school playground, where many girls are significantly taller than the boys in their class at that age.
During this period, Leliana experienced a rapid increase in height. Although the speed has slowed down now, she still achieved the tallest height on the island at 8.1 meters, even making the bears shorter.
It was only because Oran foresaw this that the speed of the royal city's renovation could not keep up with Lyriana's growth rate.
"No, you're the most special one. No one else can compare to you. Come on, blow out the candles, and then you can eat the cake."
This cake is also five meters in diameter, and its height is three meters after several layers are stacked. In addition to a large amount of cake base and various flavors of cream, it also has ice cream filling and chocolate decorations, making it an absolute calorie bomb.
The chef who made this cake was borrowed from Whole Cake Island. Only the chefs under Charlotte Linlin have extensive experience in making such a giant cake. Charlotte Linlin herself also gave Lyriana a birthday present.
Similar gifts have piled up into a small mountain in Leriana's room, including those from underworld giants like Feld, former colleagues like Vegapunk, and gifts from the Navy.
Oran himself doesn't celebrate his birthday and rarely holds celebrations, but his daughter's birthday has become an opportunity for these people to maintain their relationships.
In other words, Oran did not intend to hold a banquet, but only a small family dinner; otherwise, the number of participants would probably have been quite large.
"Candle, blow out the candle!"
"No, Perona, it's my sister's birthday. Only she can blow out the candles."
The flickering candlelight seemed to pique Perona's interest, but the tall cake made it impossible for her to reach the top candles, so she could only wave to Oran in the end.
However, Oran, who usually easily granted her wishes, refused this time. Everyone only has one birthday a year, and being young is not a reason to be willful.
"You already celebrated your birthday in June, so be a good boy and wait until next year."
Perona didn't believe that being willful would get you everything, having established this view early on. After Perona rejected the idea, she didn't continue.
In fact, even if she were asked to blow it out, she wouldn't be able to. The birthday candles on the cake, which is several meters in diameter, certainly can't be as thin as toothpicks.
This candle was even thicker than Perona's waist; it was more like a torch than a candle, and a windproof one at that.
Perona's lung capacity is so great that even if she worked herself to death, she couldn't blow it out.
"Alright, everyone, let's eat the cake."
Blowing out candles was more of a formality for Leliana. She preferred making a wish to Oran rather than the cake itself. Leliana was more concerned with whether the cake tasted good.
And that's undeniable. You can question everything about Whole Cake Island, but you can never question the skill of the chefs there.
If you can't make good desserts on Cake Island, it'll be your life.
"Yohohoho, what a joyous day! To celebrate Her Highness the Princess's birthday, please allow me to offer a song."
Brooke took out his violin, which now had a new bow.
Although Brooke had the ability to play music with a sword, that was due to environmental limitations. Now that he had the means, he switched to a new tool to take better care of his instrument.
There was no dishonest behavior like slamming a cake in someone's face, and the enormous cake was disappearing at a visible rate.
Oran himself simply scooped out some vanilla ice cream, added some molten chocolate for decoration, made a simple sundae, and sat down to sit.
"As you get older, you shouldn't eat so many desserts; it's bad for your health."
Crocus put down his newspaper and casually said to Oran.
"I'm a doctor too. Do you think I don't know what's bad to eat? But it tastes good. And you're making it sound like I'm an old man."
"Compared to when I first met you, you don't seem to have aged at all. Maybe you're an old monster."
"That's slander! I'm in my prime right now."
Oran raised his hand to calculate his age and found that it was actually a bit hard to figure out. If he were to calculate his biological age, he would have to keep repeating the calculation, since he had started over more than once.
If we consider mental age, including the time spent in dreams, then age becomes immeasurable.
In the end, Oran's algorithm became idealistic: as long as one's heart doesn't grow old, one will never grow old. This is something that a certain fox from Gensokyo strongly agrees with.
At this moment, Xiong came to Oran's side, looking a bit hesitant.
"What's wrong, Xiong? What's wrong with you?"
"Um, Brother Oran, what do you think about me proposing to Ginny now?"
"Congratulations on finally figuring things out. Are you ready to take that step? If you've made up your mind, just go and tell them. It's not like you two are in any trouble."
Are you planning to have children? I can help you make some preparations in advance.
Oran doesn't like to get involved in other people's emotional matters. It's easy to end up pleasing neither side. If you advise them to be together today, you might be blamed by both sides if they break up someday.
If you advise two people who are arguing to break up, and they happen to reconcile, you might face resentment in a double sense.
However, Xiong and Jinni are special. They have no problems in their relationship and have a life-or-death bond. After living together for a period of time, their relationship naturally blossomed.
Bears are always somewhat timid and hesitant because of their species, and those painful experiences are something they can never forget.
However, the situation is different now. The hospital is Oran's own territory, and at worst, Oran himself and the androids will take charge of this matter, so the news will not leak out.
Furthermore, in the original timeline, Kuma encountered Satan in God Valley, used the Paw-Paw Fruit in front of him, later joined the Revolutionary Army, and was eventually wanted by the Navy.
Despite this series of events, the World Government did nothing against the Kuma, unlike its actions against the Lunaria.
If it weren't for the fact that Satan overheard some information on Warhead Island while he was trying to treat Bonnie's illness, and that it concerned pacifists—soldiers that could be mass-produced—Bear might have continued to live peacefully.
There aren't so many messy things happening now; even in God Valley, Xiong never encountered Satan.
Although the Paw-Paw Fruit is on him, no one can say for sure whether he stole it from God Valley, whether it was left behind after God Valley collapsed, or whether a pirate ate it and died, causing the fruit to be reborn due to unforeseen circumstances.
Kaido ate the Fish-Fish Fruit and was completely unharmed; in fact, he gradually transformed from Rocks' apprentice into a monster of the New World.
The fact that he was once a slave is nothing to the World Government. In the original timeline, Ivankov was arrested as a member of the Revolutionary Army and was only imprisoned in Impel Down.
Hancock was still able to become a Shichibukai. Apart from Tiger, who was hunted for a long time because of the burning of the Holy Land, the other slaves were not worth the World Government's attention.
Unless Oran publishes a statement now saying he's researching the blank century, nobody will care that someone under his command is getting married.
"Um... I don't have any plans in that regard yet, but I'm afraid it might not be appropriate."
"What are you afraid of? Proposing and confessing your love are things that should happen naturally after things have progressed. You two are perfect in every way. Although you're not officially a couple, you live very much like one."
Don't blame me for not warning you, Ginny is getting more and more interested in the prescription. If you keep being so timid, she really might do something like that.
You're a man too, do you expect her to take the initiative in this kind of thing? Speaking of which, when did you prepare that ring? I didn't even notice."
Looking at the small box in the bear's hand, Oran became somewhat curious.
"This... I've already prepared it. By the way, Brother Oran, do you think I should hide it in its food as a surprise or something? I saw it mentioned in the book."
"Forget it, that's Ginny. Do you want her to just swallow the ring? We've already gone this far, I'll give you one last push. Ginny! Bear has something important to tell you!"
Xiong hadn't hesitated for just a day or two on this matter; it was rare for him to muster the courage, but Oran immediately blocked his way back.
"Hmm? What are you trying to say, little bear?"
Ginny, whose face was still covered in cream, came closer when she heard the sound.
"It's that one... you're willing to marry."
Xiong had just opened the box he was holding while kneeling on one knee, but before he could finish speaking, Ginny took the box away.
"Did you make this yourself? It's quite beautiful."
"My brother Oran's science book says that carbon can be used to make diamonds. I used my powers to compress it and made them, so..."
"I hereby declare that, with Brother Oran as our witness, we are now husband and wife!"
"well?!"
Things didn't go as Xiong had planned. He had imagined that this would be the next step, but Ginny skipped straight to the end.
"What do you mean 'sigh'? Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day! When is the wedding? That's a must! I want a wedding cake, and... in short, lots of delicious food!"
They didn't have many relatives or friends; basically, everyone was there. If it weren't for the desire to have another big meal, Ginny probably would have skipped the wedding altogether.
The bear simply nodded, a kind and gentle smile on its face, its eyes showing an increasingly firm desire to protect.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your support!!!