History’s Strongest Husband

The blockade of Mulan City in this sea area is still going on, and no one can enter the sea.

All the ships that Shen Lang bought were trapped on the pier, and would be sunk if they left the pier for more than three kilometers.

What's too much is that Shen Lang's people will be attacked even if they go fishing in the sea.

The bloody baron and the nearby pirate ships were only less than five kilometers away from the Shenlang base at the closest time, swaggering and presumptuous to the extreme.

Mulan City now has a population of more than 10,000, and there is still enough food. Shen Lang even bought a lot of beef cattle before, so there is enough meat, but there is a shortage of vegetables.

It is impossible for people not to eat vegetables, and they will be deficient in various vitamins in large quantities. However, Shen Lang bought more than hundreds of thousands of catties of soybeans before, and now they have all grown into bean sprouts, which can be regarded as a supplement to vegetables.

Before Shen Lang bought silk worth thousands of gold coins, Zhang Chunhua complained about it.

It turned out that these silks are very useful, and they are used to wrap gunpowder, which seems too extravagant.

The city wall of Mulan City is fifteen miles long, and the construction speed is much faster than expected.

According to the plan, it was completed within one month, and it turned out to be completed in about 20 days. With cement and bricks, the speed of construction has taken a qualitative leap.

Therefore, Zhang Chunhua ordered that another checkpoint wall be built in the valley about twenty miles north of Mulan City, with a length of about six miles.

Bichao Peninsula is the bottom terrain, with a length of more than 300 miles from north to south, but the fastest place is 50 miles, and the narrowest place is only about 20 miles.

This valley is the narrowest place. If the enemy troops go south from here, it is more appropriate to deploy defense here, which can give Mulan City a certain buffer time.

Building a city wall checkpoint in this valley was originally planned, but it is a future plan, but now there is still plenty of time, so Zhang Chunhua led the 6,000-meter slaves to this valley to build a defense line.

What is the name of this valley level?

Chunhua Pass.

This is Zhang Chunhua begging for nothing, crying in front of Shen Lang that he has no credit but hard work, that saltpeter island is named Mulan Island, and this city is also named Mulan City, so I, Zhang Chunhua, named a small valley The city gate is not too much.

Shen Lang reluctantly agreed, because if he didn't agree, he wouldn't see half of Zhang Chunhua's smiling face for half a month, as if someone owed her a million gold coins.

After Shen Lang agreed, she became that vixen again, charming in every way, with a beautiful little mouth driving frequently, making Shen Lang even willing to bow down to her.

The 11,000 slaves in Mulan City are still as usual, living like walking dead, eating on time, working on time, and sleeping on time every day, without any sense of ownership.

The two thousand people under Shen Lang's command are in a completely different mental state.

As the war approached, everyone was full of desire to fight and a sense of honor.

Thirty-six hours a day, desperately preparing for battle, desperately training, desperately building a defense line.

Defend Your Majesty, defend the Queen City.

These slogans were frequently shouted out of their mouths. It was the Eastern Knights at first.

They are small in number and very weak, but after shouting such slogans, they can feel a sense of mission and honor.

The city was small and very humble, but it was named after the queen.

So even though Shen Lang named the city Mulan City, it was called Queen City by the Eastern Knights, and they were constantly correcting other people's names.

Over time, everyone called it the Queen City.

The Black Pearl Pirates also felt that the term Queen City was more prestigious than Mulan City.

The footsteps of the war are getting closer and closer, and Shen Lang has not returned yet.

But no matter whether he is there or not, the 2,000 troops in the city have a strong spiritual support, ready for battle at all times.

………………

On the sea of ​​Bigin City.

"salute!"

Following an order, hundreds of ships raised special flags at the same time.

All the sailors on the mast waved the flag of respect.

All the pirate ships lowered their flags and hoisted new ones.

The highest is the flag of the Third Empire of Xilun, followed by the flag of the Southern Guardian, and finally the flag of its own army.

"The guardian of the southern border is here, salute!"

Hundreds of ships lined up to welcome the arrival of a huge fleet.

What a big scene, tens of miles across the sea, densely packed with all kinds of ships, neatly arranged.

Welcome to the guardian of the southern border of the empire, Duke Dibos.

This world is really real.

Before the war with the Witch Empire, the pirates in this sea area still respected Duke Dibos, but most of the time they only respected him at a distance, only doing business, not talking about allegiance.

After this war, everything changed.

After several months of fierce fighting, the Third Empire of Xilun has won a strategic victory.

The army of the South Route, the Army of the East Route, the Army of the North Route, and the Army of the West Route are all invincible.

The most outstanding military exploits are Duke Russell of the Eastern Route Army and Duke Dibos of the Southern Route Army.

Now the Witch Empire has completely fallen, leaving only the Queen's City, the capital.

Moreover, more than one million troops have surrounded this queen city, as if it could be taken at any time. The reason why they didn't attack again was just to wait for Sauron the Great to go south.

Emperor Sauron has decreed that after destroying the Queen's City, he will ascend the throne as the emperor.

Queen Medusa must either kneel down and become his queen, or die!

So the war is over, just waiting for the decisive battle between Emperor Sauron and Queen Medusa.

When the Witch Empire was in its heyday, it covered more than four million square kilometers, and it was completely destroyed in less than half a year after the war started.

Duke Russell laid down 1.6 million square kilometers, and Duke Dibos laid down 1.2 million square kilometers, and also defeated the five navies of the Witch Empire.

So at this time, Duke Dibos is not only the governor of Bibo Province, but also the guardian of the southern border of the entire empire. More than half a million.

Originally, the direct line navy in her hands was only 50,000 people, but now her people have not yet reached Bijin City, and all the pirates in the five thousand miles of sea area have surrendered one after another, turning into the Navy of the Third Xilun Empire.

Therefore, the navy under her command exceeded one hundred thousand at once.

"Woo woo woo..."

All kinds of conch shells sounded.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

On the pier, the Vulcan Priest lit fireworks.

The magnificent flagship of Duke Dibos slowly approached the pier.

An extremely heroic man stood proudly on the pier, his height of more than two meters was as tall as a mountain.

"Uncle Austin, you have worked hard." Duke Dibos said.

Austin Russo, the Earl of the Third Empire of Xilun, the new Lord of Green City, a powerful knight.

He is ten years older than Duke Dibos, and he has been traveling and practicing outside before, focusing on personal martial arts, and has won many honors.

Of course, he has two great honors, that is, to go to the island of borrowed seeds, and he has won the favor of the Amazon female general twice, and lent his own seeds to reproduce for the Amazon tribe.

Don't cancel, it's a feat to brag about across the continent.

Because every time the Queen of Amazons breeds, the most powerful man in the entire continent will go. Both Duke Russo and Duke Hall have been there.

The Earl of Austin left the family for a long time because he felt that he could become the Duke of Russo after being unwilling. However, his father failed to fight for the right of succession, and even he lost the chance to inherit the Duke.

When Duke Dibos inherited the family, he became even more angry in his heart. He felt that he was stronger than Dibos, and he was even more unwilling to obey her orders.

But a few months ago, Di Bosi personally wrote a letter to Austin, asking him to be the lord of Bijin, and even the future governor of Bibo Province. After the establishment of the Third Empire of Xilun, Austin will become Russo The second duke of the family.

So, the mighty Earl of Austin has returned.

"My dear niece, should I call you Brooke, or Lord Guardian of the South?" Earl Austin laughed.

Duke Dibos went up to meet his uncle for a face-to-face ceremony.

"Call me Brooke." Di Bosi said: "My dear uncle, you are already thirty-nine years old, why haven't you met my dear aunt yet? You are the future Duke of the Empire, if there is no heir, That would be too bad."

Earl Austin said: "There is no way, there seems to be no woman worthy of me in the world. I love Queen Ida of the Amazons, but unfortunately she doesn't marry, and she didn't even show up twice. I fell in love with Another queen..."

Having said that, Duke Dibos still had a smile on his beautiful face, but his eyes suddenly shrank.

Queen Medusa is now regarded as forbidden by Emperor Sauron, and cannot be mentioned anymore.

"Hahaha..." Earl Austin laughed and said, "Boji is also the best woman, but unfortunately you are my niece. So there are probably only two women who are worthy of me now."

Duke Dibos said: "Which two people are they? I can propose marriage for my uncle."

Austin said: "One is Princess Dora from the Kingdom of Queen Amazon, and the other is Princess Helen."

Duke Dibos shrugged his shoulders and said: "Then I'm very sorry, Princess Dora will never marry out. And Princess Helen has disappeared for too long, and she still has the blood of the rebellious queen, our family Probably don’t want to provoke him either.”

Austin said: "Soon, it will be the reproductive gift of the Amazon tribe. I hope Princess Dora will go this time. Even if you can't get married, a few nights of fun is good."

Duke Dibos and Earl Austin got on their horses and walked side by side towards the city.

Along the way, countless people knelt and kowtowed.

No matter if it was the Vida clan or the slaves, they all knelt on the ground motionless, welcoming their noble masters.

After entering the castle on the top of the hill.

The middle-aged eunuch Talun led thousands of people respectfully and said: "Welcome the guardian to go home, and welcome the future governor to go home."

Everyone can feel that Di Bosi's identity has changed, and the Russo family has become more noble and powerful.

………………

In the study!

The middle-aged eunuch Talen said: "Master Guardian, the Rear Admiral of the Southern Fleet of the Empire, Baron Bloody, please see me."

What kind of empire major general is obviously just a pirate leader.

A moment later, the pirate leader Baron Bloody came in, knelt down on both knees and said, "Shaw Monroe pays homage to the Lord Guardian of the Southern Territory."

"The Monroe family?" Duke Dibos said, "If I guessed correctly, you should be a descendant of Earl Monroe in Weilan Province, but during the Second Empire, you lost your title and even exterminated your family because you rebelled against the Queen. disaster."

The Bloody Baron said: "It's like this. In order to establish a foothold in the south, the rebellious queen compromised with the most populous Vida family and let them hold various important positions, and my Monroe family became a victim."

Sure enough, after becoming a nobleman, even if he became a pirate leader, he still followed the etiquette of the nobles meticulously.

Duke Dibos said: "Baron Monroe, are you willing to be loyal to me and become a retainer of my Russo family?"

"My honour, my lord."

Duke Dibos stretched out his jade hand, and Baron Bloody stepped forward to kiss her ring.

From now on, the bloody baron's fleet will belong to Duke Dibos.

In the Western world, one person attains the Tao, and the chicken and the dog ascend to heaven.

The Third Empire of Xilun is about to be established, and Sauron the Great seems to be as powerful as Emperor Xilun, so the Third Empire of Xilun will be far stronger than the Second Empire, and it will even restore the glory of the First Empire.

Duke Dibos became the biggest beneficiary of this revival, and countless heroes came to join him.

"Loyal Talen, I hope that when I leave, you don't completely rest and train your little eunuchs." Duke Dibos laughed.

The middle-aged eunuch Talen said: "My master, you have wronged your most loyal servant. Don't you see that I have lost a full 0.3 pounds?"

Duke Dibos said: "So about our insignificant enemy, do you have any information to tell me?"

The middle-aged eunuch Talun said: "This man's name is Shen Lang, and he owns a small town, my God? I can't even describe how rough and simple this town is. How can the gods see it? Such an ugly town He shouldn't have appeared in the world at all, he still has eleven thousand efforts, two thousand warriors who can still fight, and nothing else."

Di Bosi asked: "Is the city he built really ugly?"

Eunuch Talen said: "I wish it would be blindingly ugly, and it's also named the Queen's City. I can't imagine how much this Lord Shen Lang hates his wife. Of course, his wife may be as ugly as this city. "

"Queen City?" Duke Dibos asked puzzled.

Eunuch Talun said: "I almost forgot, Shen Lang, an oriental man, claimed to be the future emperor. After hearing this information, my ears were deaf for three days. My God of Vulcan, I am suspicious of the oriental world. Is there a king in a village? If there is a town, it will be terrible, it will be called emperor. It is simply a stain on the honor of the whole world, can you imagine? A clown with a crown, sitting To become emperor in the most vulgar town in the world, hahahaha..."

"In this world, only His Royal Highness Sauron is the truly great Emperor. That Shen Lang is at best a handsome clown. Compared with Emperor Sauron, he is like a sparrow painted with bright feathers, an earthworm transformed into A double-headed snake, and Sauron the Great is like an eagle soaring in the sky and a dragon circling the sky."

"A sparrow with a crown, I must draw this picture, it's too ridiculous."

The middle-aged eunuch Talen covered his stomach, as if he couldn't stand up from laughing.

Duke Dibos frowned and said, "However, his ugly city is on my land. So all his insults to honor are also a humiliation to the Russo family."

Earl Austin said: "Then wash away this shame with blood."

Duke Dibos said: "Send out a hundred thousand troops to kill everyone in that ugly city of Shen Lang, leaving no one, no grass and no trees. Burn the city and turn it into ashes, as if they never None existed."

Earl Austin said: "This Shen Lang once escaped the fire."

The Vulcan Priest next to him said: "This is just an oriental trick. Wearing cloth clothes that can prevent fire, and then taking advantage of the fire to jump into the sea to escape. This is not a miracle, it's just a trick, exactly the same as those lowly trick performers on the street .”

Duke Dibos said: "This time, let's wash his body first, strip off his clothes, and then pour fish oil on it and burn it again to see if he can still escape from the fire."

"Papa..." the middle-aged eunuch Talen said, "That couldn't be better, I'm already looking forward to that scene."

"The Bichao Peninsula is my family's territory. Even if it has been abandoned, it is still my territory. Now this group of orientals actually built a city on it, as if a group of feces-stained flies stayed on my dinner plate. I Can't wait for a day."

"Three days later, 100,000 troops will be dispatched to raze the city to the ground and kill it all."

"Obey!"

………………

In the Kingdom of the Amazon Queen.

The ear-piercing sound stopped, the countdown was over, and the light of the huge iron ball in front of it completely dimmed, returning to its previous icy appearance.

Shen Lang collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, and was really about to collapse.

"Hold me up." Shen Lang said.

Queen Ada trembled: "It has been successful, right?"

"Yes, it has succeeded." Shen Lang said: "It won't explode, the Great Pyramid has been saved."

"Woman, don't be in a daze, hug me up quickly, I'm about to suffocate." Shen Lang said.

Queen Ada ran out with Shen Lang in her arms.

………………

A few minutes later, Queen Ada carried Shen Lang to the top of the pyramid.

"Will there be no danger in the future?" Queen Ada asked.

Shen Lang said: "I have changed the codes of both layers, and I have also changed the Nightmare Stone, so this great pyramid is completely safe, it will never explode again, and it will never self-destruct again."

Queen Ada gazed at the land to the north.

The Great Pyramid was saved, but the five small pyramids in the north were all blown up, and countless pastures, wheat fields, mountains, and forests were destroyed.

A quarter of the land and a third of the pastures and wheat fields were destroyed in the entire kingdom of the Amazon Queen.

Disaster, a great disaster.

Fortunately, Shen Lang was going to be executed today, and most of the people came to see him off, otherwise the casualties would exceed ten thousand.

This is a blessing in misfortune, as long as the Great Pyramid exists, as long as the powerful female warrior exists, the Amazon Kingdom will exist.

"This is not a natural disaster, but a conspiracy, right?" Queen Ada said.

"Yes." Shen Lang said: "It has been planned for a long, long time, a conspiracy to destroy the Amazon kingdom."

Then, Shen Lang said: "Your Majesty, you may be very strange in your heart. I clearly know that the Amazon country will be destroyed. Why didn't I save it in advance, but watched it destroy a quarter before making a move."

Queen Ada said: "First, you owe us nothing. Second, at the last moment, you also risked your life to save the Great Pyramid and my country."

Shen Lang said: "But if you don't speak clearly, you will always have a grudge. In fact, this is a chain reaction. The Nightmare Mountain volcano erupted in the north, the submarine earthquake, and the powerful earthquake wave spread to Amazon Island. The energy core of the small pyramid in the north first Enter the self-destruct sequence, then the second, the third, and finally the Great Pyramid."

"However, if the Nightmare Mountain in the north is not detonated, all the underground cores of the pyramids will not be opened. We can't enter in advance at all, so we can't save in advance."

"Your Majesty, you should know how strong the underground of this pyramid is, and it is impossible for any manpower to open it. Only when it senses the earthquake and activates the prevention mechanism, will it have the opportunity to open the underground passage to the energy core."

"And once it starts to explode, it's too late to save a few small pyramids. We can only keep this big pyramid."

"More than forty years ago, a powerful earthquake occurred nearby. And that earthquake wave spread to the Amazon Kingdom, the defense mechanisms of several pyramids were opened, and the passage to the underground energy core was opened. At that time, people had already sneaked into the pyramids. inside, changing the self-destruct process of the energy core.”

Queen Ada said: "Why didn't the pyramid explode that time?"

Shen Lang said: "I haven't fully figured out this point yet, maybe it was because the energy level of the seismic wave was not enough at that time. Or maybe everyone needs the Amazon country to be destroyed at this time."

Queen Ada still didn't speak, she wanted to ask why Shen Lang knew all this, but because of her personal morality, she would not take the initiative to ask other people's privacy.

"This is a document left by my father. In fact, he didn't give it to me, but to my sister, Princess Helen." Shen Lang took out a thick stack of documents from his backpack, which were densely packed with words, and pattern.

"Of course my father Jiang Li should have modified the self-destruction program of the energy core at that time, but unfortunately, the time is too tight, if he doesn't leave, the exit of the pyramid will be completely closed. And he was still very young at the time , The research on the structure of the Nightmare Stone is not thorough enough. Then he spent several years to calculate, and left this important information in the underground tomb of Queen City, just to let my sister, Princess Helen, come Save the Amazon kingdom."

"Of course, Princess Helen is missing, and this document fell into my hands, so I'm here."

Queen Ada said: "All of this is destined by the gods, whether it is your father's arrival or your arrival."

Then, Queen Ada said: "Then do you think that the conspirator who wants to destroy the Amazon kingdom is Bai Jing?"

Shen Lang couldn't help being startled.

Bai Jing?

Could it be that Bai Jing's snowy boat is coming?

"Just when the small pyramid exploded, a snowy white boat floated from the north, exactly the same as the legendary ship of destruction, and a mysterious Adolf appeared in the eastern sea, asking the Amazon kingdom to pay him Kneeling down to be loyal. I led thousands of people to kill him and tore up his boat, but his figure disappeared without a trace, as if it was just a light and shadow talking to me, as if his true self was thousands of miles away. "

I... Fuck!

Shen Lang's scalp tingled for a while.

Is this Bai Jing Bai Yujing? Is it that strong?

It is simply powerful and mysterious to the point of dread, a completely unknown method.

Shen Lang said: "Your Majesty, in fact, this catastrophe was nearly three hours late. I was very puzzled. Both my father and myself have made countless calculations. This catastrophe should have happened in the morning Yes, this is a very rigorous calculation, and it cannot be wrong. Because the energy core under the Nightmare Mountain in the north has been completely destroyed, and it is completely irreversible. Therefore, the volcanic eruption in the north will definitely cause a big earthquake."

"But it was delayed for more than three hours. This was done by manpower."

Queen Ada said: "Is this difficult to do?"

Shen Lang said: "Your Majesty, the energy core at the foot of Nightmare Mountain in the north was used to suppress volcanoes in ancient times. That volcano continuously released powerful heat energy, but all of them were swallowed up by the huge energy core. This energy ball is the most Excellent energy storage body. According to the design of ancient civilizations, the working cycle of this energy ball is 10,000 years, of course it has a huge margin. So it is obviously a big volcano, but it has never erupted, and there is no Any sign of a volcano brewing, even covered with snow. But the ancient civilization was destroyed, and the energy ball absorbed the energy of the volcano to the extreme, and could no longer suppress the volcano, so an unprecedented big explosion would erupt, Not only will there be terrible volcanic eruptions, but there will also be astonishing earthquakes. When my father went to explore Nightmare Mountain, he had already estimated the time of its decline and destruction, and I have calculated it many times, and it is completely accurate."

"But someone stopped it from dying, for six hours."

"Your Majesty, the energy ball at the foot of the Nightmare Mountain is used to suppress the volcano, and it has been suppressed for countless years. It is like a very small sun, and no one can stop the sun from exploding, even a very small The sun, but someone stopped it for six hours, can you imagine what a powerful force it is? How awesome is it?"

Her Majesty the Queen will understand this explanation.

And up to now, Queen Ada also understands the cause and effect.

The energy ball that suppressed the volcano for thousands of years at the foot of the Nightmare Mountain is about to explode. This is something that will definitely happen.

So someone took advantage of this incident and planned a terrifying conspiracy to destroy the entire Amazon country.

But Shen Lang and his son discovered the conspiracy and rushed over in time to stop it and save the Amazon country.

Immediately, Queen Ada became even more fascinated.

This wisdom is so fascinating, so mysterious.

It turns out that the wisdom that Shen Lang just showed is just a drop in the bucket. Saving the Amazon country not only requires the mysterious operation just now, but also requires a grasp of the truth of this world. There are countless ancient knowledge and infinite wisdom in it.

Queen Ada felt that this kind of wisdom was truly powerful.

Man's force is limited, but his wisdom is infinite, and he can destroy the world!

………………

The High Priest knelt before Queen Ada.

"Teacher, why?" Queen Ada said coldly: "You are not only my teacher, but also my mother's teacher. You are the most respected and respected person in the entire Amazon country. Why did you betray?"

This high priest is over seventy years old? I can't see it at all, Shen Lang always thought that she was only forty or fifty years old, so it's not just that she still has charm?

Do Amazon women have such a long puberty?

The high priest looked at Shen Lang and said: "Stranger, it's nothing if you have cured countless female warriors. You cured Her Majesty the Queen and let the golden bloodline pass on. This is already wrong. But you should not stop the Amazon Kingdom destruction, so I must kill you."

When these words came out, everyone was shocked.

What's the point?

"A deformed country like Amazon should be destroyed!" The high priest shouted sharply: "It shouldn't exist in this world, it should be destroyed, why save him?"

Now even Shen Lang can't believe it, there is even a country-hating party in Amazon Kingdom?

"Forty years ago, it was you who colluded with outsiders and activated the self-destruct mechanism of the pyramid's energy core?" Shen Lang asked.

The high priest said: "I don't know any self-destruct mechanism. I only know that as long as someone wants to destroy Amazon, I will definitely help him. I want to destroy this country, even if it dies with it."

Princess Dora, as well as the Amazon female warriors present, simply doubted life.

This high priest is the wise elder of the entire Amazon country, second only to Her Majesty the Queen, why does she want to destroy her own country?

The high priest looked at Queen Ada and said sharply: "Your mother killed my child, she killed my child. What did I do wrong? I just went to the island of borrowed seeds and found a man to reproduce Offspring, like other Amazon women. All Amazon women give birth to girls, but I gave birth to a boy. What did I do wrong? I knelt in front of your mother and said I could take the child by myself Exile. But your mother said that it is not known to give birth to a boy, and she took me captive, and then threw my child into the stormy sea, and she killed my child."

As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Queen Ada.

Is there even this secret? No wonder the High Priest hated the Amazons so much.

Queen Ada said: "Then I can't conceive, is it also your fault?"

"Yes, it's me." The high priest said: "I only blame myself for being too soft-hearted. I couldn't bear to kill you, but I just tried to make you unable to conceive. I only blame myself for being too soft-hearted... woo woo woo... My child, my poor child."

Queen Ada sighed, then squatted down and said, "Teacher, your son is not dead. What my mother threw into the stormy sea was just a fake baby. How could she kill an innocent baby? She sent someone to It was brought to the outside world and given to a family for adoption."

As soon as these words came out, the High Priest was startled, and looked at Queen Ada in disbelief.

"This is your son's lanugo, and I will return it to you now." Queen Ada handed over a box.

The high priest stared blankly at all this, opened the box and looked at the soft golden lanugo inside.

"Ah... ah... ah..." Suddenly the high priest let out a shrill scream.

Then, her head slammed into the ground and she was about to kill herself.

However, her suicide was prevented by Queen Ada, who said: "You are guilty, so you are exiled. If you want, go and find your son."

Immediately, the high priest collapsed to the ground crying.

…………

the next day!

Shen Lang left the Kingdom of the Amazon Queen.

Queen Ada saw her off, and she suddenly said seriously: "Does what you said before still count?"

Shen Lang said: "What are you talking about?"

Queen Ada said: "Just tell me to shut up, or else I'll be fucked to death."

Shen Lang was startled, Your Majesty, you, are you seducing me so directly?

Immediately, Shen Lang nodded and said: "Of course it counts, I am the future emperor, and I have a golden word, if you do it, you must do it!"

………………

Note: I'm going to eat, and then write the second update! Everyone give me a monthly pass, and I will continue to work hard on the power of codewords.

Thank you for the reward of 10,000 coins just short of a girlfriend.