Like a Green Recruit

"Oh, sorry."

Danheng withdrew his gaze and stepped aside to let the two of them leave.

But the girl in pink went blank-eyed, as though she had lost her soul. It was only after the blue-clad boy beside her called to her several times that she came back to her senses.

"Little Wu, what's wrong with you?"

"I'm fine, Third Brother. I'm just a little tired. Let's hurry back to the hotel and rest."

"That works. We're going to register at Shrek Academy tomorrow, so get plenty of rest."

The blue-clad youth called "Third Brother" nodded, then glanced back at Danheng, his gaze carrying an indescribable emotion.

Danheng paid it no mind. So what if they looked? It was not as if they could come back and cause trouble for him.

Danheng's thoughts remained fixed on the last thing the girl named Little Wu had said.

Good grief, back to the hotel?

That blue-clad youth called "Third Brother" looked even younger than Dai Mubai. Wow.

And he was with a rabbit.

This Douluo Continent truly was... unique.

"They're going to register at Shrek Academy too?"

Danheng had heard the blue-clad youth's final remark.

The two of them were somewhat stronger than Zhu Zhuqing. Based on what he had seen along the way, they were both considered among the finest geniuses.

Yet all these geniuses had gathered at a remote academy on the outskirts of Suotuo City.

Danheng was now genuinely interested in Shrek Academy.

As dusk drew near, Danheng habitually summoned the Carriage Projection for his daily observation.

"Hm? The train carriage is..."

Danheng could hardly believe his eyes.

The train carriage's solidity had advanced by another huge leap!

"What did I encounter today?"

Danheng quickly began to think. He had arrived in Suotuo City today, met the Dai Mubai Zhu Zhuqing had been searching for, and then encountered these two outside this shop.

As for anything else, Danheng did not think it was particularly relevant.

"So this is probably because I met those three people. If that's the case, I have no choice but to visit Shrek Academy."

"Or could it have something to do with this shop?"

Danheng turned around and found a burly middle-aged man standing at the shop entrance.

"Sorry, sir. The shop is closed for today."

The middle-aged man had a protruding chin, broad cheekbones, a flat face, and a slightly hooked nose.

He wore a pair of Black-framed Crystal Glasses. The rigid square frames and his deep gaze made him seem like a man of profound schemes.

"Oh, then I'll come back tomorrow."

"We won't be open for the next few days either. I have matters to attend to and must travel far away."

The moment Danheng said he would return tomorrow, the middle-aged man immediately responded, as though something urgent had come up.

"He must have used a Soul Skill to observe me just now, and that's why he reacted like this. Is he afraid?"

After the blue-clad youth and the girl named Little Wu left, Danheng had noticed someone in the shop spying on him.

That person was far stronger than Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai, but still weaker than the Moonshadow Direwolf, so Danheng could not be bothered to care.

But now, the other man's reaction left Danheng deeply puzzled.

Did he really look that much like a bad guy? Why was the man suspending business just to hide from him?

"All right, then. Sorry for disturbing you, boss."

"You're too polite, sir."

Only after Danheng left did Flender finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Just who is that guy? How could his strength be so terrifying?"

Originally, he had merely wanted to gauge Danheng's strength and determine whether he could fleece him a little.

But after observing him with his Cat-owl Soul Skill, he had nearly been scared to death.

Especially when he heard that Danheng seemed to be planning to visit his shop. He could not afford to think too much about it and could only force himself to come out and send the man away.

"Was that a dragon?"

Flender swallowed. When he had observed Danheng just now, he had felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation. In a daze, he seemed to see an enormous dragon's head glance at him.

And then...

He had suffered fairly serious internal injuries.

If he had not needed to deal with Danheng, he would have collapsed long ago.

Collapsed...

Without warning, Flender's body fell backward. His eyes closed, and he slept quite peacefully.

Not until that night did a burly man arrive at the shop entrance. Seeing Flender lying on the ground, he instantly became wary.

"Flender, Flender!"

The burly man vigorously slapped Flender's face. When he saw that the other man still would not wake up, he drew back his hand and was about to bring it down.

"Zhao Wuji! Stop!"

Flender jolted awake. Seeing Zhao Wuji's palm about to land on his face, he hurriedly stopped him.

"Oh, you're awake. What happened here? Did someone attack you?"

Flender fell silent for a moment, then said seriously, "I was sleepy."

"..."

"I really was sleepy. Really."

"..."

"I **said I was sleepy! Don't you understand?!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you were sleepy. The sleepiest. If you're sleepy, then hurry back to Shrek Academy and rest."

Zhao Wuji's perfunctory attitude left Flender speechless.

If he did not argue, he felt somewhat irritated. But if he did argue, it would seem like he was refusing to let the matter go.

"Mm, let's go."

In the end, Flender obediently followed Zhao Wuji back to Shrek Academy, though his mind remained filled with the glance of that enormous dragon head.

Before that dragon head, he had felt like a raw recruit—weak and helpless.

Meanwhile, Danheng found where Zhu Zhuqing was resting. What surprised him was that Zhu Zhuqing had only booked one room this time.

"Senior, there weren't any extra rooms here, so I could only book this one."

A blush involuntarily rose to Zhu Zhuqing's cool face when she saw Danheng's stunned expression.

It was not her fault! There really was only this one room left! That was what the receptionist had said!

When she asked the receptionist for two single rooms, the receptionist had clearly told her that only this room remained.

"...Just rest well. I'll find somewhere else."

Not to mention having nowhere to rest, even if Danheng went without rest for a long time, it would not be a problem.

"H-how could that be?"

Zhu Zhuqing wanted to say something more, but she could not think of any good solution for the moment.

"Rest. I'll go take a walk."

The streets of Soto City were very deserted at night. The cries of vendors and the noisy bustle of daytime had all fallen silent.

However, one sound had continued without pause from day until night.

"I might as well take a look."

Following the sound, Danheng arrived before a massive oval-shaped building.

Lights of different colors shone out from within the building, and that unceasing sound came from inside as well.

"Soto City Great Spirit Arena?"

Danheng raised his head. Seeing the building's name and hearing the waves of battle cries from within, his interest was piqued.

It seemed that the Great Spirit Arena was a place where people of this world held public matches.

Since he had been busy traveling before, Danheng had not explored every city he passed through. Come to think of it, this was the first Great Spirit Arena he had entered.

"Let's go in and take a look."