I Think You're Disrespecting Shrek

Time passed quickly.

The sky darkened, and moonlight spilled through the windows, leaving the room so quiet that only the sound of the light itself remained.

Su Ling reined in his soul power and exited his meditative state.

He opened his eyes to sense his condition; in just three short hours, his soul power had surged significantly, leaving him only a hair's breadth away from level 27.

Su Ling climbed off the bed, stretched his stiff body, and stepped out of the dormitory, where he asked a helpful senior student for directions to the cafeteria.

The Shrek cafeteria was built on a grand scale.

That was Su Ling's first thought as he stepped through the main entrance.

He gazed across the hall, noting that each grade had its own exclusive area.

Arriving at the freshman section, Su Ling took a quick look. There were eight service windows in total; aside from the first two, which offered expensive, high-end nutritional meals, the windows further down were packed with long, winding queues.

Su Ling was not short on money—he still had three hundred thousand gold soul coins sitting in his Sumeru Ring—so naturally, he saw no reason to shortchange himself.

He headed toward the first window.

Only three people were queuing there: two girls and one boy.

But before Su Ling could even reach them, a dispute suddenly broke out at the front.

The boy with short yellow hair at the end of the line kicked out at the girl in front of him, cursing, "Get lost! A girl from a fallen family like you has no right to make me wait behind you!"

The girl stumbled from the kick, nearly falling to the ground.

"Cheng Kai, fighting and causing trouble are forbidden in the cafeteria! Do you want to spend time in the disciplinary office?"

Zhu Lu, who had just finished getting her food, saw her best friend being bullied. She dropped her tray, stepped in front of Cui Yajie, and glared at the yellow-haired boy.

The cafeteria staff and the teachers in charge of order glanced at each other, then looked away, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.

"Tch, Zhu Lu, don't think that just because you've latched onto the Dai Family you can challenge me. Out of respect for Dai Huabin, I'll let it slide this time. Now, take your food and this person and get lost." Cheng Kai crossed his arms, looking arrogant and overbearing.

Zhu Lu clenched her fists, but then let them go; there was truly nothing she could do about Cheng Kai.

The boy had an uncle who was a Titled Douluo, and his family was considered a prestigious noble clan in the Star Luo Empire. Dai Huabin certainly wouldn't offend Cheng Kai just for her sake.

"Yajie, are you alright? I..."

Cui Yajie brushed the footprint off her clothes and forced a smile. "I'm fine, Lulu. Actually, I'd rather go to the snack stalls anyway. Let's go."

Seeing this, Cheng Kai grew even more smug. He sneered and stuck out the foot he had used to kick Cui Yajie.

"Stop right there. I've changed my mind. You, come over here and polish my shoes."

Cheng Kai pointed at Cui Yajie, his tone dripping with command.

The scene drew a crowd of surrounding students. They looked at Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie, some with sympathy, some with schadenfreude, and others with righteous indignation.

But not one of them dared to step forward to intervene, because they knew who Cheng Kai was. His uncle was a guardian Douluo of Star Luo, titled Giant Strength.

Most of them were just commoners who couldn't afford to offend him.

Su Ling withdrew his gaze and shook his head to himself.

Sure enough, class-based bullying was unavoidable everywhere, let alone in this world of Douluo where the strong were revered.

But that had nothing to do with him.

Su Ling was hungry; he just wanted to enjoy a good meal and return to his dorm to meditate, hoping to push through to level 27 in one go.

As it happened, because of the commotion, window number one was now empty.

Su Ling walked toward the window.

However, just as he reached for a tray, the system's electronic voice rang out in his mind.

[Ding, S-rank Goddess detected: Cui Yajie. Current favorability: 0. Please raise to 20 to initiate binding.]

Su Ling's footsteps faltered, and he turned back.

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

Zhu Lu gripped Cui Yajie's arm tightly and shook her head gently. "Yajie, don't be afraid. At worst, I'll call Huabin over..."

Dai Huabin and Cheng Kai both belonged to the Star Luo noble circle and were considered friends; if Dai Huabin stepped in, Cheng Kai would likely show some face.

But Zhu Lu wasn't sure if Dai Huabin would help her. After all, she knew he didn't love her; he only saw her as a tool.

"Are you not coming over? Are you deaf? Do you want to see your Cui family disappear after tonight!?" Cheng Kai grew impatient, his voice cold with threats.

Cui Yajie gritted her teeth and refused Zhu Lu's kindness. She looked at the tip of Cheng Kai's raised shoe, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Mother is already struggling enough on her own; I can't cause any more trouble. It's just polishing a shoe, it doesn't matter...

Having made up her mind, Cui Yajie pulled her hand away from Zhu Lu, lowered her head, and slowly moved forward.

Cheng Kai's mouth curled into a grin, his eyes flashing with mockery and a sudden surge of cruelty.

He planned to kick her again once she finished cleaning his shoe.

"This classmate, it's one thing to start trouble, but to humiliate and coerce someone like this? Isn't that going a bit too far?"

A magnetic voice, filled with a sense of justice, rang out.

Everyone turned at the sound to see a strikingly handsome boy walking toward them with a steady, confident stride.

Cheng Kai glanced at the freshman badge on Su Ling's chest and immediately furrowed his brows. "Who the hell are you? What I do is none of your business."

"It is indeed none of my business, but you are causing trouble in the cafeteria, bullying a fellow student, and even threatening the personal safety of her and her family. These actions all violate academy rules. May I assume that you are showing contempt for Shrek's regulations?"

Su Ling paused, then continued with a faint, mocking smile, "Or are you relying on your background to suggest that you don't hold Shrek in any regard?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Even the cafeteria workers at the other windows froze, their hands trembling as they all turned to look at Cheng Kai.

Feeling every pair of eyes fixed upon him, Cheng Kai turned pale with fright and hurriedly exclaimed, "I didn't! How could I possibly have such thoughts!"

He had been slapped with the massive accusation of showing contempt for Shrek right out of the gate. Accustomed to being arrogant and domineering, he had never encountered a situation like this.

"Hmph, argue all you want. Everyone here witnessed what you just did. Shrek has ten thousand years of glory, and as a member of this institution, I will absolutely not allow someone like you to tarnish Shrek's reputation!!"

"This classmate, please do not be afraid. Shrek will seek justice for you; Shrek is your strong backing!"

Su Ling patted Cui Yajie on the shoulder, his tone resonant and powerful, his face full of righteous indignation as he looked at Cheng Kai.

[Xiao Xiao favorability +10, obtained 100 conquest points]

The system's voice suddenly rang out. Su Ling felt a surge of confusion—why was it that little girl, Xiao Xiao?

As Su Ling's words settled, the gazes of the surrounding crowd toward Cheng Kai turned hostile; he had successfully incited public outrage.

"That's right! This student is absolutely correct!"

"Shrek is pure and untainted; how can we allow bullying and the abuse of fellow students to happen here!!"

"And threatening her family—that is simply vile!"

"I suspect Cheng Kai's behavior might even be a test sent by his uncle..."

Cheng Kai listened to the accusations and fabrications from the crowd, with some even suggesting that the Star Luo Empire harbored malicious intent toward Shrek.

"I didn't!! You are slandering me!"

"You didn't? Does that mean the Cheng Estate did? Or perhaps your uncle?"

"No, no! Neither!! Stop spouting nonsense!!" Cheng Kai was completely panicked, his lips trembling as he found himself unable to defend against the onslaught.

He had only kicked Cui Yajie—how had it escalated to showing contempt for Shrek and harboring malicious intent!?