"With that little strength, you wanted to stand up for someone else?" The corners of Han Qiu's mouth lifted in a disdainful smile.
"All right, everyone stop!" Xiao Chenyu slowly emerged from behind the crowd.
His gaze swept indifferently over the two sprawled on the floor in a sorry state, then settled on Han Qiu. There was no fury in his eyes, only scrutiny and surprise.
He had watched the whole thing from the sidelines and seen it all clearly.
From Zhang Jian's brute-force attack to Liu Long's sneak attack from behind, the six-year-old boy before him had easily dealt with them both.
Such terrifying control was not something an ordinary country child could possess.
"I didn't expect a work-study student like you to have such impressive skills," Xiao Chenyu said slowly. His voice was quiet, but it carried a lofty air. "How about this? Follow me from now on and be my underling, and I'll have your back. Oh, right, you might not know who I am. My father is the city lord of Nuoding City, and I'm his only son."
Xiao Chenyu's words made Han Qiu laugh.
The Douluo version of 'My dad is Li Gang,' huh?
Wait, you're just a minor extra from the early part of Douluo. Who gave you the courage to try to make me your underling?
"Sorry, I don't have any other faults, but my bones are too hard, and I'm not in the habit of being someone else's underling," Han Qiu said evenly.
He raised his eyes to Xiao Chenyu, without a trace of fear in them.
The son of Nuoding City's city lord?
It sounded impressive, but when all was said and done, he was just a minor supporting character at the start of Douluo.
And he thought he was worthy?
He was a toad dreaming of swan meat. What a beautiful dream.
Xiao Chenyu's face darkened slightly. He clearly hadn't expected Han Qiu to dare refuse him outright and deny him face.
As the city lord's son, he had always been surrounded like a moon among stars at Nuoding Academy. Who among the children his age didn't scramble to curry favor with him?
Deigning to recruit a country work-study student today was already an enormous favor to the boy.
Yet this work-study student had dared to refuse. He simply didn't know what was good for him.
"Do you know what you're saying?" Xiao Chenyu narrowed his eyes and laughed in anger. "I'm Xiao Chenyu, son of Nuoding City's city lord. I offered to take you in, and you dared to refuse?!"
"Follow me, and nobody in Nuoding City will dare bully you. I can give you resources and face. Being my underling is far more glorious than being a lowly work-study student."
"No need. I don't want it."
Xiao Chenyu's face turned completely cold, all the appreciation in his eyes fading away. His tone became impossibly stiff. "So you're denying me face?"
"If that's how you see it, then yes."
"Good! Good! Good! Today I'll teach you what cruelty is."
"Wild Wolf Martial Soul!"
Xiao Chenyu let out a low shout. White light flashed beneath his feet, and a white Soul Ring slowly rose. A wolf-shaped Martial Soul appeared behind him and instantly covered his body, completing his Martial Soul Possession. His eyes glowed an eerie green, and his hands transformed into sharp wolf claws, glinting coldly.
Han Qiu glanced at it and curled his lip. "That's it? A Ten-Year White Ring?"
Most of the Douluo Continent's many details had long since grown hazy in his memory, but he still remembered how Soul Rings were classified.
White was the lowest-grade Ten-Year Soul Ring, the lowest tier of Soul Ring.
Xiao Chenyu froze at those words, and fury surged in his heart.
A work-study student who had only just awakened his Martial Soul and didn't even have a Soul Ring dared to mock him? Xiao Chenyu swore he would teach the brat in front of him a lesson.
In a towering rage, Xiao Chenyu unleashed the power of his Martial Soul. His wolf claws swept toward Han Qiu with a fierce gust of wind as he struck viciously.
As he saw it, if this claw landed, the boy before him would surely fall to the ground with grievous injuries.
Han Qiu shook his head lightly. This time, he didn't use any clever technique at all. He lowered his legs slightly, planted himself firmly, and drove a simple punch straight out!
Boom! A muffled impact rang out!
Xiao Chenyu's entire body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming heavily into the dormitory wall. Fortunately, Dorm Six's walls were sturdy and did not break, but the entire room trembled slightly.
Xiao Chenyu fell to the floor, his mind blank, and struggled to get up.
A figure had already stepped in front of him. Han Qiu planted a foot on the floor beside him and looked down at him. "Do you still want me to be your underling?"
Xiao Chenyu shuddered. The tremendous force of that punch still echoed in his mind, and fear welled up in his heart, hard to suppress. He knew full well that he was no match for this work-study student.
Han Qiu swept his gaze over the others in the room.
The remaining youths abruptly came to their senses and hurriedly backed away several steps, staring at Han Qiu with tense expressions.
Han Qiu waved a hand and spoke in a clear voice. "From today on, what I say goes in Dorm Six. Who's for it, and who's against it?"
"N-no one's against it!"
"You're the new boss of Dorm Six!"
"The boss is so strong!"
None of the youths dared utter a word of disagreement.
Liu Long and Zhang Jian reacted the fastest. They hurriedly cleared out the bed by the window with the best view and stood to one side, smiling ingratiatingly.
"Boss, if you need anything from now on, just give us the word!"
Han Qiu reflected to himself that, when all was said and done, they were just a bunch of children. Whoever was strongest became their leader.
Xiao Chenyu slowly got to his feet, his gaze fixed on Han Qiu. He didn't look away for a long time, until even Han Qiu felt a little uncomfortable.
After a moment, he spoke solemnly. "I, Xiao Chenyu, am willing to acknowledge you as my boss."
Han Qiu grumbled inwardly that he was being way too chuunibyou.
"All right. From now on, don't go out of your way to provoke me, and I won't beat you up either." Han Qiu yawned and pointed at the bed they had cleared. "Make the bed for me, then go eat at the cafeteria."
After all the fighting just now, he was already hungry. With that, Han Qiu turned and left the dormitory, heading straight for the cafeteria.
In the dormitory, Zhang Jian lowered his voice and said to Xiao Chenyu, "Brother Xiao, our new boss is way too strong. He beat us without even using his Martial Soul the whole time."
"Perhaps this is what Innate Full Soul Power is really worth," Xiao Chenyu murmured.
The ordinary-looking girl beside them had shining eyes as she exclaimed excitedly, "I only just realized how strong and handsome Boss Han is!"
The other youths all secretly curled their lips at her words.
They were all muttering inwardly that they were clearly the most handsome. Children were generally like that; in their hearts, they always thought they were the best-looking one.
Not long after Han Qiu left, a teacher and the young man pushed open the door and entered the dormitory.
The young man yawned and spoke to the teacher beside him beforehand. "Teacher Zhao, if that work-study student has been beaten too badly, don't assign him any cleaning work for now. Honestly, Director Su agreed to let a work-study student move into Dorm Six for a single Gold Soul Coin. The children in Dorm Six have always been unruly. Won't they beat the boy so badly he can't get up? If he really is seriously injured, the academy will have a hard time settling this."
"I know." Teacher Zhao nodded slightly.
The two entered the room. The young man glanced around, and his brows immediately furrowed. "Xiao Chenyu, where did that work-study student named Han Qiu go?"
Teacher Zhao's face darkened as well, and he demanded sternly, "Did you beat him up? Where is he?"
Xiao Chenyu and the others exchanged startled looks and hurriedly answered, "No! He's the boss of Dorm Six now. How would we dare beat him up?"