Chapter 104: Four-Eyed Cat Owl Flandre (Part Three)

At this point, a look of admiration crossed Dai Mubai's face. "Every one of our teachers is a Soul Master who refuses to seek shelter under any major power. In other words, before the academy was founded, they all worked alone. They love freedom and despise restraint. They wouldn't even deign to accept a noble title from the empire. Think about it — under those circumstances, what kind of income could they possibly have?"

Xiao Wu asked, "Why wouldn't they want a noble title from the empire? A title should come with some income, right? I remember that at thirty-something rank, you can be granted the rank of Baron by the empire, and at forty-something rank, Viscount. Beyond that, there's nothing more."

Ning Rongrong answered for Dai Mubai. "Once you accept a noble title from the empire, you also take on the obligation of loyalty to the empire. If a war breaks out and the empire calls upon its nobles, you have no choice but to obey the imperial command and march to the battlefield. The title of nobility sounds appealing, but it's also a kind of restrictive noose. Many powerful Soul Masters refuse noble titles precisely because they don't want to sell their lives to any one faction."

Just then, the sound of a bell came ringing from outside — clang, clang, clang.

Dai Mubai hurried to his feet. "That's the headmaster's assembly bell. Fatty, take them straight to the main training ground. I'll go get Zhuqing." With that, he strode quickly out of the cafeteria.

Ma Hongjun watched his retreating figure and muttered, "Boss Dai seems to have changed a bit. I've never seen him care this much about a woman before."

Ning Rongrong let out a snort of laughter. "How old are you, talking about women this and women that?"

Ma Hongjun huffed proudly. "I may not be that old, but I've had women before. Come on, let's move — the headmaster doesn't like it when people are late." At the mention of this, his body seemed to shudder, clearly having learned that lesson the hard way.

By the time the four of them arrived at the main training ground, a bleary-eyed Oscar was already there. He was holding one of his self-made sausages and nibbling on it.

Oscar's appearance had undergone a dramatic change. The main difference was that the beard on his face was gone.

When Tang San saw him, he almost didn't recognize him — without his full beard, Oscar looked like an entirely different person.

Ma Hongjun had once said that both Dai Mubai and Oscar had "faces made for womanizing," which was obviously spoken out of jealousy. Now Tang San finally understood what Ma Hongjun had envied.

Dai Mubai was already very handsome, especially with those captivating twin-pupiled eyes that drew people in effortlessly. But in terms of pure facial features, he still couldn't match the now clean-shaven Oscar.

Oscar's eyes were set deep in their sockets, giving him an air of mystery. His face was like polished jade — handsome and well-proportioned, with brows of just the right thickness, and a roguish smile perpetually playing on his lips. He looked for all the world like a dashing young noble. Of course, even the most handsome noble would look rather less refined if he were standing there gnawing on a sausage.

"Your beard?" Tang San walked up to Oscar and couldn't help pointing at his face.

Oscar grinned and quickly finished off the sausage, then whispered, "Well, a few new beauties just showed up, didn't they? If I don't clean myself up, how am I going to get their attention? You've got no experience in this area. Boss Dai has obviously got his eye on that ice-cold girl, and Xiao Wu's yours. Fatty's got that sinful fire about him that doesn't exactly appeal to girls. So, my target is Ning Rongrong — you're not going to compete with me, are you?"

Tang San slapped his own forehead. "Excuse me, but how old are you again?"

Oscar answered without hesitation. "Fourteen. What about it? My dad already had me by the time he was fourteen."

Tang San suddenly realized that if you wanted to test your psychological resilience, Shrek Academy was clearly an excellent choice. Never mind the teachers — every single student here was a monster. Even himself, for that matter — didn't he possess hidden weapon techniques that didn't belong to this world?

Dai Mubai arrived with Zhu Zhuqing in tow. Zhu Zhuqing was obviously maintaining a deliberate distance from him, and Dai Mubai's expression looked distinctly unpleasant.

Oscar laughed with undisguised schadenfreude. "Looks like Boss Dai hit another wall. His lady-killer tactics, which have never failed him before, are finally coming up short."

While they were talking, a middle-aged man approached from the other end of the training ground.

The sight of him made both Tang San and Xiao Wu freeze in surprise. He looked to be around fifty years old, with a sturdy build and a remarkably distinctive face — a protruding chin, wide cheekbones, a flat profile, and something of a hawkish nose. If you had to compare it to something, the closest description would be that his face looked a bit like the sole of a shoe. Even with his eyes closed, he somehow managed to look shrewd and cunning. He wore a pair of black-framed crystal spectacles, the frames being of a rigid square shape.

Xiao Wu blurted out in astonishment, "Isn't that the shady merchant uncle?"

Oscar replied in equal surprise, "What shady merchant uncle? That's our headmaster — the founder of Shrek Academy, Four-Eyed Cat Owl Flandre. A seventy-eighth rank Soul Saint. Even fiercer than Teacher Zhao. And he possesses a flying-type beast Martial Soul, which is quite rare among Battle Soul Masters. Fatty is his direct disciple."

Xiao Wu murmured, "Only seventy-eighth rank, thank goodness. I never would have guessed that the classic motto — 'Only monsters need apply; ordinary people need not' — came from him. Uncle Sausage Man, does our academy have any Soul Douluo-level Soul Masters?"

Oscar shook his head. "Please, call me Oscar the Sausage Specialist. Do you think Soul Douluo grow on trees? There's one on every corner? Across the entire continent, there aren't even a hundred Soul Douluo or above. They're all supported by the empire and its subordinate kingdoms. As for Titled Douluo, both great empires combined only have about ten. They're not exactly easy to run into."