Welcome to the Meritocratic Fire Moth
What surprise could Otto have prepared for him?
Hopefully, it wouldn't be a shock…
The elevator reached the fourth floor. Shu took a deep breath to calm his nerves, opened the door, and walked out with his chest held high.
The moment he stepped out, Shu felt hundreds of gazes converge on him.
There were innocent children, admiring survivors, and a few intensely focused… Do all male university students have such burning gazes?
"Shu!!" Only Kiana called out happily from the crowd. Shu saw a white-haired blur dart out from the otherwise formally seated crowd, waving at him.
Shu's eye twitched. Feigning composure, he walked briskly towards them without a word and sat down in the empty seat they had saved for him.
From the moment he stepped out of the elevator, Shu felt the [Hope] within him surge.
The increase was significant.
Indeed, no legend could compare to a living legend appearing before you in the most impressive way.
In Shanghai, although most people had seen the overwhelming fire tornado, that spectacle wasn't created by Shu.
Otto had tried to attribute that miracle to Shu, but the effect was far less than "bragging" about Fire Moth through Shu's own words.
It couldn't even be considered "taking credit for another's achievements." It was a blatant slight against Otto!
Ah, that's not what I meant… that achievement refers to Honk—… no, wait. That's not right either.
Anyway, that wasn't the point.
But this time, that giant canyon in ARC City was real, those Titans descending from the sky were tangible!
These were all Shu's accomplishments. How could they not be awestruck?
And Shu, who had achieved all this, only looked slightly tired, his expression unchanged…
Fire Moth was just that awesome! Who disagreed? Come out and fight Captain Shu!
As soon as Shu sat down, the two white-haired bundles of energy pounced.
Theresa and Kiana patted Shu all over, lightly pinching his arms and thighs before asking with some concern, "Shu, are you really okay?"
"I'm really okay." Shu allowed them to examine him without changing his expression, his gaze sweeping across the table.
A scene of utter devastation, not a scrap left.
Damn, he shouldn't have expected to find any leftovers on a table where Kiana and Kallen both ate!
"Shu, your food is here."
Mei brought over two large insulated lunchboxes and placed them in front of Shu. "These were set aside for you. They're still warm."
Shu gave Mei a grateful look, then quickly picked up his chopsticks. Starving, he stabbed his chopsticks into the rice and was about to shovel it into his mouth.
The hundreds of eyes on him forced Shu to suppress his ravenous behavior, instead picking up the food gracefully, chopstick by chopstick, without bending over.
"As expected of a Fire Moth warrior! Even eating is so elegant!"
"Yeah… we're really not from the same world…"
Shu's eye twitched. He seemed to understand the "surprise" Otto had prepared for him…
Besides the admiring voices behind him, there was also a small group of dumbfounded onlookers.
Kiana looked at Shu's dignified eating posture, then turned to look at the "swooning" women, children, and male university students…
She turned back to Shu, who even straightened his back to open a water bottle, then looked down at her own messy spread of three empty bowls and leftover scraps, lost in thought.
"Shu, you…" Himeko picked up a water bottle, trying to appear composed. The more familiar they were with Shu, the more bizarre this scene appeared.
She racked her brain, the water bottle paused at her lips for a long time, unable to find the right words. She could only take a sip of water, then another.
"Putting on quite the idol act…" Fu Hua's weak point attack was highly effective. Shu's body trembled slightly, prompting him to pick up the water bottle he had just put down and open it again.
"Shifu, what's an idol act?" Li Sushang looked up, puzzled. "I think the bad guy is a bit scary like this…"
"It's okay, it's normal to be scared." Kallen, watching Shu's strangely familiar movements, said with a peculiar expression.
"If Kiana hadn't finished eating, Shu probably wouldn't be able to maintain such elegance…" Bronya commented from the side.
"Why?" Kiana quietly gathered the bones in front of her, trying to make her area less messy.
She was cleaning up when she was suddenly addressed, tilting her head in confusion.
"Because Kiana would be fighting Shu for food, right…" Mei, who had long seen through what Bronya wanted to say, said with a smile.
"No way!" Kiana was flustered. She wouldn't snatch food from an injured person! Even if the injured person had recovered!
Didn't they see that when the food was served, she waited for Mei to prepare Shu's portion before starting to eat?
She usually ate straight from the pot!
The group laughed, diverting some of the attention from Shu, allowing him to relax slightly, though he still maintained his composure.
Shu being here, eating with them, was the best news. That's why they could joke around now.
Although Otto had told them that the Herrscher would return, at least Shu was alright.
With Otto and Shu together, they would definitely find a way!
Soon, Shu finished the double portion Mei had prepared, the feeling of being pleasantly full giving him the urge to lie down.
But there were still over two hundred people here who had been bored enough to watch him eat his entire meal…
He didn't dare.
But if you asked Shu how he felt about this feeling of being constantly observed,
Shu could only say—Awesome!
Becoming a positive public figure, with no one nitpicking, everyone looking at you with admiration…
It was just tiring.
No one could refuse being the center of attention, even the subject of idealized projections. The so-called "separate family tree," "first comment," all stemmed from this psychology. [Internet slang referring to starting a new thread or lineage due to someone's exceptional qualities]
It was just really tiring…
Shu wanted to leave after finishing his meal, but then Theresa, as if suddenly remembering something, stopped him.
"Shu, Natasha has something to ask you, it's about the children…"
Shu paused, turned, and saw Natasha standing up from the children's table and walking over.
Otto's arrangement, no doubt.
Bracing himself, Shu asked, "Is there something else?"
Natasha was silent for a moment, then looked at the children behind her, their eyes wide, watching them. Then, she spoke.
"I will accept any request… I hope you can take these children… they are no longer… related to me…"
Shu: "…"
Everyone: "?!"