Dragon Clan: Starting with the Azure Dragon Fruit

In the first few sets, he did them quickly and steadily, doing twenty or so in one go without even panting.

But this foundation is still too weak.

As they advanced to the seventh group, the strength that had been sustained by the dragon blood finally ran out.

His lack of exercise over the years has revealed his true colors.

Lactic acid surged up my arms, my muscles trembled as if I were being electrocuted, my hands supporting me on the ground felt weak, and large beads of sweat splattered onto the floor.

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and forced himself to do one more set, even under extreme conditions.

After completing the last movement, he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, but his body felt a long-lost sense of peace.

After a quick shower in the bathroom, Lin Yuan changed his clothes and went downstairs.

Just as I reached the corner of the stairs, I ran into Chu Zihang coming out of the kitchen.

Chu Zihang's gaze lingered on Lin Yuan for a moment.

He clearly noticed something; Lin Yuan's clothes were slightly damp, and there were still a few beads of sweat on his collar.

It was early in the morning, before it got hot, so Lin Yuan had obviously just finished exercising.

Chu Zihang didn't ask any more questions, but a very faint hint of surprise flashed across his usually indifferent eyes.

"You got up so early."

"I couldn't sleep, so I just got up," Lin Yuan replied casually.

The two walked into the restaurant, where a sumptuous breakfast was already laid out on the long table.

“I don’t know what kind of breakfast you like, but I’ve asked the aunt to prepare some: soy milk and fried dough sticks, or bread and fried eggs.” Chu Zihang pulled out a chair and sat down.

Lin Yuan pulled out the chair next to him and glanced around at the head of the table: "Isn't your mother eating with us?"

"She went out and made plans with some friends to go hiking and take photos."

Upon hearing that his elders were gone, Lin Yuan completely let loose, transforming into a ruthless rice-eating machine, watching as a table full of food disappeared at a visible speed.

Chu Zihang held the milk and quietly watched Lin Yuan eat.

He didn't have a big appetite to begin with, and seeing the other person's posture as if they wanted to swallow the whole plate, he silently pushed his untouched fried egg over to them.

Without looking up, Lin Yuan smoothly extended his fork, pierced the yolk, stuffed it into his mouth, and mumbled an indistinct "Thanks."

In less than ten minutes, Lin Yuan single-handedly devoured the breakfast pile on the table, enough for three people.

He finally picked up the half-cup of soy milk and drank it all in one gulp. He grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth and leaned back in his chair, completely satisfied.

Chu Zihang had already finished his slice of toast and was now sitting upright to the side.

She neither spoke nor played on her phone, but simply stared at Lin Yuan, looking as if she was ready to listen to him speak at any moment.

Judging from his serious demeanor, it seemed that as long as Lin Yuan didn't bring up the topic, he could sit there so formally for a long time.

Lin Yuan forced himself to meet his gaze for two seconds before decisively giving up and shifting his attention to the quartz clock on the wall.

They weren't in the same class at school, and each of them was a bit withdrawn. Now, staring at each other, the atmosphere quickly turned cold.

As the quartz clock ticked monotonously, the awkward atmosphere intensified, and Lin Yuan felt like he was about to dig his toes out of his three-bedroom apartment.

Since he was still thinking about going to the internet cafe to look up information, Lin Yuan finally took the initiative to break the deadlock and offered to trouble the other party to give him a ride.

Half an hour later, a black BMW X3 stopped at the entrance of Taoyuan Community.

This is an old residential building complex.

Due to years of disrepair, the cement road surface is full of potholes, and there are overflowing garbage cans on both sides. The exterior walls of the buildings are covered with red graffiti advertisements for "drain cleaning" and "professional locksmith services".

Lin Yuan pushed open the passenger door, and before he could even stand up straight, he heard a faint motor sound behind him.

Chu Zihang rolled down the car window and suggested, "We're going to America together soon, how about we find some time to have a meal together?"

Lin Yuan didn't answer immediately. He was reaching into his pocket and rummaging around, his brows furrowing slightly.

Chu Zihang watched him quietly as he reached into his pocket, then turned to look at the dilapidated neighborhood in front of him. He assumed that Lin Yuan was short of money because of the potentially expensive meal.

So, the considerate young master Chu explained, "I'll choose the restaurant; you don't need to worry about it. Which day is more convenient for you?"

Lin Yuan's hand, which was reaching into his pocket, paused.

He realized, "Oh right, I left all my old clothes at Chu Zihang's house. I'm wearing borrowed clothes now. How could my key be in my pants? Why am I rummaging around here?"

However, he didn't bother to explain. When he heard that Chu Zihang had booked the dinner, how could he refuse such a good opportunity to eat for free? He nodded without any politeness: "Sure, how about this afternoon?"

Chu Zihang nodded slightly, preparing to roll up the car window.

But he seemed to be recalling the somewhat suffocating atmosphere between the two of them not long ago in his own restaurant.

To avoid a repeat of the same mistake at the dinner a few hours later, Chu Zihang thoughtfully added, "If you feel uncomfortable eating with just the two of you, you can also invite your friends to join you."

"We'll see," Lin Yuan waved his hand.

Chu Zihang rolled up the car window again: "Okay, I'll pick you up at five o'clock this afternoon."

Chapter 19 One Piece No Longer Exists

Watching Chu Zihang's BMW X3 disappear around the street corner, Lin Yuan turned and walked into Taoyuan Residential Area.

He didn't try hard to recall anything, and following his instincts, he walked all the way to an old residential building in Taoyuan Community. The motion-sensor lights in the corridor were broken, so although it was still daytime, the light was very dim. In a corner on the first floor, there were two loosely tied bags of garbage, with several flies hovering over them.

Lin Yuan climbed to the fifth floor in one breath, stood in front of his own security door, lifted the frayed doormat, and pulled out a key from the gap underneath.

Upon opening the door, a stench of rottenness, from a place that hadn't been properly ventilated, assaulted my nostrils, mixed with the fermented, sour smell of leftover braised beef noodles from the previous day.

The room was small, with a blurred line between the living room and bedroom. Several new-looking "5-Year College Entrance Examination, 3-Year Simulation" books sat on the desk, next to a half-empty bowl of Master Kong braised beef noodle soup, the broth long since dried into a brownish crust. Several pairs of sneakers lay scattered around the bed. A few StarCraft game posters were taped to the wall.

A sliver of sunlight peeked through the gap in the curtains, the light carrying dust motes that swirled slowly in the air.

This is the small house of a slacker, a gamer, and a high school student living alone.

Lin Yuan stood in the center of the room, looking at the mess on the floor, and felt a sense of absurd disorientation.

He walked over and casually fiddled with the review materials on the table.

Underneath a biology workbook was a one-inch passport photo. The boy in the photo had wispy bangs and an innocent smile on his lips, and the name in the bottom column read "Lin Yuan".

Looking at the face that was exactly like his own, the hairs on the back of Lin Yuan's neck stood on end for no reason. He looked away, picked up the biology workbook again, and pressed the photo down.

He suppressed the thought that had just popped into his mind.

The most urgent task was to figure out his current situation, so Lin Yuan decided to go to a nearby internet cafe.

He pulled open the drawer of the old desk, which was a mess of odds and ends. Underneath a few used game cards and a rusty compass was a dark wallet.

Lin Yuan opened the box and counted the money: eight hundred and seventy-six yuan and fifty cents.

This is all the money he has now.

He took two 10-yuan bills from the bills, turned around and went downstairs, heading straight for the illegal internet cafe he frequented, relying on his memory.

Turning out from the back gate of the residential area, it was midday, the sun was scorching, and the asphalt road surface was softened by the heat.

At the very end of the alley, there is an illegal internet cafe called "Xingxing Network".

An old man with a bare chest sat at the entrance of an internet cafe, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan, while a radio at his feet played a storytelling performance.

Hearing Lin Yuan approach, the old man paused slightly while fanning himself with his palm leaf fan, opened his eyelids a crack, and gave him a practiced look.

Once he confirmed that the student looked familiar, the old man lowered his eyelids again and continued to leisurely fan himself, dutifully acting as the lookout for this illegal internet cafe.

Lin Yuan lifted the plastic windshield that was covered in black oil stains, and cheap cigarettes, instant noodle seasoning, and the heat wave from the computer case's exhaust fan instantly hit his face.

The hall was filled with people his age, and the sounds of keyboard typing and cursing were deafening.

The receptionist, with an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, stared at the card game "Dou Dizhu" on the screen. He looked up when he heard the noise.

Upon seeing that the visitor was Lin Yuan, a familiar smile immediately appeared on his face:

"Hey, it's been so many days since the college entrance exam, why are you only arriving now?"

As he spoke, he took the ten yuan Lin Yuan handed him, opened the drawer, and rummaged through a pile of dirty plastic cards with his fingertips. He pulled out a card with "08" drawn on it with a marker and handed it over.

"It's the weekend and there are a lot of people today, so I've made sure to save your usual machine for last."

"Thank you." Lin Yuan took the greasy card.

This camera spot is really great; it's surrounded by load-bearing walls with peeling white plaster on three sides, and there's an old-fashioned fan overhead.

Lin Yuan sat down in the bright red faux leather chair, and with the roar of the fan in the computer case, the XP interface with blue sky and white clouds popped up.

The desktop was densely packed with icons of various online games and classic single-player games. Lin Yuan bypassed these games that he used to love, opened the Internet Explorer browser, and first glanced at the portal information that popped up on the homepage.

A banner announcing the countdown to the Beijing Olympics hangs in the center of the page, next to several financial news reports about the fluctuations in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets, and interspersed below are local news reports about the continuous torrential rains in several southern cities since the beginning of summer.

Lin Yuan ignored the news, opened the Baidu search bar, entered a few remote place names from his hometown before he transmigrated, and then searched for the neighborhood where he used to live.

After several page redirects, although the place names were all found, the street layouts, the jurisdiction of the police station, and even the development trajectory of the old state-owned factory that had long since closed down were completely unfamiliar in the search results.

It is indeed a parallel world.

Lin Yuan released his grip on the mouse and leaned heavily back into the chair.

There were a few moments during that day when he thought he had finally returned home, even if the timing was off, even if there were new superpowers in the world that he didn't know about before, as long as he could come back, that was enough.

In the end, it was just another similar web.

He stared at the flashing advertisements on the screen. Someone next to him was cursing loudly because their monsters had been stolen, but Lin Yuan found the surroundings unusually quiet.

She stared at it for a while, then took a deep breath, squeezing out the faint sense of disappointment from her chest.

He's always been a pragmatist who dislikes internal strife. Regardless of where this is, since he was able to travel from the world of One Piece to here, he might be able to travel back from here in the future, since supernatural forces also exist in this world.

After figuring this out, Lin Yuan entered new keywords. Another reason for coming to the internet cafe this time was to look for clues about the strange "white light" in God Valley.

While it's highly likely that One Piece hasn't reached that point in this world yet, what if it has?

Lin Yuan sat up straight again, moved the pointer back to the search box, and retyped:

One Piece: God Valley Saga.

The page spun a few times, and the first items were fishing companies from several coastal cities. Scrolling down, there were several weather forecasts about a tropical depression in the South China Sea, a shipping newsletter from an unnamed island, and even two small advertisements selling hardware drills.

The search results were completely irrelevant.

"What's going on?"

Lin Yuan thought he was seeing things. He couldn't find God Valley, but why was searching for One Piece related to hardware tools? Did he accidentally mistype something when he typed it?

Chapter 20 Lu Mingfei

He instinctively leaned forward, carefully checking again, and there was nothing wrong. Could it be that those three words were censored?

Lin Yuan changed several keywords in succession: "One Piece", "Blue Dragon Fruit", "God Valley", "The Big Three Shonen Manga"...

However, no matter how he changed the keywords, he still couldn't find any content related to One Piece.

After trying more than a dozen different keywords, the webpages all popped up with unrelated news about deep-sea fishing, or pirated movie websites with suggestive ads.

Everything seemed to point to one conclusion: One Picec no longer existed. The world he had spent years struggling on the high seas was nowhere to be found here.

Although the general environment of this world was similar to the world he had before he transmigrated, the fact that such phenomenal epic novels had disappeared out of thin air was indeed a bit unexpected for him.

Lin Yuan grinned helplessly. It was only because this was a world with superpowers that he could make a living by plagiarizing the plot of One Piece manga. Otherwise, he could probably achieve financial freedom and never have to worry about food or drink by becoming a plagiarist.

I then thought about it two more times deeper.

If such a globally popular comic were actually displayed in a newsstand on the street corner, and you were to fight later, using the Six Powers or Armament Haki, you would have to rack your brains to come up with a bunch of outrageous lines to deal with other people's inquiries.

Now it's much easier. Even if my combat performance is outrageous in the future, I can always blame it on Dragon Blood or Word of Power.

In short, this is a good thing.

Pulling his thoughts back, Lin Yuan remembered another purpose of his trip: he still had something important to do.

Then I started searching for Kassel College in my browser.

The webpage loaded very quickly this time, and there's a language switch option in the upper right corner after entering the official website.

After switching, it's not those poorly made machine translations anymore; every piece of information is written in a neat and authentic style, comparable to top universities in China.

Lin Yuan looked through them one by one. The official website was neatly and meticulously designed, from the introduction of the age of the castle and school buildings to the natural scenery of Illinois, and then to the profound projects jointly launched by the major laboratories and the University of Chicago.

Several photos of outstanding graduates standing on the lawn, their smart and appropriate dark green school uniforms and perfectly timed smiles, exude a sunny and positive atmosphere.