Dragon Clan: Starting with the Azure Dragon Fruit

Miranda's lips, adorned with nude lip gloss, were slightly parted. She looked at the sweat pouring down Lin Yuan's forehead, leaving a trail of wet footprints on the concrete beneath his feet.

"You...you fell into the river?" Miranda took a half step back, making way for the humanoid furnace radiating astonishing heat.

Standing in front of the security door, Lin Yuan's gaze swept over Miranda. When they last met, her beautiful face and figure were already stunning enough.

Today, I changed my outfit and put on light makeup, which perfectly showcased my dazzling exotic charm.

"I got up early today and went for a run in the park." Lin Yuan smiled, wiping the beads of sweat from his chin. His tone showed none of the awkwardness a typical high school student would have when meeting a beautiful woman. He took the key from under the mat and opened the door in front of Miranda.

Miranda rolled her eyes. Just a few laps and she was already like this? This amount of sweat would have dehydrated an ordinary person. But then she thought of Lin Yuan's Word of Power, and it made sense; after all, he was a Super A-grade monster. Having just awakened his bloodline, his physical abilities would definitely have improved significantly.

The security door opened, and Lin Yuan stepped aside to gesture for her to come inside.

“I’m not going in, I have to catch my flight soon.” Miranda waved her hand and handed over the letter bearing the emblem of the half-decayed World Tree.

"Your passport and ten-year visa are all sorted out. Norma took your passport photo directly from the surveillance footage, and it turned out quite handsome. Your plane ticket to Chicago is also included. The flight is in a week. Chu Zihang's ticket has already been delivered to his home by a school worker. You two are on the same flight, so you can travel together."

Lin Yuan opened the seal and poured out a passport, a social security card with his name on it, and a black American Express card.

He picked up the frosted black card, flipped it between his fingers, and looked at Miranda with a questioning expression.

"Professor Guderian has promised you a scholarship of $20,000 a year, but it will only be activated after you officially register at the college and pass the 3E exam."

Lin Yuan nodded, looking at the brand-new passport's inner page, with the US visa affixed with a gold security thread. His eyes flickered slightly.

As someone who has been through it, he knows very well how troublesome it is to get a US visa now. Ordinary people not only need to apply several months in advance, but also have to go to the consulate with a thick stack of documents and be questioned.

Kassel College bypassed all the procedures and even got everything done without the college itself showing up. It seems to have much more power than he had anticipated.

"Besides the documents, here's this too." Miranda produced a plain-colored rectangular box as if by magic.

The box was quite heavy, and inside lay a black Nokia N95 8GB phone. In an era when most people were still using candybar phones, this flagship phone with its dual-slider design, pure black matte finish, and Carl Zeiss lens was priced close to half a year's salary for an average person.

"Is this also a perk for new students?" Lin Yuan asked, somewhat surprised.

“The academy doesn’t care about such details; this was a personal donation from my senior.” Miranda reached out and smoothed her blonde hair.

"My personal number is in your contacts. Just think of it as an investment. Spend a little money in advance to build a relationship. Who knows, your senior might need your help with a mission in the future."

Miranda spoke very frankly, which made her so honest that it was hard to dislike her.

"Don't worry, senior. Even without this phone, I'll still help you whenever I can." Lin Yuan picked up the phone, twirled it in his palm, and then put it in his pocket.

Miranda's smile deepened: "Then I'll be going now. You should rest well this week and recharge your energy. There'll be plenty of new things to see in Chicago."

Lin Yuan walked her to the entrance of her building: "Be careful on the way."

After returning to his room, Lin Yuan casually tossed the envelope onto the sofa, turned, and went into the kitchen.

He took out two bags of chilled chicken breasts that he had bought wholesale from the market yesterday, cut them into large pieces, and threw them into the pot along with the broccoli.

Since setting the training plan that day, he has been training himself to the point of exhaustion every day.

For an average high school student, this brutal training method would have ruined them on the first day. But Lin Yuan discovered that, whether it was due to the Azure Dragon Fruit or something else, as long as he had enough calories, he could wake up refreshed and full of energy, with all his aches and pains gone, after a good night's sleep.

This unnatural ability to recover made him even suspect that this body was actually a younger version of himself.

When he first transmigrated to the world of One Piece, he relied on his talent for eating and training to quickly transform from a Muggle without any special abilities into a skilled fighter who mastered both types of Haki and was proficient in the Six Powers of the Navy.

This level of strength might not be enough in the New World where monsters abound, but if he were to make a living on the Grand Line, he might just become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea in the future.

Since this talent still exists, all that's left is to walk the path we came from!

However, given my financial situation, it's obviously unrealistic to go out to restaurants and indulge every day.

As for asking Chu Zihang for money, Young Master Chu is very generous, so if Lin Yuan really asked, the other party would most likely not refuse him.

But Lin Yuan wasn't thinking about that. He hadn't quite figured out how well they had treated him last time, and the more favors he owed, the harder it would be to say what would happen in the future.

Thanks to modern industrialized farming, food is now available at very low prices.

If we set aside the pursuit of taste and focus solely on obtaining carbohydrates and protein, the wholesale chilled poultry and eggs are sufficient to support his nutritional needs for exercise.

With only three days of training underway, he ran 20 kilometers in one go this morning outside his neighborhood.

When he met Miranda on his way home, his breathing remained steady.

Chapter 27 Partial Dragon Transformation

"Ninety-eight...ninety-nine."

In a small park in the southern suburbs, a boy was doing push-ups on the ground, sweat dripping down his chin and spreading into a small puddle in front of him.

This scene was nothing unusual; even doing a hundred push-ups in one go was just the level of a normal fitness enthusiast.

But if someone actually gets close, they'll probably rub their eyes and think they're seeing things.

The boy wasn't doing push-ups with his hands as usual; he was supporting his entire body weight with only the index finger of his right hand.

Upon closer inspection, there was something even more bizarre: the finger, from tip to knuckle, looked as if it had been coated with ink, and under the streetlights, it gleamed with a matte metallic sheen.

"one hundred!"

As the final count ended, Lin Yuan's taut knuckles suddenly relaxed.

He didn't offer any support or cushioning, letting his body slam straight down to the ground.

"Boom."

A dull thud, like a solid block of iron falling to the ground, shook the dust off the ground, sending it swirling into the air.

Lin Yuan lay there for a good ten seconds before finally managing to roll over and lie sprawled on the ground.

He greedily inhaled the sweltering summer night air, his unfocused gaze fixed blankly on the night sky above, where even the stars were barely visible.

Doing push-ups is no longer a difficult task for Lin Yuan, but during his recent workout, he maintained a "bodyweight" state throughout. The progressively increasing intensity was indeed exhausting.

Fourteen days have passed since he started training. Lin Yuan has devoted every minute and second since he opened his eyes to this almost self-torturing physical training.

He completely ignored all the unnecessary social interactions and trivial matters from the outside world.

But the more he wanted to be invisible, the harder it was for him to find peace and quiet.

The other end of the school somehow got wind of his acceptance into Kassel College.

This prestigious American private school only admitted two students from the entire Shilan High School. One was Chu Zihang, the undisputed superstar, and the other was Lin Yuan.

Even more outrageous is that he also has a full scholarship of $20,000 under his name.

The shock this incident caused in the school leaders' office was even more surreal than Chu Zihang's admission.

It should be noted that he was able to enter Shilan High School, a prestigious private high school, purely as a "face" for the school to flaunt its "social responsibility."

In the eyes of the teachers, he was just a transparent person used to meet political correctness standards, a mascot that the school had paid to keep.

But who would have thought that this seemingly invisible person, who didn't even know who his biological parents were, would quietly make a big move and be going to a top American university in the blink of an eye.

For three consecutive days, the dean of students visited him with a fruit basket, hoping he could take some time to return to the school and give a speech to the first and second-year students at the flag-raising ceremony on Monday.

Unfortunately, Lin Yuan spent every day exercising in the park from early morning to late at night, and the director went there three times, only to be turned away each time.

This matter was mentioned casually by Chu Zihang when he came to check flight information with him a couple of days ago. After hearing it, Lin Yuan simply said "Oh" and didn't react further.

He has no time to bother with those trivial matters.

It is precisely because of this focus that he has not only begun to condense Armament Haki, but has also incidentally mastered the most "practical" Iron Body technique from the Six Powers.

After his breathing calmed down a bit, Lin Yuan sat up and picked up a plastic bag from the side, which contained cooked chicken breast and a dozen eggs.

He grabbed a piece of chicken breast and stuffed it into his mouth. The chicken was bland and tasteless, with a slightly fishy smell, but Lin Yuan didn't care at all, finishing a piece in a few bites. Eating eggs was even easier; he skipped the peeling process altogether, just stuffing them whole into his mouth and chewing.

He chewed the eggshell with a crunching sound, then swallowed it along with the yolk.

After the food is ingested, the body's restorative power kicks in immediately, and the body, which was nearly exhausted from exercise, is like a sponge that has absorbed plenty of water, becoming fully replenished.

After filling his stomach, Lin Yuan brushed the crumbs off his hands and examined his palms in the dim light of the streetlamp in the distance. He was leaving the "newbie village" tomorrow, and he needed to know the limits of his current strength.

Lin Yuan closed his eyes, and his Observation Haki spread outwards from him like an invisible net.

After confirming that no one was around.

He focused his mind on his right arm, awakening the power within him that belonged to the Azure Dragon Fruit.

Blood and qi began to surge within his body, and a faint crackling sound of bone growth emanated from his right arm. Patches of blue scales covered his entire forearm, and his five fingers transformed into sharp dragon claws.

Immediately afterward, with a thought, a layer of jet-black Armament Haki spread from his fingertips, climbing up along the blue scales and covering his entire blue dragon-transformed arm.

As he continued to activate the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit, several serpentine blue-green arcs of electricity exploded from between his black fingers, and tiny bolts of lightning leaped back and forth between his hard scales.

Lin Yuan looked around and his gaze fell on an abandoned walking machine in the corner. He planned to use it to test his strength.

The main body of the walking machine is made of steel pipes that are as thick as a baby's arm and are covered with reddish-brown rust.

He stepped forward, raised the dragon claw crackling with electricity, and casually swung it down at the steel pipe.

The resistance of the claw tip cutting through the metal was negligible, like a hot knife cutting through butter.

The half-section of solid steel pipe slipped silently and fell onto the concrete floor with a crisp sound. Not only was the cut smooth as a mirror, but the edge was also scorched by the high temperature, leaving a ring of melted marks.

His heavy breathing paused for a moment in the night wind.

Just now, it was purely a slight, subconscious exertion of muscle force, like swinging a branch in the way, and the steel pipe snapped in an instant.

Lin Yuan slowly closed his five fingers, the hard fingertips interlocking and colliding, producing a metallic friction sound, which was a violent force that could easily crush flesh and bone.

He stood there until the surging violence in his eyes completely subsided before letting out a long breath.

With a slight thought, the blue scales disappeared one by one into the skin, and the ferocious dragon claw transformed back into an ordinary hand, as if the scene had never happened.

In just two weeks, relying on cheap chicken breast and training beyond his limits, he actually recovered his strength to this extent.

At this moment, the continuous vibration from his pocket interrupted Lin Yuan's thoughts.

He pulled out his Nokia N95 and slid it open with his thumb. The screen glowed in the dim corner of the park—a new text message.

"I'll pick you up at the main gate of Taoyuan Community at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Chu Zihang."

Even the punctuation marks exude a sense of meticulous order and precision.

Lin Yuan pressed the keypad and replied with a few words: "Thanks, I'll be on time."

Chapter 28 Major Railway Strike

The dome of Chicago Union Station is so tall it resembles a medieval cathedral. Sunlight streams in from both sides through the huge stained-glass windows, cutting bright beams of light into the air, where countless dust particles float.

After a fourteen-hour long-haul international flight, Lin Yuan and Chu Zihang traveled by car to get here.

According to the freshman orientation guide that came with the admission letter from Kassel College, they should have been here to board the mysterious CC1000 special express train and go straight to the school.

However, the current situation seems to differ from what was described in the admissions guide.

The once orderly waiting area was now so crowded that there wasn't even room to stand. Nearly 10,000 stranded passengers filled the century-old domed waiting hall to capacity.

Suitcases and hiking backpacks of various colors were scattered haphazardly on the ground. The crying of children, the complaints of adults, and the mixed sounds of English, Spanish, and French with Midwestern accents made one's eardrums ache.

The loudspeaker on the ceiling was broadcasting the cancellation notice on a loop at an extremely fast pace.

The huge electronic bulletin board in the center of the hall is filled with train timetables flashing red "CANCELLED".

Looking out through the glass doors on the other side of the hall, the street was full of railway workers in overalls, holding up cardboard signs with large slogans, moving slowly in loose lines.

Lin Yuan leaned on the handle of his suitcase with one hand, watched the commotion outside for a while, and then looked away, somewhat bored.

He turned his head to look at the chaotic hall, his gaze passing over the anxious backs of the heads, searching for Chu Zihang's whereabouts in the crowd.

Not long after, a gap appeared in the line not far away.

Chu Zihang slightly turned his shoulder to avoid a middle-aged man who was swearing, and stopped next to Lin Yuan.

"We've figured it out, we're in the middle of a major Chicago railroad strike."

He turned to look at Lin Yuan standing beside him and added the cause of the chaos: "The union is conducting collective bargaining with the management, demanding an 8% increase in the hourly wage of railway employees and increased family medical insurance coverage. Half an hour ago, this proposal was rejected by the management representative."

"This will cut off all rail lines connecting the station to neighboring state capitals."

"So, the CC1000 train from Kassel College has also stopped running?" Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow, looking at the anxious passengers jumping up and down in the hall.

"It's stopped. The railway signal lights and track controllers are all in the hands of the union. Even if there were special trains, they couldn't be dispatched." Chu Zihang turned around, unfolded a city map he had just gotten from the dispatch counter, and laid it flat on the handle of his suitcase.

"If labor and management get back to the negotiating table, we'll have to stay in Chicago for at least three days."

As the overhead announcement repeated the cancellation of three intercity express trains, the stranded passengers in the hall grew increasingly anxious.

At the ticket window not far away, several passengers, their eyes blazing with anger, were yelling at the station staff through the railing; the vending machine area was in complete chaos, with people pushing and shoving each other without restraint in their scramble for the last few bottles of mineral water, and one hot-tempered man was kicking the jammed machine repeatedly; the guards trying to maintain order were being pushed and shoved by the angry crowd.