Dragon Clan: Starting with the Azure Dragon Fruit

He tried to cover it up by looking away, completely unaware that Nuonuo's earlobes, hidden beneath her hair, were now so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

In fact, Nono woke up earlier than Lin Yuan.

But in that agonizing position, she couldn't find any expression that would allow her to open her eyes properly, so she could only grit her teeth and continue pretending to be asleep.

Chapter 52 How Strong is the Academy's Backing?

"That's great! If you hadn't woken up soon, I would have fainted!"

Miranda's loud voice rang out from behind, shattering the delicate, romantic atmosphere between the two.

Lin Yuan's heart tightened, and he stiffly turned his head away.

Chu Zihang sat wearily by the door, with Miranda beside him sporting messy blonde hair.

Both of them looked visibly tired, as if they hadn't slept for a long time.

A terrifying thought flashed through Lin Yuan's mind: "Wait, they look like they haven't rested in a long time. Could it be that they've been watching me the whole time?"

Chu Zihang seemed to understand his gaze and helped Lin Yuan align the details: "It's been a day and a night since you fell into a coma. Senior Miranda arrived this morning."

Lin Yuan's mind went blank for a moment.

A day and a night?

In other words, he held Nuonuo in that inexplicable position for a whole day and night, right under Chu Zihang and Miranda's noses the entire time?!

What was the point of all that caution then? Was it just burying one's head in the sand?

Lin Yuan felt like he was experiencing a kind of social death.

"Alright, alright, it's good that everyone's alright." Miranda scratched her hair without any regard for her image and yawned widely.

"Check if you feel uncomfortable anywhere. If not, go back to the hotel and get some more sleep. The CC1000 train will take you back to school tomorrow morning."

Hearing this seemingly lighthearted arrangement that suggests "everything is over," a strange sense of resistance welled up inside me.

Lin Yuan didn't answer, but subconsciously touched his pocket, where the key was still.

His expression gradually darkened, and he shook his head: "I still have some things to do."

Before Miranda could reply, Lin Yuan looked directly at her and asked, "Senior, Kassel College must have pretty strong backing, right?"

"Huh?" Miranda was taken aback by his sudden question.

"I want to know," Lin Yuan asked, staring at her and enunciating each word clearly.

"If I were to destroy the Sackler family's branch in Chicago, the college, would you cover for me?"

The images in Amei's memory did not fade with her regaining consciousness; instead, they burned like a suppressed flame in her chest.

If you just let some things go, you won't have a clear understanding of them!

Miranda was stunned and waved her hands repeatedly: "The Sackler family is an old-established mixed-race family in America, with connections in both the legal and illegal worlds. Even if they have declined a bit in the last two years, it is definitely not something you can handle by yourself!"

She grew increasingly agitated as she spoke, her initial drowsiness vanishing: "I know you took down two Deadpools in a row, you're really good, but that's not the point! Leave the rest to the Academy. If those old Camarilla guys find out they dared to conduct dragon blood experiments on ordinary people, they'll definitely demand an explanation. There's really no need to drag yourself into this..."

Faced with Miranda's barrage of warnings, the usually shrewd and calm Nono unusually fell silent.

She leaned quietly against the corner. As someone who had shared Ah Mei's memories, she knew very well the origin of that despair.

Therefore, she was also aware of the boiling killing intent brewing beneath Lin Yuan's calm exterior, so this time she did not advise Lin Yuan to be careful.

Miranda continued to rattle off the pros and cons, trying to nip this crazy idea in the bud.

Lin Yuan ignored her completely, waiting for her to finish speaking before staring into her eyes and repeating the question: "If I insist on doing this, can the academy cover for me?"

Miranda couldn't persuade him anymore, because she saw in the depths of Lin Yuan's eyes an undisguised ferocity, as if some ancient and majestic monster was lurking in the depths of his soul.

This oppressive feeling, which almost materialized, silenced Miranda and prevented her from saying anything more.

She swallowed hard and nodded stiffly: "We can...we can handle it. The Board of Trustees has far more power than you think. Even though the Sackler family is a local power in America, they can't cause any trouble."

“But,” Miranda took a deep breath and couldn’t help but add.

"Even if the academy can handle the aftermath, the few of us simply can't defeat them! And to put it another way, you don't even know where they are..."

"It's alright, you don't need to worry about these things." Lin Yuan turned to look at Chu Zihang.

"That notebook should contain the phone number that the black market boss used to contact the Sackler family."

Chu Zihang understood immediately, took out the captured notebook, quickly flipped through a few pages, and nodded to Lin Yuan.

"Just say we found this notebook and wanted to return it to him, and we'll find out where their hideout is."

Chu Zihang nodded, dialed the number, and pressed the speakerphone button.

After ringing three times, the other end answered the phone.

Neither side spoke first; only faint static came from the speaker.

After a full ten seconds, Chu Zihang broke the silence: "I found a notebook and saw a phone number on it, so I called you."

His tone was flat and straightforward, he didn't even bother to make up reasons, and his words exuded a self-righteous perfunctory attitude.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft, ambiguous laugh.

"Then please bring it here. I will... thank you properly."

The other party gave an address in the far suburbs and then hung up the phone.

"Giving out the address so easily, this is definitely a trap." Miranda frowned, her face extremely grim.

"And listen to their tone, they're so confident. In your Chinese, how do you say that... Hongmen Banquet, yes, it's definitely Hongmen Banquet. Junior, let's think this through and contact the academy."

Lin Yuan shrugged indifferently, the coldness in his eyes growing stronger: "It's better if it's a trap, then I won't have to go to them one by one."

Miranda stared at his determined stance, knowing she couldn't dissuade him, and irritably grabbed a handful of her hair: "Fine, fine, I'll accompany you to your death. If Professor Schneider finds out I'm just watching you go to your death, he'll definitely kill me."

Lin Yuan found it strange, since it was Professor Guderian who had recruited him.

Why, according to Miranda, does she want to go with him because of another professor?

However, with his killing intent rising, he was too lazy to delve into these matters.

“I’ll go too.” Nono stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the bed. Although she had experienced the spiritual vision together, her mental strength was clearly not as good as Lin Yuan’s, and she was still very weak.

"You can rest here," Lin Yuan decided decisively.

Then he turned his head and looked at Chu Zihang.

Originally, they wanted Chu Zihang to stay and take care of Nuonuo, but he had already silently picked up his weapon.

The unspoken understanding between them to help each other out requires no words.

The three acted quickly, first finding a star-rated hotel in Chinatown to settle Nono in.

Nono borrowed a black SUV through Chairman Zhou's connections.

Half an hour later, the SUV stopped in a remote suburb.

Ahead lies the "Sackler Medical Cold Chain Logistics Center".

Unexpectedly, the vast factory area was completely dark, with not a single person in sight. The massive complex exuded a murderous aura, as if it were a trap to lure the enemy into a trap.

Chapter 53 Even a mighty dragon can't suppress a local snake

Lin Yuan was the first to get out of the car and walk towards the lifeless factory building.

Miranda lingered in her seat for a long time, and finally, seeing that Lin Yuan and Chu Zihang were about to walk away, she gritted her teeth and followed them.

The closer she got, the more she felt that the factory was like a lurking monster, its eyes closed, waiting for them to feed it to it.

"Junior," how about... we reconsider? She jogged a few steps to Lin Yuan's side, making a final effort.

“We’ve covered the area thoroughly. I’ll call the academy right now. The special clerk from the enforcement department will be here tomorrow. They’ll handle the seizure and confiscation, taking care of everything perfectly. There’s no need for us to risk our lives ourselves.”

Lin Yuan chuckled and walked away without stopping: "Why wait until tomorrow?"

"If you're scared, senior, just go back to the car and wait. I don't think it'll be long before I arrive."

After saying that, he stepped into the factory.

Miranda's eyelids twitched wildly, but she still mustered up the courage to shout, "Are you kidding me? I'm a senior in college, how can I leave you guys alone in the car to go on an adventure!"

As she spoke, she took a step forward and shielded Lin Yuan and Chu Zihang in front of her, cautiously peeking half her head out from between the two.

As a senior student, leaving the opportunity to take the lead to a younger, more energetic junior shows respect for elders and care for the young.

The park gate was ajar, as if it had been left open especially for them.

Before me lay a vast expanse of well-arranged factory buildings, with deep, winding passageways between them that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Which way should we go?" Miranda asked, shrinking back and warily scanning the surrounding darkness.

"With so many factories, who knows where people are hiding... Be careful of being ambushed."

Lin Yuan didn't respond. The moment he stepped into the factory gate, his Observation Haki had already spread out like a tide, completely filtering through this huge complex of buildings.

Surprisingly, there was no ambush here. In fact, it seemed that the other side had made arrangements in advance. There was only one person in the huge factory.

Inside the deepest part of the factory, the other party had clearly been aware of their presence and was waiting for customers all by himself, showing a clear attitude of having them cornered.

The other party's arrogance was exactly what Lin Yuan wanted.

He hates the kind of tedious process where you have to clear out a whole map of mobs before you can even see the boss, which is so slow and drawn out.

Now that the opponent has withdrawn all the minions and is waiting alone at the finish line, it's as if they've cleared the path for him, allowing him to rush all the way to the end, which is perfect.

I just hope this arrogant guy isn't too weak, so that I, who has been strengthened by the Azure Dragon Fruit twice, can at least have a little fun.

He stopped thinking about it and followed the scent he sensed with his Observation Haki, heading towards the deepest part of the factory.

The three walked through the empty factory buildings, where, in the dim light, only rows of cold metal shelves could be seen.

Looking around, there was no one in sight.

"Why did we come here?" Miranda looked around and couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"This place doesn't look like the hideout of an evil organization at all. Junior, did you lead us the wrong way?"

The voice just fell.

Suddenly, several crisp claps rang out from the darkness ahead.

"Slap, slap, slap"

Then came the sound of leather shoes stepping on the cement floor, slowly approaching from the shadows.

"boom"

Giant searchlights on both sides of the hall and the dome were switched on one after another, and the blinding beams of light instantly intersected, illuminating the open space where the three of them were as bright as day.

Lin Yuan subconsciously squinted his eyes.

Once his eyes adjusted to the bright light, he could see the middle-aged man standing a dozen meters away.

The other person was dressed in a well-tailored British three-piece suit, with his hair neatly combed, high cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and a terrifyingly sinister look in his eyes.

The man looked at them and spoke slowly in a thick British accent: "You're quite promising at such a young age. I thought some kind of deity was deliberately trying to make trouble for us, but it turns out you're just three little kids who haven't even grown their first hair yet."

Lin Yuan didn't understand a single word of this string of gibberish. He turned his head to look at Miranda and waited for her to translate.

Miranda's throat bobbed, and she forced a smile: "He...he praised us for being young and promising, saying that it was a good deed for us to come and return the notebook, and that we could go home and sleep after putting the notebook down."

The man in the suit opposite him chuckled.

He suddenly switched to fluent Mandarin, his voice echoing in the empty hall: "Go home? Do you really want to go back?"

Lin Yuan was slightly taken aback by the fluent Chinese spoken. Did all mixed-race people have a natural talent for speaking Chinese?

The man in the suit took in the surprise on his face and seemed quite pleased with the shock brought about by this language barrier. He took the initiative to explain: "After all, I have traveled all over the country for so many years and I have to know a few words of various languages. After all, I can't not even understand the prey's pleas for mercy before it dies."

A mocking smile curled at the corner of the man's lips. He then gave a slight, feigned nod.

"I forgot to introduce myself. Conrad Sackler, General Manager of the Sackler Family's Chicago Affairs."

Miranda sensed the blood in his previous sentence and instinctively nudged Lin Yuan with her elbow.

Lin Yuan, however, had no idea what the other person was so smug about, and didn't even lift his eyelids.

Conrad didn't get the panic he expected and suddenly felt a bit bored.

His gaze swept over the three of them, passing over Lin Yuan and Chu Zihang, before finally landing on Miranda.