Eastsea City, inside the bustling station.
"Hello, beautiful. Can I get your contact information?"
Lin An looked up at the young man before him, dressed in a suit and clearly convinced of his own charm.
His face was expressionless as he spat out two words.
"I'm a man."
The young man's smile froze on his face.
His gaze swept over Lin An from head to toe.
That face was so exquisitely beautiful, it hardly looked real, and his skin was almost translucent.
How could he possibly look... like a man?
"A man... A man is fine too."
The young man gritted his teeth, his eyes shining even brighter.
Lin An rolled his eyes, his voice suddenly turning cold.
"Get lost."
That was the seventh one today.
He'd only been standing here for two hours.
Lin An took a deep breath, tamped down his irritation, and continued holding up his communicator to make a call.
The receiver buzzed with a busy signal.
Still couldn't get through.
"It's been two hours. Weren't they supposed to send someone to pick me up?"
He frowned.
A show of force?
He'd heard that Eastsea Academy had a "vigorous martial culture" and always liked to prepare a "welcome ceremony" for new students.
He looked down at himself.
At that slight frame, one gust of wind from toppling him over.
His expression darkened.
His communicator suddenly connected.
"Son! Where are you? Don't go wandering off, whatever you do. I'm calling around right now!"
His father's voice burst through, fury wrapped around unmistakable worry.
Then came a woman's voice, choked with tears.
"An'an, wouldn't Shrek City have been better? Or Ming Capital? Why did you have to come study in this remote, barbaric place? Do you know I've been crying every day for the past few days..."
Lin An's mouth twitched.
Without changing his expression, he replied, "This is the choice of Steins Gate."
Then he promptly ended the call.
He looked up at the crowds surging through the station, his expression a little dazed.
He'd transmigrated into the era of Soul Land III and awakened a Beast Martial Soul called the "greatest support-type martial soul under heaven"—the Rainbow Dragon.
It should have been something to celebrate.
But his father's enemies had taken revenge when he was a child, leaving him frail from birth.
Though he was a man, he was as weak as a block of tofu.
Fortunately, the heavens had made it up to him with a cheat.
He could see the talent traits above everyone's head.
As long as he helped someone develop their talent, he could copy their trait and make it his own.
Lin An's thoughts stirred.
Three traits appeared before his eyes.
[Heaven's Favor]
[Succubus Physique]
[Wife of the Dragon God]
Heaven's Favor.
The heavens' own beloved son, just as the name suggested.
The Lin Family had built such a vast business empire thanks to this overwhelming good fortune.
His father had once been no more than a small-time peddler. But over the years, his industries had snowballed, thanks to Lin An's forward-thinking business ideas and his heaven-defying luck.
From everyday necessities to food to Soul Tools, they had spread into almost every industry.
The Island Ring Train in the station and the communicator in his hand both bore the mark of Lin Family Universal Heavy Industry.
As for the Succubus Physique—
Lin An touched his face and sighed.
It had simply taken his looks to the absolute peak.
But the third one left him the most speechless.
[Wife of the Dragon God]: noble, elegant, holy.
As the Dragon God's wife, you exert a fatal attraction on every dragon.
What the hell was this Wife of the Dragon God?!
I'm a man!
Lin An cursed inwardly a hundred times.
His expression was dark enough to drip water.
He glanced around and decided to find somewhere to sit while he waited.
He couldn't stand here all day.
If the person picking him up arrived and couldn't find him, that would be even more trouble.
He picked a seat by the window at a café.
He ordered a hot drink.
His gaze drifted idly over the scene outside.
At the other end of the station.
Outside a grilled fish shop, the voice from the communicator was practically loud enough to burst eardrums.
"Where is he?! Where's the person I told you to pick up?! Tang Wulin, do you know he's an important figure from Ming Capital? If anything happens to him, you and I could die ten times over and still not pay for it!"
Wu Zhangkong's voice was full of panic and agitation.
He sounded nothing like his usual aloof self.
Tang Wulin held up his communicator, stunned.
"Th-that can't be right, can it? This is a society governed by law. The Federation's skies can't be that dark, can they? Besides, we've already sent Gu Yue to pick him up. What could happen?"
"Still eating? Let's go."
Xie Xie, standing nearby, sensed that something was wrong.
If Teacher Wu was this frantic, the new junior student had to be someone extraordinary.
Tang Wulin looked down at the grilled fish he hadn't finished, then at the communicator.
He let Xie Xie drag him away, caught in a dilemma.
Inside the café by the station entrance.
At a table not far behind Lin An.
A silver-haired girl had buried her head firmly in the table, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Gu Yue thought she must have fallen ill.
She hadn't wanted to come pick up a new student.
But the Federation's skies were just too dark.
Even she, the Co-Lord of Soul Beasts, hadn't been able to resist that reeking scent of money.
But...
Gu Yue furtively raised her head and peered through her fingers at the profile of the boy by the window.
Her heart gave a sudden leap, as if someone had seized it in a tight grip.
"W-wife..."
Her lips trembled slightly. Her voice was so quiet that only she could hear it.
"There's no mistaking it... This aura, this appearance... It's the Dragon Queen... She's been reincarnated too... Did she come looking for me?"
Gu Yue felt dizzy, as if her blood were flowing backward.
The boy's profile was so exquisite it looked as if it had been sculpted by the gods.
His brows, eyes, nose, and lips—every feature surpassed the limits of what she knew to be possible.
His pale, frail appearance did nothing to diminish his beauty. If anything, it stirred a nearly instinctive desire to protect him.
She wanted to pull him into her arms.
She wanted to hide him away.
She wanted him to belong to her alone.
Gu Yue shook her head hard, her face burning.
"My lord, did you sense it too?"
A shadow silently gathered on the seat beside her.
It took the form of a man in his thirties.
He had black hair, two golden locks hanging over his forehead, and a grave expression.
"Eep!"
Gu Yue jumped in fright, nearly springing out of her chair.
She straightened up quickly. Only after confirming no one nearby had noticed did she let out a breath of relief.
The next second, she turned to Di Tian.
Her gaze was cold and venomous.
It seemed to say, You'd better have a good reason.
Di Tian didn't notice the dangerous look in his lord's eyes.
His gaze rested on the boy by the window, and his voice was full of admiration.
"The Dragon Queen's aura... I never imagined she'd been reincarnated too. It seems she's faring well in the human world. She may have a human body, but by the standards of our dragon race, there's not a single fault to pick. Noble, elegant, holy—she makes a dragon want to..."
"Oh?"
Gu Yue's voice suddenly turned feather-light and icy.
Silver scales appeared between her fingers without a sound.
"Want to what?"
"Never! Never!"
Di Tian was so frightened he nearly fell to his knees, sweat beading on his forehead.
"This subordinate is utterly loyal to my lord. All I want is to become a god and revive the Soul Beast Clan. How could I harbor improper thoughts about the Dragon Queen?!"
Gu Yue paused.
She felt she'd been far too tense.
She rubbed her aching temples.
In the past couple of hours, she'd watched seven people approach Lin An to hit on him, only to be cursed away by his cold expression.
Her heart had ridden a roller coaster seven times.
What if she went over and he rejected her too?
Before you continue