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American Fast & Furious NSFW
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Petrel Mountain. The Swallow's Tail.
Atop the highest cliff.
Sitting cross-legged here, buffeted by the howling mountain wind, Merlin gazed into the distance at the shimmering, azure sea.
[Calamity Fruit]: Synchro Value 63% → 83%
[Electric Eel]: Synchro Value 1% → 30%
He appeared to be gazing at the sea, but in reality, he was looking at the Equipment Slot interface before his eyes.
Two months wasn't exactly a long time, but it wasn't short either. With high-intensity training every day, coupled with an abundant food supply, the Synchro Value of the Calamity Fruit continued to grow at a steady trend.
In contrast, the Electric Eel's Synchro Value had surged rapidly, already reaching 30%.
Furthermore, during this period of cultivation, Merlin had once again obtained a special specialization.
[Energy Circulation]: Your body possesses extraordinary digestion and absorption efficiency. By ingesting food, you can quickly and efficiently convert it into the energy required to sustain life activities.
It wasn't the electric eel's ability to discharge electricity, nor was it some negative ability; it was a rather peculiar specialization.
At present, it didn't seem to bring Merlin any powerful combat power, but in the half-month since obtaining it, Merlin's energy had become increasingly vigorous.
Even his weight had increased significantly.
Because of this, Merlin had no choice but to train even harder to maintain his body shape.
Even with the uninterrupted discharge from the [Electric Eel], he could recover from that energy consumption much faster now. Even his body's self-healing ability had received some boosting effects.
"This Energy Circulation ability... it feels like a passive ability that all the strong figures in this world possess."
It was just like the members of the protagonist's crew in the original story.
After every major battle, as long as they could replenish themselves with enough food, they could recover quickly on their own.
It could be called the "Unkillable Cockroach" specialization.
Super endurance, energy recovery.
This wasn't a simple relationship of one plus one.
Merlin felt that his physical abilities were becoming more perfect.
The acquisition of specializations now felt like filling in the gaps; whatever his body lacked, it would become easier to obtain.
Although he wasn't entirely sure, he had been adapting to massive amounts of electric shocks every day, so why was he still unable to obtain the power generation ability?
By process of elimination, this was the only logical conclusion.
"So, as I accumulate more specializations later on, will it become increasingly difficult to obtain other special specializations from ordinary creatures?"
Thinking of this, Merlin shook his head, no longer dwelling on these hypotheticals.
One shouldn't be too greedy.
Future matters could wait for the future.
He closed his eyes and began to visualize the lynx, tempering his spiritual will.
In his consciousness, a lynx, detailed down to the finest hair, roared at the sky, pounced, clawed, and raided...
In the blink of an eye, another month quietly passed.
Yol officially stepped into the prime age of twenty-one.
And Merlin's age also officially entered fifteen.
On the two days of their birthdays, the three of them, plus San Pao, went to a grand restaurant to feast every day.
August 29th, 3:00 PM.
The sun was brilliant today.
Not far from the villa area.
Center of the lake.
A ten-meter small boat with a parasol and an awning floated in the middle of the lake.
Yol and Lami sat on small stools on the partition under the parasol at the bow.
Both held fishing rods, happily fishing from the lake.
Laughter and chatter were continuous.
From time to time, a fish would take the hook, or San Pao would pop his head out of the lake surface, swimming over with a palm-sized small fish in his mouth, tossing his catch onto the deck.
In the awning behind them sat a small stove. A flat-bottomed frying pan was set on the stove, and the sizzling sound of boiling oil and the rich aroma of fried fish coated in wheat batter wafted through the surrounding air.
A thick rope was secured to the bow, with one end submerged in the lake water beside it. At this moment, noticing the rope pulling at the small boat, Yol glanced at the pocket watch hanging on her arm.
"Half an hour has passed!"
As soon as she spoke, she pulled the rope hard. Soon, movement appeared on the water's surface. San Pao swam over excitedly and immediately dove headfirst into the water.
In the underwater world, seventeen meters deep, amidst the dim and quiet environment, groundwater bubbled up from below. Holding onto water plants and sitting cross-legged among the gravel, his face flushed red, Merlin watched as San Pao dove down, eyes wide, and bit the rope around his waist.
Soon, together with Yol, the person and the lynx hauled Merlin up.
"Hah... Haa—"
Leaning his bare upper body against the gunwale, Merlin lay on the deck gasping for air. San Pao squatted beside Merlin, vigorously shaking the water off his body. Merlin had to cover his face with his hand, laughing and cursing speechlessly:
"Are you trying to quench my thirst?"
San Pao tilted his head and let out a low "Awoo," staring at Merlin with great dissatisfaction.
Exercising lung capacity.
It was also a form of arduous cultivation.
At this time, sitting with her left leg crossed over her right, her left elbow resting on her fair thigh and her palm supporting her chin, Yol looked at Merlin with a beaming smile and said:
"You broke your diving record again this time!
"It's been a full thirty-two minutes!"
Hearing this, Merlin turned his head to look. Yol was wearing a black and red frilled bikini.
She wore a white gauze cover-up over her upper body, and her beautiful curves seemed to glow with a milk-like luster under the sunlight.
She was absolutely stunning.
As Yol's praise fell, Lami beside her looked over with a face full of adoration, giggling:
"Merlin-niichan is just amazing. Unlike Lami, who can currently only hold her breath for about seven minutes at most.
"It seems Lami still needs to train hard in the future!"
Wearing a navy blue one-piece swimsuit, Lami looked at the lake water, which was a comfortable temperature, with eagerness in her eyes.
However, hearing their praise, Merlin sighed. The feeling of collapse in the underwater environment still left him with less than a fraction of his strength.
He didn't even have the stamina to swim up himself.
His whole body was numb and weak, as if paralyzed by an electric current pouring through him.
Thinking of this, Merlin froze for a moment, then laughed dryly to himself. He had actually been electrocuting himself at the bottom of the lake.
"Have I actually started to gradually adapt to the intensity of the electric eel's current?"
Recovering slightly, Merlin got up and went under the awning, grabbing two small yellow croakers that had been fried to a crisp from the plate nearby.
He stuffed the golden, oily fried fish into his mouth, taking a big bite, and stuffed the other one into the mouth of the already drooling San Pao.
The person and the lynx happily enjoyed the delicious treat.
Just then, Lami hooked a catch on the side—a crucian carp as long as a forearm. She cheered excitedly, pinned the fish onto the cutting board beside her, picked up a small knife to chop off the head, gutted it, then grabbed it to wash it a few times in the lake and coat it in batter.
Then she came over and placed it in the frying pan.
Judging by her movements, practice had made perfect.
After doing this, Lami clapped her hands and said to Merlin with a grin:
"Merlin-niichan, is the fish Lami fried delicious?"
Merlin nodded with a smile: "Worthy of the delicious seasoning prepared by Yol."
Hearing this, Lami's cheeks puffed up instantly, turning into a cute bun face:
"Bleh! Lami doesn't like you anymore!"
Lami made a face and stuck out her tongue.
"I'm going swimming in the lake."
Saying that, she took a step forward, pushed off the deck, and agilely dove into the water.
At this, Yol shouted helplessly:
"Lami, slow down!"
As she spoke, the gauze cover-up slid from her body, and she stood up and jumped in as well, performing a perfect entry on the spot with barely a splash.
Soon, Yol's graceful curves were swimming freely in the lake.
Sitting on the small stool at the bow, Merlin folded Yol's gauze cover-up and placed it aside. Holding Yol's fishing rod, he watched their agile figures diving into the lake and surfacing for air from time to time, a hint of envy inadvertently floating in his eyes.
Thinking back to the beginning.
He used to be able to swim freely in the sea like that too!
But you win some, you lose some.
"Once I obtain an amphibious specialization someday, I'll be able to..."
Merlin thought to himself.
Quietly watching them play in the lake, amidst laughter and chatter, time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was 6:00 PM.
A pleasant lake outing came to an end.
The small boat was rowed to a spot on the shore. Merlin, the two girls, and San Pao went ashore, locked up the dojo's small boat, and returned home with the unfinished fried fish.
They took comfortable showers.
At this moment, sitting on the sofa in the living room drinking a bottle of fruit wine, Merlin was reading the newspaper.
Suddenly, a familiar shout came from outside the house: "Merlin? Are you home?"
Beside him, Yol, nestling her increasingly voluptuous body into the sofa, poked Merlin's thigh with her fair toes and asked:
"That sounds like Senior Brother Ful?"
Merlin nodded, then removed the tender foot resting on his leg and stood up:
"I'll go out and take a look."
Yol sat up as well: "Then I'll go prepare some tea and snacks."
Before long, the Fulvio siblings arrived at Merlin's home. The four of them sat on the sofas, drinking the black tea Yol had brewed.
Yol brought over a fruit platter and placed it on the table, then sat down next to Merlin.
"Just say it! Look at that conflicted expression on your face. That's not like your usual style!"
Merlin looked at Fulvio, who hadn't said much since entering the door and just had a conflicted look in his eyes.
At this point, Teresa couldn't stand it anymore. She glared at her brother grumpily, then spoke to Merlin directly:
"Actually, it's like this.
"You know the situation in Black Pearl Town. We got some intelligence while we were out this time.
"It's said that a month from now, on September 29th, an auction led by the underground forces of the North Blue will be held there.
"Among the auction items this time, we heard a Devil Fruit will appear. We are very interested in this Devil Fruit.
"We also talked to my Dad about it, and he agreed to let us eat the fruit. Plus, with some financial aid he supported us with, we plan to go and try our luck.
"However, that place is a mixed bag of fish and dragons, and some difficult characters might show up then.
"So, we wanted to find you to go with us."
"To be your bodyguard?" Merlin's eyes narrowed slightly. A Devil Fruit, huh? He hadn't heard news of one in a long time.
And that town... A strange light quietly surfaced in the depths of Merlin's eyes.
At this time, Fulvio breathed a sigh of relief, though he was also a bit embarrassed:
"Of course not a bodyguard. I hope you can come and help us.
"After all, your strength, Merlin, is definitely not below ours.
"Furthermore, we trust you."
Indeed.
A Devil Fruit was too tempting.
If he weren't someone they could trust, they wouldn't have just said it out loud like that.
As his voice fell,
Both of them looked over with anticipation.