Time passed, and school was finally over.
After a day of classes, Ruo Feng and Mikoto had already grown familiar with each other.
As they left the classroom together with Kujuno, they ran into Shinju.
Shinju looked exhausted. "Hah… finally done with school. After a day of torture, I need a big meal. Ruo Feng, you're paying today."
Ruo Feng raised an eyebrow. "What… torture? This is school—how have you been tortured all day?"
Meeting Shinju's complaint right after class struck him as strange.
Shinju scowled. "It's the lessons. Stuff we already learned at home, we have to sit through it again. Doesn't that sound painful? Every single class is like this. Yesterday was better because it was outdoors."
Ruo Feng shook his head, speechless, and simply headed out of the campus.
As they stepped outside, Mikoto spoke up. "Um… um… Ruo Feng, I'm going home first. Thank you for the invitation, but my mother told me to be back on time…"
She seemed embarrassed. Ruo Feng smiled lightly. "No problem. Since your mother said so, go ahead and head home."
"Mm…" Mikoto nodded and walked off into the distance.
Ruo Feng watched her go, then said, "You all keep an eye on her."
At his words, several bodyguards quietly moved to shadow Mikoto from behind.
Shinju stared at the scene. "What the… second day in, and you've already got yourself a little beauty. Dude, you're amazing!"
His words left nothing unsaid, and the teasing glance he gave Kujuno made it clear he was just joking.
Kujuno didn't refute him, though she blushed slightly.
Ruo Feng shook his head. "Let's go… aren't you hungry? I'll take you to eat."
He grabbed Kujuno's hand and led her away.
Shinju followed, calling out, "Wait… don't leave me behind!"
⸻
Night fell, and Ruo Feng had returned home.
A faint smile crossed his face. "So that's how it is…"
He recalled Kujuno earlier, taking advantage of the dusk to flash a mischievous look and pinch his waist, acting as if they were already intimately familiar.
Ruo Feng chuckled. "A bit strange… but not really."
His relationship with Kujuno had been set from the first moment he saw her. For now, they were close friends out of necessity, but their eventual bond was already determined. Kujuno had been rejected by the class, ignored by her peers, even by villagers of Konoha. Ruo Feng was probably the only peer who truly accepted her. That's why, within three days, they had grown so close.
Shaking his head, Ruo Feng looked into the night. "Better check the Garbage Station… wonder what garbage appeared this time. Whenever I get stronger, garbage shows up. The higher the level, the better the garbage. If there's no improvement, the garbage will be ordinary. Yesterday, my body was enhanced threefold, so this time's garbage shouldn't be any weaker!"
He vanished into his room under the cover of night.
In the silent space, Ruo Feng gazed at the twisted portal.
Every time garbage appeared, it was like a gamble. Based on the level, this world's trash should be comparable to that of the Doupo world. But the exact type of garbage depended on luck.
His mind focused, and the twisted space produced countless pieces of garbage.
"Clatter… clatter…"
"Boom…"
A thunderous roar echoed. Garbage poured from the portal in heaps.
Ruo Feng squinted. "So much…"
This batch was several times larger than the last. Piled high, it resembled a small hill.
His brow furrowed. "Cars… no way. Are these from an urban world? My body was enhanced threefold, so the garbage shouldn't be weak. Why isn't it from another world, but just urban trash?"
He focused on one car in the distance. It looked about 80% new.
Even so, it was useless to him. Could people really be racing in the Naruto world?
Among the piles were glass shards, clothing, wood planks, tiles, plastic, steel rods…
The sheer amount of urban garbage frustrated Ruo Feng. Not the quantity, but that it was all ordinary modern-world trash. If it were otherworldly, there might be treasure; here, it was just junk.
He stepped closer, eyeing the nearly-new car. A Lamborghini, limited edition. Could it be trash from Dubai?
Ruo Feng chuckled softly, brushing the dust off the car.
His senses sharpened as he scanned the pile.
Suddenly, a pool of blood appeared. Ruo Feng's eyes narrowed. "What… a corpse?"
Indeed, a body lay there, ripped apart by some beast. The scent of blood made him feel nauseous.
"So many times I've gathered garbage, but this is the first human corpse. How can bodies be treated as trash?"
Though annoyed, his eyes glimmered with excitement. "So this is that world…"
Beside the corpse was a note atop an explosion scene, detailing the death of Luo Feng.
Seeing Luo Feng, Ruo Feng instantly recognized the world. This was the Swallowed Star universe. The garbage here came from that world. No wonder limited-edition Lamborghinis were considered trash. In a post-apocalyptic Earth, abandoned luxury cars were nothing unusual. Even helicopters wouldn't be surprising.
Ruo Feng squinted. "The Swallowed Star world was devastated by the RR virus, killing 30% of the global population in just three months. Animals died en masse, and nearly two billion humans perished. Those who survived developed enhanced bodies—strength, speed, cell activity, skin toughness—almost doubled. I wonder if any of this garbage carries traces of the RR virus."
He thought carefully, a hint of caution in his eyes.
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