Ning Chuan did not head toward the small creek behind the mountain.
Instead, he took a detour to the edge of the village, arriving at an abandoned threshing floor where people rarely ventured.
There were several dilapidated haystacks here, perfect for obscuring his line of sight.
After confirming no one was around, Ning Chuan took a deep breath and gripped his rake tightly.
“Enter Station!
Real body entry!”
To better utilize his tools, he chose to enter with his physical body this time.
With the platform’s guarantee of absolute safety, the risks were manageable.
“Command confirmed.
Real body teleportation initiated.”
A powerful suction force took hold, and the scene before his eyes shifted instantly!
In a mere heartbeat, Ning Chuan found himself standing atop that cold metal platform, still clutching the utterly ordinary nine-toothed rake from the Soul Land.
His physical body could now truly sense the atmosphere of the Garbage Continent.
A complex scent—a mixture of rusted metal, decaying energy, and decomposing organic matter—wafted into his nose.
However, it wasn’t overpowering; the platform’s power seemed to have filtered out most of it.
The sensation beneath his feet was incredibly real, the chill of the platform seeping through the soles of his shoes.
Ning Chuan hefted the rake in his hand, a sense of groundedness washing over him.
With a tool in hand, the world was his!
He walked to the edge of the platform and felt that invisible boundary once more.
The sensation of the safety zone was very distinct.
He turned his gaze toward another pile of “garbage” outside the platform.
It wasn’t as far as the pile he had seen before, which was over ten meters away; this one was only three or four meters out.
It appeared to be several twisted metal fragments shimmering with a dull silver light, interspersed with charred, circuit-board-like objects.
There was also half a broken tube—looking like a cross between glass and crystal—containing what seemed to be dried, colorful residue.
It looked like waste from a technological world.
It was relatively “quiet,” emitting no strange gases or energy fluctuations.
“You’re the one!” Ning Chuan selected his target.
He gripped the wooden handle of the rake with both hands, extended the prongs past the platform’s boundary, and hooked them toward the pile of debris.
The moment the rake entered the garbage zone, Ning Chuan’s heart leapt.
He carefully sensed for any abnormalities.
Everything was normal; no strange sensations traveled up the rake.
Cautiously, he used the prongs to hook a larger silver metal fragment and tried to pull it back.
Clack!
The metal fragment seemed to be snagged on something else, or perhaps it was simply too heavy.
When Ning Chuan pulled, it didn’t budge!
Instead, the wooden handle of the rake let out an overburdened groan.
“This heavy?” Ning Chuan frowned and exerted more force.
The muscles in his arms tightened as the physical enhancement from his Level 20 Spirit Power manifested.
Creeeak…
Bang!
The metal fragment was finally dragged out by force, bringing along several smaller shards and a pile of black dross.
The fragment left a grey trail across the dross as Ning Chuan finally dragged it into the platform’s area.
The moment the fragment fully entered the platform’s safety zone, Ning Chuan felt the weight on the rake suddenly vanish, as if the platform itself had cut off some external pressure or gravity.
He breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the substantial metal fragment toward the center of the platform.
A success on his first attempt!
Though it was just a piece of scrap metal, its significance was extraordinary!
Invigorated, Ning Chuan swung his rake again to continue exploring the pile.
This time, he hooked toward the broken colorful crystal tube.
The moment the prongs touched the tube, an anomaly occurred!
Inside the seemingly dead crystal tube, those dried colored marks suddenly flared with a faint, eerie purple light!
Immediately after, a very faint but intensely corrosive purple mist sprayed out from the break, shooting straight for Ning Chuan’s face!
“Not good!” Ning Chuan paled.
He instinctively tried to retreat, but his physical reaction was half a beat too slow!
Just as the purple mist was about to touch the platform’s boundary—
Hum!
The silver patterns along the edge of the platform suddenly lit up, forming a thin curtain of light.
Sizzle!
The purple mist slammed into the light curtain and instantly vanished, annihilated like snow meeting a scorching sun.
Not a single trace remained.
Ning Chuan’s heart hammered against his ribs, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.
Recovery carries risks!
That warning was no joke!
If it weren’t for the platform’s automatic defenses just now, his meager Spirit Power wouldn’t have stood a chance against that bizarre corrosive mist!
With lingering fear, Ning Chuan looked at the half-tube that had returned to its dead state, not daring to touch it again.
He turned his attention toward the charred circuit board remains nearby, which looked much more “harmless.”
He used the rake to carefully poke and hook them.
The process was smooth, and he soon brought in several pieces.
Just as he was preparing to expand his search radius, the prongs seemed to catch on something heavy and massive.
Ning Chuan pulled hard.
A large, silver-grey metal block covered in rust and dents was slowly dragged out from the garbage pile, with something seemingly attached to the back…
When the majority of the object was pulled out, Ning Chuan’s movements froze, and his pupils shrunk slightly.
That appeared to be…
a ruined cockpit?
Or some kind of sealed personnel pod?
Through the shattered observation window, he could see a twisted, completely shriveled and carbonized freakish corpse!
It wore some kind of silver-grey uniform that was mostly shredded.
The exposed limbs were not human, looking more like those of an arthropod, possessing a dark purple, chitinous luster.
Its head was massive with terrifying mandibles.
Even though it was dead and desiccated, it still radiated an unsettling, eerie aura.
This was absolutely not a human corpse!
Nor was it the corpse of any known Soul Beast from the Soul Land!
This was…
an astronaut from an unknown alien world?
Or perhaps a soldier?
Ning Chuan looked at this otherworldly corpse he had dragged out of the garbage with his rake, looking at the damaged pod and the shriveled alien body.
An indescribable sense of absurdity and a profound awe for the infinite universe welled up within him.
In his career as a Station Master, it seemed he had fished up something incredible on his very first recovery.
He stared at the alien corpse, the silver-grey uniform that still hinted at advanced technology despite being ruined, and the buttons and indicator lights inside the pod that seemed not yet entirely destroyed…
What could be obtained from decomposing these things?
And how many points would they fetch?
Ning Chuan’s heart couldn’t help but burn with excitement.