After a moment of silence, Mumei suddenly turned her head, her amber eyes sparkling as she stared at Naruto: "Hey, you idiot weirdo, do you still remember our bet?"
"A bet?"
Naruto was startled, then remembered.
"Oh! You mean that time at the Aragane Station ruins, competing to see who killed more Kabane?"
"That's right!"
Mumei nodded vigorously, a sly smile on her face, and poked Naruto's arm with her fair finger, "You lost! Don't try to go back on your word!"
Naruto looked at Mumei's smug expression, that 'admit defeat quickly' look, and remembered how she had almost collapsed from exhaustion that day but still tried to act tough. He chuckled inwardly.
He remembered, of course, and—he had actually gone easy on her then.
No, to be precise, he had given her a huge handicap.
"Alright, alright, I lost."
Naruto shrugged, "Tell me, how many dango do you want? As many as you can eat!"
"Really?!"
Mumei's eyes instantly lit up like stars, her earlier bit of shyness instantly thrown to the wind. She became completely excited, like a cat that had finally gotten its beloved dried fish.
"I want to eat! I want to eat now! Lots and lots! Sweet ones! Red bean paste ones! Sesame seed ones too!"
"But—"
Mumei shook her head dejectedly, the little braid tied on top of her head drooping like a wilted flower.
"There are no dango here at all, we have to wait until Kōtetsujō reaches the next station city."
[Hidden Quest: Gluttonous Mumei]
[Quest Content: Buy dango for Mumei to satisfy her craving in the shortest possible time.]
[Quest Reward: Issued based on quest rating]
"Oh? Another hidden quest?"
Naruto looked at the pop-up window in front of him, his eyes brightening slightly.
It's just that the world level of Kōtetsujō was too low.
Although it was also Black Iron rank, it was still a bit worse than the Demon Slayer world. The only good thing was the Kabane everywhere, all of which could provide Life Origin.
"No problem!"
Naruto smiled mysteriously.
"Just wait a few minutes for me."
"Close your eyes first."
"Okay~"
Although Mumei thought it was almost impossible to eat dango here, she still innocently and expectantly closed her eyes, waiting obediently.
"Maybe it won't even take a few minutes."
Two plans immediately popped into Naruto's mind.
One was to log out of the Underground City, return to Konoha Village, buy three-colored dango and other dango, and then return here.
The advantage was that Naruto was more familiar with Konoha Village and knew where to buy three-colored dango.
The other was to instantly teleport to the nearest station city, buy three-colored dango, and then instantly teleport back.
The risk of the second method was unfamiliarity with the station city, and also not having the currency of the Kōtetsujō world.
Naruto didn't hesitate. He immediately activated Shadow Instant Kill Array, covering a radius of a hundred kilometers, found the nearest station city, instantly teleported there, then activated Transparent World and Kagura Mind's Eye, found a dango shop, paid later, and swept away all the dango sold like a hurricane.
The entire process probably took less than a minute.
"Open your eyes now."
A gentle voice sounded in Mumei's ear.
Mumei curiously opened her eyes, full of anticipation, and saw the various dango Naruto had brought out. Her beautiful eyes immediately lit up.
"Long live the idiot weirdo!" Mumei cheered.
"Call me Big Brother Naruto."
Naruto said.
"Big Brother Naruto!"
The foodie Mumei, bought off by the dango, called out with a sweet, playful smile.
"Let's eat dango together!"
Mumei grabbed Naruto's arm, pulling him towards the river, her face beaming with a happy and contented smile. That smile was so bright in the sunlight it was dazzling.
Naruto let her pull him, feeling the cool touch on his arm and the girl's excitement. He sat by the river with her, poking dango with bamboo skewers to eat. [Hidden Quest "Gluttonous Mumei" completed]
[Quest Rating: S-rank]
[Quest Reward: Obtained rare title "Doting Sibling Master", obtained 500 experience points, obtained 80 exchange tickets, obtained Mumei's worn white socks * 2]
By the riverbank, Naruto, eating dango while enjoying the breeze, saw the pop-up window and couldn't help but twitch his mouth twice.
After equipping the title "Doting Sibling Master", it could increase charm and boost women's favorability towards the wearer.
The title was pretty good.
It was just the final reward—what the heck were Mumei's white stockings?!
Naruto was speechless.
If it was just white stockings, that would be one thing, but Mumei's white stockings? Wouldn't that mean they were worn by Mumei and then taken off?
After his speechlessness, Naruto decided to throw Mumei's white stockings into a corner of the system warehouse, never to be taken out for the rest of his life.
A warm breeze blew past.
After a while...
The Kōtetsujō's whistle sounded melodiously, signaling that the brief rest was about to end and a new journey would begin again.
However, the Kōtetsujō dungeon was indeed not difficult for Naruto.
When passing through the next station city, Naruto first asked Ayame for some money to settle the unpaid dango bill.
Kōtetsujō continued its journey, moving along the tracks.
Naruto had already used Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, sending hundreds of thousands of Shadow Clones to spread out and clear the billions of Kabane on the Far East Island Country,
devouring their life force.
As for the Kōtetsujō's tracks, a single Shadow Clone could clear them along the way.
The journey was peaceful.
Until—Kōtetsujō braked sharply, its wheels grinding a trail of fiery sparks on the rails.
"Screeeeech—"
The sudden braking caused many residents inside the train to fall forward unexpectedly, tumbling over each other.
Ayame was just inviting Naruto and Mumei for afternoon tea when she accidentally bumped directly into Naruto's arms.
"Wh-what happened?!"
"Why did Kōtetsujō brake so suddenly!"
Ayame, as the acting lord, didn't have time to be shy or act like a young lady. She stood up, startled and uncertain, and quickly took charge of the situation.
Kōtetsujō was in chaos.
Since leaving Aragane Station, Kōtetsujō had a smooth journey.
Let alone fighting, they hadn't even seen a shadow of a Kabane, so everyone had let down their guard.
With the sudden crisis, most people were more panicked and scared.
Even Ayame subconsciously looked towards Naruto.
"Miss Ayame, no need to be nervous. Let's go out and see first."
Naruto sat steadily in his chair, calmly sipping his black tea.
It was as if the braking just now had no effect on him at all.
"Mr. Naruto, now is the time to—" "Don't panic, Kabane can't stir up any trouble."
He had absolute confidence in his Shadow Clones.
In the Kōtetsujō world, no existence could threaten Naruto's Shadow Clones!
"Let's go, let's take a look."
Naruto, accompanied by Ayame, Mumei, and others, boarded Kōtetsujō.
In the distance.
The roar of the steam engine was almost drowned out by deafening roars. The giant "Black Smoke," formed by countless Kabane twisting and fusing together, crawled out of the "abyss" in the middle of the circular track like a moving mountain, crushing everything in its path, bringing with it the aura of death.
Kōtetsujō's steel outer wall, in front of it, was as fragile as paper.