Pearl River.
Even though this stinking, polluted river is notorious for miles around, its name is actually quite elegant.
At this moment.
It was mid-morning, and the sun was blazing.
Yet, on both banks of Pearl River, stretching hundreds of meters, people were packed shoulder to shoulder.
Most of them were students from Jiangcheng University, mainly fresh-faced first-years, along with members of the student council.
But...
Besides the students, there were quite a few bespectacled, refined middle-aged men and women there, too.
Even dressed in casual sportswear, they still radiated that unmistakable "intellectual" aura.
"The professors are here too?"
Tang Yunxuan was dumbfounded when he saw their faces.
He spotted his own class counselor, who stood meekly at the back of the crowd like some lowly follower, casting glances toward him and Yu Jin.
But aside from the teachers and students of Jiang University, what shocked Tang Yunxuan even more was the presence of "outsiders" on the outskirts of the riverbank.
Over a hundred uniformed officers, hats on, faces solemn, standing upright and dignified.
Reporters and media with all sorts of cameras and blinding lights flashing away, eyes lighting up the moment Yu Jin's group arrived.
If Grand Principal Jiang and the city's top official hadn't been standing right there, those reporters would've swarmed the Environmental Protection Club's team already, unleashing a media-style "carpet bombing" on Yu Jin, the event's organizer!
"..."
Yu Jin was left speechless for a moment.
He did want to make this event bigger—bigger scale meant heftier system rewards.
But he hadn't expected it to get this big…
"Senior?"
Yu Jin turned and looked at Yin Yao, suspecting this senior had pulled some strings again.
But the next second, to Yu Jin's surprise, Yin Yao shook her head earnestly.
"It wasn't me." She paused for a moment, then added, "It was probably my uncle's idea."
The "uncle" Yin Yao mentioned was none other than Principal Jiang Haichuan of Jiang University.
Yin Yao hadn't attended last night's Wasteland Survival lecture, but she'd heard afterward how Jiang Haichuan called Yu Jin out in public and even backed him up on stage.
Yin Yao wasn't surprised by this—she actually thought it made sense.
After her rebirth, she had told her parents and grandfather about the coming of the Wasteland.
Her uncle, as her mother's younger brother, was privy to quite a few secrets.
For example—
He knew that in Yin Yao's memories of her previous life, Yu Jin was practically invincible and unbelievably powerful in the Wasteland.
Because of that—
All those actions followed.
On Blue Star, Jiang Haichuan, as Principal of Jiang University, held an incredibly high status.
But if he ever crossed over to the Wasteland…
He'd just be another refugee at the bottom rung—not to mention status, even survival would be a struggle.
Still…
Even though Yin Yao was mentally prepared, she hadn't expected Jiang Haichuan to go this far—not only showing up in person, but even calling in favors to get the city's top leader to attend and lend support…
"You don't like it?"
Yin Yao snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Yu Jin.
Her tone was calm, as if all she needed was a nod from Yu Jin and she'd send these thousands of people packing—back to wherever they came from.
"It's not that I don't like it… just… didn't expect it to be like this, I guess."
Yu Jin caught Yin Yao's meaning and he didn't doubt her ability at all.
This scene really was beyond what he had anticipated.
But Yu Jin wasn't the type to fuss over it, either.
Since everyone was already here, there was no point causing a fuss.
What's more—
The more people, the bigger the event, and the fatter the system rewards he would get.
All it meant was he'd need to handle more social niceties and say a few formal words in front of the cameras.
...
...
As it turned out—
Yu Jin's guess was spot-on.
After chatting with the principal, vice principal, and top city official, and enduring over ten minutes of non-stop media interviews, Yu Jin finally got the chance to lead the club members down to both banks of the Pearl River for some proper trash collection.
The activity procedures weren't complicated.
The hundred members of the Environmental Protection Club split into two teams—
One team fished trash out of the river surface, the other handled sorting the collected waste onshore and transporting it to the nearest recycling station.
Originally, Yu Jin and Old Tang had planned to fish trash from the riverbank.
But…
Principal Jiang, clearly, had thought things through even further.
He'd actually arranged for more than ten small boats.
This made it much easier for Yu Jin and company to pick up trash, especially the stuff floating near the middle of the river, farther from the banks.
As club president,
Yu Jin led by example, stepping onto a small boat before anyone else.
He grabbed a net and started fishing up garbage.
Just then,
a semi-transparent panel appeared before his eyes, and the system prompt popped up as expected—
[You, alone, with the body of an ant, have entered and purified the "Tier Seven Pollution Source—River of Death!"]
[Due to the massive scale of the pollution source, the system will grant rewards after you complete purification, based on your results!]
But not long after,
Yin Yao, right at Yu Jin's side, also picked up a net and bent down to fish out a plastic bag floating on the water—a new prompt appeared—
[Your subordinate follows in your footsteps and joins the action to purify the "Tier Seven Pollution Source—River of Death!"]
[Upon completion, you will receive extra rewards based on your subordinate's purification achievements!]
Next,
Tang Yunxuan and the other hundred club members jumped into action as well.
[As City Lord, you lead a hundred subordinates to purify the "Tier Seven Pollution Source—River of Death!"]
[Once purification is complete, you will receive extremely rich rewards according to the degree of success!]
Below this prompt,
two more lines appeared—
[Current purification progress: 0.1%]
[Reminder: the higher the purification progress, the richer the rewards!]
After reading, Yu Jin didn't hesitate to make up his mind.
"One hundred percent!"
"We have to reach a full hundred percent—no stopping until we wring out every last bit of reward today!"
Yu Jin sped up his movements.
Soon after,
new text prompts appeared before his eyes—
[Your leadership in purifying the "Tier Seven Pollution Source" has inspired large numbers of refugees to join in!]
[You have earned the achievement: "Wasteland Leader!"]
[Wasteland Leader—]
[Refugees who actively join in the purification actions under your leadership are temporarily counted as your subordinates. Their purification achievements will bring you extra rewards!]
[Your purification of the "Tier Seven Pollution Source" is earth-shaking, resounding across the Wasteland!]
[Your reputation in the Wasteland has risen significantly!]
...
Yu Jin looked away from the semi-transparent panel and gazed into the distance.
That's when he noticed—
The principal, vice principal, and even the city's top leader were mimicking his movements, nets in hand, boarding small boats.
And along both banks of the river,
students and teachers who weren't club members also rolled up their sleeves, ready to dive in!
Even more unexpected to Yu Jin—
As time went by,
the spectators who'd been idly watching from afar started walking to the riverbank and joining the effort!
In no time,
the scale of the polluted river cleanup ballooned even further!
At the same time,
as more people joined, waves of sirens sounded in the distance and drew closer.
The authorities sent in more officers to maintain order and ensure safety at the event.
Additionally,
even those spectators who didn't join the activity all pulled out their phones and started recording short videos.
The journalists and reporters stationed on both banks were even more pumped—their eyes were practically bloodshot with excitement.
Click click—
The flashes kept going off.
Each scene at the site was captured and preserved…