Garbage is the most mundane, inconspicuous thing in life—but it touches everyone.
In truth, waste disposal has always been a headache for humanity. Household trash is one thing, manageable enough, but industrial and chemical waste? Those have always been a nightmare, threatening to pollute the environment at any misstep.
But for dimensional controllers—those who commanded dimensional space and could decompose matter at will—garbage was a goldmine of energy and materials that no one else noticed.
Useless trash could be absorbed to expand the dimensional space itself, while useful waste could be broken down into base materials, which could then be exchanged with other dimensional spaces for vital resources.
Though a single piece of trash held little value, there was an astonishing amount of it. The Dragon Kingdom alone produced over 100 million tons of garbage per year. With that quantity, victory was assured.
Even better, if he collected it all, others would have to pay him fees for disposal—a huge, untapped source of wealth.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhong Weiguo quietly took over the entire garbage disposal system of Sijiu City and gradually expanded his reach. He then tasked his daughter with traveling the country, secretly reclaiming all types of waste.
By leveraging this overlooked resource, the Zhong family's dimensional space expanded to five acres in just a year, second only to Xi Hanmei, who was state-supported.
Yet, such a massive "junk empire" could not remain hidden. Inevitably, the incident came to light.
Everyone else slapped their foreheads in regret. Why hadn't they thought of this method sooner? Zhong Weiguo's corner overtaking opened a new way of thinking: find overlooked resources, turn waste into treasure, and seize it.
Faced with such vast resources, no one dared interfere—they could only watch with envy. After all, attempting to seize another's fortune was akin to patricide. As long as the Zhong family didn't encroach on their territory, it was best to leave them be.
Besides, with five acres of dimensional space, the Zhong family could be as dangerous as hunters in the shadows. Mess with them, and even the mightiest could suffer.
With domestic opportunities exhausted, every company turned its gaze abroad. How much garbage could a few people in the Dragon Kingdom produce? Real resources were elsewhere—in foreign lands.
Thus, each company submitted applications to the cabinet, which quickly approved them. It was even proposed internationally: the Dragon Kingdom could offer low-cost recycling and waste processing services to countries worldwide. Every type of waste would be accepted.
The response was immediate. Several major countries rushed to send orders and foreign exchange. After the recent world war, nations were in desperate development mode, generating enormous amounts of industrial waste.
Nuclear waste from Britain, South Korea, and Japan alone was deadly and difficult to dispose of. Every solution required massive resources to prevent contamination.
If Long Guo could handle it cheaply, why not? It saved Congress money for luxuries like bathing and massage.
Yes, the possibility of ulterior motives existed. Perhaps the Dragon Kingdom sought to steal nuclear secrets. But non-nuclear nations like Rabbit couldn't possibly act on such knowledge even if they had it.
Even if it worked, the profits belonged to the Dragon Kingdom—and no one could begrudge them.
Though other nations mocked Long Guo for doing "dirty work" in exchange for money, it didn't matter. Orders and foreign exchange kept pouring in, while the Dragon Kingdom quietly prospered.
Inside, Xiao grinned wildly, his corner of the mouth twitching with glee. He could almost hear himself reciting:
"They laugh at me for being mad,
I laugh at them for being blind."
To outsiders, the Dragon Kingdom appeared diligent, toiling to gain foreign exchange. But in truth, they were quietly making a fortune.
This wave—this wave of the Rabbit Nation—was already in the atmosphere.
With garbage sites established worldwide, the Dragon Kingdom's takeoff accelerated.
Phantom incidents began occurring in developed nations. Classic examples included spies sent to steal information, who mysteriously vanished around corners when capture seemed imminent.
Highly protected industrial machines disappeared. Even scientists detained abroad inexplicably vanished—sometimes replaced by other Dragon Kingdom operatives.
On local battlefields, Dragon Kingdom soldiers seemed to materialize from nowhere. Exchanges of fire began with few troops, but as time passed, soldiers and weapons appeared as if sprouting from the ground.
The more the enemy fought, the more the Dragon Kingdom forces multiplied. Eventually, opposing forces either surrendered or were annihilated—utterly unable to win.
All of this resulted from the top leaders fully opening dimensional space to the outside world, distributing its capabilities to all who needed them.
Foreign leaders were baffled. Perhaps Long Guo had some technology to instantly transmit soldiers across the battlefield—but what it was, they could not deduce.
Unable to understand the technology, countries sent spies en masse to the Dragon Kingdom. Sijiu City grew lively, teeming with foreigners traveling with cash, satisfying local curiosity and keeping domestic personnel busy.
Among the visitors, Xiao's singularity was quickly discovered. He maintained the traditional polygamy of China within Sijiu City. Even as a major general, he could not violate the law—unless extraordinary circumstances applied.
The recent dowry incident had been enormous, easily noticed by anyone asking around. Naturally, foreign spies targeted the Xiao household directly, eager to uncover the truth.
But the Xiao family was like an abyss. Anyone sneaking in at night or following Xiao by day would be eliminated the next instant.