Minato handed an apple to Lucas and said, “I don’t know, but I think it might be related to the dungeon. For some reason, I can’t remember what happens inside. What do you think?”

Lucas took the apple from him, noticing its smooth, shiny red skin and its perfectly round shape. “I’m not sure,” Lucas replied.

Minato nodded. “Makes sense. You just arrived here, so you wouldn’t know much.”

Lucas bit into the apple and his eyes lit up. “Wow, this is amazing! So sweet and juicy!”

Minato smiled, pleased by his reaction. “Yeah, isn’t it? Apples here are incredible.” He held up his own apple, said “Itadakimasu,” and started eating.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar word. “Itadakimasu? Are you Japanese?”

Minato grinned, brushing his white hair back. “Yeah, you guessed it. You don’t believe me because my English is so good, huh?”

Lucas , “yeah your English is very good.”

Minato took another bite and sighed. “I studied English a lot. I wanted to travel the world, but that dream ended early.”

Lucas looked at him thoughtfully. “Well, you’re kind of traveling here now. Don’t be too sad.”

Minato nodded. “Yeah, I guess. There’s so much to explore here that I’ve lost track of how many years have passed. By the way, what year are you from?”

“2024,” Lucas said, taking another bite of the apple.

Minato’s eyes lit up with excitement. “I’m from 2017! Do you watch Japanese anime or read manga? Can you tell me what’s been happening?”

Lucas smiled. “I used to watch some anime, but I’m more into novels. Still, ask me anything you want. If I know, I’ll tell you.”

Minato’s red eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Okay, tell me—did *One Piece* end?”

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“Not yet,” Lucas replied. “But some major arcs happened. Wanna hear about them?”

“Of course!” Minato said, while eating his apple.

For the next while, Minato bombarded Lucas with questions. “What happened in *Attack on Titan*? Did they reveal everything?”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, it’s finished. The ending was a bit controversial, though.”

“What about *My Hero Academia*? Is Deku the number one hero now?”

“It’s still ongoing, but he’s come a long way. Lots of epic fights.”

Minato’s excitement grew with each answer. “And Sword Art Online?

Lucas said awkwardly. “Well, I don’t know much about it. I only followed the first few arcs.”

Minato sighed in disappointment but didn’t stop. He bombarded Lucas with more questions about anime and manga.

For the major ones, Lucas answered confidently. When he shared how the story of Attack on Titan went on, Minato’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “That’s amazing! I can’t believe it actually ended like that!”

When Lucas mentioned the progress of Dragon Ball Super, Minato’s expression darkened for a moment. “Wait, the writer passed away? That’s... really sad,” he said with a heavy sigh before quickly shifting his focus to something else.

But for most of the lesser-known series, Lucas had to admit, “I’m not sure about that one.”

Minato groaned but nodded in understanding. “I guess it’s fair. Not everyone keeps up with everything.” Still, he couldn’t hide his disappointment, as about 60% of the time, Lucas didn’t have the answers he hoped for.

Even so, when Lucas did share updates on shows like One Piece or Naruto, Minato’s face lit up again. “Wow! That’s so cool! I’m glad those stories are still going strong.”

This continued until Minato and Lucas had eaten 5-6 apples together. After finishing, Minato bowed before the tree, and said, “Thank you, Mr. Tree. Your apples were really delicious.”

To their surprise, the tree shook slightly, almost as if it were happy to hear his gratitude.

Lucas looked confused.

Minato noticed and said, “Why don’t you thank Mr. Tree too?”

Still puzzled, Lucas followed Minato’s example. Bowing slightly, he said, “Thank you, Mr. Tree. The apples were really delicious.”

Once again, the tree shook gently. This time, it felt like the wind was moving it, but Lucas quickly realized there was no wind at all.

Lucas straightened and asked, “What’s going on? Why is the tree moving?”

Minato chuckled. “These trees are alive. One thing you should remember: never try to make fire near them or talk bad about them, no matter the language. And definitely don’t try to break their branches. They’ll kick your ass.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow. “You’re serious?”

"The first time I tried breaking a branch for firewood," Minato said, his body shaking a little as he recalled the pain, "the tree actually fought back. The branches came to life and started hitting me! I couldn't even run—they just kept swinging until I begged for forgiveness. Honestly, it still hurts when I think about it."

Lucas paused, then asked, "Wait... didn't we basically just eat their kids? I mean, those apples would have grown into trees, right?”

Minato gave a short laugh. "No, no. Trees here don't grow new trees like them. I’m not sure exactly how it works. And if they wanted to move, I think they could—they just seem to rest most of the time. Though... I've never actually seen one move.”

Lucas glanced back at the tree, his curiosity growing. “Can they really move? I wonder what that would even look like...” He shook off the thought for now.

Suddenly, Lucas noticed a small glowing white light in the distance, near the spot where he had first appeared. “What’s that?” he asked.

Minato said in disgust. “It’s probably another spider. Most of them are dumb—they don’t even go toward the glowing ball when they first appear, like other clueless animals. Ugh, I hate spiders.”

Lucas turned his head. “A spider? Really? Let’s go check it out, who knows if it's something else.”

Minato groaned. “If it’s glowing small like this, it's just a small creature, like an insect. For humans, the glow is much brighter—nearly ten times larger. But fine, if you're that curious, let's go.”

Dragging Minato along, Lucas led the way. When they arrived, they found a confused white spider wandering around, seemingly trying to figure out what was happening.