An Alliance

"Biscuit, it's protein," Tu Ran said.

"What's protein?" Fatty stared at the biscuit in her hand, curious.

Tu Ran thought for a moment. "What you're eating right now—worms—is protein."

Fatty licked its beak. Sure, both were protein, but it wanted the two-legged creature's protein biscuit instead.

Its thoughts were practically written all over its face.

Even Tu Ran couldn't ignore it.

"Want some?" Tu Ran waved the biscuit in her hand.

Fatty nodded rapidly, eyes eager. "Yes, I want some."

"Then finish all those worms first." Tu Ran nodded toward them.

One worm was crawling out from the edge of its wing.

She didn't want to see any soft-bodied worms in this cave.

"Okay," Fatty said.

This request was too easy for it.

It lowered its head and went "clack clack clack" as it pecked, finishing all the worms in no time.

After making sure it hadn't missed a single one, Tu Ran tossed it a piece of biscuit.

Fatty caught it with both wings and stuffed it into its mouth impatiently.

"It's hard, be careful not to—"

Before Tu Ran could finish her warning, Fatty had already swallowed the small piece of biscuit whole.

Tu Ran: "..."

Even Pigsy swallowing the ginseng fruit wasn't that fast.

"Boss, why is there no taste?" Fatty asked, puzzled, savoring the lingering flavor in its mouth.

Tu Ran thought to herself: You ate it that fast, of course there's no taste!

But out loud she said, "These biscuits just don't have any flavor."

"Huh? Then they're not as good as worms," Fatty said.

"Right, exactly. Worms are way tastier than biscuits," Tu Ran agreed. "So don't ask me for biscuits next time."

"Biscuits with no taste? I don't want them anyway." Fatty leaned back, comfortably propped against the wall.

Full and satisfied, it was getting sleepy.

It wanted to sleep.

Tu Ran glanced at the bright daylight outside, packed up her gear, shouldered her backpack, and walked over to nudge Fatty's talon with her foot.

"No sleeping. We still have to go find your Danghu leader."

Fatty blinked its eyes groggily. "Huh? We're going now?"

It didn't want to go. It wanted to sleep.

"Yes, right now," Tu Ran said, not giving it the chance to sleep. She grabbed it by the back of its neck and tugged it up. "Didn't you already sleep all night? What more do you need to sleep for!"

Fatty stood up reluctantly, whining twice in protest.

Tu Ran ignored it. She shouldered her gear and walked out of the cave.

"Three seconds. If you haven't caught up, I'll leave you in this cave forever."

The feathers on Fatty's head bristled.

It wanted to be stubborn for once, but didn't dare.

Hearing Tu Ran start counting down, it immediately scurried out of the cave.

"Let's go. Lead the way to your leader," Tu Ran said calmly.

Fatty let out a "hmph" and walked ahead unwillingly.

Tu Ran followed behind.

From her angle, Fatty looked even more like a ball than before.

It had a round body topped with a round head, and its two pea-sized eyes were also round.

Its tail was fairly long—it would perk up when it was happy, like a peacock spreading its feathers, and droop when it was upset, like now, dragging along like a broom sweeping the ground.

It was also fluffy, with most of its feathers pure white, save for a small tuft on its head, the tip of its tail, and a ring around its neck that were a soft yellow.

Combined with its silly, adorable personality, this species would definitely become the favorite pet of children back home in the peaceful First World.

Tu Ran used to like fluffy animals too, but ever since she came to this Second World, she'd developed a resistance to them.

Because in this world, after technology had developed to an extreme, most animals had gone extinct.

Most of what remained were museum specimens, and only occasionally would wealthy families use genetic breeding to create one or two animals as pets—like the two Tibetan mastiffs on that farm in Regaken State.

Almost all the animals she'd encountered since arriving in the Second World were vicious alien species.

They ate people, possessed bodies, infected hosts...

None of them had left her with a good impression.

This ball in front of her was an exception.

Even if it was a bit gross when eating worms, everything else about it was acceptable.

Like right now—because it had found a worm nearly a foot long in a dead tree trunk, its tail had bloomed open again like scattered flowers.

It had completely forgotten that it was supposed to be mad at her.

"Boss, boss, look! We call this kind of worm a sweet worm. Why? Because when you eat it, it tastes sweet—really, really sweet."

With that, it stuffed the worm into its mouth and bit down, then offered the remaining half, entrails dangling, to Tu Ran. "Two-legged creature, do you want a taste? It's really sweet."

Tu Ran took a step back, putting distance between herself and that half worm.

She kept a polite smile on her face. "No thanks, I'm already full. You eat it, Fatty."

Fatty had been waiting for those exact words. The moment she said them, it eagerly tossed the worm into its mouth.

"Ahh, so good."

Tu Ran: She didn't understand, but she respected every species' dietary habits.

"How much longer until we get there?" Tu Ran looked around at the scenery. The trees here were sparser and shorter than the ones she'd seen before.

"Almost there, almost there. We Danghu love sunlight, so we usually stay in well-lit woods. See how the trees are getting sparser? That means we're close," Fatty explained.

"Do you remember the story I taught you?" Tu Ran stared at its head and asked.

"I remember, I remember," Fatty nodded. "We say that while catching a Heng Gong fish, we ran into a Paoxiao. The Paoxiao ate all the other companions, leaving only me. At the critical moment, a passing two-legged creature saved me."

"The two-legged creature injured her thigh while saving me and can't move, but she said she has a special ability and needs another creature with powers to work with her to recover her leg. So I came to beg the leader, hoping he'll come help me save her."

Tu Ran nodded in satisfaction.

In this story, she had an ability, and her leg was injured and immobile.

Combine the two, and wasn't she just a free inner core delivered right to their doorstep?

The pheasant leader would very likely follow Fatty to their agreed-upon spot.

The rest would be her time to improvise.

"The Danghu nest is just ahead. You wait here," Fatty said.

"Alright. Go on," Tu Ran stopped in her tracks.

Fatty waddled forward with its fat body.

Watching its retreating back, Tu Ran couldn't help but remind it, "Remember what I told you. Once it's done, I'll reward you with ten red-skinned melons."

Fatty wagged its wings happily in response.

Tu Ran never thought she'd one day form an alliance with a pheasant, let alone place all her hopes on it.

Truly, life was unpredictable.

Tu Ran shook her head with a sigh.

Surveying her surroundings, she found a perfect branch, climbed up, and hid her whole body within the foliage.

Then all she had to do was wait quietly for Fatty to bring the tribe's leader to her.