Want Some Fried Chicken?

She had come out of that mountain.

Before emerging, she'd lingered near the exit to deal with that chicken spirit. She hadn't seen anyone else besides Xie Xu.

Given the length of the queue and its pace, those people must have come out only a few minutes before her.

The timing simply didn't add up.

Unless... the "wormhole" in front of the mountain led to many different places.

Tu Ran had a revelation.

That had to be it.

The line moved steadily, and the person at the front drew Tu Ran's attention.

She was like a newborn now, observing and learning from everything around her.

That person, too, was wrapped from head to toe.

"Wrapped up tight" had become her primary impression of this world.

It seemed like everyone here was ready for battle at any moment, each one equipped with a set of exoskeleton armor, or at the very least, combat gear.

But unlike what she'd seen before, this person's armor looked extremely bulky and crude, as if hastily assembled from a few shields. Even someone with as little military insight as Tu Ran could tell his movements were clearly hindered.

She wondered what the point of such armor was.

To take hits?

What puzzled her even more was that he held a digital screen, showing it to each person in turn. He'd show one, then let them pass.

They also seemed to exchange a few words, but Tu Ran couldn't make out what was said.

Just as she was about to reach the front, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Tu Ran flinched. Today had been too surreal, and she'd been on edge the whole time. A sudden tap like that was bound to startle her.

"Tu Ran, why are you so jumpy?!" A crisp female voice, thick with amusement.

Tu Ran turned around and saw a young woman—lips painted a vivid red, smile bold, helmet tucked under her arm. She reminded Tu Ran of a motorcycle goddess from her own world.

Tu Ran quickly glanced at the name tag on her arm: Xi Chunzhi.

Xi Chunzhi looked her up and down, raising an eyebrow. "How did you end up in such a state this time?"

She waved a hand in front of her nose. "You reek. Did you spend the night inside one of those monsters' bellies?"

Tu Ran shook her head and answered honestly, "I blew up a... chicken spirit monster."

She'd tried to think of a proper term for that creature, but after racking her brains, she couldn't find one, so she settled for the makeshift "chicken spirit monster."

Fortunately, Xi Chunzhi understood.

"Ah, a Gu Diao. No wonder it stinks to high heaven." Xi Chunzhi's expression turned somewhat disgusted.

So the chicken spirit had a fancy name like that. Another revelation for Tu Ran.

Xi Chunzhi clicked her tongue in irritation, her bright features scrunching up. Tu Ran looked at her, confused.

"Haven't you been going on about fried chicken for ages? I ordered a portion, waiting to eat it with you when you got back. But now—no appetite." Xi Chunzhi said, deflated.

Tu Ran recalled the image of that chicken spirit being blasted into a mess of flesh and blood. Fine, she wouldn't eat it then. She probably wouldn't have any desire to eat fried chicken for the rest of this life anyway.

More people joined the back of the queue, all bearing wounds.

One was carried in on a stretcher, missing a leg, blood dripping onto the ground and leaving a long trail behind.

Given the urgency, that person didn't wait in line but was brought straight to the bulky "shield" person. As usual, the "shield" produced an electronic screen for him to look at.

Because they were close, Tu Ran caught a glimpse of the screen's contents.

"What does 17924 mean?"