A queen? A monarchy?

Yan Ruoying glanced towards the corner of the alley and saw Pu Sheng peeking out with half his head, making a gesture of pointing his index finger to the sky.

She brushed her hair back, looking like an innocent, naive girl who didn't know the ways of the world. "Queen...you're amazing, aren't you? Can't I go to that tower? I want to find my brother, and I also want to find the bad guy who hit me."

"But you really can't just go in there, you absolutely mustn't go. Or I can help you find your brother, and let's just forget about the person who hit you."

"This will cause you a lot of trouble, won't it? You've already helped me so much," Yan Ruoying said, feigning sadness and disappointment. "And if even someone as powerful as the Queen can't help me, then who can?"

She clasped her hands together and looked up at the sky. "Should I go and pray to God?"

The fruit stall owner across the street seemed to have heard something terrible, and immediately covered her mouth and pulled her behind the fruit stall.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Yan Ruoying's eyes widened, and she shook her head, slapping his hand several times. "Um... I won't say."

The young man loosened his grip slightly and said very seriously, "The Queen is supreme, and no one is more powerful than her. Don't say that word again."

He handed Yan Ruoying two banana segments, saying, "Take these and go now. I can't help you anymore."

"Brother, please help me again." Yan Ruoying was pushed out and pleaded with the young man, "If it really doesn't work, just tell me, and I'll ask anyone else for help."

"Go to District Four, there are guards there." After saying that, the young man hid behind the fruit stand and kept quiet.

Yan Ruoying stood in the middle of the road. Was the Queen the supreme ruler here?

She scoffed inwardly, thinking, "They must have been instilled with this idea since they were little, otherwise they wouldn't have reacted so strongly. They must know about the existence of gods."

The reason they don't allow stimulants is probably because they're afraid people will have religious beliefs.

She ran towards the alley entrance, feeling wronged, and met up with the other four people.

The five quietly moved to a secluded path where few people passed by.

Yan Ruoying: "You all heard it, he kept telling me not to go to the Tower of Faith, so it means we're definitely going. You can plan how and when we go..."

At that moment, a system announcement suddenly sounded.

[The faction with area code Ep0812 has completed the mission to enter Xin'ai City. The remaining 39 players are requested to expedite the mission.]

[The KA2564 faction has completed the mission to enter the Old Capital. The remaining 39 players are requested to expedite the mission.]

[Faction SE7652 has completed the quest to enter Snowflake City. The remaining 39 players are requested to expedite the quest completion.]

[The faction with area code cA1785 has completed the mission to enter Frozen Harbor. The remaining 39 players are requested to expedite the mission.]

[The faction with area code cA2614 has completed the mission to enter the capital city. The remaining 39 players are requested to expedite the mission.]

Five consecutive messages about entering the city brought their discussion to a halt. Ji Hui said, "District 2614 and we have all entered the capital city. It seems that it's not that the nine factions are each going to a different place."

“I have a question,” Pusheng raised his hand. “I understand numbers, they’re codes, but what do the letters in front of them mean?”

“Countries,” Ji Hui explained. “Have you never met foreigners before? Although the world is different, the historical processes are not that different. Regions marked with the same letter prefix are highly similar countries, and their historical and cultural development levels can be similar.”

Pu Sheng: "I've never actually seen a foreigner before; this is the first time I've seen other letters."

"It's normal. Have you never been to a Western-themed dungeon before? You'll see them if you go to one. Besides, we have a large population, so many people go to dungeons. It's normal that you don't see any foreigners."

Ji Hui got back to the main point, "Let's wait and see if the last two factions will enter Gaoya Mountain, Thorn Land, and Dead City. If not, then the nine factions will enter six cities. If someone does enter, then 2614 is very likely to be Zhou Qiyu's faction."

"Hmm, that's possible." Shi Jinzhe remembered that there were players in Zhou Qiyu's camp who could locate them, so it's possible that they saw them enter the capital city and naturally came to chase after them.

As the sun was about to set, he suggested, "Let's find a place to stay first and wait for information from the last two camps. The guards from the fourth district will go and investigate tonight."

The group agreed and found a secluded two-story hotel in the evening.

Below the second-floor window is a dead-end alley with high walls; it's deserted and perfect for nighttime operations.

Shi Jin spent a huge sum of money to buy an item called the "Currency Exchange Machine," and then the others exchanged their points for several silver coins in a split-the-bill manner.

The replaced flesh hurts, and my heart is bleeding.

The small hotel was very quiet. Shi Jinzhe walked around inside and set up a defensive array covering the entire building.

The small restaurant on the first floor served dinner, and the toast smelled delicious. They took some back to their room to eat.

Shekh tore off a piece, took one bite, and spat it out. "Is this bread?"

"It doesn't taste good?"

Shi Jinzhe also ate a piece, chewed it a couple of times and his chewing speed slowed down significantly. Finally, he couldn't help but spit it onto a tissue. "It's like mud, it only has shape but no taste."

Ji Hui and Pu Sheng swallowed with difficulty, refusing to eat a second bite.

Yan Ruoying couldn't help but spit out, "It really tastes awful."

She took out the bananas from earlier that day, broke off a segment, and placed it in front of Shekh. "There were only two, and it wouldn't be appropriate to give them to any of you three men, so I gave them to her."

"Thank you." Shekh peeled off a piece and ate it, then two seconds later handed it to Shi Jinzhe, "You eat some too."

Shi Jinzhe had a bad feeling that nothing good was going to happen, because he had already seen Yan Ruoying's expression change repeatedly.

He held his hand to Shekh's mouth and sighed, "Spit it out, don't eat it."

Shekh spat into the tissue in his hand, "It's like moldy flour, very dry, and the powder keeps sticking to the roof of my mouth and I can't swallow it..."

In short, the taste is unpleasant.

Yan Ruoying: "Is all the food here really this bad?"

Scheher, crushing the banana into a powdery texture: "Take some more to try."

Soon, the owner brought over two trays, on which were placed several "specialty dishes".

The chicken, duck, fish, and craft beer all look and taste excellent.

Several people took a bite of the grilled fish that the owner strongly recommended, and three seconds later, they all lowered their heads and spat it out.

Shekh put down his fork: "You guys try it."

She didn't want to force her taste buds; it really tasted awful.

Such difficult tasks should be done by humans; she's a snake, she can't do it.

After thinking for a moment, she pressed down on Shi Jin's folded hand, "Don't eat it."

After thinking about it again, considering how awful the bananas were, she told Yan Ruoying not to eat them either.

Pu Sheng: "Actually, I don't really want to..."

Ji Hui pressed his head down, "No, you want to eat more."

"...But it was so painful for me to eat."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. You're a player with the number nine," Shi Jinzhe said, emphasizing the number nine. "As long as you're strong enough, you won't be bullied by us bad guys."

Pu Sheng forced himself to swallow, “…My life is so miserable.”

Yan Ruoying: "What's so hard about it? You're in my group, how lucky."