Survival of the Nation: My luck was a tiny bit worse.

Chen Hao's words.

It came true a few days later—

Three days after the three lynxes arrived, five more came.

These five are clearly a small family, a lynx mother with four babies.

The lynx mother was a size larger than Nanbei, and her fur was a beautiful light golden color, making her look quite noble.

Four baby lynxes followed behind their mother, lined up in a row, their postures clumsy but their expressions earnest.

The offering they brought was two mutated field mice—

And a piece of ore that I don't know where it came from.

The ore looks ordinary, no different from any other stone picked up on the roadside, but if you look closely you can see some light blue luster and some shallow, strange patterns on the surface.

Ou Yun took it, but didn't think much of it at the time.

Do these little animals even know what offerings are? They probably just picked up something from the ground that they thought was unusual and brought it over.

Ou Yun pondered for a moment, but couldn't figure it out, so he called out to Chen Hao.

"then!"

They threw the stone directly at them.

Chen Hao was startled, staggered twice, and actually caught it.

"This...this is...?"

"Stone."

"Why does this surface have texture..."

"It must be what was left over when Nuwa repaired the forbidden area."

"Brother, calm down."

Chen Hao adjusted his glasses and straightened his expression.

"This clearly looks like—"

"It must be some kind of rare material."

Leng Ruolan suddenly appeared from behind Chen Hao, startling him.

"Rare materials?"

Leng Ruolan said calmly, "Isn't that how it's always portrayed in TV dramas? Small things can hide big secrets."

"..."

"..."

Chen Hao turned to look at Ou Yun: Look what you've done to Leng!

Ou Yun met his gaze: Is it my fault?

Leng Ruolan raised her hand to interrupt the two's in-team voice chat: "Alright, although it was just a guess, don't you guys think this guess actually makes a lot of sense?"

"..."

Ou Yun and Chen Hao thought about it for a moment and agreed.

Think carefully about what the system said at the beginning of the forbidden area:

Please do not use the rules and ideas of the real world to judge anything in the forbidden wilderness.

Yes, for example, a black panther with six eyes, a black bear with an exoskeleton and spikes, and a lion that can heal itself, etc.

For example, the carcasses of mutated beasts that can remain fresh for a long time.

This ore might have some special use.

Although everyone has no idea what this ore can be used for.

Never mind, I'll keep it for now.

He instructed Chen Hao to store the ore in the camp's storage room.

Then Ou Yun picked up the two field mice.

This thing doesn't look very good; it's grayish and has a long, bald tail.

But even in a restricted area, it would still be a valuable source of protein.

"Captain Leng, let's roast field mice for dinner tonight."

Leng Ruolan shook her head, saying no in a very formal way, "Are you sure this thing is edible?"

"Why can't we eat it? Those three guys from Pakistan even ate sour fruits, so we can't be picky eaters."

"You eat, I'll go catch fish myself."

"..."

Well, the kids have already brought gifts, we can't just turn them down, can we?

Ou Yun had no choice but to pass it on to Chen Hao to keep.

The moment Chen Hao received the item, he knew what to do with it: he would use it to feed Nanbei.

When the lynx mother saw that Ou Yun had accepted the gifts, she squinted her eyes with delight.

It circled the camp, sniffed the cows, and sharpened its claws.

He looked up at Chen Hao from under the watchtower, then walked up to Nanbei and rubbed his chin against hers.

The North and South were remarkably calm, as composed as a mountain eagle.

Leng Ruolan was absolutely amused by Nanbei's cheeky antics and immediately whispered to Ou Yun, "Look at Nanbei, doesn't he look like a child receiving a salute from an adult?"

"Ha. It's a mutant, and the king of lynxes. Who knows how long it's lived? We're probably just kids."

"Hmm...that seems to make sense."

After watching Nanbei talk to the lynx mother for a while, the lynx mother led her children away.

Ou Yun stood up and stretched.

There was a breeze in the woods, rustling the leaves.

He suddenly looked north and south.

"By the way, how did you manage to get those lynxes to come and pay tribute?"

Although there were indeed wild beasts that came to offer tribute before, to be honest, they didn't even know what kind of wild beasts they were.

Why are all the visitors now lynxes? And they're all so respectful. He doesn't believe this wasn't Nanbei's idea.

Nanbei tilted his head, seemingly trying to feign ignorance.

"Acting cute? Acting cute counts as time, huh?"

Ou Yun laughed.

"Even though you're the lynx leader, there were already quite a few lynxes in this mountain, right? After you moved to our camp, will the original lynx herd still recognize you as their leader?"

Upon hearing this, Nanbei immediately let out a meow, raised its tail high, and slapped the ground with its front paws, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Even if I change my work location, I will still be the king!

I found the European Games entertaining.

Well, the little guy is being cocky again.

"Okay, okay, you're the best."

He looked north and south.

"Then tell me, besides lynxes, are there any other kinds of wild animals that come to offer tribute?"

Nanbei stopped in his tracks and turned his ears around.

Then it meowed and continued walking forward.

I didn't understand "European Yun".

But for some reason, I felt that the meow seemed to be saying—guess what.

*

For the next few days, the camp was unusually quiet.

Besides daily patrols and organizing supplies, they also received lynxes from various places who came to pay tribute—several groups came in succession.

More and more lynxes came, and the gifts they brought became more and more abundant.

Some vendors brought prey, such as rabbits, pheasants, field mice, porcupines, and even snakes.

Snakes are good, snakes are very nutritious.

It's been a while since I've eaten snake—the last time was with a red python that was entangled with a black bear.

Some people brought fruit, wild fruits unique to the forbidden area. Some were edible and some were not, so Chen Hao had to try to distinguish them one by one.

"This is delicious! It's so sweet!"

"This... is a bit sour, but it's barely edible."

"Holy crap! This is so bitter! It should be good for cooling down, right?"

"This tastes... um... uh..."

"Thump!"

"Oh my god, Brother Chen! What happened to you, Brother Chen?! Why is your face so dark?!"

……

They also give away various kinds of minerals, in different sizes and colors.

"So, what exactly is the use of this thing?"

"Keep it; its existence is its own justification."

"Yes, trash exists, but so do good things."

"You're already being generous with some of these for free, stop whining."

Then Chen Hao put them all into the storage room.

Of course, there are also deliveries of live animals—

The hare was gripped by the scruff of its neck by the lynx, so frightened that it froze and dared not move.

If it weren't for the sudden kick of its hind legs, Ou Yun would have really thought it was dead.

The lynx placed it at the camp entrance, patted it with its paw, and then looked proudly at Ou Yun.

Look, it's alive! You can keep it as a pet!

"..."