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

After finishing my meal, I rested for a while.

Ou Yun finally got up, walked to the bucket, squatted down, and looked at the golden supply box that had been soaking for three days and three nights.

"Alright."

He took a deep breath and pulled the supply box out of the water again.

Water droplets slid off the box, and the golden light appeared exceptionally soft in the sunlight.

The mosaic that was originally stuck to the box has disappeared.

But I can still smell a faint trace of the European Union's aroma...

A gold supply crate is a gold supply crate after all; even after being soaked like this, there's not a single sign of rust.

Ou Yun looked around, and then, as if struck by a sudden thought, ran back inside and neatly arranged the other gold supply crates in a row.

Six.

Six golden supply crates in total.

Leng Ruolan and Chen Hao also came over, standing on either side of Ou Yun behind him.

Sometime during the day, mung bean climbed onto Leng Ruolan's shoulder and peeked over curiously.

Nanbei lay a few steps away, pretending not to care, but his ears were perked up.

The cow sneezed and flicked its tail.

"Actually, I've been thinking about a question."

Ou Yun looked at the six golden supply boxes and suddenly spoke.

"What?"

"What exactly is the mechanism behind these supply crates?"

Ou Yun stroked his chin, pondering for a moment.

"What Brother Chen said before, 'existence is its own justification,' I think makes sense. The things released into the forbidden area, whether they are boxes or wild animals, follow a pattern—but we still haven't fully figured out what that pattern is."

Leng Ruolan said "Oh," and then asked, "So, have you figured it out now?"

"I wouldn't say I've figured it out completely, but I have some guesses."

Ou Yun said as he thought.

"Did you guys notice? When I was being chased by the lions, I opened that golden supply crate and got a steak. Steak is ridiculously expensive, but it's exactly what those lions are interested in, and it helped me escape."

"Then, when I was being chased by the Bear King, I unleashed my energy cannon. The energy cannon blasted off half of the Bear King's head in one shot, cleanly and efficiently."

"And those teleportation and explosion buttons, I only use them when I need them."

Chen Hao pushed up his glasses. "So?"

"So I think that although the contents of the golden supply crate are fixed, the timing of opening it may affect its effectiveness."

After analyzing this, Ou Yun himself laughed.

"Just like the forbidden land assumes my luck is a kind of resource, it will give me the most suitable thing when I need it most."

Leng Ruolan and Chen Hao exchanged a "Holy crap, you only just found out?" look—

But that's okay, a good underling will never let his boss's words fall to the ground.

Leng Ruolan continued, "But the steak was broken open by the lion that time, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that's why I suspect that it's not me choosing the timing, but the timing choosing me."

Ou Yun's smile remained unchanged.

"But this is just pure guessing, so take it with a grain of salt."

"It's alright, brother. We normal people are like this, we examine ourselves three times a day."

Seeing that Ou Yun seemed to have finished speaking, Leng Ruolan went up to him and pretended to comfort him, "But big brother, you don't have to force yourself, just save some money."

Chen Hao, still playing the straight man, chimed in, "Captain Leng is right!"

Upon hearing this, Ou Yun thought to himself, "So, in these two's eyes, I've never been a normal person!"

*

Later, this supply box, which was clearly not the one with the mosaic (the one that gave out the super bonus in Chapter 48), but was covered in mosaics, was still opened by Olympia.

However, perhaps it was to punish the two who had recently become a bit arrogant—

Europe operated behind their backs.

He secretly hid behind the cow, while Nanbei and Ludou peeked out curiously from either side.

The box was opened, and a faint golden light emanated from it.

Ou Yun's eyes widened in surprise—

This...this is!

This is……?

Ou Yun took something out of the box; it was small, about the size of a palm.

He held it in his hand and looked at it repeatedly.

"hiss……"

They were still looking at the sun.

"Tsk..."

But I really couldn't think of how to use it right away.

Ou Yun then put it directly into his pocket.

When Leng Ruolan and Chen Hao learned of this devastating news, they were both stunned.

Dude, you've been dragging this out for so long and you still haven't told us what you got?! Are you even human?!

"Sigh, big brother, what kind of big brother are you?"

Leng Ruolan shook her head, "The feelings have faded, faded."

Chen Hao mimicked Leng Ruolan's shake of the head, "It's faded, it's faded..."

"If it's bland, just add more salt! (Annoyed)"

Beside them, Nanbei was watching the three bickering with great interest—

Suddenly I was stunned.

Hmm... what brings me here?

Never mind, I'll think about it when I remember!

This amused the audience in China.

"If I hadn't been there, I would have almost been scammed."

"What I got from the gold supply crate... Heh, interesting."

"It's okay, you both get a share, you both get a share!"

"Hilarious! But why do I get the feeling that President Ou is using this method only on one person?"

"I bet that guy is Brother Chen. If I'm wrong, my punishment is that I can only have crayfish, lobster, grilled oysters, grilled kidneys, braised pig's trotters, hot dry noodles, and butter hot pot for supper!"

"Are you just here to freeload?"

*

three days later.

Chen Hao originally thought this would be another peaceful day.

After all, they've been too idle lately—especially since they don't even need to hunt anymore, and there are offerings of all kinds at the camp gate almost every day.

Although some of them are inedible, it's more than enough for the three humans, plus a cow and two cats.

Chen Hao nestled atop the watchtower, gazing into the distance. "The wind today... is rather noisy."

Leng Ruolan has returned from her morning exercise.

Her skin was flushed and she was radiating heat. Her hair, which had been cut so badly by Ou Yun that it looked like a dog had chewed it, had been retried and restored to its original state.

"You should also go and patrol the mountain properly."

Leng Ruolan shouted from below.

"There's no danger at all; running can even improve your lung capacity."

Chen Hao said no need, "I'm purely focused on stats, I don't train."

Leng Ruolan looked around and, as expected, did not see her eldest brother.

"Stop looking, Big Brother won't wake up until noon."

"That's strange. There aren't any phones to play with in this restricted area, so how did they manage to dawdle until noon?"

Then, the wind picked up.

The wind was strange; it lacked the natural comfort of usual. It felt like it was secretly wielding a knife, scraping my face painfully.

The wind is getting stronger.

The wind rustled through the trees, making Leng Ruolan's hair so disheveled that she couldn't see clearly.

"Team Cold—"

Chen Hao, who was on the watchtower, suddenly shouted.

His voice suddenly changed tone, with the ending note rising slightly, a tone he only produced when he was extremely nervous.

"Th-what is that?"

Leng Ruolan smoothed her hair and suddenly realized something.

She frowned, not even needing to look in the direction Chen Hao was pointing—she turned her head to look into the distance, and her pupils suddenly contracted.