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

On the morning of the day of departure.

Hassan left his two teammates, Farhan and Haishan, at the Dragon Kingdom camp to assist Chen Hao with infrastructure construction and timber collection.

"I've drawn the route here."

Hassan handed a piece of rabbit skin to Ouyun.

"That mountain is west of our camp, about half a day's walk away. There's a dry riverbed at the foot of the mountain; if you follow the riverbed, you'll find the mineral outcrop. But—"

His expression turned serious.

"Be very careful when you get near the mine. Those pangolins are very protective of the mine. Last time, we only got about 100 meters away, and three pangolins came out of the ground to warn us."

Leng Ruolan responded with an "Oh," and asked, "Warning? How was the warning given?"

"Slap the ground with its tail...!"

Hassan recalled something, as if he were talking about something very terrifying.

"The sound... was like thunder. It made our legs shake."

Ou Yun also said "Oh," adding, "That sounds even more powerful than a porcupine."

"Completely different levels!"

Hassan said with a mournful face.

"Although mutated porcupines are dangerous, at least they feel pain when you hit them."

"The pangolin's scales... Last time I threw a rock to test it, and the rock shattered on its scales without it even turning its head."

"I thought they wouldn't care. Who knew they'd sneak into our camp at night, their tails like razor blades... Damn it, if I hadn't gotten up to use the night, they would have wiped us all out!"

Who told them to upgrade the game? Even the squirrels they used to eat every day have become ferocious.

Sometimes, you might suddenly see a cat jump out from somewhere under a tree and slap you on the hand.

Even timid creatures like pangolins have become so cunning as to attack humans.

This is truly a forbidden area.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hao thought to himself that this was a bit serious.

He adjusted his glasses, instinctively wanting to remind Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan of something—

The two of them were packing things up, but they were packing food.

"Captain Leng, do you still have any dried fish?"

"And what else?"

"Give me some pieces, I'll eat them on the way."

"No, you can catch one yourself on the way. This is the only one I have."

"Tsk, how stingy!"

—No one cares about the mutated pangolin.

Chen Hao thought to himself, "When I go to buy goods, my spirits are completely different."

But he still wanted to know more about the two, so he asked, "What do they eat? Do they like to eat meat?"

"Hard to say."

Hassan shook his head repeatedly.

In that situation, escaping was a struggle for survival; who cared what these guys were going to eat!

*

And so, the two people and the cat set off.

Leng Ruolan originally said she wouldn't mention North or South.

"Isn't that unnecessary? Isn't it good enough to have the north and south guarding the house?"

"Why are you looking at the house? If we can't win, Nanbei can still help us escape."

"Brother, you're too modest. If we really ran, we couldn't outrun you even if we went north or south."

"..."

There's nothing else I can do.

It seems that the fact that he was once arrested by White Fox and ran away for several days and nights will be mercilessly mocked by Captain Leng for the rest of his life.

In the end, it still included both North and South.

Starting from the Dragon Kingdom camp, we walked for about two hours towards the Pakistani camp before reaching the mountain Hassan had mentioned.

The mountain is not high, but it covers a large area.

The mountain's surface is covered by a dense primeval forest, and from the outside, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

The scene suddenly changed after they passed through a dense forest.

The trees began to thin out, and large areas of bare rock and gravel appeared on the ground.

The vegetation has decreased, and it has been replaced by some low shrubs and mosses.

A faint metallic smell lingered in the air—not the smell of blood, but the rusty smell of molten metal after rain, mixed with the raw, earthy scent of minerals.

"arrive?"

Ou turned around and looked around, and suddenly saw a cliff not far away.

"This must be the place Hassan was talking about."

The mineral vein was exposed at the bottom of the cliff. Hassan said that's where they were stopped that time.

Leng Ruolan looked around, and although she didn't see anything unusual, her hand was already on the gun at her waist.

"No rush, let's use force first and then diplomacy."

Ou Yun wasn't in a hurry; he looked for a long time but didn't see a single pangolin.

Wasn't it supposed to be that this thing would detect them when they came and then intercept them?

Leng Ruolan tilted her head. "Could it be underground near the mine?"

Pangolins already have very strong digging abilities, so this mutated one must be even more powerful.

These guys might have an underground lair that's even bigger than their camp—

The two stood still.

Sure enough, very quickly.

The ground suddenly shook.

Immediately afterwards, a muffled thud resounded, making the soles of the feet of the group go numb.

The sound didn't come from afar, but from beneath my feet—more precisely, from deep within the ground.

Nanbei instantly bristled, lowered his body, and let out a low growl from his throat. His ears twitched wildly like two radar antennas, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.

Leng Ruolan and Ou Yun exchanged a glance and simultaneously took half a step back.

The ground shook again.

This time it's even closer.

Suddenly, a small mound rose up on the ground in front of the cliff. The mound grew larger and larger, and soil and gravel slid down from the top.

Then—a huge claw covered in scales emerged from the ground, its claws curved and gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

"Here it comes."

Leng Ruolan's voice even sounded like she was laughing.

The claw shoved to the side, splitting open the mound of earth, and a head covered in iron-gray scales emerged from the ground.

The head was cone-shaped, and the eyes were two thin slits. Although the pupils were not visible, it was obvious that this guy was staring at them.

Ou Yun was still unhappy, "What, just one?"

Is one enough to eat?

Leng Ruolan said, "Don't rush, 'Well, usually when we're issuing a warning, one comes first, and only if that doesn't work do we—'"

really.

Before Leng Ruolan could finish speaking, two more mounds of earth rose up on the ground beside the cliff.

Two larger pangolins emerged from the ground and stood on either side of the first one behind it.

Three pangolins stood side by side, their tails draped over the ground, their posture as neat as college students in military training.

The lead one—the first one to emerge—patted the ground with its tail.

"Thump!"

This time the sound was much louder, so loud that Ou Yun and the others felt their feet go numb and almost fell over.

"Whoa!"

It's numb as it is—but that's all there is to it.

Leng Ruolan steadied herself and chuckled, "Even more ferocious than the Bear King, that tail."

Nanbei took a half step forward, his hair standing on end, and the roar in his throat grew deeper and deeper, clearly preparing for battle.

Ou Yun pressed down on its head, "Don't rush, let's use force first and then diplomacy—no, let's use diplomacy first and then force."

Then he winked at Leng Ruolan.

Leng Ruolan shrugged and put the gun away.

Then he hoisted the last remaining rocket launcher onto his shoulder and slowly began to speak:

"Alright, which one are you planning to send to negotiate with us?"