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

Leng Ruolan continued to look at him. "And what are your own thoughts?"

Ou Yun paused for a moment.

"My thoughts?"

He looked at the distant horizon, where the sun was slowly sinking behind the mountains, and the last ray of golden-red light peeked through the gaps in the clouds, which looked quite beautiful.

Ou Yun sighed, "It's nothing. I'll be content if I can help everyone get a good night's sleep."

Leng Ruolan was silent for a few seconds, then patted his shoulder.

"Okay, that's a good goal."

"And what about you?"

"I?"

Leng Ruolan turned and walked towards the camp, waving her hand behind her back. "My goal is simpler."

"What?"

"I can save you in time when you're courting disaster."

"..."

Ou Yun stood there, watching Leng Ruolan's figure disappear into the camp.

He looked down at the north and south.

Nanbei looked up at him.

"Nanbei, do you think Captain Leng was insulting me or showing concern for me when he said that?"

Nanbei tilted its head and meowed.

*

Over the next few days, the village entered the renovation phase.

—But calling it renovation is really just about building up the infrastructure piece by piece.

First was the mill.

Previously, wheat harvesting relied entirely on manual stone milling, which was extremely inefficient.

Chen Hao drew inspiration from the principles of ancient watermills and chose a spot beside a stream flowing through the valley. Together with Hassan and the others, they built a simple watermill using wood and stone.

The water flow drives the waterwheel to rotate, which in turn drives the stone mill to rotate. Wheat is poured in, and flour comes out on its own.

"This stuff is pretty good."

Alexander watched the millstone turning and rubbed his hands together excitedly.

"From now on, I won't have to grind the flour myself anymore; I can just pour it in!"

Chen Hao modestly replied, "This is the wisdom of the ancient working people."

Wow, this stove is so useful!

They can manufacture all the necessary precision parts!

Then there are public warehouses.

The warehouse was built on an open space between two buildings, half of which was made of stone bricks to prevent moisture and fire, and was used to store grain and long-term reserves.

The other half was made of wood and used to store tools and building materials.

Both warehouses are large enough to last nine people for several months.

"If only we had an ice cellar."

Ou Yun shook his head as he looked at the large quantities of dried meat.

My jawline has gotten so big from eating these every day—I'm really getting tired of them.

Chen Hao chuckled, "The ice cellar is still a bit too advanced."

Ou Yun could only sigh.

Defensive fortifications are also being constructed simultaneously.

Ou Yun built a simple low wall around the village using rubble and logs.

It's called a wall, but it's more like a fence. Its main purpose isn't to keep out large wild animals, but to send them a signal—this is their territory, don't come in casually.

Every so often, a wooden stake with sheet metal attached was stuck into the low wall. If anything touched the vines, the metal pieces would make a sound when they hit each other, serving as an early warning.

Leng Ruolan came to inspect it and said it was useless.

"That's so unreliable. These little pieces of trash will be blown away by the wind."

"Uh, what should we do then?"

Leng Ruolan then plucked Nanbei's hair and said, "Come here."

Nanbei meowed, its body stiffening slightly. After hesitating for a moment, it stepped forward and raised its hind leg.

Then he peed.

Hassan suddenly realized, "I see!"

"Brother, bring the cow over here too."

"Oh? You want the cow too?"

"Niu is an important fighting force for us. Don't forget about him just because he doesn't have many scenes."

"Ha ha……"

*

Chen Hao built a small watchtower on each of the east and west sides of the village.

The structure was the same as the watchtowers in the camp, only much smaller—just big enough for one person to stand in.

The top of the watchtower was covered with bone armor fragments, which not only sheltered it from the wind and rain, but also emitted a faint glow at night, making it visible from a distance.

"Looking down from the camp, the glowing lights of the two watchtowers are positioned directly on the east and west sides of the village."

Chen Hao dusted off his hands. "It's less likely to get lost when patrolling at night."

"As expected of Brother Chen! You've thought of everything!"

"Haha, that's what Captain Leng taught me."

*

During this time, the Abyss Forge was also busy.

Chen Hao took a batch of farm tools that had been forged earlier and melted them down, adding some scrap ore to upgrade them into a more durable version.

The hoe has a wider blade, the shovel has a reinforced handle, and the sickle is sharper.

Chen Hao would squat next to the furnace for a whole day, and several times he even fell asleep right next to it.

However, considering that Leng Ruolan and Ou Yun were going on a long journey, he didn't feel tired at all and worked overtime to forge equipment.

*

A week later, the village was basically completed.

The two houses are located in the valley, with a smooth gravel path leading to the campsite halfway up the mountain.

The mill creaked and groaned by the river, and the wheat in the fields was a golden expanse.

"...Thus, the first multinational settlement in the Forbidden Zone was officially completed. It has nine members, belonging to three different countries."

"...The territory covers the entire mountain and surrounding valleys, and has a complete defense system, agricultural production system and equipment forging system."

"This is a milestone in humanity's journey from survival to development in forbidden lands..."

—From "The Complete Collection of Outrageous Events in Forbidden Zones: Architecture Edition", by Chen Hao.

Chen Hao closed his notebook, pushed up his glasses, and looked at the people working in the fields.

"Gentlemen, I have a suggestion."

"What's wrong?"

"I think this place needs a name; it can't just keep being called 'village'."

"What's it called?"

"Dragon Bear Iron Union Village?"

"It's too long."

"Friendship Village?"

"That's so outdated."

"The first village in the forbidden area?"

"The forbidden area isn't just for us."

"Let's keep it simple and call it the New Camp."

"What's the difference between this and not changing it at all?"

"Yes, it used to be called the camp, now it's called the new camp. Adding 'new' makes it sound much more sophisticated."

"..."

*

In the evening, everyone habitually gathered around the campfire at the campsite.

This has become a regular part of our daily routine.

No matter how busy they are during the day, the nine of them always sit together in the evening to eat, chat, and discuss the next day's work.

Sometimes Alexander would bring a few bottles of vodka, although each time it ended with Leng Ruolan single-handedly taking down the entire group.

But tonight, the atmosphere is slightly different.

When the campfire was halfway lit, Hassan suddenly stood up and pulled out a neatly folded animal hide from his pocket.

"Big Brother, Captain Leng, Brother Chen. This is a small token of our appreciation from our Pakistani friends."

"Oh?"

When Ou Yun took it, he saw that it was a map.

Although the lines are simple, the amount of information contained is enormous.

The map marked the terrain of the surrounding dozen or so hills with different colors—rivers in blue, mineral veins in red, animal trails in yellow, and dangerous areas marked with black skulls.

"This is what we drew bit by bit since we entered the forbidden area."

Farhan explained from the side, "We Pakistani brothers may not be good at much else, but we're experts at errands and reconnaissance."