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

One minute later.

With a fist-sized, smoking bump on his head, Ou Yun folded the map, placed it on his lap, and looked at Hassan with a serious expression.

"Hey, next time you go scout ahead, let us know in advance."

"Okay, okay..."

"Yes, this kind of thing is dangerous. Next time, let's ask Nanbei or Ludou to go with you."

With a large, smoking bun on his head, just like Ou Yun's, Chen Hao said with a serious expression, "Although Green Bean is a bit mischievous, he's very reliable when it comes to serious matters."

"Received, received!"

Alexander looked at the expressionless Leng Dui and Chen Hao and Ou Yun, both with large bumps on their heads, and hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.

I really wanted to ask my older brother if he was alright.

But for some reason, a voice in my head is shouting:

Do not ask! Do not ask! Do not ask!

Okay, then I won't ask anymore.

Hassan cleared his throat, trying to keep a straight face. "You don't object?"

"What's the use of my objection? You'll still go anyway."

Ou Yun raised his right hand and pressed the bag off his head.

He stood up, walked over to Hassan, and patted him on the shoulder. "But this map is very useful. Whether it's the ring-shaped valley or the giant creatures, these are clues we'll need to figure out later."

"So you guys basically paved the way for us, thanks!"

Ou Yun smiled—

"Thank you for your hard work!"

The bump on his head popped out with a "pop".

Hassan: ...

Alexander: ...

Trying not to laugh.jpg

"No, you're welcome, it's my pleasure!"

*

the next day.

Just as Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan were preparing to pack their essential jungling gear, Xiong Guo and his two companions sneaked in again.

Maxim, clutching an animal hide, awkwardly handed it to Leng Ruolan.

Alexander said, "Brother, Captain Leng, this is just a small token of our appreciation!"

The map was Pakistani idea, so the bears can't fall behind!

Ou Yun laughed, "Goodness, did you guys plan this all along?"

Leng Ruolan took it and unfolded it to take a look.

It is a forging recipe table.

The top was covered with dozens of furnace recipes that they had summarized over this period of time.

The notes are filled with various test data, specifying what materials to add to produce what finished product, the required heat, the proportions, and the success rate.

"This is something we came up with while assisting Brother Chen at the Crucible a while ago!"

Ivan pointed to the table and calmly explained, "Each recipe has been tested at least three times, and only the successful ones are written down."

"There are also special characteristics of some materials. For example, the success rate of combining bone armor fragments with iron ore is about 30% higher than that of combining bone armor fragments with wood, but the quality cap is about 10% lower..."

And so on, blah blah blah.

Brother Chen can't possibly do everything perfectly by himself by the stove, so I'll just help out.

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan huddled together, their eyes visibly brightening. "You guys even did some data analysis?"

"It was Ivan who did it. He used to be an accountant in the real world."

"Accounting?"

"Yes, so calculating data is his forte."

"Oh, no wonder!"

Brother Chen will be very happy.

Leng Ruolan touched the mung beans at her feet.

"Go and give this to Chen Hao."

Green Bean stretched, meowed, and ran off with the animal skin in its mouth.

"Our village is truly full of talented people."

Ivan smiled shyly.

*

After conveying his message, the Xiong Kingdom man left.

For a moment, only Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan, who were packing their things, and a cat occupying the entire north and south windowsills were left in the room.

Nanbei lazily flicked its tail, then shifted to a more comfortable position and continued sleeping.

Every time Ou Yun sees Nanbei's lazy attitude of not wanting to be born or die, he complains that they've been spending too much time with cows and all they do is sleep.

Leng Ruolan was sharpening her newly made electrified dagger with a whetstone, each stroke producing a crackling sound and a flash of electricity.

Ou Yun lay in the hammock, swaying back and forth while looking at the ceiling.

"Have you packed your things?"

"I'll just bring a gold supply box; Nanbei can catch the food."

"Sigh, I thought you were like that too. Even Nanbei is getting lazier and lazier."

"That's a good thing. Isn't the essence of human progress simply wanting to be lazy?"

"Oh."

Why were you so nervous when Hassan and the others gave you the map today?

Changing the subject—

Leng Ruolan paused in her sharpening of the knife: "I'm not nervous."

"Why isn't it there?"

Ou Yun had a smug little expression that said, "I don't know you yet."

"You're genuinely worried about them."

Leng Ruolan was silent for a few seconds, then continued sharpening the knife:

"Although they haven't known each other for very long, they've been through a lot together."

"They move stones and build camps. Although they are not as strong as us, they never slack off or back down."

"So you're worried something might happen to them?"

"Nobody wants to see something happen to the people around them," Leng Ruolan said softly.

"I've already lost a team once, and I don't want to repeat the same mistake."

She didn't finish speaking.

But Europe understood.

He sat up from the hammock and looked at Leng Ruolan.

The firelight reflected on her face, and her expression looked no different from usual.

Although his expression was indifferent, his eyes were gentle.

But he knew that this special forces captain, who could kill a bull with one punch and send him flying with another, was best at hiding his emotions.

Seeing Leng's current state, Ou Yun really wanted to shout to the heavens—

That's textbook-perfect tsundere!

"Ahem... Captain Leng."

"What's wrong?"

You've changed.

"?"

"You wouldn't have said these things before."

"So, has this gotten better or worse?"

"Of course it's gotten better."

Ou Yun flashed what he thought was a perfectly handsome smile, "You look more like a human being now."

"..."

? ?

Leng Ruolan sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Really, Captain Leng, I think you—"

Before the words were finished, there was a loud thud.

Leng Ruolan turned around.

I saw an overturned hammock and a bewildered Ou Yun lying on his back.

"……Ha ha."

*

Another day has passed.

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan, carrying a map and a large bag of equipment, were ready to set off.

"Don't stuff any more in, Brother Chen, we won't need this much..."

"How do you know it won't be useful if you haven't even used it?"

"Oh dear... are you a housewife?!"

"Ha, I wouldn't even answer if you called me."

Chen Hao also felt restless if he didn't worry about Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan for a day.

Especially since these two are going on a long trip, who knows when they'll be back—

Chen Hao equipped Leng Ruolan with all the purple equipment he had crafted during this period.

Leng Ruolan stared expressionlessly at the large bag of shields, daggers, longswords, pistols, rifles, and sniper rifles: ...

"Just bring me an armory, will you?"

"Oh, that's still too much, I can't wear it."

As Chen Hao spoke, he frantically stuffed freshly baked jerky into Ou Yun's bag, while with his other hand he pulled out some mung beans that had somehow gotten inside—

Green Bean twisted her waist, flipped over in Chen Hao's hand, and clung to the edge of the bag, looking like she was about to go inside again.

At this moment, a dark purple thing floated down from the mung bean, probably stuck to it when the mung bean went into the bag.

Ou Yun exclaimed "Hey!" and bent down to pick it up.

It is a feather.

It was pitch black and electrified.

When I picked up the Ouyun, it was like being touched by static electricity, making a loud "snap" sound.

The mung bean, out of curiosity, touched it with its nose—

With a snap, the green bean was startled and ran away cursing.

Chen Hao looked bewildered. "This is...?"

After watching the European Games for a long time, he collapsed onto his lap.

"Oh dear! How could I have forgotten about this precious treasure!"

Isn't this the feather that Storm Black Hawk dropped back then?