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

The Pangolin King looked somewhat bewildered upon hearing this.

A furnace... what is that?

Although I couldn't understand it, it felt really cool—oh, no wonder he's the leader of the alliance!

After Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan finished reading, they didn't linger, especially since Nanbei hadn't arrived yet and they still had to travel today.

"Speaking of which..."

Since we're already here, let's ask while we're at it.

Ou Yun looked at the Pangolin King, "Has there been any movement from the Hyena Queen lately?"

The pangolin king's ears twitched, and his expression became somewhat subtle.

"Waaaaah... Waaaaah..."

The hyena queen hasn't been out much lately, but her minions are frequently seen roaming around our mine.

Sometimes they come to borrow iron ore, saying they want to forge new equipment for the Hyena Queen and the White Fox Prince.

So the Pangolin King disguised himself as the Hyena Queen, and then had the little pangolin with the map pretend to be a white fox. They then held up several pieces of ore in front of Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan, gesturing wildly.

Luckily, Leng Ruolan had won the "Pictionary" championship in the team before, otherwise she really wouldn't have been able to guess it!

Leng Ruolan simply explained it to Ou Yun, who responded with an "oh."

"It seems they have a good relationship."

Although the effects of the powder have long since worn off, the relationship between the hyena queen and the white fox has stabilized.

After leaving the mine, the two began their journey towards the Hyena Queen's camp.

To be honest, walking this road this time felt completely different from before.

Last time I came, the surrounding area was filled with menacing packs of hyenas, and dark clouds loomed over the city, threatening to crush it.

This time, Da Zhuang and Scarface were already waiting at the border of their territory. As soon as they saw them, they wagged their tails enthusiastically and came to greet them, almost like a welcoming team shouting "Welcome!"

"Woof! Woof!"

Dazhuang remained as honest and simple as ever, circling around the two of them several times.

Scarface stood quietly to the side, his expression as indifferent as ever, but his propeller tail, identical to Da Zhuang's, had completely exposed him.

"Looks like our treatment has been upgraded."

Ou Yun joked, "Last time I was surrounded, but this time I got a warm welcome."

Ever since Leng Ruolan started raising Nanbei and Lvdou, she has developed a habit of instinctively scratching her chin whenever she sees a furry creature pounce on her—even if it's a hyena.

Scarface's chin was being rubbed by Leng Ruolan, and he was so enjoying it that he could barely keep his expression up.

However, Leng Ruolan didn't notice and turned to ask Dazhuang, "Is the Queen still in the cave with the white fox?"

Da Zhuang barked, which probably meant he agreed.

So the group entered the hyenas' territory and saw several circles of hyenas surrounding the cave entrance from afar.

This scale is no less impressive than the last time.

Ou Yun was naturally very curious. "What happened?"

Da Zhuang could only bark and explain for a long time from the side—

"Captain Leng, can you translate this?"

"What am I supposed to translate?"

"Didn't you just translate pangolin language?"

"..."

Leng Ruolan had an expression that said, "I'm too lazy to even complain."

But soon, the translation process was skipped, and the riddle itself appeared.

The two entered the cave, and the scene inside was indeed extraordinary.

The hyena queen remains tall and imposing, radiating an aura of power.

But at this moment, it is propping its head up with one paw, lying on its side next to the white fox, its eyes gazing tenderly at the white fox with deep affection.

The white fox is noticeably more composed than before.

It sat crouching beside a throne made of animal hides, its fur still snow-white and smooth, but its calm eyes seemed to hold a different kind of emotion.

Upon seeing Ou Yun enter, its ears seemed to twitch slightly involuntarily, but quickly returned to normal.

But everyone could see that the creature's tail was brushing the ground very lightly, a sign that it was happy.

The hyena queen barked once as a greeting.

The white fox then spoke, letting out a bark.

"Hey, looks like you're doing pretty well."

As one of the first beast friends he met in the forbidden area, Ou Yun stepped forward and stroked the white fox's head.

The hyena queen remained silent, her gaze shifting briefly between Ouyun and the white fox.

It remembered that the last time it had a rather unpleasant encounter with this two-legged creature.

But when it realized that a white fox and a two-legged creature were impossible, it felt relieved.

"Woof~ Woof!"

The hyena queen spoke, her voice still deep and powerful, but with less hostility and more solemnity.

Although they couldn't understand the specifics, both Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan sensed the sincerity in the message.

"You are welcome."

Leng Ruolan offered a universal response template: "Your fate was your own choice; we were just going with the flow."

That was an extremely clever way of putting it.

They neither denied that they had sprinkled powder on the white fox, nor did they imply that the white fox was staying voluntarily.

After hearing this, Ou Yun silently gave Leng Team a thumbs up.

The white fox seemed to stiffen for a moment, but remained silent.

The hyena queen didn't seem to have thought of it that way either. She stood up and roared at the hyena pack outside the cave.

The pack of hyenas outside the cave immediately dispersed and lined up in two neat rows.

Then we saw several hyenas carrying a huge, thick wooden plank, walking neatly into the cave.

The wooden board was covered with various things—a large piece of cut wild boar meat and several strings of freshly picked wild fruits.

There were also a dozen fist-sized, faintly glowing ores, and a short sword of unknown material.

"Woof!"

The Hyena Queen pushed these things in front of Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan.

Consider it a thank-you gift.

Leng Ruolan took the short sword; the blade had even and fine patterns, and the edge gleamed with a faint cold light.

The sharpness of this sword is probably no less than that of those forged in the Abyss Forge.

She weighed it in her hand again, "It feels good too."

Ou Yun didn't refuse the food either, simply lifting his spatial ring and accepting it all—he considered it a tribute.

And viewers in China also wanted to complain:

"Hmm... why does this feel like they're collecting protection money?"

"Remove the word 'feeling,' hahaha!"

"I knew it! It's only a matter of time before President Ou takes control of the forbidden area."

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan were just passing by and saw the white fox incidentally. They had always thought that the white fox was just here to enjoy life with the Hyena Queen, and the result did indeed confirm that.

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan didn't plan to stay long. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the Hyena Queen, they got down to business.

"Has there been any strange activity around here lately? Like unfamiliar mutated beasts? Or any unusual terrain that has suddenly appeared?"

As Ou Yun spoke, Leng Ruolan laid out both maps beside him.

The hyena queen looked at the map, thought for a moment, and then drew a circle on it with her paw.

Leng Ruolan stared intently—it was in the northeast direction, near the circular valley.

The hyena queen's expression became much more serious, and a low whimper came from her throat.

When some of its men were patrolling there earlier, they saw thick fog rising from the valley in the distance.

And I smelled a particularly foul odor.

Generally speaking, this situation likely indicates that a new lord-level monster is hatching.