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

Leng Ruolan said, "Let's just blow it up. Anyway, the furnace is sturdy. Even a grenade couldn't destroy it last time."

"..."

*

So the next morning, a heartwarming buzzing sound rang out in the camp.

"Buzzing—"

"Zzzzz ...

This time the buzzing was more intense than ever before.

The entire furnace was shaking, and purple flames inside the furnace shot high, filling the entire room with purple light.

Ou Yun, Leng Ruolan, and Chen Hao stood guard beside the furnace like gatekeepers, their expressions very serious.

Hassan and Farhan each carried an iron bucket filled with water, ready to put out the fire at any time.

Alexander and Ivan stood by, holding up makeshift shields made of sheet metal, ready to block any explosions.

Maxim was quite practical; he simply moved a ladder to the roof and said that if the furnace exploded, they could escape from the roof.

"It's not that bad, it's not that bad."

Although Ou Yun said it wasn't that bad, his body language betrayed him by taking a step back.

Leng Ruolan said calmly, "It's alright. Judging by the power of this high-grade ore, if it really exploded, none of us would escape."

"..."

That's true...

The noise inside the furnace grew louder and louder.

The blood-red crystal slowly rotated in the purple flames, and fine cracks began to appear on its surface.

Dark red light shone through the cracks, intertwining with the purple flames to form a red and purple vortex.

Then the vortex began to spin faster and faster.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—"

The hum of the furnace suddenly rose a notch, then abruptly stopped.

The whole world went silent for a second.

then.

"Ding!"

This crisp notification sound seemed louder than ever before—

A beam of purple light shot out from the furnace, blinding everyone.

"Ah! My eyes!"

"I can't see anything at all!"

"I told you to wear sunglasses, but you wouldn't listen."

"What did you refine?"

"Wait a little longer."

The light lasted for about half a minute before slowly dissipating.

Everyone immediately swarmed around it.

At the bottom of the furnace, there lay a long object—

A sword.

The sword has a long, straight blade and is dark red throughout.

The surface is covered with fine purple patterns that flow slowly across the sword, like some kind of living thing.

This reminded Leng Ruolan of the blood vessels-like things that covered the surface of the black mist during their previous battle, things that could also be used as whips—

This is something I've never seen before.

Chen Hao subconsciously took a half step back, and said timidly, "Big brother, you take it."

"...Why?"

"I feel like only you, Big Brother, can keep this thing in check."

"..."

Is this a compliment or an insult?

Ou Yun subconsciously swallowed and slowly took the longsword out of the furnace.

The information panel slowly floated out:

[Successfully completed!]

[Congratulations on obtaining: Abyss Sword!]

[Sword of the Abyss: A very powerful sword that deals double damage to lord-level creatures. Only usable by players from the Dragon Kingdom.]

The information panel that appeared left the people from Pakistan and the United States completely stunned.

"Holy crap! This is amazing!"

"Is this the ore my brother brought back?"

"With this, can Big Brother just cleave the forbidden area in two?"

"Your older brother will always be your older brother!"

However, the reactions of the European team were much more subdued.

"Double damage? That's like a perfect opportunity when you're about to fall asleep."

"That's about it. We've given you the main quest, how can we not give you the main quest items?"

"So, you guys are going out to jungle again?"

The group then began discussing their next steps.

As Ou Yun gripped the sword, he felt a slight warmth emanating from the hilt, as if something was establishing a connection with him.

He tried swinging his sword.

The sword drew a red line in the air before gradually disappearing.

"It's quite easy to use."

Ou Yun sheathed his sword—the scabbard was automatically generated to match the sword; it was black and had the same pattern as the sword blade.

"In that case, let's just throw them all in and see."

Ou Yun pointed to all the remaining crystals and ores they had brought back.

"Everyone should have a powerful weapon."

*

So for the rest of the morning, the group of people stayed around the furnace.

Crystallized fragments combined with various luminescent minerals of unknown origin—

Reality forged a pair of short swords for Leng Ruolan.

The short sword was entirely black, and upon closer inspection, one could see a very faint layer of black mist swirling around the blade.

Ou Yun glanced at them a few times, then became displeased: "Why are all yours already enchanted?"

Leng Ruolan scoffed, "How about we switch?"

Ou Yun hugged his awesome longsword tightly: "I was just kidding."

Leng Ruolan picked up a brick-sized piece of ore from the side and chopped it down hard.

The ore was shattered into dust with a snap.

Leng Ruolan exclaimed, "Not bad, that's enough for physical attacks."

This weapon is called the Shadow Blade. It is said to be imbued with shadow energy, which can temporarily corrode the target's defense.

If both knives hit at the same time, it will cause additional damage.

After using it, Leng Ruolan praised it, saying, "It's light, fast, and insidious."

There were also those eggshell fragments, which were forged into a medium-sized shield, and this was given to Hassan.

The shield is dark red with a natural curved surface that effectively disperses impact.

The information panel says this thing is called Scorpion Armor Shield, and it doesn't have any special functions or enchantments—at first glance, you can't tell the difference between this thing and a regular shield.

Hassan, holding the shield, was extremely excited and thanked him profusely, his voice trembling.

The scorpion's pincer fragments were forged into a heavy hammer—allocated as needed, and in any case, it was given to Alexander, the biggest of them all.

The hammerhead is shaped like a pincer, with sharp edges, making it look like it can both smash and chop.

Alexander gripped the hammer with both hands and swung it powerfully across the open ground. "This thing is much more handy than a gun!"

Later, they forged many more handy weapons, mostly cold weapons, and distributed them to Pakistan and the Xiong Kingdom.

Leng Ruolan then specially asked Chen Hao to refine even more electron-bearing bullets—but for some reason, this time none of them succeeded.

Leng Ruolan looked at the Abyss Furnace, which was as quiet as a chicken, and lamented that there were not many left to begin with, and now it couldn't even forge any new ones.

Ou Yun comforted her, saying that next time Black Hawk came, she could ask him to give her some fresh feathers, and maybe she could refine them. This barely convinced Leng Ruolan.

*

And so it went until evening.

The Abyss Forge has been subjected to its most intense workload since its inception—

Chen Hao figured that since refining one thing was the same as refining a bunch, he used everything in the warehouse that could be refined.

"Oh, it's so nice to have a stove like this."

"Stop joking around and come over here to tidy up!"

"No need, no need, I'll come back tomorrow to tidy up. There are so many, I probably won't be able to finish tidying them up in one night..."