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

Chen Hao hesitated, then subconsciously looked at Leng Ruolan.

Leng Ruolan started cleaning her gun without looking up: "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on the camp. Nanbei and Lvdou are here too, nothing will happen."

These words were meant for Chen Hao's ears. Nothing happened while Chen Hao was there, so what could possibly happen to her?

"But that mutated plant—"

"I'll keep an eye on it for you."

"Fertilizer for the experimental field—"

"Hassan knows how to do it."

"The temperature of the ice cellar—"

"The Frost Giant Roc just came to reinforce it yesterday, it's very stable."

"..."

What am I supposed to say now that you've already said everything?

Chen Hao resigned himself to his fate: "Fine, I'll go."

That solves it.

Ou Yun chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, "I've prepared your weapon."

A short, electrified knife, arm shield, armor, and a level 5 helmet, just like the one worn by the Cold Team.

Chen Hao looked at the helmet, which resembled a pair of underwear, and sighed, "Dude, could you please get something else...?"

"cannot."

Leng Ruolan suppressed a laugh, "This was specially saved for you by your older brother; no one else would want it!"

"..."

*

An hour later, the two were almost ready.

This time, I traveled light – because everything was crammed into my spatial ring.

He only carried that awesome sword, and he also wore a pair of leather boots that he had somehow taken from a corpse, as well as a hat.

Leng Ruolan looked at him and said, "What kind of inhuman, ghost-like outfit are you dressed like this?"

Ou Yun says you don't understand, this is the attire of an adventurer.

Leng Ruolan thought to herself, "You've really gone all out for this."

Chen Hao was carrying a small wicker basket containing a notebook, magnifying glass, specimen bag, and various tools for field observation and recording—which Ou Yun stuffed into his spatial ring without even glancing at it.

Chen Hao then asked, "Where are we going first?"

Ou Yun opened the map, compared the areas marked with question marks, and then identified the one closest to the camp.

The sign here reads: "Plant Abnormality".

"Here, Hassan and the others only explored the outer area before, saying there were many plants they had never seen before, but they didn't dare to go deeper."

Ou Yun reasoned that since it was an unknown plant, it might contain useful materials, such as medicinal, edible, or synthetic materials for furnaces.

"Plants..."

Chen Hao thought about it and thought, "That should be relatively easy!"

Leng Ruolan glanced at the sky. "When are we leaving? We've been dawdling for ages!"

The two greeted the others at the camp and then continued down the mountain path.

Nanbei originally wanted to go with them, but Leng Ruolan grabbed him.

"Why don't you take a vacation too?"

Then he called out "Green Bean".

Green Bean, who was sleeping on the cow's back, perked up its ears and saw Leng Ruolan calling it. It immediately came running over.

Leng Ruolan patted its head. "Go on, you can go out and gain some experience too."

Green Bean meowed and hopped after him.

Nanbei meowed a few times in dissatisfaction, but in the end, it obediently squatted down next to Leng Ruolan and watched the two disappear into the woods.

*

They were indeed very familiar with this part of the forest.

But familiar as they may be—the one they're familiar with is Leng Ruolan, not Chen Hao.

So much so that Chen Hao couldn't help but look around, glancing left and right.

It took about half an hour to walk.

Chen Hao finally couldn't help but ask, "Big brother, are we really not going to encounter any danger?"

He was still holding the electrified dagger in his hand when he said this.

"rest assured."

Ou Yun swaggered ahead, comforting him as he said, "This area within a ten-mile radius is our territory."

Hyenas are allies, pangolins are allies, monkeys are allies, and lynxes even serve as pet security guards and deliverymen—what danger could there be?

"But Hassan said he hadn't explored the entire area—"

What Chen Hao really wanted to say was: Bro, have you forgotten what your original persona was?!

My older brother is lucky, but he's also unlucky.

Although my brother always manages to drive off with awesome gear, he also always manages to encounter even more awesome beasts!

The older brother's luck changes as his luck improves.

"Hassan is Hassan, and we are us."

However, when Ou Yun turned around, he had a bright smile on his face.

"Besides, if we really encounter something we can't handle, I brought a gold supply crate, didn't I?"

"Oh, then it's alright."

Chen Hao immediately felt a great sense of relief.

European Express: ?

*

We walked for a while longer.

The surrounding vegetation began to change noticeably.

The sparse broad-leaved forests disappeared, and many dense thickets gradually appeared.

The shrub has thick, broad leaves that are dark black and have a glossy sheen.

Ou Yun sensed something was wrong and called Chen Hao to come and take a look.

Chen Hao immediately came over, took the magnifying glass from Ou Yun's spatial ring, and carefully observed the leaf for a while.

"The leaf veins are unusually thick... the waxy layer on the leaf surface is at least three times thicker than that of ordinary plants... and this purple secretion..."

Chen Hao read for a while, then gently scraped off a piece of leaf with his short knife and rubbed it between his fingertips.

The sap inside the leaves seeped out, making it sticky and gooey.

Chen Hao raised an eyebrow. "It's very viscous, kind of like syrup...?"

Ou Yun wasn't surprised at all by the plant that secreted sticky sap. "Is it poisonous?"

"That's uncertain."

Chen Hao asked Ou Yun to bring out a box, inside which were neatly arranged several rows of small compartments, each containing different items—test strips, powder, and small glass tubes.

He found these when he went on patrol while Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan were not at the camp. The glass test tubes were lucky that they were not broken. He dug them out of the ground and then sterilized them with vodka... well, I guess you could call it sterilization.

He found the test strips himself; he picked them up from a damaged medical kit—though he didn't know why there was a medical kit there in the first place…

He carefully dipped a piece of test strip in the juice and then dripped a drop onto the test strip.

The color of the test strip changed from white to light blue, and then stabilized at blue without any further changes.

Ou Yun squatted down beside him and watched, "Not poisonous?"

"It shouldn't be poisonous."

Chen Hao breathed a sigh of relief. "At least it's harmless to humans. This blue reaction indicates that its chemical composition is closer to sugars than alkaloids or other toxic compounds..."

Ou Yun interrupted the chanting abruptly: "So, it's edible?"

"Theoretically... is that possible?"

Without saying a word, Ou Yun picked a leaf and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Big brother!!!"

Chen Hao's hand trembled, and his glasses almost flew off.

"She's stuffing all sorts of tonics and stuff into her mouth, ughhhh!"

However, after swallowing, the older brother smacked his lips, frowned, and said, "Hiss, not sweet."

"..." Who asked you that!

Chen Hao dared not speak out against his anger.

What if this is really poisonous?!

However, the older brother remained unconcerned and began to offer a sharp critique, saying, "It's a bit like toothpaste."

"..."