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

"Go ahead and eat it, what's there to be afraid of?"

Ou Yun continued to laugh: "We're all old acquaintances in the forest. Even if we encounter some unfamiliar wild beasts, it's just a matter of making a new friend."

"Look at the white fox, look at the hyena queen, look at the pangolin king—aren't they all kindred spirits at first sight?"

"But didn't you say the Hyena Queen was going to eat me at first?"

"Didn't they become allies later? And they even gave us a lot of things, didn't they?"

"That's not a white fox, it's been sprinkled with love-brain powder by you—"

"Details are not important; results are what matter."

"..."

There's nothing else I can do.

*

The two walked down the slope of the cliff.

Neither of them had ever been to this place before, so they walked very carefully.

Especially since the cliff face is covered with vines and moss, it's very slippery.

This time it was Ou Yun's turn to lead the way, and he would occasionally turn back to help Chen Hao.

Everyone's physical condition has improved, but Chen Hao still lacks jungle experience.

The stats have gone up, but my rank is still Bronze.

When we reached the riverbank, the sun had already sunk below the distant mountain ridge, and a layer of sparse golden light was floating on the river.

Ou Yun looked at the surrounding terrain and said they would camp by the river tonight.

"It's convenient to get water from the river, and the terrain is flat."

After saying that, he thought for a moment, "Let's try to cross the river again tomorrow morning and go see the forest on the other side."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hao immediately looked at the river.

The river is at least thirty meters wide, and although the current is not rapid, it is not slow either.

Swimming is definitely out of the question—the river water is too cold, and who knows if there are any mutated giant fish in the water?

"Let's take a raft."

Ou Yun casually pointed to the few thick, sturdy trees next to him.

The materials are readily available; after all, a raft is just something made by tying trees together.

"Brother, do you know how to ride a raft?"

"Won't."

"?"

"You can do it."

Chen Hao thought to himself that he could do it—no, the point wasn't the raft at all, the point was whether there was any danger in the river!

When Chen Hao shared his idea, Ou Yun, as expected, didn't take it seriously and just scoffed, "Let's make the raft sturdier, that'll make sure it works."

"..."

*

Dinner was roasted meat and wild vegetable soup, served with freshly picked purple flower petals as dessert.

Ou Yun took out a large piece of frozen wild boar meat from his spatial ring—that's the advantage of an ice cellar, you can eat fresh meat no matter how far you go.

He cut the meat into thick slices, skewered them with iron skewers, and grilled them over the fire.

When both sides are golden brown, sprinkle with cumin powder and chili powder, and it smells amazing!

Ou Yun took a big gulp—hmm, it was satisfying, but they'd been eating the same flavor almost every day for a while now, and it was getting a bit tiresome.

Seeing Chen Hao sorting through the purple flower samples—a clever idea came to mind.

"Brother Chen, give me some."

Chen Hao handed him the flower—and saw him squeeze the petals, the juice quickly flowing onto his flesh.

The sweet sauce caramelizes rapidly at high temperatures, forming a thin, crispy caramel crust on the surface of the meat.

Ou Yun wasn't worried about whether it was too hot to eat, and took a bite directly.

"...!"

The crispy crust, the tender and juicy flesh—

They really enjoyed the European food.

Chen Hao, standing nearby, asked, "Big brother, how does it taste?"

"Howl!"

As he spoke, Ou Yun popped another piece into his mouth. "Seriously, I suggest you try it too, it's good stuff!"

Seeing that he looked like he was about to drizzle flower juice over it again, Chen Hao thought for a moment and asked, "Is this stuff sweet?"

Does adding honey also have the same effect?

However, seeing how much fun his older brother was having, he decided not to spoil the fun.

"Take some back for Captain Leng to try too!"

"It's all packed up."

The sky gradually darkened.

The night sky over the forbidden area was still incredibly beautiful, with the Milky Way stretching across the sky and countless stars.

Ou Yun lay on the spread-out sleeping bag, his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the stars in the sky.

Having been in the forbidden area for so long, he has developed a good habit of staring at the starry sky every night.

Chen Hao sat by the campfire, continuing to write and draw in his notebook by the firelight.

Today I collected various plant specimens, a map showing the distribution of the purple flower sea, some thoughts on the unknown area across the river, and my older brother's latest test results about the edible uses of those purple flowers—

"Brother Chen..."

Ou Yun suddenly spoke.

"Um?"

"What do you think the players from other regions are doing right now?"

This question came rather suddenly, causing Chen Hao to pause, his pen poised.

"It's hard to say."

Chen Hao thought for a moment, "The forbidden area is so vast; the forest area alone is larger than the area of ​​most countries on Earth..."

"Players from other regions, if they're lucky, may have also established stable camps or found reliable allies."

"What if I'm unlucky..."

Chen Hao didn't continue.

Ou Yun didn't press further, and Chen Hao figured the older brother was just asking casually.

Having spent so much time in the forbidden area, they all knew what bad luck meant.

The death announcements that ring out on time every day are no joke; they actually wake up to the list of deaths every day!

On the other hand, which of the contestants who have survived to this day is easy to deal with?

"We're pretty lucky."

Ou Yun said, "At least we have enough to eat and drink, and we also have quite a few allies."

Chen Hao shook his head and said it wasn't just luck.

"What is that?"

"Yes……"

Chen Hao adjusted his glasses, pondered for a moment, and said, "It's the law of causality."

Every cause has an effect; the cause of the forbidden area is the effect of the eldest brother's actions.

Yes, that's right, that's exactly it.

"..."

But judging from his older brother's expression, he clearly didn't understand.

What are you mumbling about?

*

The next day, after breakfast, the two began to build the raft.

The task of cutting down trees naturally fell to Ou Yun.

He immediately pulled out that awesome sword from his spatial ring and started hacking at several thick trees nearby.

Otherwise, it's an awesome sword that can cut through iron like mud.

With just a few casual sword strikes, the tree trunk, as thick as a bowl, was snapped in two, the cuts so clean they looked like they'd been laser-cut.

Chen Hao sighed, "Big brother, be gentle, don't break the riverbank..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

--not at all.

Without turning his head, the elder brother raised his sword again.

The trees fell down in a row like dominoes.

Chen Hao watched, thinking to himself that this setup could easily be made into a multi-story raft.

With the timber ready, the next step is to tie the raft together.

Chen Hao is a professional when it comes to technical work, and he provided guidance from the side—the main beam was made of the thickest wood, the cross braces were made of thinner round logs, and the joints were tied with vines to form a triangular structure to increase stability.

The deck is made of thin branches and broad-leaved plant leaves, which is both lightweight and non-slip.

Ou Yun and he worked together in sync, and it was done in no time.

The raft is about four meters long and two meters wide. Although it doesn't look very nice, I stood on it and tried it out, and it had no problem with load-bearing capacity and stability.

"Alright!"

Ou Yun jumped twice on the raft, and the raft floated steadily on the water without even swaying.

"With this skill, even Captain Leng will praise me when we get back!"

Chen Hao said, "Walking."

Then, he jotted down notes: "Two hours and forty minutes of raft construction... Big Brother's hands-on skills have improved significantly, but he still needs to continue practicing..."

He'd written quite a bit. Ou Yun stood on the raft looking at him, "You didn't secretly curse me out, did you?"

"No, no, I was just complimenting you!"

"real?"