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

On the third day after returning to the camp, Ou Yun was finally able to sleep in.

There were no tree roots chasing after them, no giant beasts blocking their way, only the creaking of the mill waterwheel outside the window, mixed with Hassan's shouts to the cows in the distant fields, and the clanging sounds of Chen Hao tinkering with some new invention downstairs.

Ou Yun lay in the hammock, his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the patterns on the wooden planks on the ceiling that had been smashed and repaired by the Storm Black Hawk.

Yesterday, the leader didn't come to the hyena and pangolin area, but he sent his men to deliver a message.

As a result, they themselves did not know—

What districts and lords? These are completely unheard of.

Ou Yun thought about it and realized it made sense. Hyenas and pangolins were roughly in the same social class as the North and South, like village chiefs, right?

That lord is probably like a provincial governor—it's normal for a village chief to have never seen a provincial governor.

Ou Yun was half asleep, almost drifting off again, when suddenly a thunderclap sounded in his ear:

"Big brother! Are you up yet?!"

Alexander's loud voice came from downstairs.

"Get up, get up—"

Ou Yun responded lazily, turned over, and closed his eyes again.

But three seconds later, Leng Ruolan's voice came through: "Stop pretending, big brother, I heard you turn over. Come down for dinner, we have honey pancakes today."

Ou Yun's eyes snapped open.

"Here we go!"

He sprang up from the hammock with a quick somersault, put on his coat, and ran downstairs.

I almost bumped into a green bean tree that was climbing up the stairs while I was going down the stairs.

Green Bean, carrying a field mouse bigger than its head, saw Ou Yun come down and proudly placed the mouse at his feet, meowing.

"..."

Ou Yun squatted down and rubbed Green Bean's head, then casually moved the field mouse it was carrying to the side. "Good boy, keep it for yourself."

I casually asked, "Where's your brother Nanbei?"

Green Bean tilted its head and meowed in the direction of the window.

Ou Yun looked over and saw Nanbei perched atop the watchtower, his tail swaying back and forth, seemingly on guard duty.

Since the last incident with the Forest Lord, this guy has become noticeably more vigilant, personally patrolling the watchtower every morning and evening.

"You've grown up."

Ou Yun sighed and walked into the square.

The scene in the square stunned him for a moment.

A huge wooden table was placed next to the campfire—this table wasn't there before, and judging from the age of the wood, it must have been made in the last couple of days.

The table was laden with food: honey pancakes, roasted wild boar, wild vegetable and egg drop soup, several dishes of pickled wild fruit, and a large jug of chilled fruit juice.

Nine people sat around the table. The three from Pakistan and the three from Xiong had already started eating. Leng Ruolan sat next to the main seat with three empty plates in front of her—clearly, she had already finished her first round of eating.

Chen Hao sat at the other end of the table, munching on a waffle while scribbling in his notebook.

The seat in the very center of the table, which is the head seat, is, of course, empty.

"Please sit down, Village Chief."

As Leng Ruolan watched him come down, she drizzled honey on the fourth pancake and said with a smile, "Hurry up and sit down to eat, it won't taste good if it gets cold."

Ou Yun gave an "oh" and sat down in the main seat with a natural air of nonchalance.

"When was this table made?"

The day before yesterday.

Alexander pointed to himself, "I made this with Ivan and Maxim. We used the old pine tree that was struck by lightning on the back hill; the wood is good, with straight grain, perfect for making a table!"

"Struck by lightning?"

"Yeah, the time when Storm Blackhawk and Frost Roc were arguing, a bolt of lightning struck and split that tree in two."

Ivan added from the side, "We thought it would be a waste, so we dragged it back and used it. The split lines are particularly beautiful, look at this tabletop—"

"Oh……"

Ou Yun thought about it and realized that there had indeed been a lot of arguments here lately, and even the shadowy father couldn't stop them.

Could it be because of Black Hawk's mother? Judging from its previous tone, topics related to its mother are very sensitive...

Forget it, let these mutated behemoths do what they want, just don't let them destroy his house.

Ou Yun looked down and carefully examined the desktop.

Indeed, you can vaguely see several charred electric shock marks between the wood grains, like a natural ink painting, which is quite artistic.

"This table would sell for at least tens of thousands of yuan in the real world."

Hassan said half-jokingly, "Forbidden land lightning-struck wood, pure natural and pollution-free, every grain is unique."

"Then let's make a few more, and take them back to sell after we clear the level."

Ou Yun smiled, picked up a waffle, and took a bite.

The pancakes are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with the sweetness of honey and the slight tartness of wild berries blending together to create a delightful flavor.

The wild boar meat was roasted to perfection, with most of the fat melted away, making it fatty yet not greasy, and lean yet not dry.

Egg drop soup is light and refreshing, and the fragrance of wild vegetables and the smoothness of egg drop soup complement each other perfectly.

Ou Yun ate to his heart's content—every time he ate like this, he started to wonder if he was actually in a forbidden area, haha.

He sighed contentedly, "This is the life a human being should live."

"Brother, your reflection comes a little late."

Chen Hao pushed up his glasses and said half-jokingly, "We've been living like this for quite a while now."

"That's different. Before, it was about merely existing; now it's about living."

Leng Ruolan looked up at him, seemingly wanting to laugh, but held back, and then lowered her head to continue eating her fifth pancake.

"By the way, Captain Leng, what about that giant tortoise?"

Ou Yun suddenly remembered something, looked around, and said, "Didn't you come back with us before?"

"In the river."

Leng Ruolan gestured with her chin towards the foot of the mountain. "It thought our campsite was too small, so it found a deep pool in the downstream river bend and spent the night there. I saw it still there when I patrolled the mountain this morning, so I guess it plans to stay for a long time."

"Is that pool deep enough?"

"That's enough. That pool is connected to an underground river, and it's bottomless."

This guy even turned over the silt at the bottom of the water, creating a flat area, and moved a few big rocks to use as stools, making it look quite real.

Leng Ruolan shrugged. "Oh, right, this morning it brought up a big fish that was over a meter long and put it at the entrance of our ice cellar."

He laughed as he spoke, "The fish have been increased tenfold, so we Chinese are sure to have plenty to eat."

"Oh, that's great?"

Ou Yun's eyes lit up. "A fish over a meter long?! What kind is it? Is it edible?"

Chen Hao said yes, "It's like the rainbow fish we encountered before."

"I cut off a piece, grilled it, and tried it. It tasted good; the flesh was firmer than regular rainbow fish and had a slightly sweet flavor. The rest is frozen in the freezer; I can make fish soup for lunch."