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

"Now."

Leng Ruolan finished the last sip of juice and stood up.

"The sooner we get a clear picture of the situation, the better. Let's try to complete the first round of reconnaissance before dark, and then we'll summarize the intelligence when we get back tonight!"

"Okay!"

The two of them expertly prepared their gear and set off on their motorcycles, one to the north and one to the south.

Nanbei was given to Ou Yunqi. Lvdou was left in the camp by Leng Ruolan to lead the lynx herd and strengthen patrols.

Although this little guy is usually mischievous, he never fails when it comes to serious matters, and his ability to command a lynx herd is no less than that of Nanbei.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the two parted ways.

Leng Ruolan headed towards the mine, while Ou Yun continued towards the circular valley.

As she was leaving, Leng Ruolan said with a smile, "Big brother, be careful."

"The same to you."

Ou Yun waved to her, then patted Nanbei on the back, "Let's go."

Nanbei let out a low howl, spread its four legs, and ran towards the direction of the circular valley.

*

The circular valley is about four hours away from the camp.

I've traveled this route several times before, and I know the terrain and vegetation along the way by heart.

But today he deliberately slowed down, carefully observing his surroundings as he walked.

The Forbidden Zone announcement stated that the area interaction function would be available in three days, but Ou Yun had a feeling that the Forbidden Zone wouldn't be so obedient—

Maybe the feature will be available ahead of schedule?

Maybe someone has already gotten close to them?

This guy from Forbidden Zone likes to surprise them from time to time.

After walking for about two hours, Nanbei suddenly stopped.

It lowered its head, sniffed the ground carefully with its nose, and then let out a low whimper.

"What's wrong?" Ou Yun jumped off Nanbei's back and squatted down next to it.

The ground was a gravel beach, which looked no different from ordinary mountain gravel.

But Ou Yun soon discovered the anomaly—several pieces of gravel were in the wrong position.

They are not naturally displaced by the wind or water, but rather deliberately arranged into certain marked shapes.

An arrow.

The arrow points in the opposite direction to the circular valley.

"Someone has been here before."

Ou Yun frowned slightly. He stood up and looked in the direction the arrow pointed—there was a dense coniferous forest with thick canopies, making it impossible to see inside from the outside.

Nanbei sniffed the ground again, then used its paw to scratch at a piece of rubble next to the arrow.

There was a small piece of cloth pressing down on the stone.

Ou Yun bent down and picked it up.

The fabric was military green, with scorched edges and a faint smell of blood.

Judging from the texture and weaving method of the fabric, it's not from their group.

Other athletes were in the vicinity and were injured.

Ou Yun put the fabric into his pocket and patted Nanbei's head: "Can you track the scent?"

Nanbei sniffed the fabric again, then raised its head and let out a low growl towards the coniferous forest.

—Over there.

"Let's go check it out. Be careful."

The European train resumed its north-south route, slowly approaching the coniferous forest.

The coniferous forest was dimly lit, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of pine needles that were soft and silent underfoot.

The air was filled with the sweet scent of pine resin, but beneath this fragrance lurked a faint, almost imperceptible, smell of blood.

The deeper you go into the forest, the stronger the smell of blood becomes.

Nanbei walked very slowly, taking each step quietly, completely unlike his usual reckless manner.

Its ears stood erect, its pupils narrowed to slits, and all the muscles in its body were tense—this was how it entered battle mode.

After walking for about ten minutes, a clearing in the woods appeared ahead.

In the center of the open space, there was the carcass of a wild animal that had recently died.

It was a medium-sized mutated wild boar, its neck slashed open with a sharp weapon, the wound clean and deep enough to expose the bone, the technique clean and efficient.

Several spent cartridge cases were scattered on the ground around the body—9mm pistol cartridge cases, not the type used by their team.

Beside the body, a trail of footprints stretched deeper into the woods.

The footprints were very shallow. A person who can leave such shallow marks on pine needles must either be very light or have undergone rigorous stealth training.

However, there is one detail—the footprints are not evenly spaced, with the left footprint being deeper than the right.

Based on the knowledge points taught by Leng—

This person has an injured right leg.

Ou Yun dismounted from Nanbei's back, walked to the wild boar carcass, squatted down, and carefully examined the wounds.

It was caused by a sharp weapon, an extremely sharp one, killing the beast instantly, leaving it no time to struggle.

This level of knife skill would be at the level of a top special forces soldier in the real world.

—Although he's still a bit short of being as good as the Cold Team.

He had once watched Captain Leng slaughter a pig up close. Good heavens, the way he wielded the knife, slaughtering the pig was like chopping vegetables. It made him feel a chill run down his spine.

He then looked at the cartridge case.

It's made of copper, and there's even a clear manufacturer's stamp on the bottom.

Beautiful country.

"..."

No, why would a bullet found in a place like this have a steel stamp?

Ah, this damn sense of destiny!

Ou Yun chuckled inwardly, stood up, dusted off the pine needles from his hands, and looked in the direction the footprints led.

Deep in the woods, a faint light could be seen.

There are people over there.

"..."

Ou Yun thought to himself, "This is a bit like Ke Qing."

Why does this feel a bit like luring someone into a trap?

This guy deliberately set a trap here!

But Ou Yun actually thought about it.

Should we go directly to make contact, or retreat first and discuss it with Team Leader Leng?

If the opponent is indeed a US athlete and is injured, now would be the safest time to make contact.

Conversely, the fact that an injured person could kill a mutated wild boar with a single blow suggests that his combat effectiveness wasn't significantly weakened by the injury.

If you approach rashly, and the other party is highly vigilant, they might attack you on sight, making the situation difficult to control.

"Nanbei, you wait here. I'll go check."

Ou Yun decided to approach them alone first.

No rush, let's play around with him first.

The targets in the north and south are too large and easily exposed.

Nanbei seemed a little worried, nuzzling Ouyun's hand with its head and letting out a low meow.

"It's okay, I know what I'm doing."

Ou Yun subconsciously rubbed the spatial ring on his hand—

Yeah, if this guy ever has any dangerous ideas, I'll just pull out a bomb and blow him to bits.

Incidentally, he also has a sword.

The dark red patterns on the sword flashed in the dim forest, as if responding to him.

Carrying his sword, Ou Yun cautiously approached the firelight, following the direction of the footprints.

After walking about fifty meters, the view ahead gradually became clearer.

Behind a huge fallen log, a small campfire was burning.

A man was sitting by the campfire.

He had blond hair, a burly build, and wore a worn-out combat uniform that still revealed it was originally camouflage.

Dark red blood had seeped through the bandage on his right calf.

There was a pistol and a military knife next to it.