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

The man seemed to sense something; he looked up in the direction of Ou Yun—

He appeared completely unfazed by the sudden appearance of Ou Yun, a fully armed stranger.

"Who are you……"

He spoke, his voice predictably hoarse, but his tone unexpectedly calm.

Ou Yun stood outside the firelight, sword in hand, and did not respond immediately.

The man wasn't in a hurry. He put his military knife on the ground, spread his hands, and made a non-threatening gesture.

"My name is Mike, and as you can see, I'm a competitor from the United States..."

Then he pointed to the wound on his leg.

"But I was very unlucky. After I fought with that wild boar, this is what happened to me."

Ou Yun scoffed—

Are you alone?

"As you can see, that's true for now."

Mike gave a wry smile. "My teammates went out to scout; we got separated yesterday."

As the man spoke, a strange, not-too-loud cry came from the surrounding area, like the mournful howl of an old owl—

Mike tensed up almost instinctively, glancing around warily, but after a while, seeing no further movement, he relaxed.

"Sorry, I was just attacked by a mutated wild boar, so I'm very sensitive to my surroundings..."

This beautiful Chinese man has regained his listless appearance.

Ou Yun silently murmured "oh" to himself.

It seems this guy wasn't lying.

He got lost, he was injured, and he was all alone.

That strange cry was the pre-arranged signal between him and Nanbei; he approached, and Nanbei searched the surrounding area.

Lynxes are like fish in water when hunting in the forest, aren't they?

If there's really no one else around, then it makes that strange noise.

Now the words of this beautiful Chinese person have been proven true—

Hmm, looks like they're up to some new crooked idea.

Ou Yun thought with a smile.

According to this American, he is now a piece of meat that can be slaughtered at will—European Union can take him down whenever it wants.

The problem is, this guy was too calm.

The normal reaction of someone who is injured, alone, and encounters a stranger in a restricted area should be vigilance, tension, or even fear.

But Mike's behavior was more like...wait.

What are you waiting for?

"You're a player from China, right...?"

Mike asked, "I've heard of you guys. You guys were really awesome in the forbidden area."

"Who said that?" Ou Yun asked.

"The news spread very quickly."

Mike shrugged. "If someone says they don't know any Chinese players, that's something to be laughed at."

Ou Yun smiled but didn't respond to the question.

He stepped into the firelight and sat down opposite Mike.

This gesture made Mike raise an eyebrow slightly—he clearly hadn't expected the European Games to be so direct.

"So what are your plans?"

Ou Yun took out a piece of dried meat from his spatial ring, chewing as he asked, "You're sitting here all alone with an injured leg. Aren't you afraid of being carried off by a mutated wild beast?"

"I'm waiting for a kind person..."

Mike laughed and said, "And then you came."

Ou Yun hadn't sheathed his sword yet, and his smile grew even brighter. "How do you know I'm a good person?"

This sword is no ordinary sword—if you look closely, you can see a faint mist seeping out of it.

Holy crap, how come such magical items have appeared in the forbidden area?

Mike was panicking inside, but he tried to remain calm on the surface. "If you weren't friendly, I would have been killed by you already."

Ou Yun looked down at the longsword at his waist and thought to himself, "Oh, that's true."

Then he didn't hold back, "How many people are on your team?"

"Three people."

Mike held up a number on his fingers. "Me, my buddy James, and Captain Sarah are all veterans."

Ou Yun clicked his tongue inwardly. A retired soldier? That's not enough to fight him. He's not even currently serving?

Where is your camp?

"We don't have a fixed campsite; we move around frequently."

"What?"

"This is safer."

Mike's expression turned somewhat helpless. "Early on, we encountered some large monsters and lost two teammates. Since then, we've decided to keep moving around."

Yes, that is indeed true.

Ou Yun chewed on the jerky, his mind racing.

What this guy said sounded reasonable—not having a fixed camp, frequently moving around, and losing teammates when encountering large monsters were all perfectly normal things in the forbidden area.

The problem is, he spoke too fluently.

It's as if these lines were prepared in advance.

"Where are your teammates?" Ou Yun asked.

"They went to scout the area near that big mountain to the north."

Mike pointed north. "We heard there's a safe zone over there, and we want to go see if it's true."

The mountains to the north.

Ou Yun's expression subtly changed.

The mountains to the north are their campsite!

In other words, Mike's two so-called lost teammates are now wandering around their camp.

real or fake?

Ou Yun suddenly felt inexplicably excited.

How did you hear about that safe zone?

Ou Yun swallowed the last bite of jerky and patted the crumbs off his hands.

"I met a player from a small country a few days ago. Before he died, he mentioned..."

Mike paused for a moment, his expression becoming somewhat subtle.

"Dead?"

"Yes, the wound is infected."

Mike sighed. "There are no proper medicines in this place. We've done our best."

Ou Yun nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

He stood up and whistled in the north-south direction.

Soon, Nanbei emerged from the woods, his massive body making almost no sound as he stepped on the pine needles.

Nanbei walked gently to Ouyun's side and nuzzled him affectionately, but his vertical pupils were fixed on Mike.

Mike's body visibly stiffened the moment he saw Nanbei.

"Holy crap..."

The jaws of the beautiful Chinese people almost dropped to the ground.

"What a big cat..."

"Its name is Nanbei, and it's my mount."

Ou Yun patted Nanbei's head, and Nanbei responded with a low growl, its golden pupils still fixed on Mike, its tail swishing slowly.

Mike instinctively placed his hand on the military knife beside him, but quickly let go.

"You are indeed extraordinary; no wonder you've survived until now..."

He shook his head, his expression complex.

"Do you want to come with me?"

Ou Yun's smile deepened. "I have medicine in my camp that can help treat your wound."

Mike was silent for a few seconds, seemingly weighing his options.

Then he nodded.

"That's great, thank you."

Ou Yun's smile remained unchanged as he unabashedly pulled out a roll of bandages and a small bottle of disinfectant from his spatial ring—these were homemade by Chen Hao using extracts from mutated plants, and their effects were no worse than regular medicine.

He threw the things to Mike.

"Let's re-bandage the wound first. The mountain path is difficult to walk on, and your leg won't hold up for much longer."