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

"Yes, I think that might just be the beginning. The Forbidden Zone never releases just one new monster two days in advance—there are definitely more to come."

Ou Yun held up one finger, "So I've decided not to open these three boxes yet."

In case something even more outrageous comes out, we still have a trump card up our sleeve.

"Oh……"

Leng Ruolan thought to herself, "Anyway, it's all the same since you're the one who sets the results."

She joked, "Wow, you're much more cautious now, bro."

"I don't call this caution, I call it maturity."

"Okay, okay, I'll mature, I'll mature."

At that moment, Chen Hao suddenly rushed in.

"Brother! Something's happened at the river bend."

"What's going on?"

"We've found traces of that handsome Chinese man!"

"That guy has definitely been within our surveillance range... Has something happened?"

"We carefully investigated based on the direction he came from..."

Chen Hao pushed up his glasses, his tone carrying a complex emotion, "It seems like he was chased back by something, rather than returning for some other reason."

Leng Ruolan immediately became alert. "What's chasing you?"

"Maxim took Red Bean and went to chase after them. He said he saw a large group of monsters he'd never seen before chasing after them out of the canyon—"

At this point, Chen Hao took a deep breath.

"They stopped near the river bend and then retreated... I don't know why."

"Tsk..."

This is indeed very important information.

"Where is that handsome Chinese man now?"

"At the river bend, next to the crooked old tree, he sat motionless. He didn't seem to have any intention of going up the mountain."

Leng Ruolan thought for a moment, "I'll go take a look."

Ou Yun stood up and put the three golden supply boxes back into his spatial ring. "I'll go with you."

The two walked down the mountain path.

The morning mist had completely dissipated, and the sunlight shone into the valley, making the river surface sparkle.

Under the crooked old tree, Mike remained in the same position—sitting on the ground with his back against the trunk, the makeshift bandage on his right leg soaked in blood, his face blank with utter emptiness.

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan saw this, exchanged a glance, and were about to say something—

Suddenly, Mike's body twitched without warning.

Ou Yun blinked, thinking he had misread it.

Mike, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

His eyes were bloodshot, an unnatural crimson. His hands began to contort in an extreme way that was difficult for ordinary people to comprehend. The bandage on his right leg twitched violently, as if something alive was about to burst out from below.

Holy crap!

Ou Yun and Leng Ruolan jumped back almost simultaneously.

Mike's body was undergoing a dramatic transformation at a speed visible to the naked eye—

His skin began to show dense, dark purple patterns, exactly the same as the abyssal energy patterns they had seen in the circular valley!

His knuckles made a cracking sound, and his fingernails turned black and sharpened at an incredible speed.

His pupils shrank to pinpoints, vertical slits devoid of any human emotion, containing only pure hunger and brutality.

The bandages on his previously injured leg had been stretched to the point of breaking, and a fist-sized lump had bulged on the skin underneath. The surface of the lump was covered with fine blood vessels that were pulsating rhythmically, as if it were breathing.

This is outrageous!

Ou Yun drew his sword with a whoosh, then exclaimed in shock, "What the hell is going on? Wasn't he injured? How did he suddenly mutate?!"

"You're asking me? Who should I ask?"

Leng Ruolan also drew her twin swords. "This doesn't look like an ordinary mutation at all!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Mike—or rather, this unknown thing that used to be Mike—suddenly sprang up from the ground.

Its movements were no longer those of a normal two-legged creature—all four limbs were on the ground simultaneously, and its back was arched high.

A slit opened in the tumor on his right leg, and a bony tentacle with barbs slowly emerged from it.

The whiskers swung in the air and then slammed into the ground with a crack, leaving a deep furrow in the gravel.

"roar--!"

It let out a roar that was completely unlike anything a human could make, and then pounced on the two of them.

It's incredibly fast.

Before Ou Yun could even see how it moved, its left hand, which had completely turned into claws, was already grabbing at him.

when!

The claws slammed into the sword, but the force was so great that even Ou Yun was shaken back three or four steps, his arm going numb.

Ou Yun couldn't help but slowly remark, "That strength is even more ferocious than a mutated wild boar..."

Leng Ruolan's eyes widened. Good heavens, where did this person go? Did he come back infected with the virus?

Could it already be a monster from the abyss?

Could it be that all the monsters of the Abyss faction come from this?

Or is this another conspiracy by some lord?

Therefore, it is clear that a direct confrontation would not yield any significant advantage.

Leng Ruolan made a decisive move and cut in from the side. She crossed her two swords and immediately slashed at Mike's right leg with its long tentacles!

The black mist on the blade exploded the moment it touched the skin, making a hissing, corrosive sound.

Mike's right leg was corroded, leaving a fist-sized wound from which black pus and blood gushed, dripping onto the ground and rising in wisps of white smoke.

But Mike didn't seem to feel any pain at all.

It turned its head and glanced at Leng Ruolan, then suddenly lashed out at her with the whiskers on its right leg.

Leng Ruolan dodged the tentacles' frontal strike with a backflip, but the barbs at the tips of the tentacles still snagged on her sleeve, tearing off a large piece of fabric with a ripping sound.

Ou Yun immediately shouted, "Captain Leng, are you alright?!"

"It's alright! It didn't touch any flesh!"

Leng Ruolan adjusted her posture in mid-air and landed steadily on a large rock.

She looked down at her torn sleeve, her expression turning serious.

"Big brother, although this guy is no longer human, he seems to have completely retained human fighting spirit—"

Leng Ruolan spoke.

"Look at its movements; it's not just a wild beast pouncing; it's methodical."

Its attack routes, center of gravity shifts, and even the angles of each pounce all bear obvious tactical marks.

Does this also mean that it's not just its body and brain that have mutated, but also that the remaining part of its human consciousness is being controlled by some kind of force?

no……

Leng Ruolan suddenly felt that this matter was a bit beyond her expectations.

"Mike!"

Europe is trying to awaken the conscience of these two-legged creatures: "Can you still hear me?!"

Mike paused for a moment, as if he had actually heard it.

It tilted its head and stared at Ou Yun with its scarlet eyes.

A gurgling sound came from his throat, as if he was trying to say something, but his vocal cords had obviously mutated, and he could only make a hoarse sound that was not meaningful.