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

"Yes, suddenly a ray of light shot out and burrowed into my arm. Luckily, I had my breastplate on."

"A breast protector?"

Ou Yun then took out the breastplate from his collar and showed it to them.

A very fine purple line appeared on the breast protector, so fine that it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

According to the original instructions, this item could only withstand one fatal blow, so it should have already been used.

But Ou Yun still subconsciously wore it on her body; it was warm and comforting.

Chen Hao stared at the pattern for a long time, then suddenly turned around and ran towards the stone house.

"I'm going to do a few tests!"

If the Heart-Protecting Mirror can absorb the infection of Abyssal energy, it suggests that there might be some kind of balancing relationship between Abyssal materials.

This will be of great reference value for them in dealing with abyss monsters in the future!

His voice disappeared almost instantly at the door of the stone house.

Leng Ruolan watched his retreating figure and chuckled.

"When Brother Chen makes a new discovery, he doesn't care about anything else."

"Isn't that great? Anyway, there's nothing much to do right now—by the way, is there anything to eat? I'm starving."

There should still be some leftover pancakes in the kitchen.

"Why are there pancakes again...?"

*

Meanwhile, on Blue Star, in a special zone of the beautiful country.

The atmosphere in the emergency meeting room on the ground floor of the Capitol was so heavy it could be wrung out.

The long conference table was filled with members of parliament in suits and generals in sharp uniforms.

Everyone was staring at the three lines of cold text on the projection screen.

[The entire national team of the beautiful country—all wiped out.]

[Killers: Leng Ruolan, a player from the Dragon Kingdom, and her contracted creature, Green Bean.]

The next batch of candidates is currently being selected and is expected to be released again in three days.

The words on the screen have been playing on a loop for a full twenty minutes.

No one speaks.

The air in the meeting room seemed to have been sucked away, and everyone was expressing the same emotion through varying degrees of silence.

A complex feeling that is somewhere between despair and numbness, and is hard to describe.

Finally, the middle-aged man sitting in the main seat spoke.

His hair was gray, and he wore a dark blue suit with a name tag on his chest that read: Minister of Defense.

"How many batches is this already?"

"The fourth batch."

The secretary sitting next to him flipped through the documents, her voice dry and rough like sandpaper.

"The first batch of soldiers were all killed on the day the second phase began."

"The second batch survived for eleven days before being wiped out after encountering the Dragon Kingdom player, Ou Yun."

"The third group survived for twenty-three days, but all perished after their failed raid on the Dragon Kingdom's camp. Including today's group—twelve people in total—they all died at the hands of the Dragon Kingdom's players."

"Twelve...twelve of the most elite special forces soldiers went in, and then what?"

The defense minister tapped the table with his knuckles; the sound wasn't loud, but it sounded particularly jarring in the quiet conference room.

"Did we acquire any useful resources? Did we trigger even a single 10,000x multiplier? Did any player survive to the late stages of the second phase?"

No one answered.

Because everyone knows the answer.

No.

From the day they arrived at the forbidden area, the selected candidates were all top-notch—either special forces soldiers or active-duty soldiers or retired soldiers.

They initially thought this was a good thing, since it meant they had a head start.

However, it turned out to be bullshit.

They were all talented people, but they kept sending people in and then letting them go, only to have them all die.

Having tried both good and bad methods, I either died a horrible death or...

Especially when it comes to Chinese players.

You really learn from your mistakes!

What, are all their players little gluttons??

They have already issued many announcements.

Once you've been selected as a forbidden zone contestant, don't engage in direct confrontations with the Chinese! Survive first!

However, these contestants initially followed the instructions and managed to survive.

But in the end, they always inexplicably set their sights on the Chinese players.

It's as if there's some special quality about the athletes from China that's attracting them...

孽 孽!

They have been investing continuously—investing their best talent, their most sophisticated equipment, and their most meticulous tactical simulations.

But all the investment was like throwing it into a black hole, not even making a splash!

And what about the other side?

China has become the only superpower on Earth by investing ten thousand times more.

Food, minerals, medicinal herbs, energy—they have obtained more resources from the forbidden area than they can use!

"Gentlemen."

The minister took a deep breath and stood up, supporting himself on the table with both hands.

"I'm not calling this meeting today to discuss how to turn things around. To be frank, the possibility of a comeback is no longer there."

A low commotion arose in the conference room.

But no one refuted him.

"The return on investment from the forbidden zone is zero. The return on investment from the Dragon Kingdom is astronomical. This is not a difference in tactics, not a difference in talent, not a difference in equipment—it's a difference in systems."

The minister sighed deeply, "The underlying logic of the entire restricted area mechanism determines that we cannot win."

He paused, scanning the faces of everyone present.

"So I've gathered everyone here today to make a decision."

"Our beautiful country... should formally surrender to the dragon country."

A deathly silence fell over the conference room.

Then, an elderly councilor with gray hair slowly raised his hand.

"I agree."

Another member of parliament next to him also raised his hand.

I agree.

Then came the third, the fourth, and the fifth—

In less than a minute, everyone in the conference room raised their hands.

This was a unanimous vote.

The minister looked at the raised hands and let out a long sigh.

"Then, immediately initiate diplomatic contacts with the Dragon Kingdom. Let them set the terms, and we will accept them all."

*

At the same time, the third phase of the forbidden area officially began.

At that moment, all the surviving contestants felt an indescribable change.

It's not visual, it's not auditory, it's more instinctive—

Everyone's senses were magnified twice in an instant.

The sound of the wind in the forest, the scent of the earth beneath my feet, and the low growls of mutated beasts in the distance.

All the previously faint information became clear and intense.

The regional interaction function is now officially launched.

At the same time, a new notification has been updated:

[After this phase begins, each mutated beast a player kills will increase all their attributes by 0.01%.]

This boost can be stacked indefinitely, and the increase will vary depending on the difficulty of the beasts killed.

All players, please enhance your stats and try your best to survive!

"Tsk tsk, the special rewards for the second stage have become a regular feature."

When the notification arrived, Leng Ruolan had just returned from her morning exercise, her back steaming as if she had just stepped out of a steamer.

Ou Yun, who had just gotten up, took a bite of the strange fruit that the White Fox Prince had somehow gotten his hands on. "This is forcing us to keep fighting."

"This is a good thing!"

Leng Ruolan grinned. "Not only are there rewards for killing players, but also for killing wild beasts. This shows that the Forbidden Zone encourages all forms of combat—whether it's human versus human or human versus beast!"

For her, it's definitely better to dip the beans in the sauce!

"Finally, there's a feature that can increase physical attributes!"

Ou Yun responded with an indifferent "Oh," adding, "Well, let nature take its course..."

After the last bite of fruit was swallowed.

[You consumed an unidentified wild fruit; your constitution has increased by 1%]

Ou Yun: ...?