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

"However... even if the Dragon Kingdom is willing to cooperate with us, what can we offer them?"

Allen's voice lowered, as if he were talking to himself, "We have nothing. Not enough food, not enough ammunition, equipment... it's not bad, but in the eyes of the Chinese, it's just a pile of junk, right?"

"That's true... Why should they accept us?"

As he spoke, his face involuntarily turned sour again.

"Based on this intelligence we have."

Douglas pulled a hand-drawn map from his pocket and unfolded it proudly in front of the campfire. "Look at this location... I've marked all the abyssal energy nodes we discovered this afternoon. If the Dragon Kingdom's speculation is correct, there should be a vast abyssal energy network in the forest."

"And the node we discovered in the north is an area they haven't yet reached."

Allen leaned closer to look at the map, which was densely marked with dozens of points, each representing a trace of residual abyssal energy.

"Wow, this is so detailed? When did you draw it?"

"Over the past month, I've been taking notes during every reconnaissance mission. The Dragon Kingdom's exploration area is mainly in the direction of the circular valley and the mine; they've hardly ventured into this area to the north."

joke!

Dude, can you really go head-to-head with the Chinese?

My buddy never fights a battle he's not prepared for!

Douglas pointed to a specially marked area on the map, "And this, I suspect, is the lair of the Forest Lord."

Allen was startled when he heard the word "lord": "You... how did you come to that conclusion?"

Bro, you've even gotten close to the lord?

They now think twice before even passing hyenas!

"Of course it's... the density of abyssal energy."

Douglas gave a wicked smile.

"The energy concentration around this area is at least five times higher than anywhere else, and it is distributed in a ring shape—like some huge energy source spreading outward."

Douglas drew a circle on the map with his finger. "Plus, the direction from which that hissing sound came last night also matches this location."

"The density of abyssal energy..."

Allen looked amazed. Could players of their caliber even have access to such concepts?

Then he asked, "How did you know?"

"I overheard a strong team planning to ambush the Chinese last night when I went out to relieve myself."

"..."

"That's right, this information can also be sold to China."

Douglas burst into laughter.

In his expectation, the best outcome would be to become allies and curry favor with them—at the very least, they should get the Chinese to agree to do business with them.

This way, I can salvage some essential survival tools...

So they need to show their sincerity first!

Allen stared at the map for a long time, then took a deep breath: "So you're planning to use this map as a stepping stone?"

"It's not a stepping stone, it's a pledge of loyalty."

Douglas folded the map back up and put it in his pocket. "In the forbidden area, nothing is more valuable than intelligence. And the intelligence on this map is enough to prove that we are not a burden."

I don't think so...

Douglas wasn't sure either.

Let's take it one step at a time!

*

A night breeze blew through the coniferous forest, causing the campfire to flicker. A few sparks were swept into the air, merging into the starry sky.

Allen sat by the campfire, hugging his knees, staring blankly at the flickering flames.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke, as if he couldn't hold back any longer: "What if they still refuse?"

Douglas said, "What else can we do? We'll just have to accept it."

"At least we tried. It's much better than those other idiots who thought they could take over the Dragon Kingdom camp with three people and a few pieces of junk and then get gloriously blasted to smithereens."

Allen gave a wry smile.

Yes.

Rather than going to their deaths, choosing to seek refuge at least offers a glimmer of hope.

At least those people from the Dragon Kingdom have not yet recorded killing their allies.

Well, of course, that's assuming they can actually be allies...

*

In the Dragon Kingdom camp, the campfire was almost out.

Ou Yun lay in the hammock, gazing at the countless stars in the sky—

"Achoo!!"

I suddenly sneezed.

Ou Yun rubbed his nose, not paying any attention, and yawned.

Leng Ruolan looked at him with amusement.

"Looks like someone's thinking about you."

As she spoke, she sat back down and took a bottle of good juice from the ice cellar.

Ou Yun said she wanted mango flavor, "I'm sure it's not just humans who miss me."

Leng Ruolan said, "There's no other flavor, just apple flavor, you'll have to make do." "Well, you're quite self-aware."

"Whether they're human or not, they're all just here to get themselves killed."

Ou Yun rubbed his nose and rolled over in the hammock.

"Have Nanbei work overtime tomorrow morning to mark all those sneaky guys around here. Once they're all gathered, we'll take them all down at once."

Leng Ruolan slowly sipped her juice. "You mean you deliberately let them gather together?"

Ou Yun agreed, "It's too much trouble to deal with them one by one. It's best to have them form a temporary alliance first, gather enough people to attack together, and then we can wipe them out in one go."

After saying that, he yawned, "It saves time and effort, and is highly efficient."

"As expected of the eldest brother, he has never lost when it comes to confidence."

"It's not confidence, it's experience."

Boss Ou unconsciously closed his eyes. "Look... in the first stage we relied on luck, in the second stage we relied on equipment, in the third stage..."

"Rely on what?"

Europe did not respond.

He fell asleep.

Leng Ruolan looked at his face, which was flickering in and out of the light of the embers of the campfire, gently shook her head, and then gulped down the last mouthful of fruit wine.

indeed.

Who isn't walking on thin ice in forbidden territory?

The eldest brother always felt that the enemies weren't coming fast enough or in large numbers.

The most satisfying thing is to accumulate a batch and then reap the rewards—of course, Leng Ruolan was thinking of the monsters in the forbidden area.

But if it were a Blue Star player, would there be guys like the Bear Country and the Pakistani Iron Country who would come to surrender?

From a holistic perspective, she certainly doesn't mind having as many subordinates as possible.

Animals are helpful, but they can't speak human language—we can't rely on the older brother to guess everything.

She got up, looked at Mr. Ou's hammock, grabbed both of his hands with one hand, and held his legs with the other, then hoisted him onto her shoulder—

On the watchtower.

When Alexander came on duty, he saw Leng carrying the fast-sleeping Ou Yun into the house like a pig on a shove.

Alexander exclaimed, "They really are teammates...their relationship is really good."

Maxim had just gone downstairs when he heard Alexander's speech and glanced down. He immediately exclaimed, "Oh, so you carried him in today? I used to see Leng Du drag his big brother in."

"..."