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

Ou Yun said forget it.

He wondered why so many players kept coming to his camp even though it was perfectly safe—it was because they had read a walkthrough!

Given the current situation, and considering the new intelligence he'd gathered from various sources, he recently had a new idea—

Ou Yun suddenly changed the subject, "But... these guys are here to surrender to us, aren't they?"

Leng Ruolan said it was probably true, "The more clearly these people understand our situation, the more likely they are to choose to surrender."

Then she looked at Ou Yun: "What do you think?"

Ou Yun mumbled, "Since you're so sincere, let them in. It's better than someone sneaking over the wall in the middle of the night."

*

Fifteen minutes later.

The two Maple Leaf Country contestants were "invited" to the center of the Dragon Country camp square.

Allen sat on the stool, his whole body stiff as a piece of wood.

After all, Nanbei was squatting right next to him, and its size was even larger than that of an adult male lion, with its golden vertical pupils staring at him without blinking.

If I mispronounce a single word or syllable, that gaping maw will probably slam into my face—

Allen was thinking this.

Compared to him, Douglas was much calmer.

He had already prepared himself mentally on the way here.

"Allen, you know that place, the Dragon Kingdom camp. We saw it when we watched the live stream in the real world. That's not a place that can be viewed with ordinary thinking and perspective..."

"So, no matter what happens, we have to stay calm, okay? We must stay calm and composed."

"If we lose our composure so easily, the Chinese will think we're impatient and useless, which will actually make it harder for us to surrender, you know?"

When Allen heard this, he thought to himself, "You, BYD, actually surrendered quite skillfully."

Then Douglas successfully broke through the defenses after seeing the mutated plant wriggling on the ground and shaking its tentacles.

"What the hell is this...?!"

Douglas was terrified.

Allen comforted him, "It's okay, buddy. As long as we keep the big brothers in China satisfied, we won't have any close contact with this thing."

Haha, when they came in, the Dragon Kingdom camp hadn't even planted the seeds of this mutated plant yet!

"How did you get that leg injury? It looks pretty deep."

Finally, Captain Leng spoke, interrupting their train of thought.

Allen paused for a moment before realizing that the question was directed at him.

"I was being chased by a mutated wild boar, and I ran too fast and fell off a stone embankment, getting scratched by sharp rocks..."

His voice was a little hoarse, but his eyes were fixed on the roast meat on the table—he hadn't seen proper food in a very long time.

Ou Yun tossed a vial of medicine over, "Apply it yourself."

Douglas was flattered and thanked him repeatedly.

He skillfully removed the makeshift bandage from Allen's leg, cleaned the wound, applied disinfectant ointment, and then re-bandaged it, all in less than ten minutes.

After the medicine was applied, Allen took a map out of his pocket and handed it to Douglas.

His Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just laid the hand-drawn map on the wooden table.

Regardless of what the eldest brother thinks, they should first make sure they show the right attitude!

"This is a map showing the distribution of abyssal energy in the northern half of the entire forest area..."

He traced a circle on the map with his finger.

"The blue markers represent energy nodes that we have already confirmed, while the red markers represent speculative nodes that have not yet been verified in the field. All data was collected over the past month."

He pointed to a fenced-off area to the north.

"The energy concentration here is unusually high. We suspect it's the lair of a forest lord—or at least some important stronghold."

Ou Yun looked down at the map.

The drawing is extremely detailed, with coordinates, terrain features, and whether there are mutated beasts nearby marked next to each energy node—there are even simplified cross-sectional diagrams in some places.

This doesn't look like a map hastily pieced together; it's more like a map painstakingly created over countless days and nights, taking countless risks.

Leng Ruolan also came over and took a look, her gaze sharp as a knife.

"What do you want?"

Douglas took a deep breath.

He knew he would have to face this question sooner or later, but when he was actually asked it, his heart still couldn't help but pound wildly.

"Here's the intelligence. We don't want weapons, equipment, or resources. We only have one request—let us join us."

Allen clenched his fists tightly, his nails almost digging into his palms.

Leng Ruolan did not answer immediately.

She looked down at the map and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he walked over to Ou Yun and whispered something to him.

After listening, Ou Yun nodded and replied with a couple more sentences.

Leng Ruolan frowned and said a few more words.

Ou Yun shrugged and gave her a thumbs up.

Leng Ruolan turned around and walked back to the wooden table.

"First, answer me one question—how did you bypass those early warning lines?"

"I used to be in a reconnaissance unit, specializing in ambush and counter-ambush."

Douglas did not hide anything and confessed honestly.

"Your warning lines are indeed well laid out and well concealed, but the triggering mechanism is too predictable. There's a trigger point every thirty steps, all located in depressions in the ground. Once you find the pattern, you can bypass it."

Leng Ruolan nodded thoughtfully.

Then she turned and walked toward the watchtower, but stopped after a few steps.

Tell me the location of your camp.

Leng Ruolan said coldly, "I want to go and confirm it myself."

*

Leng Ruolan went with Douglas.

Before Captain Cold returned, Allen stayed temporarily at the Dragon Kingdom camp.

Chen Hao spent the entire morning with Allen in the stone house, rechecking every node on the energy distribution map.

As Allen reported on the statistical patterns of the energy nodes, Chen Hao pulled him aside to look at his makeshift experimental setup made of sheet metal and vines, and the abyssal furnace that was currently in operation—

Allen cursed inwardly several times.

This is the first time I've seen this amazing device up close... it's fucking incredible.

"Forging is done by mixing mutated biological materials with different properties with abyssal crystals. The compatibility of the materials, energy stability, enchantment effects of the finished product, and toughness balance must be tested repeatedly."

Chen Hao patiently explained to him:

"For example, the feathers of the Storm Blackhawk contain lightning elements, which are very unstable when forged alone and are prone to exploding. However, if ice crystal powder from the Frost Giant Roc is added, the two elements can form a stable structure similar to a superconducting state under the catalysis of abyssal energy, increasing the conductivity by at least three times—"

Alan's heart pounded with anxiety.

Are you speaking so frankly?

Is it because he's destined to die here?!