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

He watched as Chen Hao explained the formula's principles with great enthusiasm, then glanced at the densely packed test data on the record board next to the furnace—

However, after listening to it, he gradually understood.

He always thought that the advantage of the Chinese players was just good luck and that they got better supply boxes.

Now he understands that behind those so-called "good equipment" are the results of countless days and nights and hundreds of failed experiments!

However, after figuring all this out, Allen felt even more lost.

What? Could it be that the ultimate goal of metaphysics really is science...?!

Allen couldn't stay idle, so he started helping Hassan feed the mutated plant.

It's called feeding, but it's really just turning the waste from last night's battle into fertilizer.

Allen watched him shovel the combat debris next to the carnivorous plant, then looked up and noticed the maple leaf emblem on his clothes. He grinned and said, "Maple Leaf Country? Is it especially cold there? I saw it on TV; they said it gets to tens of degrees below zero in winter."

Allen paused for a moment before realizing what was happening, and then instinctively scratched his head.

"Uh...it is quite cold. But isn't it even colder where you are? Pakistan, I remember it has a desert climate, right?"

"The desert is hot during the day and cold at night! But it's all about the same. Compared to this forbidden land, everywhere is comfortable."

Hassan laughed heartily.

Allen smiled too.

Hassan patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, let's get to work. There's still a lot of waste left. This guy has a big appetite; we have to finish it today!"

Allen gave an "oh," and looked at the fertilizer that smelled strange. "There's waste material in this forbidden area too?"

"Ugh, this was all made by Brother Chen throwing the players' corpses into the furnace. This plant loves to eat it!"

"..."

This is hell!

*

Meanwhile, Leng Ruolan took Nanbei and Douglas to the old camp in Maple Leaf Country.

The two people and the cat walked up the mountain path.

Halfway there, Douglas suddenly stopped.

"Captain Leng, someone's following us."

He lowered his voice and pointed towards a dense forest to the west.

Leng Ruolan didn't even glance at them and continued walking forward. "I know. We've been following them for almost half an hour, and the lynx herd has already surrounded them."

Douglas paused, then looked carefully towards the dense forest—

Sure enough, several pairs of golden-brown eyes were gleaming in the darkness from within the bushes.

Looking further into the distance, even more creatures were hidden in the denser forest.

When he was scouting the old camp, he always felt that something was watching him, and he thought it was a mutated beast observing him from the shadows.

Only now did he realize that those were not wild beasts at all, but a herd of lynxes.

"So you guys were..."

Douglas swallowed hard. "You're monitoring our every move?"

"Pretty much. Green Bean was in charge of the daytime, and Red Bean was in charge of the nighttime. But what you two talked about that night was quite interesting. Red Bean came back and reported that you came here to surrender directly—at that moment, I felt that you weren't here to die."

Leng Ruolan continued walking forward, her tone indifferent.

Douglas remained silent for several seconds, then shook his head with a wry smile.

He recalled how the two of them squatted by the campfire discussing how to negotiate with the Chinese, and how Allen was worried that they wouldn't take their intelligence seriously.

It now appears that there were at least four lynxes listening to them that night.

He was actually worried that they wouldn't like him—they already knew everything about them.

The old campsite was hidden in a natural cave below a cliff to the north. The entrance was completely covered by ferns and pebbles and could not be seen from the outside.

But once you get closer, you can see that the surrounding rocks are covered with dense markings—the distribution points of abyssal energy, the activity routes of mutated beasts, and several safe zones marked out.

Leng Ruolan looked at the markings and told Douglas that the information was very useful, asking why they hadn't come sooner.

Douglas crouched down and dug out an iron box buried under rubble from deep within the cave. Inside were several fragments of abyssal crystals and a well-worn notebook with the maple leaf logo of Maple Leaf Country printed on the cover.

"We wouldn't dare. We're afraid you'll kill us."

He patted the dust off the metal box and said softly, "There's no trust among the contestants in the forbidden area. They have to think three times before they speak to you. But we later discovered that distrust leads to certain death sooner or later, so we might as well take a gamble. If you lose, it's fate; if you win, at least you can live a few more days."

Leng Ruolan leaned against the rock wall, watching the back of the Maple Leaf Country scout squatting on the ground digging something, and suddenly remembered that many days ago, Alexander of the Bear Country had said something similar.

Alexander said at the time that they thought the Chinese athletes would steal their supplies like everyone else, but the European Games gave them a barbecue instead.

From that day on, they followed the Dragon Kingdom wholeheartedly.

Trust is indeed a luxury in forbidden territory.

But once you give it away, you often get more in return than you expect.

As evening fell, Leng Ruolan returned to the camp.

In addition to the personal belongings of the two Canadian players, Douglas also brought back a whole box of reconnaissance logs—

Every page was filled with dense writing, recording all the details they had observed in the forest over the past month.

Chen Hao's eyes lit up when he took the box, and he stayed in the stone house for two whole hours, engrossed in the laptop.

During dinner, Ou Yun announced a new decision.

Starting tomorrow, the camp will officially begin its expansion.

Our first stop was the area with high concentrations of abyssal energy north of the old Maple Leaf Kingdom camp.

If the forest lord's lair can be found, launch an attack immediately. If not, at least thoroughly investigate the terrain and energy distribution of that area to prepare for the subsequent all-out assault.

"So fast?"

Alexander was speechless. "That's a lord-level monster! Last time, it trapped all three giant beasts with a flick of its finger!"

"Last time is last time, this time we are prepared."

Leng Ruolan drew an attack route map on the tactics board and gave instructions without turning her head.

She is the main vanguard tomorrow, responsible for engaging the enemy head-on.

Douglas was the guide; he had scouted the north for so long, he knew the terrain better than anyone else.

But Douglas knew in his heart that this was actually a kind of hostage—once the Cold Captain found something was wrong, he could just kill him on the spot. Anyway, they were outside, so it was simple and convenient!

Chen Hao was stationed at the camp to oversee logistics and intelligence support.

The brothers from the Bear Kingdom and the Pakistani Kingdom continued to strengthen the camp's defenses to deal with possible attacks from other players—those groups that escaped last night certainly wouldn't let it go easily.

Allen, who had a leg injury, stayed behind to assist Chen Hao.

Ou Yun raised his hand, "What about me?"

Leng Ruolan didn't turn her head back. "You take a helicopter with two missiles and bombard the lord's head first."

"What if it doesn't work?"

"If that doesn't work, then use your red and green greatsword."

"What if that still doesn't work?"

"If that doesn't work, I'll throw you out. Whether it's a lord or some ultimate monster, it'll be crippled or dead."

"..."