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

Nanbei remained silent, only wagging its tail.

Whoosh!

Like a silver-gray lightning bolt, it lunged towards the center of the tentacles.

At that moment, the tentacles' attention was immediately drawn to it.

Countless barbed tentacles lashed out simultaneously from north to south, weaving a deadly net in the air.

But Nanbei's figure moved between the tentacles, even more agile than Leng Ruolan.

Its four claws stepped on the surface of the tentacles to bounce back, and its tail swung in the air, creating tricky arcs.

Every time the barbs of its tentacles were about to snag its fur, it managed to dodge at the last second by the slightest margin.

It is trying to buy time for the three people.

"Let's do it!"

Leng Ruolan, Ou Yun, and Ivan attacked simultaneously. (Short knife)

A machete, a heavy hammer—three weapons landed precisely on the same spot on the three tendons.

Click!

Click!

Click!

Three tendons ruptured simultaneously.

The core emitted an extremely shrill buzzing sound.

The frantically thrashing tentacles paused for a moment in mid-air, then all lost their strength and drooped limply like broken puppets.

The light on the core surface began to flicker rapidly, changing from purple to dark red, and then from dark red to grayish-white.

Obvious.

It's going to die.

"Core energy readings plummeted—three percent, two percent, one percent—to zero!"

The three people present were still observing, while Chen Hao's excited voice exploded through the communication:

"It worked! Yay! It worked!"

Chen Hao's voice came through the earpiece one after another like fireworks:

"This thing has been cut off from all external energy supplies; now it only has residual internal energy, which is insufficient to sustain the mountain's operation..."

Chen Hao then fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"Right, you guys need to finish it off immediately! Use the Abyss Sword to destroy the core itself! Otherwise, it might be able to revive from its ashes using that little internal energy..."

Upon hearing this, Ou Yun immediately put the machete into his spatial ring and drew out the Abyss Sword.

This sword is different from that traffic light-shaped sword—

The moment this thing was pulled out, the atmosphere in the room seemed to change instantly.

The red light on the sword began to flicker violently upon contact with the residual energy in the chamber.

It seemed to sense the presence of the core, and the sword began to emit a low hum that it had never heard before, which was also like a kind of greedy desire.

It wants to devour this core.

Europe felt it.

The hilt of the sword was burning hot in his hand, and with each final pulsation of the core, the red light on the blade intensified.

Cannibalism is a fundamental instinct of creatures from the abyss.

Ou Yun thought to himself, "That's right, anything from a forbidden area is meant to be used for raising Gu poison!"

"Don't rush."

Ou Yun patted the sword, as if he were soothing a hungry beast, "I'll let you eat it."

He walked up to the core that was rapidly dimming.

Leng Ruolan and Ivan stared intently from behind.

The core was suspended in the air, barely held up by the last few remaining fascia-like structures.

The surface light had dimmed to almost invisible, and the purple energy liquid flowing inside had become murky.

Even so, it is still beating.

One moment, one moment.

Another one.

"Lord of the Forest."

Ou Yun gripped his sword, gazing at the core that was larger than his entire body. "Actually, I've always wanted to know, what do you actually look like?"

There was no response from the core.

After all, it doesn't have a beak.

Ou Yun chuckled, gripped the hilt of his sword, aimed at the very center of the core, and thrust it fiercely.

Pfft!

The red light on the sword reached its peak at that moment.

The Abyss Sword, like a conduit, frantically draws the remaining energy from its core into its blade.

The core emitted a final hum, so low it sounded like a sigh, before fading completely.

Immediately, the entire chamber began to shake violently.

Rumble rumble rumble...

The mountain is collapsing.

"Everyone evacuate immediately! Immediately!"

Chen Hao's voice immediately followed.

"I'll land the helicopter at the gap on the south slope. In about three minutes, the mountain will completely collapse—hurry! Hurry!"

Ou Yun drew his sword and immediately turned to look at Leng Ruolan and Ivan, who were waiting for him at the entrance of the passage.

Instantly, the four people and a lynx were running at full speed through the disintegrating, rotting flesh.

Ivan couldn't help but look back.

The muscle tissue on the wall, deprived of its energy supply, became dry and brittle, collapsing in large chunks and crashing down behind them.

The purple liquid remaining in the blood vessels gushed out from the rupture, forming viscous streams on the ground.

The surrounding area was completely collapsed; basically, people were running in front while chunks of flesh collapsed behind them.

Looking at this scene, Ou Yun felt a pang of emotion.

They had just killed a lord—the first lord, the first of seven. And his sword had devoured its core—

Everything went smoothly this time.

I'm almost not used to getting to Europe so smoothly...

Soon, they broke through the gap.

The helicopter hovered outside the gap, the airflow from its rotors sending black debris flying everywhere.

Gripping the control stick, Chen Hao shouted from inside the cockpit, "Hurry! The south slope has started to collapse!"

The three of them rushed forward and grabbed the rope, with Nanbei even jumping up and biting it.

Ivan and Leng Ruolan pulled Ou Yun into the cabin together, and Nanbei quickly followed suit.

Before the three people and the cat could even settle in, Chen Hao yanked the control lever all the way down.

The helicopter ascended almost skimming the surface of the collapsed mountainside, its belly struck by flying debris with a clanging sound, and several fist-sized black fragments even shattered the rear windows.

The helicopter soared into the sky amidst the roar of the collapsing mountain, as the entire mountain behind it began to crumble.

The dark mountain range deflated like a hollow cake.

Whether it was the black outer shell or the rotten flesh-like biological tissue—everything turned to ashes after losing its energy support.

A massive column of smoke and dust shot into the sky, forming a menacing mushroom cloud against the blue sky.

Ou Yun leaned against the cabin wall, his body covered in purple slime and black dust.

The sword of the abyss was stuck in the floor beside him, its red light several times brighter than before, and the luster flowing in its patterns had become even deeper.

It devoured the Lord's core energy, and now it no longer resembles a forged weapon—it looks more like a living thing.

Leng Ruolan sat in the driver's seat, her hair covered in purple slime and gray dust, and a piece of her shirt had been torn off by the barbs on her tentacles during the run.

Ivan slumped in the back seat, the pincer-shaped hammer resting on his knees, its head covered in purple slime.

He stared out the window at the mushroom cloud still rising, his expression a mixture of shock and disbelief.

Everyone looked somewhat disheveled, their gazes invariably drawn to the apocalyptic collapse outside the window.

The cabin was very quiet.