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

"You've thought of everything quite thoroughly."

"Sigh, what can I do? I'm the eldest brother."

Leng Ruolan chuckled, picked up her juice, and clinked glasses with him.

The starry sky overhead was as bright as ever, and the distant mountain ridges were outlined with soft contours under the moonlight.

Occasionally, the howls of mutated wild beasts could be heard from the forest, but the sounds were significantly fewer than before.

They all guessed that the abyssal energy in the forest was fading after the lord's death, and that the creatures that depended on the abyssal energy for survival had either migrated or were gradually returning to their normal forms.

Leng Ruolan: "What do you think the final stage of the forbidden area will be?"

Ou Yun: "I don't know. But it's definitely harder to fight than a lord."

Leng Ruolan thought for a moment and said that defeating all seven lords would definitely trigger the final stage.

Then maybe all the abyssal energy from all the regions converges into that city, and then a super boss hatches.

Even Ou Yun couldn't quite believe it. "How big must this boss be?"

"That's about the size of a city!"

Leng Ruolan paused for a moment, then added, "Or, the entire forbidden area is that big."

But so what?

They have already killed a lord.

The remaining six will fall at their feet sooner or later.

"Let's go to sleep."

Ou Yun stood up and patted the charcoal ash off his pants.

"We still have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, and we don't know what awaits us."

"You go first, I'll sit for a while longer."

Leng Ruolan glanced at him, asked no further questions, and turned to leave the watchtower.

Ou Yun sat alone on the watchtower.

He looked westward and could vaguely see a few faint points of light flickering on the farthest ridgeline.

It's the same purple color as the energy of the abyss.

The night wind blew from the valley, and Ou Yun took a deep breath and drew the Abyss Sword from his waist.

The patterns on the sword shimmered in the purple light from the west.

It seemed to sense the energy source in the distance as well, and the hilt of the sword was slightly warm in his hand, as if urging him to set off quickly.

"Don't rush."

*

"Attention everyone! Expedition team, assemble at 6:00! Departure at 6:30! Anyone late will have to do Marcus's bricklaying for a day!"

The next morning, Leng Ruolan's familiar roar echoed through the camp.

Marcus weakly corrected from below: "Those aren't bricks, they're cut stones—"

"It's all the same! Whoever's late has to move!"

Upon hearing Leng Ruolan's call, everyone immediately and quickly came down to assemble—this time even Ou Yun got up on time.

It's not that he's become more diligent.

It was because Leng Ruolan had moved the hammock under the watchtower while he was asleep last night.

Mr. Ou looked resentful: "That was such a dirty trick of yours."

Leng Ruolan smiled: "As long as it works."

Then I casually tossed him a bag of pre-packaged dry rations.

"Let's eat breakfast on the road! Let's check our gear one last time before we set off—especially that red and green gun."

"It's not the Sword of the Abyss anymore?"

"Brother Chen said that the Abyss Sword has already evolved once, and it needs time to digest the energy of the Lord's Core. We should avoid using it as much as possible on the way, and let it digest properly."

Leng Ruolan explained.

"The test that Brother Chen did last night showed that the energy density inside the sword is still rising, indicating that the absorption process is not completely over. Forcing its use may disrupt its evolutionary rhythm."

Ou Yun glanced down at the Abyss Sword at his waist, which emitted a gentle red glow—

Indeed, the temperature of the sword blade was higher than yesterday, and the pulsation of the patterns was more frequent.

My buddy carries this thing around like he's carrying a branding iron.

"Okay, this time we'll mainly use red and green."

Ou Yun patted his spatial ring, "Anyway, 9999999999 damage is enough."

At 6:30, the expedition team set off on time.

The six people and two lynxes set off in a grand procession westward along the mountain path.

Chen Hao stood on the watchtower, holding a telescope, watching the expedition team's figures gradually disappear into the morning mist.

On the table next to him lay a huge new map—which Marcus had just finished drawing last night, marking all the defensive fortifications around the camp that needed to be modified.

Allen stood beside him, leaning on his trekking pole, also looking west.

"Will they be alright?"

"Um……"

Chen Hao instinctively wanted to say, "Of course I will!"

But as the words were about to come out, he suddenly realized something and burst out laughing.

Yes, every time it was a close call.

It wasn't good luck, nor was it because the forbidden area gave them special treatment—

The eldest brother may seem carefree and irresponsible, but he knows exactly what he's doing better than anyone else.

He turned around and picked up the engineering drawings on the table again.

"Come on, let's get started. Turn the camp into a military fortress before they return!"

"receive!"

*

Leng Ruolan carried the Shadow Twin Blades at the front, her eyes sharp, and her whole body exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay.

Nanbei followed at her feet, his ears perked up and his eyes wide open like copper bells.

Alexander, carrying a heavy hammer, brought up the rear, his face also bearing a serious expression of readiness.

Douglas and Marcus walked side by side, one looking at the map and the other at the terrain, occasionally exchanging a few technical terms.

The entire team exuded a professional and serious atmosphere.

"Oh, right."

Then Mr. Ou spoke.

"Where are our helicopters?"

"Brother Chen is modifying it."

Without turning her head, Leng Ruolan said, "He said he wants to install an energy detection module under the fuselage to track abyssal energy signals. The modification is expected to be completed the day after tomorrow."

"Then why don't we wait until the day after tomorrow to set off?"

"Didn't you say we needed to figure out the situation at high altitude before the other athletes could react?"

"..."

Ou Yun thought to himself, "I really owe this the most. How much more walking do I have to do now?!"

However, Leng Ruolan seemed to have X-ray vision, as if she could read Ou Yun's mind: "Because you've become arrogant."

"..."

*

The mountain path winds its way down, passing through the last coniferous forest, and the terrain gradually opens up.

The boundary of the forest area is a wide rift valley—on the other side of the rift valley lies the plateau shrouded in mist.

The stone bridge over the rift valley is still there.

Ou Yun vaguely remembered that it was the temporary passage they had built when they hunted the Abyss Bone Demon last time.

It was originally made of tree trunks and vines, but after being exposed to the wind and sun for some time, the vines on the bridge surface have dried up and become brittle, making a crunching sound when you walk on them.

"Is this bridge still usable?"

Alexander instinctively peered down into the rift valley, where it was pitch black, with only the faint sound of water coming from the deepest part.

It's kind of funny!

"I can walk."

Marcus very conscientiously squatted down at the bridgehead and inspected the area.

"The load-bearing structure uses three tree trunks side by side, each with a diameter of more than half a meter. Even if all the outer vines break, the tree trunks themselves are enough to support our weight. However, it is recommended that only one person walks on the path at a time, with a distance of at least five meters between them."

"Professionals are just different."

Ou Yun patted him on the shoulder, "Come on, you go first."