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

"Because pancakes keep the longest."

Ou Yun added, "Brother Chen made dozens of pieces and stuffed them all into my spatial ring. He said it's not suitable to cook over a fire in the desert, so he let us eat what's ready-made."

"Brother Chen is really thoughtful."

Leng Ruolan remained expressionless. "Except for the waffle issue."

The group ate dinner around the campfire.

Nanbei lay in the tent, and Hongdou brought in a piece of roasted meat to feed it—although Nanbei said it could eat, Hongdou still insisted on feeding it.

Alexander was very curious, "When did those two become so close?"

"Let's start with the mung beans running around all day!"

Ou Yun pondered, "Nanbei is the leader of the lynx pack, Hongdou is the second, and Lvdou is the third. Lvdou does nothing all day, so Hongdou can only stay by Nanbei's side and help him with the work. Over time—"

"Feelings develop over time?"

"That word isn't quite right, but that's roughly the meaning."

"What about mung beans?"

"Green Bean is Single".

Leng Ruolan took a sip of juice. "Besides, it doesn't seem very interested in that kind of thing. Last time, when Storm Blackhawk tried to introduce it to a female lynx, it chased her away."

"Maybe he just hasn't figured it out yet."

"It could also be that the direction of enlightenment is different."

Ou Yun interjected, "I think mung beans are much more interested in honey than female lynxes."

"……really."

"really."

*

After dinner, Douglas took out his notebook and recorded all the new species and terrain features he had encountered that day.

Marcus helped him supplement the technical details—the thickness of the sandworm's skin, the corrosiveness of its venom, the hardness index of its carapace—each item was tested with a homemade tool.

"Once we get back, this data will keep Brother Chen busy studying for several days."

Douglas closed his notebook. "Speaking of which, I wonder how things are at the camp."

"Isn't there a sound transmission stone?" Alexander asked.

"The communication range of the communication stone is limited. We are now at least 70 or 80 kilometers away from the camp, which is well beyond the communication range of the communication stone. The only way to contact them is to wait for Chen Hao to build that relay station system."

This was something they had considered beforehand; even though the distance was limited, they figured they could communicate as much as they could!

"Chen is probably still working overtime to set up the relay station."

Ou Yun looked towards the eastern night sky—that was the direction of the forest area, the direction of the Dragon Kingdom camp.

"He might be chanting incantations in front of the stove right now."

"Does Brother Chen chant incantations while working?"

"Yes. His spell is 'Don't blow it up, don't blow it up, don't blow it up.'"

"..."

The campfire burned for two hours before gradually dying down.

The desert nights are much colder than the days—the temperature drops sharply to below ten degrees Celsius, and everyone wraps themselves tightly in their coats.

Leng Ruolan arranged the night watch shifts—she was on the first shift, Douglas on the second, and Alexander on the third.

Ou Yun was relieved of his night watch due to excessive exertion during the day, and Marcus was also relieved due to injuries to the webs of both hands.

Ou Yun lay in the tent, listening to the sound of the wind outside.

The wind in the desert is different from the wind in the forest.

The forest wind carries the rustling of leaves and the scent of damp earth.

The desert wind is dry and cold, carrying sand grains that make a soft, rustling sound as they hit the tent.

Nanbei slept in the tent next to him, occasionally letting out a dreamlike meow.

Red Bean slept next to it, its tail draped over its body.

Outside, Leng Ruolan sat by the campfire, a short knife resting on her knees, her eyes fixed on the dark desert in the distance.

"Team Leader Leng." Ou Yun poked his head out of the tent.

Team Leader Leng's tone was equally cold, "What's wrong, can't sleep again?"

There was no response from the other end. "Tell me, what are the other players doing right now?"

"What else can we do but stay alive?"

"I meant the competitors in the desert..."

"They're probably trying to find a way to cross this desert."

"I wonder if anyone has already crossed the desert?"

"Possibly. But the forbidden area hasn't released any information about clearing it, which means that no one has defeated the second lord yet."

Where will the second lord be?

"I don't know. Maybe at the edge of this desert, or maybe in some hidden place deep within it. Or—"

Leng Ruolan paused, then spread her hands, "Or maybe it's not even on the ground."

These words immediately reminded Ou Yun of the crack at the bottom of the basin.

"You mean, the lord of this area is also hiding underground?"

"Very likely. It makes perfect sense that the forest lords are hidden inside the mountains and the desert lords are hidden in underground fissures."

Leng Ruolan stirred the ashes in the campfire.

"Moreover, in a desert terrain, the space underground is much larger than the space above ground. If the forbidden area wanted to hide a lord-level monster here, there would be plenty of places to hide it."

Ou Yun said that was true, "So how do we find it?"

Leng Ruolan thought for a moment, "Then why don't we let it come to us?"

"What's wrong?"

"Last time, when we dealt with the forest lord, we took the initiative because we had a clear objective. This time, the terrain is too open, and searching aimlessly will only lead us astray."

Leng Ruolan was only making a simple guess.

"I've thought about this before. Since even these monster lords don't know where they are, why not make them come to us? Lord-level monsters must be very sensitive to the energy fluctuations of the Abyss Sword. If you swing the sword a few more times, maybe it will appear on its own."

"You're using me as bait."

"Weren't you having a great time being the bait?"

"That's because I'm the one being chased, and I'm happy because I run fast."

Ou Yun sighed deeply, "But this time you want me to actively provoke a lord-level monster, which is different."

Leng Ruolan laughed. "What's the difference?"

"One was fleeing on the spot, the other was deliberately courting death. The psychological burden is different."

"Then try to overcome it."

"...You're such a great teammate."

"You're welcome."

The night wind picked up, and the flickering flames of the campfire were pushed down.

Leng Ruolan added a piece of solid fuel to the fire, and the flames leaped up again.

however.

In the distance, at the edge of the desert, something is moving.

A very dark and faint shadow moved slowly between the sand dunes under the starlight.

It was so big that Leng Ruolan couldn't immediately tell whether it was far away or near.

Its outline is faintly visible in the sand and dust, like a mountain that can walk.

Leng Ruolan's pupils contracted, and she gripped the short knife tightly—

She was about to shout when she realized the shadow wasn't getting any closer.

It lingered in the distance for a while, then slowly sank beneath the dunes and disappeared.

Leng Ruolan stared at the direction it disappeared in for a long time, then whispered a sentence, her voice carried away by the night wind into the sea of ​​sand.

"Looks like we don't need to wait until tomorrow."

She stood up and walked to the European Games tent.

"Big brother, wake up."

"I just lay down—"

"The desert lord has come to visit."

"???"