National Survival: I Supported the Dragon Nation by Hunting Dinosaurs

"when--!"

The impact echoed within the cave, sending up a few sparks.

A yellow stone with a dull metallic sheen fell to the ground.

"Holy crap! Gold?"

"A divine strike unearths a gold mine? The Dragon Kingdom takes off!"

"No, the color is wrong, it looks like brass."

In the studio, He Jiong suddenly stood up: "Academician Ma, that's...!"

Academician Ma stared at the stone, a thoughtful look flashing in his eyes.

He is not a geologist, but paleontological research inevitably involves geology and rock strata.

He slowly shook his head, his tone solemn, "If I'm not mistaken, that's pyrite, also known as 'fool's gold'."

"Pyrite?" He Jiong asked, puzzled.

"A common sulfide mineral."

Academician Ma's gaze was fixed on Zhang Li's movements on the screen.

"He...he probably wanted to...start a fire with a knife and stones!"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

[Start a fire with stones and a knife? I've only ever heard of making fire by rubbing sticks together!]

What kind of ancient, cutting-edge technology is this?

Viewers from the UK and Japan also rushed over upon hearing the news, and the live chat was filled with mockery.

[Hilarious! If this worked, would Bear Grylls still need to make his own bow drill to start a fire?]

[Baka! By the time he starts a fire, the Tyrannosaurus Rex will have already given birth!]

The audience from China immediately retaliated.

[If you don't understand, shut up! How can mortals like you fathom the workings of a god?]

[Exactly! If you're so capable, why don't you kill a dinosaur too!]

Zhang Li was completely unaware of the commotion outside.

He picked up the heavy piece of pyrite and walked back to the cave entrance.

Carefully peeling off some dried moss, collecting a small clump of thin twigs, and finally bringing over a few pieces of firewood as thick as an arm.

Preparations were carried out in an orderly manner.

He crouched down, spread the dried moss on the ground, gripped the pyrite in his left hand, and held the military dagger in his right.

Instead of using the sharp tip, he laid the dagger flat, exposing the hard back of the blade to prevent it from chipping.

He took a deep breath and suddenly exerted force on his wrist!

Clang!

The pyrite in his left hand slammed hard into the side of the dagger!

A few tiny sparks flew out, landed on the ground, and were extinguished instantly.

It didn't work.

Zhang Li remained expressionless and adjusted the angle.

He kept striking it...

The sparks kept bursting forth, only to be extinguished again.

The criticism in the live stream room is growing louder.

He Jiong also looked at Academician Ma: "Academician Ma, can Zhang Li's...unconventional method of starting a fire really succeed?"

Academician Ma adjusted his glasses and began his "science popularization time".

"In principle, it is feasible. Military daggers are made of high-carbon steel, which is harder than pyrite."

When a high-hardness material collides at high speed with pyrite (FeS₂), it generates enormous frictional heat, causing tiny particles on the surface to peel off. These fragments, carrying high heat energy, are what we see as "sparks."

He paused, then changed the subject.

"but!"

Academician Ma shook his head.

"Theory is one thing, but the success rate of this method of starting a fire is extremely low! It has very strict requirements for the environment, materials, and techniques."

At least on Earth right now, it's practically an impossible task. I think he's wasting his precious energy and time.

However, the moment Academician Ma finished speaking—

Another crisp impact!

A bright spark shot out from the point of impact and landed steadily on that small patch of dry moss!

Nourishes—

A wisp of smoke rose.

Zhang Li suddenly bent down, his lips slightly parted, and began to blow gently and continuously towards that tiny spark.

huh... huh...

That tiny, dark red spark, under his breath, stubbornly flickered.

The red light grew brighter and brighter, and its range gradually expanded.

In the live stream, everyone stared wide-eyed, and even the number of comments decreased at this moment.

A cluster of yellow flames, no bigger than a fingernail, leaped out from the moss!

It worked!

Zhang Li immediately handed the small, dry twigs he had prepared to the fire.

The dry branches were instantly ignited!

He then added slightly thicker branches...

The fire spread rapidly at an unimaginable speed!

Within a minute, a roaring campfire rose in the prehistoric cave, its orange-red light dispelling the darkness...

"..."

Academician Ma stared blankly at the screen, unable to utter a single word.

After a two-second silence, the live stream exploded!

[It's on fire! It's really on fire!]

[@Academician Ma, come out and take your punishment! What did you say?]

[Hindsight is 20/20! You're just spouting nonsense! You don't understand the world of physics and chemistry!]

Just as everyone was mocking Academician Ma, a highlighted science popularization comment appeared on the screen.

[Stop the unfounded criticism! Academician Ma is right, this method does have a low success rate on modern Earth. But have you forgotten the most crucial point? This is prehistoric!]

The oxygen content in the air was over 30%! That's almost half again as high as it is now! High concentrations of oxygen support combustion! Li Shen is amazing; what's amazing is that he even factored in that!

This comment made everyone suddenly realize the truth!

[Holy crap, so that's why! No wonder the fire was burning so fiercely!]

[Strongly recommended! The production team should replace the experts immediately! If that doesn't work, even a few physicists and chemists would be fine!]

Flame brings light and warmth, and also an absolute sense of security.

Prolonged periods of intense stress and physical exertion caused a strong protest from my stomach.

Zhang Li leaned against the warm rock wall, feeling the fatigue emanating from his body.

He needs to replenish protein and energy.

He walked to the corner and picked up a snake whose neck he had previously snapped.

The dagger was drawn again.

Instead of skinning the snake directly like a novice, he first precisely cut open the snake's abdomen, completely removed its internal organs, and threw them aside.

Then, use a dagger to make deep cuts at the snake's tail and carotid artery, then lift it upside down to let the snake's blood flow out through the wounds.

This is the most crucial step in removing the fishy smell.

Without using boiling water to scald and scale the snakeskin, he directly used the blade of a dagger to quickly scrape against the grain of the snakeskin.

The snake scales were scraped off like snowflakes, revealing the tender white snake flesh underneath.

The entire process was smooth and fluid, without a single unnecessary movement.

The viewers in front of the screen were stunned.

Zhang Li shaved a thick, long branch, skewered the cleaned snake body onto it, placed it over the fire, and began to slowly roast it.

He stared at the flickering flames, somewhat lost in thought.

These skills, honed in the hail of bullets and desperate struggles for survival in their previous lives, unexpectedly reappeared in this bizarre prehistoric world.

Sizzling oil seeped from the snake meat and dripped into the fire, making a soft sound.

A strange aroma of meat began to permeate the cave.

The viewers in the live stream were practically drooling.

[I'm crying! I'm still eating nutritional supplements, while Li Shen is already eating barbecue!]

[The sacrifice for tonight is ready! The god must offer roasted snake meat as a sacrifice! Let us have a taste!]

Perhaps our Dragon Kingdom will become the first country to eat meat from the dinosaur era!

Zhang Li was unaware of the live stream's chat comments.

Roasted snake meat is just an appetizer.

With a thought, he took out the carcass of the bird-loving dragon and the five enormous Shu dragon eggs from his storage space.

Looking at the dinosaur carcass in front of him, which was as big as an ostrich, Zhang Li frowned for the first time.

Dinosaur?

He'd never grilled this before.

Where should we start the incision?