National Survival: I Supported the Dragon Nation by Hunting Dinosaurs

Two figures darted swiftly through the dense fern thicket.

Zhang Li took the lead, wielding his dagger to cut the vines blocking his path.

Under such intense exertion, Wang Qiang began to pant heavily.

"Huff...huff...Zhang Li, where are we going?"

Wang Qiang's eyes showed confusion.

I ran for forty minutes, during which I encountered at least three waves of "easy points" questions.

Two Psittacosaurus mating, an unsuspecting Oviraptor, and even an injured and alone Ornithopter.

Questions began to emerge in the live stream chat.

"We've been running around for almost an hour, just exploring the map without fighting any monsters?"

"That ornithischian was lame! Why didn't you kill it?"

The audience's doubts are not without reason.

In most people's eyes, this is a survival game centered around "eating".

But Zhang Li's thinking went out of his way.

"In this primitive world, food is certainly important, but it would be too simplistic to limit our focus to just 'eating'."

Zhang Li pondered the system's rules repeatedly in his mind: [Contestants can "sacrifice" resources to the system once a day, and the system will rank them after scoring].

The word "food" never appeared in the rules.

Anything that is a "supply" can be sacrificed!

Why did Earth start this game?

It's because resources are dwindling, and civilization is dying!

What Earth lacks are the non-renewable resources that can support modern civilization!

"If my guess is correct..."

"The value of a high-purity rare earth ore in the system's eyes is absolutely beyond imagination!"

This is the information gap.

……

Dragon Kingdom Studio.

Professor Chen, a geologist, stared intently at the large screen.

The surrounding vegetation began to change...

The tall trees gradually thinned out, and the exposed rocks on the ground turned reddish-brown, accompanied by a large amount of granite weathering crust.

This unique terrain made Professor Chen's breathing gradually become rapid.

"Wait... this rock structure, and this associated anephrite syenite..."

Professor Chen pointed to a grayish-yellow rock in the corner of the screen.

"That's bastnaesite!!"

Upon hearing this, Professor Li, who was standing nearby, exclaimed in surprise, "You mean... rare earth elements?!"

"No mistake! This unique hydrothermal alteration phenomenon only occurs in extra-large rare earth deposits!" Professor Chen explained rapidly.

"Dear viewers! Rare earth elements are known as the 'vitamins of industry'!"

Whether it's the screen and chips in your phone, or the missiles, fighter jets, or even the sonar of a nuclear submarine, they all rely on this!

"Since the mid-21st century, the rare earth resources of Earth have been depleted."

Our nation's high-tech industries were brought to a standstill for a full fifty years! Many pieces of equipment today are beyond repair because of this shortage!

"But...I have a question," He Jiong asked the crucial question.

"Although rare earth elements are precious, what use are they in the prehistoric world? Zhang Li can't exactly feed rare earth elements to dinosaurs, can he?"

This bucket of cold water poured over everyone, leaving them completely chilled.

Yes.

Without a refining plant or separation equipment, this pile of stones is less valuable than a brick in a survival game.

Professor Chen frowned: "Fluorocarbon cerium ore contains a large amount of neodymium. Combined with borax and iron, it is theoretically possible to hand-make neodymium iron boron strong magnets, which are the core components for manufacturing high-efficiency generators."

"But..." Professor Chen gave a wry smile.

"This is way too advanced. Starting with industry already? Isn't Zhang Li taking too big a step?"

……

The prehistoric world.

Zhang Li stood in front of the exposed mineral deposit, the dark yellow ore gleaming with a warm luster in the sunlight.

High-purity fluorocarbon cerium ore: rare earth content 72%, open-pit enrichment area.

Associated minerals: monazite, magnetite.

[Mining Difficulty: Extremely Low.]

"arrive."

Zhang Li pointed to the unassuming pile of rocks, his tone leaving no room for argument:

"Brother Qiang, this is our target this time."

"Empty your storage space. Throw away everything except weapons and water."

"Fill these stones in!"

Wang Qiang was stunned for a moment.

"clear!"

Without saying a word, Wang Qiang took out an entrenching tool from his spatial storage and got right to work.

Whatever Zhang Li wants to do, just follow along!

The crisp sound of the tapping echoed through the silent valley.

This fluorocarbon cerium ore is not very hard; in fact, it is somewhat brittle.

With the two of them working together, they can pry off large chunks of ore without needing overly complicated tools.

"Make sure to choose those with dark colors and high purity," Zhang Li said while observing his surroundings.

Ten minutes have passed.

Wang Qiang's storage space is already half full.

Just as Wang Qiang reached out to move a piece of ore, an unexpected event occurred!

"Hiss—!"

A scraping sound came from the gap.

With a loud shout, Zhang Li sent the dagger flying past Wang Qiang's hand.

A stream of dark green liquid splashed onto the rock, making a sizzling sound, clearly indicating its strong corrosive properties.

Wang Qiang was so startled that he quickly withdrew his hand and looked closely.

It was a giant centipede, as long as an adult's arm!

Its carapace was dark red, its centipedes twitched wildly, and its huge jaws were dripping with venomous saliva.

[Prehistoric giant centipede: A carnivorous arthropod that fed on giant cockroaches and millipedes from the Mesozoic Era, as well as amphibian larvae and small reptile juveniles (such as lizards and pterosaur larvae). It was highly venomous, preferred dark places, and often inhabited mineral-rich rock crevices.]

"Where did this thing come from?" Wang Qiang was still shaken. If he had been bitten, he would definitely have had to have his limb amputated.

"Be careful, these things usually come in clusters."

Zhang Li expressionlessly pulled out his knife and wiped the venom off the centipede's corpse.

Before he finished speaking, a dense rustling sound came from the surrounding pile of rubble.

A dozen or so smaller prehistoric centipedes surged out of the rock crevices like a tide, assuming an attack posture.

The viewers in the live stream were instantly horrified.

"He died on the spot from trypophobia!"

"Run! That thing looks disgusting!"

However, Zhang Li smiled slightly and took out some wood ash he had brought from the camp.

That's left over from burning certain ferns, containing a high concentration of alkaline substances.

"Brother Qiang, spread the ashes!"

The two men grabbed some wood ash and stirred up a dust storm in the cramped mine pit.

For these arthropods that breathe through their trachea, highly alkaline dust is tantamount to inhaling sulfuric acid.

"Hiss hiss hiss!!!"

The centipede swarm immediately panicked and quickly moved away.

Another twenty minutes passed.

Wang Qiang's space was completely filled.

Zhang Li's space was filled to the brim, even the gaps were packed full.

That's enough.

Zhang Li clapped the mineral powder off his hands, looking at his bountiful harvest with satisfaction.

"Let's go back to camp."

Just as Zhang Li was about to turn around, the All-Knowing Eye's detection range gave him a notification.

[Human: Due west, 380 meters away.]

Zhang Li suddenly raised his hand, signaling Wang Qiang to be quiet and stay hidden.

He could clearly sense that two dark-skinned men were stealthily approaching from the edge of the jungle.