1: Chapter 1: The Smallest Giant

"Welcome to 'Sky Survival'. This is a voyage for billions of people, and it is also a cruel trial of evolution."

A cold, emotionless mechanical voice exploded in Zhou An's mind, forcibly dragging him out of his coma.

Zhou An opened his eyes abruptly, the suffocating sensation of gale-force winds rushing into his throat making him cough violently.

He found himself sitting in a narrow, drafty cockpit filled with the smell of engine oil. All around him was not solid ground, but an endless, churning sea of clouds.

"The rules are as follows:"

"1. Everyone is initially randomly assigned a flight vehicle; the vehicle is your life, so please be sure to protect it."

"2. You have automatically acquired initial vehicle piloting mastery. Please monitor your energy reserves at all times; once the energy is depleted and you fall into the abyss beneath the clouds, death is certain."

"3. Beware of pollution. At night or when encountering special weather conditions, please monitor your SAN value; if it gets too low, it will lead to unspeakable mutations."

"4. This is an infinite world. Survive, and then... fly higher."

The voice disappeared, and rows of pale blue data appeared in the void before Zhou An—this was his initial vehicle information.

[Name: Old Single-Seater Civilian Helicopter (Severely Damaged)]

[Level: Tier 1 (Initial)]

[Max Speed: 40km/h (This speed can't even outrun some large birds)]

[Weapon System: None (Perhaps you can use a wrench to throw at people?)]

[Defense Level: Extremely Low (A thicker steel plate could make it obsolete)]

[Energy: Aviation Fuel 50.1% (Consuming at a steady rate)]

Zhou An looked at the rusty cockpit, where even the dashboard glass had a crack in it, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

"A helicopter? And this piece of junk that belongs in a museum?"

Zhou An gripped the violently shaking control stick and couldn't help but complain.

"Is this what I start with? I don't want to become that legendary Captain Zobayang, performing a stall and crash in the very first chapter..."

Although he had acquired the so-called "vehicle mastery" and possessed countless instincts for operating a helicopter in his brain, the abysmal hardware conditions were truly despair-inducing. At 40 km/h, he was practically a snail crawling through the vast sky.

Just then, a crisp prompt, distinct from the system voice just now, rang in his ears:

[Host successfully detected activating the vehicle, 'Hextech System' has been activated.]

[Whenever your vehicle completes a major stage level upgrade, you can obtain a 'Hextech Augment' selection opportunity.]

[Initial startup detected, now issuing your initial Hextech reward.]

[Drawing in progress...]

Zhou An's pupils contracted slightly as a strange orb of light with a metallic luster instantly appeared before him.

"Hextech? Like in Teamfight Tactics?"

Zhou An held his breath and looked at the first orb of light:

[Hextech Augment: Smallest Giant]

Effect: Your vehicle gains astonishing self-healing capabilities, including repair of external armor damage, aging of internal parts, and self-recharging of the energy system. At the same time, this repair effect will be synchronized to the host itself.

A stream of light instantly flooded into the helicopter's dashboard. The previously violently shaking helicopter suddenly stabilized significantly, the harsh metallic grinding noises gradually disappeared, and the rust faded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Zhou An looked at the panel and found an extra column:

[Current Hextech: Smallest Giant (Self-healing: Restores 5% of vehicle durability and energy reserves per hour)]

"Restores 5% fuel per hour?" Zhou An was startled and immediately looked down at the fuel gauge.

"My current flight power consumption is about 7.7% per hour, while 'Little Giant' restores 5% per hour."

"This means that while flying at full speed, my net consumption is only 2.7% per hour."

Zhou An glanced at the fuel tank, which still had 50% remaining.

"If it were an ordinary helicopter, the remaining fuel would last six or seven hours at most before running dry. But now... I can fly for a full 18 hours!"

"And if I choose to land on some floating object and shut down, I gain a net 5% fuel per hour. In just 20 hours, my fuel tank will be completely full!"

"Infinite endurance..."

A hint of color finally returned to Zhou An's pale face.

"Now I don't have to worry about running out of fuel halfway."

What surprised him even more was a warm sensation flowing from the pilot's seat into his entire body. The muscle strains caused by the forced landing and the storm were rapidly healing in this warm current.

He tried calling up his personal panel:

[Survivor: Zhou An]

[Physical Fitness: Tier 1 (Initial)]

[Vehicle: Tier 1 (Old Helicopter)]

[Current SAN Value: 95 (Condition: Good)]

The panel was very concise, with no specific combat power values, only clear tier suppression.

"Although I'm still just a Tier 1 'newbie', this 'Little Giant' Hextech start secures my position."

Zhou An then tapped the translucent system screen before him, switching to the [Chat Panel].

The top right corner clearly displayed the number of people online in the current channel: [Area 997: 5000000 / 5000000]

"Five million people placed in a single area..."

Zhou An was secretly shocked; the scale of this mysterious survival game was terrifyingly large.

At this moment, the messages in the chat channel were refreshing at a waterfall-like speed, with various emotions interweaving on the screen:

"Help! Someone save me! I was assigned a broken hot air balloon, the burner is rusted, the wind up here is so strong, I'm about to freeze to death!"

"Hahaha, I'm so lucky! Started with a twin-propeller fixed-wing aircraft, can hit a speed of 150 km/h! Hot air balloon brother, just rest in peace!"

"Does anyone know how to fly an unpowered glider? The wind direction is wrong, I keep losing altitude, the dashboard keeps flashing red, I don't want to die, ahhh!"

"Is there any big shot who can spare some water? My raft airship is leaking..."

Boasting, crying, and desperate pleas for help formed an extremely realistic portrait of a doomsday world.

Zhou An shook his head and did not speak.

In such an absolutely cruel environment, sympathy is the cheapest consumable.

He gripped the control stick and slowly pushed the throttle.

The old helicopter emitted a "clank, clank" roaring sound; although it flew slowly, it moved forward firmly.

Just then, a blinding red light lit up on everyone's panels simultaneously.

[System Announcement (Area 997)]

[1. 10,000 miniature Floating Islands have been randomly generated within the area. Survivors may attempt to land and search for rare supplies and blueprints.]

[2. Resource rain is falling randomly in the current airspace. Danger and opportunity coexist; you can directly capture a large amount of supplies within the rain zone, but extreme weather will cause serious damage to vehicles, so please act according to your ability.]

[3. Flight Altitude Warning: All survivors, please maintain your flight altitude between 10,000 meters and 20,000 meters. Exceeding or falling below this limit will result in encounters with unspeakable, terrifying creatures and lethal air pressure, which is extremely dangerous!]

[4. Fatal Threat Warning: The devouring black mist is spreading at a steady rate behind you. Please maintain an overall movement speed of 30 km/h or more!]