3: Chapter 3 Storm Submachine Gun

The moment the helicopter plunged into the medium-sized resource rain, Zhou An felt as if he were driving a tricycle into a waterfall.

"Boom!"

A deafening thunderclap exploded outside the cabin, and the violent airflow caused the helicopter to shake violently like a leaf in a raging wave.

Frost instantly crawled across the windshield, and the temperature plummeted.

"This storm's intensity is far more terrifying than the last micro one!"

Zhou An gritted his teeth, gripped the control stick tightly with both hands, and searched frantically through the dim field of vision.

[Warning: Left rotor struck by lightning, durability decreased by 5%!]

[Warning: Tail rotor icing, aerodynamic shape damaged, durability decreased by 3%!]

Alarms rang out one after another, but accompanying them was the familiar golden light of the [Little Giant] Hextech.

The light flowed over the fuselage like water, forcibly stabilizing those fatal damages and repairing them at a slow pace.

"Forget it, time to fish!"

Zhou An seized the opportunity, operated the simple winch on the side of the cabin, and threw the net hard toward the glowing object looming in the clouds.

"Bang!" A wooden box was dragged into the cabin.

[Obtained: Rubber x 15 units]

[Obtained: Scrap Battery x 2]

"These are all basic materials, not enough, I want something valuable!"

For the next hour, Zhou An maneuvered frantically through the storm. Hail pelted his helmet with a thumping sound, and the cabin was filled with cold rain, but he seemed tireless.

Just as there were ten minutes left in his self-imposed limit for staying, a rare purple light suddenly flickered on the edge of the radar.

Zhou An turned his head sharply to see a thick bolt of lightning strike in the very core of the storm, illuminating a bronze treasure chest suspended in mid-air. A faint halo flowed across the surface of the chest.

"That's it!"

Zhou An gritted his teeth, pushed the throttle to the limit, and forced his way into the eye of the storm against the gale.

The moment he brushed past the chest, he pulled the winch hard, and the net accurately ensnared the box.

Due to the excessive pulling force, the helicopter tilted violently to the right, almost crashing on the spot.

Zhou An tried his best to stabilize the fuselage and dragged the metal box into the cabin.

"Beep—"

[Warning: Black Fog distance: 15 kilometers.]

"Run!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou An turned the nose of the helicopter and rushed out of the storm area like a stray dog fleeing for its life, leaving behind a trail of violent roars.

...

Flying out of the resource rain, the sky outside had already darkened. The sea of clouds was dyed blood-red by the setting sun, exuding an eerie tranquility.

Zhou An panted heavily, looking at the bronze treasure chest in the cabin, and opened it impatiently.

A blue stream of light flashed by.

[Name: storm assault rifle (Rare)]

[Tier: Tier 1]

Equipment Classification: Common (White), Excellent (Green), Rare (Blue), Epic (Purple), Legendary (Gold)

[Ammo Capacity: 30 / 30 (Current magazine full)]

[Feature: Extremely high rate of fire, minimal recoil, bullets carry a faint wind elemental tearing effect.]

[Note: In Sky Survival, firearms are a man's second flight license.]

"Rare!"

Zhou An gasped; this was definitely a divine artifact at this stage.

He fondled the sci-fi-styled assault rifle, unable to put it down. The heavy feel of it finally gave him a sense of security in these cold clouds.

But he soon realized a fatal problem.

"This gun has no spare ammo. Once these 30 rounds are gone, it's just a fancy poker."

Zhou An frowned slightly and habitually placed the gun in the storage compartment next to the dashboard.

Just then, a miracle happened.

A faint golden light spread from the dashboard, slowly wrapping around the purple assault rifle.

[Detected vehicle accessory belonging to the host.]

[Hextech enhancement Smallest Giant effect has been applied.]

[Current Status: Bullets are slowly recharging. Recovery speed: 5% / hour.]

Zhou An was stunned, then ecstatic.

"Ammo counts as energy?! And it can recover automatically?!"

He quickly did the math in his head: the total magazine capacity is 30 rounds, 5% is 1.5 rounds. That means this gun can get 3 free bullets every two hours!

Although the recovery speed wasn't fast, it meant he had the confidence of infinite ammunition.

In this world where all resources must be fought for with one's life, this attribute was simply heaven-defying!

Night had completely fallen.

The helicopter cockpit was cramped, and Zhou An could only curl up in the seat.

The system had warned that the sea of clouds at night was extremely dangerous; not only were there monsters, but SAN values would also drop at an accelerated rate.

He turned on the dim overhead light in the cabin, tore open a box of self-heating braised beef rice he had fished up during the day, and used mineral water to activate the heating pack.

As the steam rose, the aroma of inferior beef filled the cabin. Zhou An wolfed down the food, feeling a long-lost warmth.

Outside the window was endless darkness and howling cold winds, and here, in this small space, he spent his first night of Sky Survival.

...

The next morning.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, waking Zhou An from a light sleep.

He rubbed his sore neck, and the first thing he did was open the chat channel.

The number in the upper right corner made his heart sink: [ 3921440 / 5000000 ]

In just one night, hundreds of thousands more people had disappeared.

The chat channel was filled with desperate wails:

"What on earth was that thing last night! I saw a black shadow fly past me, and my external steel plate was torn open directly!"

"My SAN value dropped to 50, I keep feeling like someone is blowing into my ear, I'm going crazy..."

"Someone save me, my fuel is completely exhausted, I'm falling! Aaaah—"

Zhou An silently closed the distress messages and glanced at the radar. His position was still firmly at the very back.

[Current location coordinate assessment: You are lagging behind 99% of the survivors in this area.]

"Looks like this turtle speed is impossible to change."

Just as he was about to close the panel, a bolded, highlighted region-wide pinned message caught his attention.

[System Announcement: Congratulations to survivor City Lord Zhao Tianyu for becoming the first player in this area to upgrade their vehicle to LV1!]

As soon as this announcement appeared, the previously dead chat channel instantly exploded.

"Holy crap! Boss is awesome! Upgraded so fast?"

"Asking the boss, how did you upgrade! My raft is about to be blown apart by the wind, how do I upgrade to a wooden boat?"

"Boss City Lord Zhao Tianyu, please share the upgrade strategy, I'm willing to trade three days of rations for it!"

Hundreds of thousands of people frantically @City Lord Zhao Tianyu.

After a full five minutes, the player named City Lord Zhao Tianyu slowly replied with a message:

"Don't bother, upgrading isn't that simple. Having just basic materials is useless."

"You must risk your lives to explore those micro sky islands."

"The sky islands not only have resources but are also infested with monsters. Only by killing the guardian monsters on the sky islands is there a tiny chance of dropping [Vehicle Upgrade Core Blueprint]. Without the blueprint, no matter how many materials you hoard, it's just a pile of junk."

As soon as this was said, the channel was filled with wails.

Zhou An looked at this message, his eyes gradually becoming sharp.

"Do I need to go to the sky islands to kill monsters and drop blueprints..."

"Since I have infinite range, and the storm assault rifle, maybe I can act earlier, reach LV1 sooner, and draw the next Hextech."