4: Chapter 4 Boss

Half an hour later, a desolate, isolated Floating Island about the size of a soccer field appeared in the sea of clouds.

This island was less of an island and more of a massive floating rock covered in sickly moss and twisted shrubs.

Because Zhou An had fallen too far behind the main group, there were no traces of other survivors here; what greeted him was a glaring scene of devastation.

"How tragic..."

Zhou An steered his helicopter to land slowly on the gravelly ground at the edge of the Floating Island.

As soon as he landed, he smelled a faint scent of blood and burnt odors permeating the air.

Torn-apart airframes could be seen everywhere on the island, along with several metal cockpit wrecks that had been crushed almost into iron pancakes.

On one rock, he even saw a broken hot air balloon burner stained with dried, brown blood.

Evidently, a fierce battle had taken place here, and more than one survivor had fallen.

Zhou An jumped out of the helicopter and, instead of rushing to explore the center of the Floating Island, first went to the nearest airship wreck.

This airship had been almost smashed apart by some immense force; its gasbag had burst, and the supplies on board were long gone.

Zhou An tried calling up the system interface and pointed it at the wreck.

[System Prompt: Unowned LV0 vehicle wreck (severely damaged) detected. Perform 'Decomposition'?]

[Note: Decomposing unowned wrecks consumes a certain amount of stamina and only yields 50% of the base materials of its original construction cost.]

"Decompose!"

Zhou An did not hesitate. Although it was only LV0, every little bit counted, and he was currently severely lacking upgrade materials.

As the command was issued, a faint, ghostly light covered the raft wreck. A few seconds later, the wreck dissipated in the light, transforming into a pile of materials that floated neatly in front of Zhou An.

[Decomposition successful! Obtained: Wood x 35 units, Scrap Iron x 12 units, Damaged Canvas x 3 units]

Zhou An said nothing and began to act as a scavenger in this ruin.

After decomposing four or five wrecks in a row, his warehouse had gained nearly two hundred units of wood and dozens of units of scrap iron.

This feeling of scavenging from other people's graves made him feel a bit uneasy, but in this cruel sky survival, it was the safest way to obtain resources.

"Whew... that's enough."

Zhou An straightened his back and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

At this moment, his gaze turned toward the center of the Floating Island, where there was a forest of jagged, bizarre rocks.

If City Lord Zhao Tianyu was right, the monster that dropped the blueprints should be lurking there.

Zhou An drew the storm assault rifle from beside the dashboard; its heavy weight in his hand steadied his nerves slightly.

He held the gun, using the rocks and shrubs on the island as cover, and silently approached the stone forest.

On this Floating Island, where it was so silent he could only hear his own heartbeat, any slight movement made him extremely vigilant.

He saw massive claw marks on the rocks and pools of discolored flesh—these dead survivors were all, for the most part, because of that thing.

"Caw—!"

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing roar with incredible penetrative power exploded from deep within the stone forest, and immediately after, a massive shadow swept across the sky.

Zhou An abruptly ducked behind a boulder and looked up through a gap.

It was a prehistoric creature covered in earth-brown scales. Its wingspan was at least six or seven meters long, its sharp beak was filled with hooked teeth, and a pair of bloodthirsty red eyes were scanning below.

[Name: Mutant Pterosaur (Tier 1 Boss)]

[System Appraisal: It is the predator of this airspace. Its sharp claws can tear through the armor of Tier 1 vehicles like paper. Many novices have become its meal.]

"So it's this guy." Zhou An's eyes narrowed, and his finger tightened on the trigger.

The Mutant Pterosaur didn't seem to have noticed Zhou An. It circled in the air twice, then finally landed on the highest rock in the stone forest, letting out an arrogant roar.

"Now!"

Zhou An suddenly darted out from behind the rock. The precision judgment brought by his Pilot Mastery allowed him to lock onto the target instantly; raising the gun, aiming, and pulling the trigger were all done in one fluid motion.

"Rat-tat-tat—!"

The crisp, distinct firing sound of the storm assault rifle broke the silence of the island.

The assault rifle had almost no recoil, and the wind elemental enchantment made the bullets travel extremely fast, leaving trails of pale purple light across the sky.

The Mutant Pterosaur hadn't expected an attack from the ground at all. The first wave of bullets accurately swept across the base of its wings and its abdomen. Scales flew, and blood splattered everywhere.

"Caw—!" The Pterosaur let out a shrill, miserable screech. It flapped its injured wings and tumbled unsteadily off the rock.

It looked angrily toward Zhou An's position, its bloodthirsty red eyes burning with fury. It opened its wide mouth and charged at Zhou An, dragging its injured body.

Zhou An utilized his speed advantage to continuously maneuver between the rocks, his storm assault rifle keeping up a rhythmic, precise burst fire.

Every shot drew a spray of blood from the Pterosaur's body.

The clanging of bullets hitting the scales and the roar of the Pterosaur intertwined.

Just as the Pterosaur charged to within ten meters of Zhou An, preparing for a desperate, final strike, the last five bullets in the magazine accurately struck its head.

The gunfire ceased.

The Mutant Pterosaur's massive body surged forward for two meters due to inertia before finally collapsing heavily in front of Zhou An, kicking up a cloud of dust. It twitched twice, and the red light in its eyes completely extinguished.

[Global System Announcement (Area 997): Congratulations to survivor Zhou An for being the first player in this area to successfully kill a Tier 1 Boss monster (Mutant Pterosaur)!]

The system announcement came out of the blue, but Zhou An couldn't bother to check it at this moment.

He gasped for breath, staring fixedly at the Pterosaur's corpse. A dazzling golden ball of light was slowly emerging from above the body.

"It dropped loot!"

Zhou An fought through the exhaustion of his depleted stamina, walked up, and grabbed the golden ball of light.

The ball of light burst in his hand, turning into the phantoms of several items.

[Obtained: Vehicle Upgrade Core Blueprint x 1]

System Description: A long-awaited essential item for upgrades that can allow your vehicle to undergo its first qualitative evolution.

[Obtained: Basic Kitchen Module Blueprint (Green) x 1]

System Description: Allows you to build a simple kitchen on your vehicle, with a chance to increase food preparation efficiency and nutritional value.

[Obtained: Mutant Pterosaur Meat x 50 units]

[Obtained: Tier 1 Fresh Fruit x 10 units]

Looking at the two glowing blueprints in his hands and the mountain of Pterosaur meat, a look of ecstasy finally appeared on Zhou An's face.

"With the upgrade blueprint, my helicopter can finally evolve!"

He carefully put away the upgrade core blueprint and then looked at the green [Kitchen Module Blueprint].

With this thing, he wouldn't have to eat cold compressed biscuits and self-heating meals every day anymore.

"A green-grade kitchen... I never expected to live such a luxurious life here."

Zhou An licked his lips fiercely; this adventure had not only secured the core material but also perfectly solved his nutritional problems for the next phase.

He took one last look at the desolate Floating Island, where the Mutant Pterosaur's corpse was slowly dissipating under the system's rules.

"City Lord Zhao Tianyu was right: Floating Islands not only have treasures but also lethal dangers."

Zhou An looked at the now-empty storm assault rifle in his hand with lingering fear. If he hadn't possessed this purple-grade artifact capable of automatic recharging, it would have been impossible to kill this monster with just the broken cold weapons left behind by those other survivors.

"Time to go back, upgrade the helicopter, and leave this graveyard!"

Zhou An didn't care about his stamina depletion; he grabbed the loot and turned to run toward the helicopter.