Chapter 451: Island in the Sky, Living Wind

When the wind brushed against Qi Suian, his eyes snapped open. He scrambled to his feet and immediately reached into his own abdominal cavity.

"It’s still here." Qi Suian felt the World Core he had sewn into his body and finally let out a sigh of relief.

He had been worried something would go wrong during the teleportation. After all, he didn’t know much about the World Core, so he had no way of knowing if an accident might occur.

’But since it’s still here, there shouldn’t be any major issues.’

Getting to his feet, Qi Suian finally began to observe his surroundings. The first things he noticed were the grassland and the wind continuously brushing against his face.

He could almost see the wind take physical form as it stirred the rippling grass.

But soon, Qi Suian noticed something was wrong. He wasn’t on a plain, but on an island.

And the island wasn’t bordered by the sea, but was instead encircled by a raging hurricane.

’An island in the sky...’ Qi Suian quickly identified the violation of the laws of physics.

An island can float on the sea, but one floating in the sky isn’t science—it’s straight-up fantasy and Magic.

For the moment, Qi Suian didn’t dwell on the principles behind it, instead opening the survivor panel.

"Huh, the Doomsday Game actually pulled in new survivors from somewhere." Qi Suian discovered that this time, the number of survivors was no longer zero, but in the tens of millions.

For Qi Suian, this was both good news and bad news.

The good news was that Qi Suian would have another Extraordinary system to use as a reference. The bad news was that even without the World Core, the Doomsday Game had recovered some of its power.

In the Blood Race World, it hadn’t even had the strength to pull in new people, but now there were survivors again.

It had definitely recovered to some extent.

’But the new survivors’ upper limits probably aren’t that high.’

’At best, they only have 9 attribute points. Even with an Extraordinary system, they’re probably of little use to me now.’

’At most, a "survivor protagonist" might be worth something. The rest are probably useless.’

His power had already reached its current level, and the survivors were capped by the Doomsday Game’s limits. Besides, not every Extraordinary system was suitable for him.

The Blood Race and Divine Technique from the last world weren’t suitable for Qi Suian, so in the end, he only took a few Blood Race Sacred Artifacts.

And then he burned them as fuel.

Those things were only powerful in the Blood Race World. In a different world, even if not completely useless, their power would be drastically reduced.

At that point, they wouldn’t just be of questionable value, but an outright burden.

That’s why Qi Suian had burned not only the Blood Race Sacred Artifacts but also Abel and his sarcophagus as fuel.

As for using them as modules? If he had a Blood Race bloodline or the power of a Divine Technique, the Blood Race Sacred Artifacts and Abel’s sarcophagus might have been somewhat useful.

Otherwise, installing them would have been pointless.

Rather than install fourteen modules incompatible with his system, he was better off choosing material and energy recycling modules to make the amplification effect of his Legendary Equipment Stone even stronger.

Simply and brutally stacking attributes was the method of growth Qi Suian favored most.

Technical builds were certainly powerful, but they were too demanding on the user.

Stat-based builds were one-dimensional, but as long as your stats were high enough, not only could mechanics fail to kill you, they could even be shattered.

Qi Suian began launching satellites, and with the Smart Brain’s coordination, he quickly obtained a complete map of the sky island he was on.

’A complete, independent civilization, isolated from the rest of the world.’

’But one thing is certain: my current location is probably home to some big boss.’

’Second, this world isn’t structured around continents, but a series of floating islands.’

"And finally, the wind... it’s alive." Qi Suian frowned as he came to this last conclusion.

The wind being alive was different from a wind-elemental life form.

The former implied that the natural phenomenon caused by the movement of air was, itself, a living creature.

The latter was more akin to an evolved energy-based life form.

The two were not at all equivalent.

For Qi Suian, however, these were not things he planned to worry about for now.

"Time to find a place to lay low." Qi Suian didn’t plan on being reckless this time.

As for acquiring an Extraordinary system and resources, he was prepared to let nature take its course.

This change in attitude was, of course, because of the World Core. The object was far too precious; he had to convert it into tangible strength as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, the longer he delayed, the more trouble it would cause down the line.

He was certain this new world would also covet the World Core. And while the Doomsday Game had gone quiet after arriving, that didn’t mean it had given up.

As long as he possessed it, this threat would never disappear.

Therefore, to avoid complications, Qi Suian naturally chose not to stir up trouble.

Before, there was profit in constant killing. Now, not only was there no benefit, but there were also drawbacks, so of course he wouldn’t do it.

Qi Suian wasn’t some homicidal maniac. Unless a survivor showed up on his doorstep, he planned to simply ignore them this time.

Whether he could actually convert the World Core in this world, he didn’t know.

But he knew one thing for sure: if he didn’t cause trouble, he would most likely be staying in this world for a very long time.

[I completely agree with your line of thinking, but I suggest you relocate.]

[After all, the final boss is likely to appear here. One wrong move, and you might be forced into a massacre.]

The Smart Brain reminded Qi Suian immediately.

With Qi Suian’s current power, traversing the hurricane wouldn’t be difficult.

Qi Suian thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. The most dangerous place is the safest place."

"Besides, as long as I don’t go looking for trouble, nothing will happen."

He had a very clear understanding of himself. Of all the worlds he’d been to, only the Cold Winter World incident had been a genuine accident. All the other disasters were messes of his own making.

So, as long as he didn’t make the first move, he wouldn’t draw out the big boss.

Besides, with his current strength, Qi Suian wasn’t really afraid of any big boss.

Even if he couldn’t win, could he not escape?

He had, after all, gone head-to-head with the Red Sea itself to kill the Red Sea Witch Lilith. His stats were a testament to pure, unadulterated violence—a crushing force devoid of any finesse.

The Smart Brain didn’t refute Qi Suian’s words, because he was right.

’This sky island isn’t huge, but it’s surprisingly prosperous. It can actually support over a hundred thousand people and maintain a complete ecosystem.’

Qi Suian was slightly surprised as he looked at the data compiled by the Smart Brain from its satellites and reconnaissance network.

The former wasn’t difficult, but the latter was the real challenge.

It was equivalent to creating a closed ecosystem that possessed an extremely high degree of balance.

As for their Extraordinary abilities, he wasn’t yet clear, but through data and observation, Qi Suian could confirm they were related to the wind.

But how one might utilize a "living" wind was likely a considerable challenge.

Just as Qi Suian was thinking this, he saw a three-masted galleon in the distant human city catch the wind and set sail.

The hull was naturally made of wood, not modern steel.

’The wood is an Extraordinary material, not an ordinary one.’ Qi Suian saw the difference at a glance.

Following the wind’s currents, the ship’s hull seemed to inhale and exhale the wind’s power, as if breathing, allowing the entire vessel to sail through the sky.

The great ship then headed for the edge of the island, charging straight into the hurricane.

Qi Suian began running calculations based on his remote observation data and came to a conclusion.

’Based on its structural integrity, there’s no way that hull can withstand the hurricane.’

’Entering it will mean the destruction of the ship and the death of its crew.’

The wood used to build the ship was indeed an Extraordinary material, but its physical strength was not much greater than that of ordinary wood.

Its Extraordinary property was to ride the wind, not to calm it or resist it, so there was no way it could pass through the hurricane.

’So what’s going on here?’ Qi Suian couldn’t quite understand.

The shipwright must have known, yet he didn’t give a warning. It couldn’t be that he had a grudge against the captain or the crew.

Even with a grudge, he wouldn’t do this. If an accident happened in plain sight of everyone, the shipwright’s reputation would be completely ruined.

No one would ever hire him to build a ship again.

"Unless it’s some kind of bizarre ritual, like a sacrifice." Qi Suian didn’t understand, but he neither interfered nor intervened.

Under his watchful gaze, the ship plunged into the hurricane at the island’s edge. Just as he predicted, the hull instantly began to disintegrate.

It was all over in less than two minutes.

Through his satellites, Qi Suian observed the expressions of the island’s inhabitants; they all seemed somewhat dejected.

’So they want to leave. It’s not the shipwright’s fault, but a problem with materials or technology.’ By comparing the evidence, Qi Suian arrived at this hypothesis.

Then, his gaze turned toward the sky.

’Going up probably doesn’t work either. Otherwise, with the ship’s capabilities, they could have just ascended to a higher altitude to fly over the hurricane.’

Qi Suian didn’t believe for a second that the island’s natives hadn’t thought of this solution.

Their willingness to face the hurricane head-on rather than ascend meant there was likely something in the upper atmosphere even more dangerous than the storm.

’If this were the old me, I’d definitely go up and take a look. If things got dicey, I’d just fire a Dark Energy Beam from a Floating Cannon.’

’But I’ll pass for now.’

"Smart Brain, find a safe house. We’re not going to be moving around for the foreseeable future."

"And you, my protagonist aura," Qi Suian added after instructing his Smart Brain, "work with me here. I plan to study the World Core, so don’t you dare bring any ’fortuitous encounters’ or trouble my way."

If he didn’t give it a heads-up, who knew what kind of things his protagonist aura would send him.

Although the Seven Elements Relief had greatly reduced the "misfortune" part of his "fortune-and-misfortune-are-linked" predicament, Qi Suian was still an outsider. To seize any local opportunities, he would inevitably have to take them by force.

Such actions would inevitably cause chaos and trouble.

To play it safe, Qi Suian would rather do without.

"Especially beautiful women," Qi Suian stressed. "Whatever you do, don’t send any of those my way."

The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

If he were to run into one, the best-case scenario would be the complete destruction of the sky island he was currently on.

In a more serious case, the entire world could be annihilated. After all, the power of his protagonist aura was not to be underestimated.