Chapter 17: The Battle for the King of the Floating Island

Not far away, a group of Quluo Beasts, which looked like the gazelles on Earth, were nibbling on the fresh, tender mushrooms on the ground.

These animals were medium-sized herbivores that lived in groups, led by a strong male individual.

They were very alert; even while eating, their ears were turning in all directions, listening for danger around them.

Clearly, they had not detected any dangerous factors that could attract attention, and their manner appeared very relaxed; that Quluo Beast leader even had the leisure to flirt with a female individual.

Everything seemed so peaceful and serene.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded from behind a cluster of mushrooms, and almost at the same time, the neck of that Quluo Beast leader was pierced by a bone spear and forcefully pinned to the ground.

The group, having suddenly lost their leader, scattered in panic, and a dozen Quluo Beasts instantly disappeared into the jungle.

“They run really fast!” Lin Lei, who was taking a cold shot from hiding in the mushroom bushes, curled his lips; he had originally wanted to hit one more.

This kind of Quluo Beast was one of the animals with the most delicious meat on this Floating Island; it tasted tender and smooth with a hint of sweetness, very tasty.

Whenever he encountered them, Lin Lei would catch one or two to satisfy his craving.

Counting it up, Lin Lei had been on Blue Rain Star for over half a Blue Rain Star year. He had experienced multiple Dark Moons, which was when Blue Rain Star moved to the back side of the planet away from the sun.

During that time, Blue Rain Star revealed another kind of mysterious beauty.

Most spore plants emitted a pale blue fluorescence, hazy and dreamlike.

The heat radiation from that large planet in the sky was not as low as imagined; in fact, in Lin Lei’s widened Event Horizon, it was like a fireball, constantly radiating a red, flame-like glow.

It turned out that it generated heat itself, but its brilliance had merely been obscured by that brilliant star.

In this dim situation, Lin Lei, who possessed an infrared Event Horizon, held a great advantage; he could successfully launch surprise attacks in many battles, basically winning as soon as the fight started.

During the Dark Moon, the temperature fluctuated between negative 10 and negative 5 degrees; naturally, the System added a layer of dense, thick subcutaneous fat for Lin Lei, which served to keep out the cold while also improving Lin Lei’s defense capability.

One should not think that Lin Lei’s figure would become bloated; that would be impossible to survive in the cruel nature. Now, he had simply become taller and stronger!

His current body data was as follows:

Height: 1.85 meters.

Weight: 85 kilograms.

Physical Energy Level: 2.2 Standard Energy Level.

Maximum Burst Attack Energy Level: 0.6 Standard Energy Level.

Level 2 Reinforcement Reserve Progress: 96.85%.

The current Lin Lei had undeniably become one of the overlords on the Floating Island; except for the Komodo Beast, Lin Lei could defeat all other carnivores. The area within a twenty-kilometer radius of his Tree House had already been acknowledged by the island’s beasts as his territory.

……

The Quluo Beast leader in the distance had stopped struggling, and the System’s battle evaluation had also arrived.

“The Host completed the battle independently. Battle evaluation: D.”

“Host authority increased. Level 2 Reinforcement authority progress is 81/100.”

It only increased by one point; raising authority was becoming harder and harder. The first time he killed a One-horned Armored Rhinoceros, he got ten points; later, Lin Lei did it a few more times, but the evaluations he received were B-rank and C-rank.

By now, he estimated it was just a D-rank evaluation, because Lin Lei could easily blast the One-horned Armored Rhinoceros’s weak spot with a bone spear from a hundred meters away, which wasn’t much different in difficulty from killing this Quluo Beast.

Lin Lei walked toward the Quluo Beast more than thirty meters away, preparing to enjoy his meal.

But today’s situation was a bit different; it seemed a guy who couldn’t stand loneliness had set his sights on Lin Lei’s prey.

Lin Lei, whose vigilance was etched deep into his bones, noticed the anomaly immediately; he stopped his steps and carefully sensed the abnormality in the surrounding environment.

What came from the air was a cold killing intent, a momentum as heavy as a mountain; this uninvited guest was definitely a top carnivorous creature!

And at this moment, the only creature on the entire Floating Island that could give Lin Lei this feeling was the Komodo Beast.

Lin Lei had had a spiritual connection with this Komodo Beast for a long time; he had even sensed its presence during many hunting trips, and the two had always lived in peace.

But today, the situation changed; this tacit understanding was broken, and what followed would surely be a tragic battle for the king on the Floating Island!

The mushroom bushes not far away shook for a moment, and then a strong Komodo Beast jumped out. Its eyes were dark, its whole body glowed with flowing fluorescence, and it exuded a kingly demeanor that only came from being extremely powerful.

It had come.

Lin Lei stared at him.

Both knew that a sneak attack was meaningless; theirs was not a relationship between hunter and prey, this was a war for supremacy between the strong!

This confrontation was very similar to when Lin Lei first arrived, but the current Lin Lei now had the capital to fight back.

All the muscles in Lin Lei’s body maintained a slightly excited state that seemed relaxed but was not; his eyes narrowed, but the wild light shining from within was almost tangible.

The Komodo Beast’s low growl rumbled in its throat; on this Floating Island, the only one who could face it so calmly was the strange creature before it.

It felt an increasingly serious sense of threat, so it had to eliminate him to nip the danger in the bud.

However, was it a bit too late to make up its mind to come now?

Lin Lei’s current equipment included: full body Armored Rhinoceros leather armor, a bone shield, two bone spears on his back, and a One-horned Armored Rhinoceros sword in his hand.

He hid the vital parts of his body behind the bone shield, only revealing his eyes covered by the helmet, and his sword also poked out from behind the shield.

Lin Lei pushed forward slowly but firmly toward the Komodo Beast; he was deliberately creating a suppressive momentum to force the Komodo Beast to act.

But the Komodo Beast had incredibly rich combat experience; it began to turn its body and walk slowly, circling in a standoff with Lin Lei, also looking for Lin Lei’s weaknesses.

The current situation was that Lin Lei was clear about the Komodo Beast’s attack methods, while the Komodo Beast knew nothing about Lin Lei.

Perhaps Lin Lei had some advantages, but what he dreaded was the Komodo Beast’s ghost-like speed; knowing these things was useless.

This beast truly relied on one trick to conquer all; even though Lin Lei had simulated combat scenes a thousand times in his mind, only when facing it for real did he realize the power of the Komodo Beast.

Sweat seeped out from Lin Lei’s forehead; this silent confrontation, the clash of mind and momentum, largely determined the victory or defeat of a battle, and naturally, it consumed the most energy.

Lin Lei suddenly accelerated and charged toward the Komodo Beast; in terms of absolute speed, he was no match for this beast, but in terms of small directional changes during movement and the achievable complexity and precision of movement, Lin Lei believed he would not lose to it.

So he made the first move; he hid his sword behind his shield and bent down to charge at his opponent. Of course, he held back a bit of strength, which was the key to dealing with high-speed opponents.

The Komodo Beast roared wildly and pounced with its whole body.

The claw and shield intersected, and a piercing friction sound came out; Lin Lei lifted his left foot and stomped it down before the Komodo Beast’s right rear claw could lift to attack.

This stomp used extreme force, but the ground was too soft; apart from making the Komodo Beast let out a painful howl, it did not cause substantial damage.

And that tail of the Komodo Beast, with excellent elasticity and toughness, brought a wisp of dark wind and stabbed toward Lin Lei’s back as expected.

Lin Lei slashed backward with his sword, hitting the middle section of the tail, and the Komodo Beast’s tail whip attack was broken.

All this was completed almost simultaneously; it was the first execution after Lin Lei had simulated it a thousand times.

At this moment, on the frontal battlefield, at the place where the shield and claw struck, the massive collision of force decided the winner after 0.1 seconds.

Lin Lei’s feet were steady, and borrowing the momentum of the stomp, he knocked the unsteady Komodo Beast flying.

But Lin Lei did not hear the dull sound of the Komodo Beast landing, which meant it had adjusted its posture in the air.

At this time, his brain was too late to process the specific images transmitted by his eyes; Lin Lei only felt a black shadow flash before him.

In the midst of his busyness, he shrank his body, guarded with the shield, and rolled to the side, then immediately stomped his foot and rushed forward, not even having time to look with his eyes; the direction of the rush was entirely based on feeling.

This was the high condensation of combat experience, a kind of instinctive feeling; Lin Lei, while rushing forward, felt a sensation of collision, and his sword stabbed up repeatedly. With a slight sound of skin and flesh being penetrated, his sword pierced through something.

At the same time, Lin Lei felt severe pain in his back; he quickly clenched his teeth and endured it, not letting his movements deform.

An instant later, the two black shadows on the ground crossed at a sixty-degree angle.

A sky-shaking scream burst from the Komodo Beast’s throat; Lin Lei’s sword was deeply inserted into its abdomen, and its head and face were dripping with blood from the bone shield’s impact.

Lin Lei was also injured; he felt huge pain in his back, and the surrounding muscles twitched uncontrollably. Warm liquid gushed from the painful area, flowed down his spine, and dripped onto the ground.

“The Host’s back muscle surface layer has been torn; it is a moderate injury. Hemostasis treatment has been performed for the Host.”

Obviously, the scale leather of the One-horned Armored Rhinoceros failed to completely block the Komodo Beast’s attack!

This round of confrontation ended with the Komodo Beast heavily injured and Lin Lei stabbed in the back.

Lin Lei had completely gained the upper hand, but he did not dare to be careless in the slightest; he deeply understood that a dying beast was the most dangerous.

Calmness was what he needed most right now; he could not capsize in the gutter!

Having lost his sword, Lin Lei pulled out the two bone spears from his back and held them in a reverse grip.

What he needed to do now was to stay away from the Komodo Beast; attacking with bone spears was the safest method.

Lin Lei moved in a defensive retreating posture to the side of the dead Quluo Beast leader and pulled out the bone spear from its neck.

In this way, he possessed three bone spears; the wound on his back largely affected the accuracy of his throwing, but with three spears, his margin for error was a bit higher.

Throughout the process, the Komodo Beast did not launch an attack, but only stared dead at Lin Lei with its eyes, which contained anger and sorrow, exceeding the scope of emotions a beast in Lin Lei’s cognition could express.

But Lin Lei would not hesitate because of this; he threw the first bone spear.

The Komodo Beast roared and forcibly charged toward Lin Lei, but its speed was much lower than before; at least Lin Lei could see clearly and predict its movement trajectory.

The second and third bone spears followed closely; the Komodo Beast dodged the first and the second. But the third bone spear pierced between its shoulder blades, nailing it straight onto the soft soil.

It died, its heart pierced through, but it still stood.

“Bang.” Lin Lei knelt on the ground weakly; in this battle, the real physical confrontation lasted less than two seconds, yet it almost emptied his physical strength and mental energy.

“The Host independently killed the Komodo Beast. Battle evaluation: S.”

“Level 2 Reinforcement authority is now available. It is suggested that the Host actively proceed with Level 2 Reinforcement reserve.”

“Automatically switching to body repair mode…”

Ecstasy! It swept through Lin Lei’s body and mind; he did not have the mind to care about his injury at all, as the System would fix it anyway.

Lin Lei ignored his fatigue, stood up, and strode toward the dead Komodo Beast.

He wanted to drink its blood and absorb its energy to complete his own sublimation!