Chapter Sixty-Six: Toothless Pterosaur

At this moment, Qin Fei was leading Big Nose, who was carrying a large stone back to the shelter.

The toothless pterosaur had just snatched a bird egg and swallowed it whole. As it prepared to steal another, it spotted Qin Fei approaching. Immediately, it flapped its wings and soared back into the sky.

Qin Fei saw this scene from a distance and was momentarily stunned. Did toothless pterosaurs eat dodo eggs? It made sense, though. Toothless pterosaurs were carnivorous. In the game Ark, while they wouldn’t directly eat animal eggs raw, their favorite recipe did indeed include dodo eggs.

Aside from the one taken by the pterosaur, Qin Fei still had three eggs left in his backpack. The pterosaur seemed to have noticed this and, after taking flight, hovered nearby, unwilling to leave. It was likely waiting for Qin Fei to depart so it could return and steal more eggs.

It’s not the thief you fear, but the thief who covets. Qin Fei looked up at the egg thief circling above, pulled out his pistol from the backpack, and considered taking a shot. But then, glancing at Big Nose beside him, a new idea sprouted in his mind…

On this island, animals were remarkably intelligent. Since Big Nose could be tamed as a companion, the pterosaur above should be tameable as well.

Qin Fei rummaged through his system backpack, producing a carrot and a handful of purple berries. He also broke off a small piece of Big Nose’s favorite tuber root and tossed it all into an iron can.

He added a pinch of salt, poured in a water bottle, and dropped in a chunk of fat, then set the can over the fire to cook. As the water heated up, he cracked a dodo egg into the can.

Soon, a rich aroma of eggs blended with vegetables wafted from the iron can. Qin Fei’s appetite was stirred—this scent was simply irresistible!

In truth, this dish was prepared for the island’s animals. The aroma was even more tempting to them. Even the usually obedient Big Nose couldn’t help but inch closer, drawn by the fragrance.

Qin Fei waved Big Nose away. After all, this meal was specially made for the pterosaur circling above.

As expected, the pterosaur, upon detecting the food in the iron can, couldn’t restrain itself. The lure of this meal far outweighed any threat posed by Qin Fei and Big Nose. After circling for a long while, the pterosaur summoned its courage and landed beside Qin Fei, neck withdrawn and eyes darting nervously toward him.

There was hope!

Qin Fei was elated. He gently pressed Big Nose’s head, signaling it to stay back. Then, picking up the iron can, he shook it at the pterosaur, inviting it to eat.

The shaking intensified the enticing aroma. Unable to resist any longer, the pterosaur stepped forward, using its long beak to eat from the can. It seemed it had never tasted anything so delicious—while eating, it let out soft "oo-oo" sounds.

Even when Qin Fei reached out to touch its head crest, it didn’t shy away.

Qin Fei’s heart raced with excitement. If he could tame this pterosaur, he would finally be able to soar through the skies.

In the world of Ark, a toothless pterosaur stood over two meters tall, its wingspan four or five meters wide. Only when the pterosaur lowered its head to eat could Qin Fei just barely reach its crest.

With such a size, carrying Qin Fei into the sky would be no problem.

The pterosaur ate slowly. By the time Qin Fei had nearly finished collecting materials for a stone shelter, it finally devoured all the special feed from the iron can.

Having enjoyed the meal, the pterosaur didn’t want to leave. Just like Big Nose when first tamed, it began to circle around Qin Fei.

It appeared willing to follow him now.

To make things easier, Qin Fei named it "Eggie" after its egg-stealing antics.

As night approached and to guard against attacks from creatures lurking in the nearby swamp, Qin Fei started building his stone shelter.

[Stone Building Mastery: Allows you to gradually convert stone materials in your backpack into a stone structure. The size of the building can be controlled by the user.]

After storing the collected stone in his backpack, Qin Fei activated the skill. Stone foundations appeared instantly beneath his feet.

He deliberately left rows of holes in these foundations. The reason was that he had no cement or clay in his backpack, so walls and foundations couldn’t be directly joined. But the holes would serve as mortise slots—in the future, Qin Fei would craft tenons at the base of the stone walls and secure them together, connecting walls and foundation.

He used the same method for the stone ceiling.

Using his building skill and the stone he’d gathered, Qin Fei constructed a stone house of about fifteen square meters in less than half a day.

To accommodate Eggie and Big Nose inside, he set the ceiling height at over three meters and made the door extra wide.

On the rooftop, Qin Fei placed the small farmland he’d acquired earlier and planted potatoes and corn.

Potatoes and corn grew rapidly. With the small farmland’s bonus reducing crop growth time by seventy percent, the crops would mature in just a few days.

Night fell.

To protect the shelter from other survivors and carnivorous animals, Qin Fei surrounded the stone house with wooden barricades and set up a tripwire alarm trap.

The darkness of night made it almost impossible for survivors to spot the tripwire.

The night passed without incident.

The shelter was undisturbed, and Qin Fei slept soundly.

In the morning, Qin Fei planned to take Big Nose and Eggie for a walk in the nearby swamp—both to familiarize himself with the surroundings and to see if there were any rare plants, dangerous creatures, or even caves hidden there.

He tested flying with Eggie carrying him. However, Eggie’s carrying capacity was low. Qin Fei had to empty his backpack, bringing almost no supplies, for Eggie to lift him.

Moreover, Eggie’s stamina while carrying a passenger was limited. After taking off with Qin Fei, flight time was greatly reduced—barely a minute before needing to land and rest.

So unless necessary, Qin Fei wouldn’t ride Eggie in the sky.

Furthermore, with so many survivors hiding on the island, flying above might attract gunfire and sudden death.

On the swamp’s outskirts, Qin Fei encountered no snakes or crocodiles, nor any danger.

He boldly ventured deeper.

In the thicket of the swamp, he found a small pond shrouded in white mist. Around the pond grew many white flowers that Qin Fei had never seen before.

These blossoms were peculiarly shaped. Their scent made Qin Fei’s blood surge and his mood turn uncharacteristically irritable.

Judging by their traits…

Could these be the rare flowers from the Ark game?

Qin Fei gathered some.

[Rare Flower: A rare plant growing in swamps. Eating it provokes aggressive attacks from nearby creatures. Even its scent can cause anger.]

Indeed, it was.

Qin Fei collected the flowers and stowed them in his backpack.

At the pond’s center, he discovered a gigantic, bizarre flower—dozens of times larger than the rare ones, as tall as a person. Its appearance was uncanny, and on its top grew several bright red unopened fruits.