Vol 2. Alien
Chapter 1
There was only one Alien in this movie. Yet this Alien still killed everyone besides the
main character.
Zero crouched beside the bodies without a word. He dipped his finger into the blood,
then smelled it. “Dead for four to five hours.”
Xuan also crouched next to the bodies then measured the diameter of the holes with
his fingers and compared their sizes. He stood up with a serious expression after
quite some time. “It’s indeed a queen. This is bad news, our mission is to eliminate
all Aliens right? If there’s a queen in this spacecraft, then… I think we are probably
dead.”
The others looked at him. Lan touched her forehead and said. “I remember the
queen is the kind that can lay eggs. It has an immense size compared to regular
Aliens. Is this what you’re referring to?”
Xuan nodded. “Yes. It’s over ten times stronger than a regular Alien. You can’t even
damage it without heavy firearms. The worst thing is we are obvious out here.”
Zheng asked. “Obvious? What do you mean?”
“Food, think about it, to grow an Alien from the size of a serpent to over six feet tall in
a short period of time, do you think they can just grow out of thin air? No, it requires a
huge amount of organic material and energy. In other words, they need to eat during
this period. In fact, I was curious why didn’t they eat the bodies? Does that mean they
had already found enough bodies?” Xuan mumbled these words.
Xuan stood up and continued. “We are very likely to become their food. If it’s only
the eight of us, we could stay together and react when they appear. But what about
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the other seven? They are spread out through the spacecraft. They are the most
delicious food in the eyes of Aliens. In fact, I suspect that all the casts had already
became Alien eggs. There are eight characters, aside from the robot, the worst case
scenario is an Alien queen and five Aliens. This is the most likely situation we will
face.”
Jie asked. “Why not a few more queens? Since we are going to die anyway, a few
more won’t make a difference.”
Xuan shook his head. “That’s not possible. Aliens have their own society, just like
ants and bees. There can only be one queen in a group, otherwise it will cause
internal division and war, or the weaker one will leave the group. But this is inside a
spacecraft, and there are only so many Aliens. There can’t be another queen.”
“As a matter of fact, when I first saw the movie, I had considered this species as
the perfect species in the evolution of the physical body. They will adjust their form
and adapt to the environment based on the genetics of the host. They can keep
on modifying their genes to evolve. This is so similar to humans that unlocked their
genetic constraints.”
Genetic constraints? Humans? Everyone looked at this scientist with a colonel rank
as he indulged in his thoughts. Then at the same time, screams and cries for help
came from far in the hall. These screams sounded more and more miserable and
after ten seconds, they disappeared.
Zero stared at the hall and said emotionlessly. “It’s those hooligans. They got attacked.”
Zheng sighed. “Let’s still go take a look, if we find any Alien, we can kill them. They
are supposed to be rather weak right now?”
Xuan nodded. “Yes. The Aliens are still in their second stage. We can kill them with
enough fire power. Do you really only have a desert eagle and didn’t exchange any
other weapons?”
Zheng and Jie smiled bitterly. “We are different from you after all. I am only a white
collar worker. Aside from Jie being a retired soldier, Lan’s a writer and Xiaoyi’s only
a student. Can you expect us to know a lot or how to fight a battle?”
Xuan smiled. “Let’s go, we will go take a look first. And you are not totally correct.
Remember I mentioned genetic constraint? This is the highest technology in our
world. Our country got ahead of the world, even the US and European countries
might not know more than us about this.”
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“In the ancient ages when our ancestors were still apes, no, it was even before that,
the dryopithecus, there was a missing period of time in our archaeological studies.
Nothing indicated why apes evolved into man. Don’t trust textbooks that said it was
gradual evolution over millions of years. Let me tell you, the latest genetic studies
show that this evolution only took 120 years. Not several million, not even several
thousand, it’s merely 120 years. Humans evolved from dryopithecus to the early man,
australopithecus.”
“From the oldest single cell organism to multi cell organism, to invertebrates, to reptiles,
and gradually evolved to the modern human, our history is indicated in our
genetic code. Do you know what appeared in our genetic code during those 120
years? Let me tell you, it’s a constraint.”
“Yes, a constraint, our evolution exploded only for 120 years, then it was sealed off
due to various unknown reasons. After that, from the early man to modern human,
our evolution was actually minimal. To the point that we didn’t even evolve a bit for
the past tens of thousands of years. You can say that our technology is evolving,
we are more advanced that people tens of thousands of years ago, but this is only
an accumulation of knowledge. It has nothing to do with biological evolution. Our
evolution has come to a stop.”
Xuan said as he ran. He didn’t care for the shocked expressions of everyone and
continued. “This dimension, I am not talking about Alien but the overall dimension
of horror movies, I’ve seen this before. Except that I didn’t understand it’s meaning
at the time. In the ruin where we found a human skull in a cave, our country actually
found a tablet with words carved on it. We translated most of the words, it basically
said, ‘When human evolution comes to a stop, horror will unlock human’s genetic
constraint again, to restart the advancement of evolution.’ The message was left by
people named, ‘The first group of humans to unlock genetic constraints’. Perhaps
this dimension existed since the ancient times.”
Zheng asked. “What happens when we unlock the genetic constraint? Humans become
superman?”
Xuan smiled. “You probably heard this line, all things in their beings are good for
something. According to our genetic code, there are no weaklings in human, every
person is supposed to have a specialty. And his specialty is guaranteed to be among
the most talented. In fact, some can achieve it through training, such as sports, or
memory, or wit. Removing the genetic constraint will allow us to choose our specialty
depending on the situation. You can be a genius when you need to think, have
unparalleled strength when you need power, and during battle… you can become a
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super warrior that can survive no matter what happens, even if everyone else died,
you will live.”
“Being able to solve any difficulties, has the mentality to never give up, and survive
through any situation! This is our evolution after removing the genetic constraints!”
Chapter 9-3
Jie disliked Xuan’s tone. He said in a cold voice. “So what if we are mortals’ wisdom?
So what if I fucking created a woman? I am still living very well and it will just get
better! You…”
Zheng stood in front of Jie and stopped him. “You aren’t ridiculing us out of boredom
right? Perhaps you may be right, God gave that gift for us to make a strong bodyguard,
but that’s only your speculation. What if the bodyguard can’t follow you into
the movies? Even if he can get in, can you guarantee that he can help you survive?
When we enter the movies, we have to stand inside a beam of light about one meter
in diameter, how many people do you think can fit inside it?”
Xuan snapped his fingers, and replied calmly. “Your reasoning ability is getting more
capable, obviously reached Lan’s level. I don’t have any intention of ridiculing you,
but have you thought about why the movies have a limitation of twenty people?
That’s because a team needs different types of talents. If everyone’s direction of
growth is on enhancing their body, they can of course increase their survivability in
the movies but at the same time the team’s abilities will lack diversification. If they
encounter special situations, it will likely cause the whole team to wipe out!”
Then Xuan took out a bag and opened it. The bag was filled with tools and little
gears. He pointed to them and said. “Aside from finished products, you can also
exchange these tools and materials from God. In other words, if you have the relevant
knowledge and ability, you can create those high cost items with minimal cost. You
can even get around the limitation of ranked rewards. But do you have this kind of
knowledge and ability? Definitely no!”
“People with these kind of talents are usually physically weak and has no means for
combat. Then how are they going to survive the beginning? The only answer is
bodyguards. Similarly, that size of the beam that you just mentioned can just about
fit two people in. In other words, why did God only offer one free change to create
a bodyguard? That’s because you can only bring one into the movies. This is God’s
hint! People with special talents also have means to protect their lives, this is probably
what God tried to tell us.”
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(Amazing! He deduced all these with so little information, this kind of ability… you can
only describe him as non-human.)
Zheng and the others’ eyes were filled with astonishment. They continued listening
to Xuan. “So these twenty people should include all kinds of talents. I had been pondering
how God chooses people. Other than being disappointed at the real world,
God can actually also choose people with talents at every field. Yet there are people
from young to old, people with real talents to housewives. God actually doesn’t
know who’s more suitable for movies. That’s why it selected people of all kinds then
let them go through natural selection. Perhaps this is the intention behind having
newbies every time. So in order to let those people survive, the first human creation
must not go to waste. A special agent bodyguard that’s twice as strong as a normal
person, I don’t have to tell you how useful he can be in sci-fi movies right?”
Xuan paused then packed up his bag. “This is the first thing I wanted to say. If I die in
the next movie, then when newbies join in the future, if they are craftsmen or worked
in other non laborious careers, you can tell them the correct usage of the first human
creation. And not creating women for sex.”
Jie was about to lose his temper but Zheng stopped him. “Perhaps you are very right,
but I don’t agree that creating the woman I love will be useless in horror movies. Mental
support tends to be more useful than physical support. And God never stated the
usage of the first human creation. In other words, this choice has infinite possibilities,
no one can say with certainty that their hypothesis is correct, but I will tell these to
newbies in the future… what’s the second thing?”
Xuan actually smiled to everyone’s surprise. He took out five printed documents then
handed them out to the other four people. “These are the things you can exchange
from God that I categorized. There are four categories. I wrote down the descriptions
and functions of some practical items from low levels to high levels. Of course,
some functions are just my guesses. This is the second thing, organize the exchange
system. So we can know what we can exchange and better prepare for upcoming
situations.”
“This is also another speculation that I have, perhaps we don’t need to appear in
horror movies. God’s probably wants us to experience dangerous situations, and
force us to evolve in danger. It’s only because horror movies are the most dangerous,
that’s why we experience a lot of horror movies. Some very dangerous sci-fi movies
will probably appear also…”
Zheng got interested, then asked curiously. “Like what? What kind of sci-fi movies?”
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Xuan adjusted his glasses. “Starship Troopers. If God put us in an Arachnid colony
and we don’t have any heavy firearms on hand, I don’t think we can survive. Of course
God probably won’t put us in a truly hopeless situation. But to prevent this from
happening, I suggest that we equip ourselves with three weapons. Close combat
weapon, rapid fire weapon, and heavy firearm.”
“For close combat weapons, I suggest magical weapons. To be honest I don’t like
to watch supernatural horror movies, because they have no scientific basis. I don’t
waste my brain on things that can’t be explained. But the problem now is we are
very likely going to face such horror movies. And in order to survive through them,
I suggest a magical close combat weapon, that can both deal with normal life forms
and also supernatural beings. Zheng did very well on this point, your Na ring included
a support ability and can attack supernatural beings. Given your physical fitness, this
is almost a perfect choice.”
“Rapid fire weapons are used against enemies in masses, like zombies. For heavy
firearms, I suggest Zero pick the Ionic Gauss sniping rifle. It accelerates bullets with
ions, the enormous kinetic energy it generates can almost destroy anything in front
of you. This weapon is still in testing stage in the real world, but God already has the
finished product… as to everyone else, I don’t suggest you buy any heavy firearms.
Because your ability in handling weapons are horrible. You’re better off spending the
points on special bullets for the rapid fire weapons. Like the new type of depleted
uranium ammunition.”
“Basically that’s it for choosing weapons. I will add one last thing, these weapons can
also damage supernatural beings, you just have to use magical bullets, but those will
cost more than usual.”
Zheng praised him secretly. This was a real professional. He indeed never thought
about any of these last time. Xuan’s words increased their chance of survival by a
lot. Even though he didn’t like some of Xuan’s methods, Xuan was really a genius at
analysis.
Zheng took a look at the document then said. “But unlimited ammunition version
of these guns are all expensive. We don’t have that many points to exchange them.
And the unlimited ammunition version of that Gauss rifle needs a rank D reward and
5000 points…”
Xuan laughed. “When did I say anything about unlimited ammunition weapons? Remember
the first thing I said? Other than bodyguards, you can also exchange tools
and materials from God. Gunpowder is very inexpensive, 1 point can get you one
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ton of high quality gunpowder. and bronze and other metals are also very inexpensive.
I can exchange the materials to assemble a workshop and manufacture bullets
in mass. Even though we won’t have unlimited ammunition, but as long as it isn’t
the worst possible situation, we should have enough bullets to deal with it. Those
magical weapons are expensive, even though we can’t create these items, we can at
least exchange some bullets with magical properties to deal with possible situations.
This is the second thing I want to say, our standard equipment!”
Zheng and the others exchanged a look, they could see the delight in each others’
eyes. As long as they can live, even if it was just hope, that was enough to make
them feel delighted. Zheng said to Xuan with a smile. “Then continue, Xuan, you
are really amazing, if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be able to come up with these…
continue to give us surprises, what’s the third thing?”
Xuan bit his finger, then said. “I found the option to go back to the real world… even
though it’s only temporary and you have to pay a high price. But this is a way to
confirm whether we entered this world with just our conscious or whole body, and
also confirm whether we can bring these things out to the real world, and bring our
enhanced bodies back… Yes, I found the option to go back to the real world!”
Xuan’s words were shocking to the others. Humans that can alter their specialty at
will and be able to survive through any situation were pushing the limit of the potential
of our species.
“Just think about it. Apes reached this limit and became human, then what will humans
become when we reach it?”
Zheng felt a thought came up, but when he calmed down to think about it, the thought
disappeared.
Zero, who was quiet this whole time, asked. “How do you unlock the genetic constraint?
With drugs or something else?”
Xuan waved his hand. “Needs a substance similar to the epinephrine hormone that
can only be produced by the human body. The crucial point is… it’s a poison. You
probably heard of stories like a mother lifting a car to save her son. This actually
happened but this woman died soon afterward. Scientists found a micro amount of
this substance in her blood.”
“Therefore it’s impossible to unlock the genetic constraint with outside help, at least
we can’t do it with our current technology. You can only work towards it yourself.
Of course we don’t even have a direction right now. Anyway, I suspect that this
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dimension is related to genetic constraints. It might even be the creation of the first
group of humans that unlocked their genetic constraints.”
Jie laughed. “You think ancient apes predicted the horror movies we will watch?
And all those sci-fi weapons that you can exchange, you think they can predict everything?”
Xuan smiled indifferently. “Apes perhaps can’t but what if the thing they created
has created artificial intelligence? Computers won’t die, they can record our horror
movies then make us experience them, until we die or break the limit to unlock the
genetic constraint. Then we will be able to earn enough points to leave. What do
you think of this hypothesis?”
Zero suddenly said in a low voice. “Perhaps you’re right but please be aware of our
situation. There’s a scent of blood from the left turn thirty meters ahead of us. Who
will go take a look?”
Zheng gritted his teeth. “My stats are the highest, so I will go.”
The other people cleared a path without a word. Jie took out his gun then gave
everyone a grenade.
Zheng took a deep breath, suppressing the terror he’s feeling. He walked lightly
toward the turn. Due to the anxiety he’s feeling, for a while he could hear his heartbeats,
then gradually, it seemed like he could felt the little movements in his blood
vessels. This was a wonderful feeling, unexplainable but Zheng was enlightened a
bit, as though he’s one step away from unlocking the genetic constraint.
Unfortunately, this condition didn’t last long. When he looked to the left carefully, he
was appalled and the condition disappeared. All that’s left in his mind was terror.
To the left of the hall was filled with pieces of flesh. Bones, organs, flesh were piled
up, he couldn’t even make out the form of a human. Aside from the ripped clothes
on the ground, no one would had believed.
Zheng held onto the wall and started to vomit. The others saw that there was no
danger and ran over to him. Lan, Xiaoyi, and Shuai started to vomit along. Even Jie’s
lips twitched as he saw it. Zero, Kampa and Xuan crouched beside the flesh and
studied them silently.
Kampa picked up a few pieces of clothes, looked at Zero and said. “It’s those three
hooligans. The flesh of two bodies are gone.”
Zheng just stopped vomiting but when he heard this, he started at it again.
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“No, I don’t think so.” Xuan looked at the flesh carefully. “I have done some dissection
experiments, most of these flesh is crushed bones, and the dirty parts of organs. Look
at this, a fragment of the shoulder blade, I’ve found three different ones already. So
I think the Alien took away all the edible flesh.”
There’s nothing left for Zheng and the others to vomit anymore. They could only feel
their stomach twitching non stop. At last, Zheng had a better physical body, he could
still move afterward, but the other four could barely stand while holding onto the wall.
Xuan, Kampa, and Zero finished their discussion and walked back to the others. He
frowned as he looked at them. “We will leave this place first, the situation is worse
than we expected. There’s already a third stage Alien, and… it may be nearby.”
As he finished talking, Zero and Kampa suddenly got on the ground. There was a hint
of fear in their eyes, especially Zero. He said in a quick and low voice. “Something’s
not right, there’s danger.”
People that lived on the edge of death tend to have a sixth sense for danger. When
Zero and Kampa got on the ground, Zheng felt his heart tightened. He couldn’t explain
this feeling. He looked behind instinctively and there was a huge shadow.
Xiaoyi was standing at the outer most of the group, he could barely stand after the
vomiting. When Zheng looked behind him with a terrified expression, he forced himself
to turn his head around, then he froze.
This was a matured Alien, almost three meters tall, and over three meters in length
with it’s tail. It was covered in shiny black exoskeleton, a huge and long head that
extended to its back, a mouth full of sharp teeth, even the tongue was filled with little
teeth.
Xiaoyi looked at its mouth as saliva dripped off it, before he could do anything, the
Alien’s huge tongue penetrated his shoulder. That tongue moved so fast that even
Zheng could only see a shadow. Then the Alien dragged Xiaoyi to the corner.
“Ah! No! Jie, Zheng, save me! I don’t want to die!”
Xiaoyi screamed like a mad man, but his strength was so insignificant compared to
the Alien. He struggled like a baby. His hand gripped on the corner of the wall as
the Alien dragged him. He didn’t loosen his grip even as his nails flipped. Finally, the
Alien got him through the corner and left five trails of blood on the wall. Then the hall
was filled with painful and miserable screams, along with the sound of crushing and
ripping of bones and flesh.
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Zheng, Zero, and Kampa were the first ones to woke up from the shock. Zero and
Kampa both did the same thing, they held onto the grenades with a finger through
the ring. As soon as the Alien appears, they would throw the grenades at it. He remembered
that he said never give up on any comrades. He definitely heard Xiaoyi’s
cry for help.
Around the corner, three Aliens were ripping on Xiaoyi. He was still not dead. His
whole body was twitching. The Aliens’ strength was so powerful, their tongues
touched him lightly and his body was ripped apart like paper. Zheng could only take
a last look of those despair eyes before Xiaoyi’s head was crushed.
Another Alien turned around to look at Zheng. It extended its tongue out, saliva
dripping on the ground. Then it screamed at Zheng. The scream woke him up from
the shock. He looked at Xiaoyi again, no, the pieces of his body, before he turned
around and ran back.
“Run! Shit! There are three Aliens!” He yelled as he ran.
Zero and Kampa threw their grenades then ran back. Jie, Xuan, and Shuai followed
behind.
Lan was running on the back near Zheng, but her speed just isn’t fast enough, the
explosion was likely to affect her. Zheng picked her up when he ran by. When the
explosion wave came, they both got knocked to the ground.
Zheng forcibly turned his body around right before he reached the ground, taking the
impact while Lan landed on him. She looked at him in surprise then smiled. “You’re
a nice guy.”
Zheng’s mind went blank for a moment then yelled. “What’re you talking about, hurry
and run!” Then he was going to push Lan off him to get up.
Lan gripped on his shirt’s collars tightly. “My enhancements are low, my running
speed definitely can’t keep up. Carry me.”
By this time, Jie and the other four were out of sight already. Zheng didn’t have time
to say anything else. The explosion could only delay the Aliens for so long. If they
don’t start to run, they will just die here. He gritted his teeth, picked Lan up and
started sprinting.
Zheng’s physical body was strong, he could barely feel the weight of a person. After
running through a few halls, he realized that he got lost. He was just running as fast
as he could without any time to think, but having gone so far without encountering
Jie and the others, Zheng got separated from the group.
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He gritted his teeth and continued on. Another hundred meter went by until he saw
a steel door on the side. He carried Lan inside.
All the doors on this spacecraft had automatic sensors and will open when a person
gets near. They easily got into the room. Then Lan jumped out from his arms. She
pressed some buttons next to the door then it closed. The light on top of the door
turned red.
Lan exhaled, then patted her chest. “That was scary, I couldn’t even move my hands
and feet. The Aliens were more disgusting and scary than in the movie.”
Zheng was staring at her, her breasts were actually big. He couldn’t feel it when
he was running, but now that he thought about carrying her, and her breasts were
pressed onto his chest. He immediately looked away.
Lan sensed what happened then blushed. “I knew it this door could be closed. Otherwise
if anyone can enter your bedroom, then there would be no privacy.”
Zheng coughed to calm himself down. Then he thought about Xiaoyi’s face. Even
though Xiaoyi looked common, and a little weak, he was a kind hearted kid. He
laughed a lot during training, and said his biggest dream was to get enough power
through enhancements, then go back to school and teach those bullies a lesson, but
now he’s…
“Fuck! I said I won’t give up on any comrades! Yet I got scared and ran!”
Zheng got more and more angry. He kept punching on things. Bang! A steel bar the
thickness of an arm got bent. He and Lan looked at it with their eyes wide open.
Lan ran over immediately. This room wasn’t big, other than bed made of steel, there
were some simple furniture and a TV. That steel bar was from the bed.
“Wah. When did you get so strong?”
Lan touched the bar then at his fist. It was even scratched. She said with surprise.
“Is your fist made of steel? That was powerful.”
Zheng was surprised also. He then tried and punched at another steel bar with full
strength this time. The whole bar broke in half and the bed knocked to the ground.
He looked at his fist in disbelieve.
“That’s not possible, I never won against Jie in close combat unless I used Qi. If I
have this kind of strength, I could had knocked him out in one punch.”
Lan touched her forehead. “Perhaps you held back, not consciously, but because
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you obtained such strength you subconsciously held back. And it’s not only strength,
there isn’t even a scratch. Your skin is more tough than steel.”
Zheng tighten his fist, then a thought came to mind. “Say how destructive would it
be if I throw this steel bar with all my strength and while using Qi?”
Lan looked at the bar that was broken in half and smiled. “Why don’t you try it now?
If the results are good… hehe, if you do then I won’t tell Lori you peeked at my chest.”
Zheng kept his mouth shut. He was too familiar with Lan’s expression and tone. During
his past ten years, he saw a few women gave him that expression. He knew the
best choice was to stay silent.
He turned around and grabbed the broken bar. Sure enough, his strength had gotten
to this level. He never had the chance to test it in God’s room. He broke the bar off
the bed with just a hand. That screeching sound of bending the metal was so harsh
yet at the same time gave them a sense of safety.
Zheng took a deep breath, directed his Qi all over the body, then he gave a loud
shout and threw the bar. With a shattering sound, the bar penetrated the steel wall.
This bar was over half a meter long, only a few centimeters of it was left outside the
wall, the rest was inserted into the wall. The power of this throw was enormous.
Zheng and Lan were shocked at the result. They stared at each other for quite a
while, then turned turned around simultaneously… to the rest of the bars on the bed.
“Since we had forgotten to exchange for heavy firearms, then we will use this primitive
weapon to crush them!” Zheng muttered. Lan was laughing by the side, her breasts
jiggled as she laughed. Zheng couldn’t help but peek at it. She seemed to have
noticed and blushed a bit.
Perhaps this is the only thing enjoyable now, Zheng thought as he peeked. Yet when
he remembered those three huge monsters of a nightmare, he felt a sense of despair,
and a bit of stubbornness of refusing to accept fate.
Live, no matter how hopeless the situation is… I must live!
Chapter 2
Aside from the lack of heavy firearms, they also didn’t have any food or water. Without
these two things, if they were locked in anywhere, they were very likely to die from
starvation or dehydration.
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“We’re still newbs. We thought we are veterans from surviving a movie, yet there are
still so many things we didn’t prepare. Then we just came in here as if this is a field
trip.”
Zheng sighed. Lan nodded, she was looking for something on the wall.
Zheng asked in curiosity. “What are you looking for?”
She replied without turning her head. “This is a modernized spacecraft, there’s probably
some high tech communication tools. Otherwise the characters would have to
speak to each other face to face all the time.”
As she spoke, she found device with buttons hanging on the wall. When she pressed
it, a sound came from above, just like when a call was connected but no one was on
the other side.
Lan touched her forehead. “There are over forty buttons, assuming each one connects
to a room, then we are in the center of the spacecraft, and we shouldn’t be far
away from the control room.”
Zheng walked over. The device had 46 buttons. The number 21 was indicated on
the device, and the button 27 was painted red.
He tried to follow Lan’s thoughts. If the spacecraft was divided into 46 areas, 1 and
46 were on the edge of the spacecraft. The room they were in, 21, was close to the
center, then the special red 27 was probably the control room.
Zheng hesitated. “What if the numbers have nothing to do with the position of the
rooms? Like the rooms were numbered randomly. And if that red 27 is not the control
room, but instead it’s the security room or something else? It’s too arbitrary to just
assume our position like this.”
“Humph, it is arbitrary, yet it’s still better than waiting here for the Aliens to find us.
Or do you want to experience the same thing as when the hunter from Resident Evil
was charging at the door? Just stared as the door was broken in and we couldn’t do
anything? Even if room 27 is the security room instead, it will probably have some
weapons.”
Zheng felt a headache, it’s not wise to get in an argument with women. They would
start a lecture when they feel objected. He immediately nodded his head. “Yes.
Good. No problem. I also think we should go out to search. Anything is better than
staying here. I agree with your decision.”
Lan started to smile. “Yes, I knew you are a nice guy. You can accept a lady’s opinion.
Hehe. Then I will count on you, please protect me.”
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Zheng carried tied three steel bars to his back, then held onto the thickest and
longest one. He didn’t say anything and watched as Lan turned the light of the door
from red to green. He took a deep breath and sprint out.
“Yes. My deduction is correct. Every important room has a communication device
and a number. We just passed by room 25. In other words, the control room is near.”
Xuan walked out from a room and said to the other four people. The other four looked
around nervously. Jie suddenly asked. “What can we do if we find the control room?
I say we should go look for Zheng and Lan, he’s the strongest one among us.”
Xuan said without emotions. “Regardless whether they’re alive or dead, in order
to find them we have to first get to the control room. We are not familiar with the
locations of this spacecraft, we don’t even know where the Aliens are, where the
weapons are, where the food and water are, and… do you know where the toilets
are? So we have to find the control room and learn the map and locations of the
spacecraft, then we will have the ability to fight.”
Jie was about to say something, but at last he remained silent. Zero said coldly.
“Hurry up. I keep feeling there’s something following behind us. Even though it’s still
far away, but this sense of danger is very obvious.”
Kampa also nodded and said in choppy Chinese. “Yes. Very dangerous. I am certain
it’s an Alien.”
Xuan frowned. “Ok, we will choose to go through the left hall. Everyone start to run,
we have to find the control room no matter what. If my deduction is correct… finding
the control room will increase our chance of survival.”
At the same time, Zheng was at a place not far from Xuan. The two cautiously advanced
towards room 27. After a while, Lan yelled. “Stop. I’ll go check out that room,
if something happens… judge the situation yourself.” Then she went into the room
alone.
Zheng muttered with a bitter smile. “Easier said than done, judge the situation myself.
No matter how I judge, it’s still death…”
Even though he complained, he concentrated his attention on the surroundings. His
muscles were all tensed up, his hand holding onto the steel bar. Yet without any
reason, he felt very uncomfortable, as if something dangerous was approaching him.
This made his him more nervous.
About a minute later, Lan came out happily. She smiled. “Great, my deduction is
correct. This is room 23, room 22 is definitely in one of the halls we passed by. If
14
we just follow this path, then we will get to the control room. Hmm? Your face looks
pale, are you too scared?”
Zheng forced a smile. “I don’t know why. I am feeling a bit worried. Perhaps we
should find somewhere to hide for a while.”
Lan shook her head, and said in a serious tone. “We can’t. It’s already dangerous
being separated from the group, especially since we are so close to the control room.
We have to get there first… I know maybe you are not feeling well? But can you hold
on for a little longer?”
Zheng smiled bitterly. “Then let’s go. My body is in good condition. It’s just feeling
a little worried… Ayyy. I’ve never seen a woman like you, being so tough. Normal
women would be too scared to move in this situation.”
Lan laughed. “Hehe. I’ve been tough since I was a little girl. My parents died on my
twelfth birthday. They got in a car accident when they went out to buy a birthday
cake. If I’m not tough enough, I won’t live till now. So, for such a good girl like me,
you have to do your best to protect me…”
Pah!
As Lan made a turn on the corner, she was still talking to Zheng with laughter. Suddenly
a tongue full of teeth shot out from the side and penetrated her shoulder. Blood
splattered and painted Zheng’s eyes red. He felt as if he was still hearing that laughter
by his ears, and that line. “You have to do your best to protect me…”
“NO!”
(Trying out present tense, let me know in comments if it’s better)
Zheng’s eyes are bloody red, don’t know if it’s from the anger he’s feeling or Lan’s
blood. When the girl disappears through the corner, he charges forward but he used
too much strength and is running into the wall.
His enhanced reaction speed saves him at this moment. Everything slows down, he
feels every movement takes a great deal of energy even with his physical fitness. His
body feels as if it’s going to tear up. The ground, air, even the wall, there’s seemingly
a force from every object pulling on his body to prevent him from moving too fast.
He had never experienced this phenomenon before.
When he is reaching so close to the wall, the air feels so condensed like it’s liquid. He
can even step on the air and jumped at the wall. Then he kicks on the wall to make
the turn. The first thing he sees is an Alien dragging Lan. This Alien is a size smaller
15
than the one before but it’s still over two meters tall and three meters in length. It’s
dragging Lan towards the deeper end of the hall. The girl’s left shoulder is crushed.
Her body filled with blood. There is only despair and a hint of longing in her eyes.
Zheng suddenly understands that longing, that’s the hope for life and future. Even
though he never saw his own eyes, but he knows when he was in a hopeless situation,
he must have that hint of longing in his eyes. He’s certain of it!
In Zheng’s eyes, Lan’s image has become Xiaoyi, about to get ripped apart and become
a pile of flesh, or it will become himself. When he gets dragged by an Alien, he
would have the same despair and longing, then get ripped apart… He doesn’t want
this! He has to save this girl no matter what!
“Ahh!” Zheng screams like a madman. He can almost see every movement the Alien
makes because everything slowed down. The jump he made off the wall shot him
straight towards the Alien.
This all happened in an instant. In Lan’s perspective, Zheng charged at the wall then
kicked at it in a weird angle. That kick made a muffled sound, and embedded two
footprints on the steel wall. Then he disappeared in her eyes. She couldn’t follow
that kind of speed.
Zheng has reached the Alien. He could see the saliva dripping off its mouth, and that
long tongue. He swings his steel bar at its tongue with pinpoint accuracy. With a dull
sound, Lan falls on the floor. The Alien starts to scream like crazy. Acid sprays from
its broken tongue. The tongue was cut in half.
“Ahhh!” It’s not over yet, Zheng screams along with the Alien. He has lost all senses.
His eyes are bloody red and filled with frenzy. It may have been the blood of Lan, or
they really turned red.
As Zheng lands behind the Alien, he swings at its back. With a sound of metals
colliding, the steel bar got bended. Though the Alien is not looking good either. The
exoskeleton on its back cracked and acid is pouring out from the wound. The ground
is filled with craters from the acid at this point.
The Alien’s speed is just as fast. Even when Zheng could feel the surroundings
slowed down, he is only on par with the Alien’s speed. When the Alien swipes at
him with its claw, he can barely raise his arm to block it in time. With a loud sound,
the impact knocked him to the ground, and the whole hall vibrated. Blood is pouring
down from his head from the impact.
Zheng is fighting with his life at this point. He doesn’t have a shell as tough as the
16
Alien’s exoskeleton. When he blocked the swipe, it left a few holes on his arm. Not
only that, the Alien is so powerful when his head hit the ground, he almost fainted.
He bit his tongue at that moment, the pain from it kept him awake.
He’s not even planning to get up, he pulls another steel bar from his back and swings
it with all he has at the Alien’s feet. His physical strength and the buff from Qi knock
the Alien to the ground. As the Alien falls, it raises its tail and stabs at Zheng’s leg.
The Alien’s combat instincts are so strong, it lives up to being a species that evolve
for killing and survival.
Zheng’s mind goes blank. He feels as if his body is moving on its own. Countless
instincts on combat rise to his mind. He dodges to the side then rolls back, that pulled
his leg out from the tail. Then he kicks at the ground and jumps at the Alien, while
he stabs at its mouth with the steel bar.
He let go of the bar in the Alien’s mouth and pulled another one from his back. He
keeps stabbing at the Alien’s head with it non stop even when the acid from the
Alien’s blood sprayed all over his body. He looks like he has gone insane and wants
to tear the Alien to pieces. Fortunately, Lan reacts in time. She ignores her injuries
and jumps at Zheng. It knocked both of them to the ground a few meters away. That’s
when Zheng slowly woke up.
The front of his body feels painful and a burning sensation. He quickly takes off all
his clothes and attempts to wipe off the acid on his body. The acid causes a sizzling
sound on the ground and corrodes the steel like melting ice. Yet, Zheng’s skin only
turned a bit dark, there is no sign of corrosion, which surprises Lan quite a bit.
As Lan stops his bleeding with the hemostasis spray, she says with a light voice. “It’s
great to be alive. Thank you… But why aren’t there any injuries on your skin? The
Alien’s blood should be highly acidic.”
Zheng wiped off all the acid on his body. His mind is still blank. Everything that
happened felt like a nightmare. He was basically fighting by instinct, especially after
the Alien stabbed his leg, he felt like a chain within his body had broken off.
“Maybe it’s because I have high stats in cell vitality and immunization. At least my
skin is burned dark by the acid.”
As he tries to take out another hemostasis spray from his ring, his whole body goes
into a seizure. A painful and paralyzing sensation starts from his internal organs, like
countless ants crawling on them, then this pain spreads to his bones and marrows,
then it moves along with his blood to the skin. Gradually all he can see is whiteness,
he feels as if he is about to die.
17
“”Just think about it. Apes reached this limit and became human, then what will humans
become when we reach it?”
“Needs a substance similar to the epinephrine hormone that can only be produced
by the human body. The crucial point is… it’s a poison. You probably heard of stories
like a mother lifting a car to save her son. This actually happened but this woman
died soon afterward. Scientists found a micro amount of this substance in her blood.”
“… Genetic constraint…”
Zheng remembers Xuan’s words on genetic constraint. He doesn’t know if he accidentally
unlocked this genetic constraint, but he knows that he is struggling on the
brink of death. The seizure on his internal organs is getting stronger, blood bleeds
through his mouth and nose. Then his lungs also start to have seizures, he can barely
breath in any air. He opens his mouth wide struggling to breath.
Lan reacts instantly. She holds onto Zheng’s body and puts her lips on his, trying to
give him air. After about ten seconds, Zheng’s internal organs slowly calmed down,
then his lungs also start to breath, the pain on his skin is fading. But Lan doesn’t know
and continues giving him air. At the same time, she is also weeping and mumbling.
“Don’t die. Please. Don’t leave me alone. Please stay alive with me…”
Is it because someone close to her left her before, so she’s afraid of losing again?
Zheng feels as if he can understand her. He thinks they are the same kind of people,
after losing something especially important, they made a promise with themselves
never to lose again. That’s why they’re desperately clinging onto their lives. That’s
why they’re supporting each other.
“I’m much better.” Then another girl’s face flashes through Zheng’s mind. He lightly
pushes Lan away. Even though he can barely move, but this push is firm and determined.
Lan is crying, then suddenly she gets pushed away. Her mind goes blank for a moment
then she smiles unnaturally. “Are you alright now? You scared me just then.
You were like you had an epileptic seizure, and blood was coming out of your mouth.
That looked so horrifying…”
Zheng feels totally exhausted, yet compared to the pain a moment again, this is like
heaven to him. He smiles bitterly. “Thank you so much, thanks for helping… helping
me breath. Otherwise I would had fainted from suffocation. If I lost conscious under
that situation… I think I would have been a corpse by now.”
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Lan’s expressions came back to normal. She laughed. “I have to thank you, if you
didn’t save me then I don’t know what would have happened. So what was that? Do
you have a medical history?”
Zheng shakes his head, he doesn’t know how to describe what just happened. When
he was on the border of life and death, he felt something unlocked within him. The
combat was smooth and and the precision of his movements was within a millimeter.
He spent every bit of his energy without waste. The combat instincts had no compassion
or fear. If he really has to describe it with a phenomenon, it would be similar
to SEED mode.
Of course, this is probably the genetic constraint that Xuan talked about, evolved
human beings that can survive through any extremes. This also explains why it was
so painful afterward, that was probably the side effects from the substance generated
from unlocking the constraint.
The pain comes and goes quickly. Zheng feels he is gradually recovering his energy.
Yet the feeling of unlocked genetic constraint also subsides. Perhaps the poisonous
substance is being decomposed by his body. His enhanced cellular vitality and immunization
strength saved him, at the same time prevented the substance from totally
unlocking the constraint. Zheng can almost imagine that if he kept this combat
instinct, the Alien’s won’t be unbeatable.
Lan sees that Zheng haven’t replied, she didn’t continue with the topic, instead she
laughs. “See what rewards you get for killing an Alien. Hehe. There can’t be no
reward for it.”
Zheng has recovered a lot by now. After hearing her words, he immediately looks
at his watch. It says Aliens killed 1, and next to it is 500 points. Perhaps the reward
was announced during his combat, but at the time his mind was filled with killing and
didn’t notice the announcement.
He suppresses his happiness and said. “Awarded 500 points. That’s great, this is
half the reward from surviving a movie.”
Lan is smiling also, as if she earned the reward herself. She says happily. “500 points
for one, maybe you can kill a few more then you will get a few thousand points in just
this movie… hehe, since you said I saved your life, then should you exchange some
gifts for me when we go back?”
Zheng looks at her red lips and replies without thinking. “Then I will give you the
perfect lipstick, that color is so beautiful.”
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Lan immediately blushes. Then Zheng realizes the ambiguity of his tone. He coughs
and continue. “We should leave this place as soon as possible. The smell of the
Alien’s blood is too strong. I don’t know if there’s another one. I’ve also recovered a
lot. So we will continue forward like you said.”
Lan nods but her face is still slightly blushed. She says in a low voice with her head
down. “Are you… alright? You your leg and body bled a lot.”
In fact, Zheng already noticed his wounds. The strange thing is after bleeding for a
while, his muscles and skin quickly closed up. The speed of healing is simply amazing.
It seems like the genetics of vampire are working.
He stretches his arms and legs. “No problem. I have recovered a lot of energy. And
there is a sense of danger approaching. So let’s hurry up and move on.”
Lan takes his warnings seriously this time. They continue on the path in hurry, after a
few intersections, they come to a large door. Lan is about to go, but Zheng pulls her
back. “I’ll walk in the front. Your reaction speed is honestly horrible. It’s better to let
me take the lead.”
By the time Lan nods her head in silence, Zheng is already inside. The room is very
quiet. It’s a kitchen filled with all kinds of packaged food. They look at each other
and can see the delight in their eyes.
Suddenly, the communication device on the wall starts ringing. They almost fell to
the ground from the scare. Zheng reacted immediately, he runs to the device and
presses the button blinking in green light.
Xuan’s voice comes from the other side. “We found an Alien corpse outside room
22, did you kill it? Did you find the arsenal?”
Zheng sighs. “I’ll tell you the details face to face. Where are you guys? And how do
you know we are here?”
“Every important room has a number. We are in room 27, the control room. This
room has access to the security system. If you don’t enter a room, we won’t be able
to reach you. And you are probably in the kitchen right? If you can, take as much
water and food without slowing you down. Then follow the numbers on the doors to
room 27.”
“What I am going to say next is concerns your lives. Long story short, there are three
Aliens following you, about the distance of ten rooms. According to their speed, they
will reach you in two and a half minutes. I don’t know the reason but they have been
following you all along.”
20
Scent, it’s the scent of Alien blood on Zheng’s body. Zheng and Lan immediately
realize it.
Xuan continues. “I will give you two minutes, run straight then on the intersections
go straight, straight, straight, left, straight, left, straight, left! This is the path to reach
the control room. Remember it! You have one minute to collect food, and must reach
the control room in two minutes. At two minutes forty-five seconds I will put down
the walls outside the control room to isolate it. If you can’t reach the wall within the
time frame… then I’m sorry I have to give up on you. We have five people here after
all.”
“The timer… starts!”
Zheng takes a deep breath, he focuses his Qi on his ring and starts to sweep the
food in this room. Especially the cases of water. A 1.5 cubic meter space can fit a lot
of stuff, especially when these food and water are already packaged in boxes. After
thirty seconds, he picks up Lan then sprint out of the room.
Zheng shouts. “I’m going to run as fast as I can, I won’t have time to think. So tell me
when to make the turn! Ok?”
Lan nods, her eyes focus at the front. “Keep going, keep going, the first intersection,
go straight, the second one is the same, the third one same, this time make a left…”
Zheng is running like a madman. His speed has almost reached his limit. That feeling
of the air becoming dense is back again. Even then he can still feel the danger
approaching from behind. And it’s getting closer and closer. Compared to the smaller
size Alien he killed earlier, the fully matured Aliens are faster, even faster than Zheng!
“Left! Left this time.”
Zheng kicks at the wall and shoots into the left hall. As he was making the turn, he
could see the shadow behind him. He can’t even think anymore, all that’s left in his
head is keep running straight as fast as he can! Death! Is following right behind him!
He can see it, a steel wall that is slowly coming down. Zheng can cross several
meters with every step he takes, but after a few steps, he feels a pain in his back.
The nearest Alien is just one meter behind him. It shot its tongue at him and just
barely reached his back. That’s why he felt the pain.
No! I don’t want to die! I have to live no matter what!
Zheng shouted like a mad man. He suddenly turns around and jumps up. The Alien is
really much faster than him, the moment he jumps up, the Alien closes their distance
21
even more, and it retracts its tongue. The next time it shoots its tongue, is when
Zheng’s head gets crushed.
As Zheng jumps up, he kicks at the Alien with both feet. He had spent most of his
Qi during the running. He focuses the remaining Qi on his feet. Then he uses the
speed the Alien is running at and the power of this kick to shoot himself at the half
closed wall. He finally makes it in at the last split second. While the Aliens run into
the door with a bang! That impact causes the whole room to tremble. Zheng lies on
the ground like a dead fish. He really can’t even move a finger this time.
Live… no matter what I must live!
Chapter 3
(Going back to past tense)
Zheng and Lan lay on the floor. They were still holding onto each other. Their minds
were still filled from the overloaded anxiety and fear. It wasn’t until they heard footsteps
from the other side before they regained some consciousness.
Of course Zheng wouldn’t think its cool to lay on the floor like this, but he was totally
exhausted. In fact, he was terrified ever since he came into this room, afraid that
the pain would come again. Fortunately, he was only exhausted this time and didn’t
unlock the genetic constraint. So it seemed like the constraint isn’t something you
can unlock so easily.
Xuan crouched next to Zheng and asked. “How’s it? Any injuries? How long will it
take to recover?”
Zheng replied with a weak voice. “Probably just exhausted, no injuries. If I can rest
well… it should take about half an hour.”
Xuan looked delighted, people as calm as him don’t usually express such emotion
unless it is something really worthwhile. He stood up and said. “Too bad you didn’t
get any food and water, otherwise my plan will work. Now we need to think of another
plan, but it doesn’t matter that much, we have initiative now, we aren’t preys without
any means to protect ourselves, we can at least put up a fight.”
Then Jie carried Zheng on his back. Lan didn’t use much energy during the run, she
was just terrified. She stood up after a bit of resting and followed behind everyone.
22
“This is the control room of the spacecraft. Even though it looks complicated, it’s
actually similar to the control system of rocket launcher stations. So it’s easy to get
a hang of it.”
The seven of them sat in room 27. Xuan explained to them the usage of the controls
and buttons. Though he only gave them a rough explanation, no one else in this room
can understand what he said. Of course they can still follow some simple orders and
press some buttons.
Zheng thought silently, this complicated system is probably easy for you. Though
he wouldn’t really say this out loud. In fact, he was very thankful that there were
geniuses like Xuan in the newbies. This kind of people are the most important for a
team.
After Jie put him down, he suddenly said. “Actually I brought a lot of food and water.
If we limit our portions, it should last us quite a few days.”
Xuan and the others looked in confusion. Though Jie said with excitement. “Is it the
Na ring? There’s a lot of food and water in the ring right?”
Zheng nodded with a smile. Xuan immediately inquired about the Na ring and when
he learned that it’s an item created by Xiuzhen and cost a fortune to exchange it from
God, he got excited. He took Zheng’s hand and studied the ring. “Is it really item from
Xiuzhen? Is it really item from Xiuzhen? God, I have guessed this type of items existed
from historic documents. Haha so they all originate from this dimension! If I can crack
the secret of this technology, I can’t imagine how much humans can advance.”
Xuan ignored the weird looks from everyone, he continued with a zealous expression.
“Do you know? We actually unearthed some items that can’t be explained with our
technology from other countries. They no longer have energy in them, we couldn’t
activate them with electricity or other kinds of energy. From analyzing the materials,
we deduced that there once existed an advanced civilization. But the years that this
civilization appeared are strange. These items range from over ten thousand years
ago to a thousand year ago. There’s such an advanced civilization hidden within our
society and we never realized it, do you think this is possible?”
“So the researchers are separated into two parties. One party believes the items
were created by Aliens that hid in our civilization. I quite dislike this kind of analysis,
attributing every unexplainable phenomenon to Aliens. This attitude towards
research is very unlikable. The other party thinks these items are created by the
mythical Xians or Gods. Even though this is equally hard to believe, at least people
23
from this party still look for clues through ruins. Moreover, they actually found some
indirect evidences.”
Xuan stood up and looked at everyone. “Do you know what this means? It means
the advancement of humans are not limited to technology, even though this kind of
technology is also natural science, but they have broken the limit of external (physical)
science. This is the most advanced internal science!”
Zero suddenly said in a cold tone. “External science and internal science, do these
have anything to do with our current situation? I’d rather have the food and water
from that ring.”
Xuan said in a low voice resignedly. “Forget it, you won’t understand it. Anyway,
cracking the secret of Xiuzhen will be the next biggest step for humans after genetic
constraints!”
Zheng and Jie looked at each other with a bitter smile. Even though Xuan was usually
calm and rational, he was still just a researcher. Once he encounters a field he’s
interested in, he will be more fanatical than anyone. Just like he wouldn’t let go of
Zheng’s hand right now.
Zheng said. “Since we have enough food and water, what’s your plan? Even if you
want to research Xiuzhen, you will need enough points to exchange. That would take
tens of thousands of points and we have to survive to earn those points.”
Xuan finally calms down. He let go of Zheng’s hand and sat down on a chair. “Since
we have enough food and water, then I have two plans. One, we monitor the halls,
record the locations where Aliens appear, then when they are separated we put down
the isolating steel walls to trap them one by one. Then we can find a safe path to the
arsenal in room 17. This path should be safe once all the Aliens are trapped. After
we get our weapons, we can rely on Zheng to eliminate them one by one. This is the
only way we can fight.”
Zheng’s heart skipped a beat. He really didn’t want to get into close combat with
those monsters again. He immediately asked. “What’s the other one? You have two
plans right?”
Xuan sighed. “The other plan… There is a hibernation room, humans can sleep there
with minimal energy expenditure. We can eat enough then go to sleep in there. The
return route has already been set in the spacecraft’s computer. We will return with
the Aliens.”
Jie asked in confusion. “Return? Return to where?”
24
“Earth! Bring the Aliens to the Earth of this dimension! Let the Earth’s governments
fight the Aliens with their army! Then we can survive without risks… of course, there’s
another possibility. The humans in this dimension get wiped out by Aliens then we
will face millions or even countless number of Aliens. This way, we can live for a few
more years then die.”
Zheng looked around at everyone. “I don’t know what you’re all thinking, but to bring
the Aliens to Earth? Even if I don’t belong to this world, even if I can live for a few
more years, I can’t allow myself to do this. I can’t…”
Then he hesitated, he was going to say he will continue fighting even if he is the only
one left, but he couldn’t say that last line. He was still afraid of dying deep within him.
Xuan nodded. “You probably think the second plan is crazy. Though if the conditions
are there, I believe the second plan is more dependable. But there are two flaws in
this plan, if we can’t fix the flaws, then there is a possibility of failure. First, since the
plot has already changed, we can’t guarantee that the government won’t destroy this
spacecraft before we reach Earth. Do you think they don’t have such weapons with
their technology?”
“Second, I worry if the isolating steel walls can actually trap the Aliens. Since their
blood is highly corrosive. In Alien Resurrection, they used their blood to escape from
the cage(?). If they use the same tactics here, then I think the next time we wake up,
we will see them jumping at our faces.”
Zero said coldly. “Then why do you suggest the plan if there are so many flaws?”
Xuan waved his hand. “Even with the flaws, it’s still the safer plan. You should know
that once we choose the first plan, we will have to fight the Aliens head on. The walls
won’t save us if we fail. And failing means everyone will die. Plus, we have to take
such risk multiple times. Do you have to confidence to survive these trials?”
Kampa said. “Isn’t there an old Chinese saying, live as a hero, die as a …ghost hero.
Something like this. I don’t want to give in my fate to uncertainty. What if we can’t
wake up again? In comparison, I’d rather get a hold of my own future. Even if I am to
die, I will die fighting, and not live on a gamble of fate.”
He got more emotional as he spoke. The last line even came out in Russian. Xuan
had to translate it for him.
Jie nodded immediately. “I also think we should choose the one that we have control
of. Even though it’s dangerous, but we will have control over the situation, and not
depend on luck to survive.”
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The others nodded silently. Xuan sighed. “Fine then. We will vote. I think that will be
the fairest.”
The results were unexpected, even though the first choice won, but only four people
voted it, Zero, Kampa, Zheng, and Jie. Aside from Xuan and Shuai choosing the
second plan, even Lan chose it.
Xuan exhaled. “Since we’ve decided to fight, then I will respect your decision. Let’s
face the Aliens together. First of all, please have Zheng take out the food and water.
I think everyone is hungry by now right?”
Zheng laughed then focused his Qi. He had recovered some Qi from the resting,
though it’s not enough for a fight.
A few seconds later, there was a boxes of biscuits, bread, cheese, dried meat and
water. After taking all the food out, Xuan was the first one to crouch beside it. He
opened some boxes then counted the number of bottled water. “There is an adequate
amount of food, if we limit our portions, it can last seven people about a week.
But I suggest we split this into portions for three days. Then we can stay full and have
the energy to fight.”
Lan had been avoiding Zheng since she chose the second plan. At the moment, she
habitually wanted to touch her forehead, yet there was a hole on her shoulder. She
didn’t realize it during the running due to nervousness but it’s painful as she calmed
down. She touched her forehead with the other hand and said. “Why not split the
food to seven days? If we can wait for the Aliens to get trapped and isolated, then
we can clear a safe path to the kitchen. By that time, we might not even have to fight
them and just starve them.”
The others also looked at Xuan with confusion. He smiled bitterly. “I also thought
about this hypothesis, but a few reasons made me abandon a dragged out fight.
First, we don’t know the biological structure of Aliens, what if they are similar to some
desert creatures in Earth and can hibernate days without food and water? Then we
can’t compete with them by lasting longer. It may even be that once we finish all the
food and water, we will be the ones that are trapped.”
“Second, how many people do we have here? Seven, yes, I remembered when we
first woke up, we had fifteen people. Then where did the other eight go? To be more
accurate, where did the flesh of the other eight go? Then add in the bodies of the
movie characters, this is enough for the Aliens to maintain low level activities.”
“Third, this is the most important one, I don’t want to put the Aliens into desperation.
If we actually trapped them, and got to the kitchen. Then when they are extremely
26
hungry, can you be certain that they won’t use their blood to corrode the wall and
come to eat us? Therefore, I’d rather get well rested and fight the Aliens within a
shorter period of time. This is the best strategy I can come up.”
Zheng exhaled. “If we can survive this movie… then you will get the most credits.
What else do you have in mind? Just say it all out. Since we are comrades, we will
trust you with everything.”
Everyone else nodded silently and looked towards Xuan. Even though they didn’t
want to admit it, but his wisdom surpassed everyone. They knew his importance in
a situation like this.
Xuan smiled. “To be honest, I heard Jie said that there will be new people in every
movie and the qualities of these people are not guaranteed. The power of a single
person is limited in many horror movies. If we can survive through this one, and enter
more dangerous movies, I hope my team can at least have the courage and strength
to live on. Then I will contribute my brain, otherwise everything will be meaningless.
In the seven of us, at least six people are elites. I am very satisfied with this team, I
hope we can all survive… at least the six of us can survive.”
Shuai’s face got red. He was just a normal young man and had no specialty. Of course
he recognized Xuan was talking about him. Then Zheng patted on his shoulder. “Rest
assured, as long as you can survive, you can train yourself to become stronger. Don’t
give up on hope.”
Shuai looked at him thankfully. Then Xuan continued. “So, my isolating plan is… bait!
Open up a section of the walls, then lure the Alien into our plan. This bait will be Li
Shuaixi!”
Everyone looked toward Shuai in shock. This young man had a common face, average
physical abilities, no specialty, simply put a good for nothing normal young man.
If Xuan didn’t mention him, no one would had thought about him deliberately. He
was just like air.
Shuai’s mind went blank for a moment, then he suddenly yelled. “Why me? Why
should it be me? There are so many people here. Everyone wants to survive through
this movie, so why do I have to die? You just want to kill me. If there’s one less person
sharing the food, you can live for a little longer. That’s why you want to kill me right?”
Xuan looked at him in silence. “No, I don’t have the intention to kill you. Even though
the risk for being the bait is high, but you are the most suitable choice. Everyone
else here is stronger than you. Jie, Lan, and Zheng are veterans. I can plan our next
moves. Zero’s close combat and sniping skills are exceptional. Kampa is skilled at
27
various guns, which may include those in the arsenal. Tell me, of what use can you
be to us?”
Shuai lowered his head in silence. His face got redder and redder and veins surfacing
on his hand. Xuan continued in a calm voice. “If it’s under normal circumstance,
everyone has something they’re talent at. I won’t judge anyone with numbers and
abilities. I won’t be a utilitarian person like now. But you have to understand our
current situation. We are fighting against death, any mistake can cause everyone to
die here. You are the unnecessary one here, if you want our group to accept and
treat you equally, you have to show us your worth. Otherwise what difference are
you from the seven that died outside?”
Zheng finally couldn’t stand it and yelled. “No, I don’t agree with your words. I was a
normal person when I first got here. I got my current abilities through enhancements,
so why is he unnecessary? If you give him the chance to live through a few more
movies, he will become a dependable comrade!”
Xuan remained his calmness. “But… does he have that chance? To be accurate, do
we have the chance to survive this movie? Even given the same amount of points to
enhance, the six of us will still be much stronger than him. Also, don’t try to take his
place. Everyone has their own responsibilities. You are our biggest reliance in this
movie. Or you want to save one person and let the rest of us die?”
Zheng felt very angry. He was extremely scared of dying himself. Especially since
he now had someone to take care of, he must live on no matter what. At the same
time, he understood that feeling of going against death face to face. Even with his
physical abilities he was still on the brink of death. Then is there even a slightest bit
of hope for a normal person like Shuai?
Jie gave him a hug as Zheng got more emotional. “Let’s do it the old way. We will
vote, that would be the fairest. Zheng! Don’t be emotional. Even if you don’t consider
about our lives what about Lori? Once we die, our created humans will also
disappear! What do you want to do?”
Zheng’s body trembled. He finally lowered his head and sat down in resignation.
Xuan sighed. “Then we will start the vote. Those that accept my plan raise your
hand.”
The result was five votes for and two against. That decided Shuai’s fate. Either conform
with the plan to be a bait to gain the group’s acceptance, or leave the group
without any food or water, and he also won’t get any protection.
28
Shuai looked extremely emotional. Zero and Kampa stood next to Xuan silently.
When everyone was thought he was going to burst, he took a few deep breaths
and calmed down. He looked at Xuan with hatred and said. “Ok, I will be the bait.
Just like you all wish for, I will be the bait!”
They felt a shiver from the hatred in his eyes. Though Zheng didn’t see it. He kept
his head down the whole time. After the voting, Zheng walked over to a corner and
sat there in silence.
Lan walked over to Zheng after a while. She didn’t really know what to say. On the
contrary, he spoke first. “Lan, are you also afraid of dying?”
“Uhm… Yes, I am afraid of dying.”
“I am also afraid of dying, everyone is afraid. No one is really safe in this place, so why
do we have to push the dangers over to someone else? The rest of us will only be
safe for a little longer. Whoever can best accomplish this mission should go instead…”
Lan interrupted him with a serious face. “I think Xuan is right. If this is under normal
circumstances, then you are correct. But we are not facing normal circumstances.
We are going against death… How can we afford to protect a useless person without
anything in return?”
Zheng remained silent again. He muttered after a while. “… I can’t refute. Yes, perhaps
you and Xuan are right. But I still wish everyone can bond together. Everyone
can do our best to survive, and not the strong oppresses the weak. If we encountered
the same situation in our first movie, how will we feel? Won’t we hate everyone
and this world?”
Lan sighed and didn’t speak again. She sat next to Zheng silently. A few minutes
later, they heard a cry. They looked at each other then ran to where the group was
at.
When the two arrived, everyone was focused on the monitor. There were four people
walking as they were shivering. It was the two middle age men and the young
man and woman. After the four walked past, they saw a stage three Alien following
behind.
Zheng asked immediately. “What happened? Why didn’t the Alien attack them?”
Xuan was pondering and didn’t answer. Though Lan touched her forehead and said.
“Is it because of… breeding?”
The only Alien species with reproductive ability was the queen. In order to let the
29
larvae, grow, they would need hosts. That’s probably why the Alien didn’t kill these
four people on the monitor.
Xuan nodded. “Yes. It must be for breeding. We have to execute our plan as soon
as possible. Otherwise, in a few days… we will have to face against nine Aliens!”
Chapter 4
The Na ring contained an abundant amount of food and water, bread, cheese, jerky,
and some snacks, rich in both quality and quantity. There was also enough water to
last them several days. But just to be safe, they split the food and water into seven
portions. Everyone received enough to last about three days.
Xuan put Shuai’s portion on the table. “This is your portion. As long as you proved
you are useful to this group and not our burden. Then these food and water belong
to you. Furthermore, you will also become a member of our group.”
Shuai took the food and water silently and with his head down. Then he moved to
the side and started eating by himself.
The others also ignored him and started eating their own food. After half a day of
running and fear, they were hungry and thirsty. Finally, that they obtained some food
and water, which were also in a good amount, they started rushing through the meal.
Since Lan couldn’t move one of her hand, Zheng opened the packages for her and
pour her a cup of water. These little actions kept her smiling non stop. She also sat
next to him as she ate.
Xuan suddenly asked. “Right, since we have time, tell me how did you kill that Alien?
I’m rather curious.”
Even though the others were still eating, but holding a conversation during a meal is
a norm for the Chinese. Zheng took a drink then said. “Don’t make it sound like I’m
strong. It was so dangerous, we almost died back there. If I wasn’t lucky enough to
cut off its tongue in the start, we would have probably died.”
Xuan thought for a moment then asked Zero. “Using a desert eagle, how close do
you need to hit an Alien’s tongue. I mean while they were moving at a very fast
speed.”
Zero replied without raising his head. “30% accuracy within 150 meters, 40% within
100 meters, 50% within 50 meters. This is the limit. I can’t raise my accuracy anymore
30
by going closer.”
Zheng smiled bitterly, 50% was just half and half. The Alien’s tongue was strong
enough to break through metals. It was especially powerful when being shot from
the Alien’s mouth. A human’s head would be as fragile as a watermelon. In other
words, once Zero missed, it’s tongue could kill everyone near it.
Zheng continued. “I was lucky back then and cut it off by surprise. I was only able to
hit it because it’s tongue was left inside Lan’s shoulder. If it’s face to face, we won’t
even be able to react when it shoots it’s tongue out.”
Xuan nodded. “The speed at which Aliens shoot their tongue is frightening, it’s almost
as fast as bullets. You also have to consider their mass and weight. A normal
steel plate might not be able to block it. Anyway we will first continue with our plan.
Then clear a path to the arsenal. Perhaps we can find some suitable weapons there.”
Zheng sighed. “How are you planning to isolate the Aliens? Just send someone out
to bait them?”
Xuan pressed some buttons on the control panel while eating. After a moment, a
map of the spacecraft appeared on the screen.
“We are in room 27. According to my deduction, and the way those four people and
the Alien was going, the Queen should be at… Warehouse 1 or 2. The monitoring
system around that place malfunctioned, probably corroded by the Alien’s secretions.
I remember in Alien Resurrection, the Queen will secrete a substance similar to spider
silk when it’s laying eggs. This substance is also highly acidic, though not as strong
as their blood.”
“That’s why the isolating walls, monitoring system, and even the lights malfunctioned
around that area. We can only control the isolating walls from room 16 and beyond.
I’ve already noted them in the map. The green area is under our control.”
Everyone looked carefully at the screen. The green area occupied most of the spacecraft,
the red area went from room 1 to 15.
Xuan sighed. “Maybe you are feeling lucky that the Aliens’ corrosion only got up to
room 15 whereas the arsenal is room 17. But I have to tell you a bad news. Rooms 16
and 17 are on the left and right sides of room 15 respectively. We can not put down
the walls on the hall connecting room 15 and 17. If we are to get the weapons, the
Aliens from room 15 can hunt us freely.”
“That’s also the reason for the bait plan. We need to lure the other four Aliens, aside
from the Queen, to the halls beyond room 17 then isolate them. Then we can find a
31
safe path to the arsenal. I said it before that I won’t treat human lives so lightly. Even
though this plan has a high risk, it directly affects whether we can survive this movie
or not. We can not allow anything to go wrong with this plan.”
Zheng stared at the red and green screen for a while, then he sighed. “What if only
one or two Aliens come to us? Wouldn’t the plan fail?”
Xuan smiled, but it was Lan who answered him. “Actually there’s a way to lure the
aliens over. Remember when we got chased by them? How did they know we were
there? And that they didn’t give up no matter what… it’s smell.”
Zheng clicked. “Right, smell. The Alien’s blood has a very strong scent. Once the
other Aliens smell this scent, they would rush over. You mean we will lure them with
this scent?”
Xuan nodded. “We still have six grenades. If we bind them together three at a time, it
will be powerful enough to damage a stage three Alien. Once one of them is injured,
the others will come. And once they step into the hall beyond room 17, we will put
down the wall. Shuai can also use the blast from the explosion as a cover to run away.
This is the whole plan.”
Even though it’s dangerous, it’s not a hopeless situation. Zheng finally felt relieved.
Yet a hint of hideous emotion filled the eyes of Shuai who had been sitting silently
with his head down the whole time. He gripped his hands so tight that he didn’t even
realize his nails cut into his hands and blood dripped to the ground.
After everyone had eaten, Xuan turned on all the channels of the monitoring system.
The big screen was split into many little sections. Xuan kept waving his hand in the
air as if he was painting something. He stopped after quite a while, and his face
turned pale. “Ok, I’ve memorized the order at which the walls will come down. The
Alien nearest to us is in room 22, there’s also another one going at the direction from
room 20 to 19. If we attract its attention within five minutes, then we can isolate one
of them while baiting the other one over. Then we will execute the plan.”
Zheng looked at Shuai and sighed. “What should we do?”
Xuan pressed some buttons on the control panel, then stood up. “One minute later,
the wall outside this room will open up. I’ve already scheduled the order the rest of
the walls will come down. Let’s go. We will go out now and explain to you guys the
details.”
Kampa banded the six grenades together to two sets of three. The wall slowly lifted.
They could see the dents, craters, claw marks, and scratches on the walls and floor.
32
Those walls were made of steel! The scene terrified them.
Xuan took the grenades, then pointed at the hall. “You will stand on the other side of
this hall. From there you can see up to 100 meters in a straight line. Once the Alien
comes from the other side, you will activate the grenade and throw it. I had Kampa
modified the grenades to reduce their delay before detonating. It should detonate
mid air so you must run immediately after you throw it. Remember you have to turn
left at every intersection.”
Shuai said with his head down. “Then what about this isolating wall leading to the
control room? Will it come down after I go outside?”
Xuan nodded. “Yes, this wall will come down after you go out. I will open it again one
minute after I hear the explosion. According to your running speed, there is enough
time for you. Oh right, in order to attract the Alien, you will need some fresh blood.
In short, your mission is to just run along the left.”
Then Kampa threw a dagger over to Shuai. Xuan also handed him the grenades. As
Shuai took the grenade, everyone’s heart tensed. Zheng even saw Zero move his
hand to his back, he was holding on the desert eagle. Zheng wasn’t aware that Jie
gave Zero the gun.
To everyone’s surprise, Shuai turned around calmly. As they let out a sigh of relief,
he suddenly turned around again and threw a grenade over them. Just like Xuan
said, the grenade detonated mid air. Luckily Shuai threw it too far due to nervousness.
They were only slightly impacted by the shockwave and there were no serious
injuries.”
Zheng stood at the back of the group because he couldn’t look Shuai in the eyes.
But when the grenade exploded, he got affected the most. The shockwave blew him
away. His mouth and nose were filled with blood as he hit the ground. For a while
he couldn’t see anything. A few seconds later, he barely recovered his sight. Then
he saw Shuai holding the other grenade on his hand, his face filled with a hideous
expression.
Shuai laughed. “How’s it, genius, aren’t you wanting to kill me? Aren’t all of you
rejecting me just for that little bit of food and water? Just so you can hide together?
Fuck. Why do I have to be the only one to die? Why? Tell me! I’m going all out, if I
am to die, then we will die together. It’s still better than dying in the mouth of those
Aliens!”
Xuan got knocked to the ground by the shockwave. His head hit the wall and blood
streaming down his head. He stood up and asked calmly. “I’m curious. Aren’t you
33
afraid of dying? You should know that although my plan is dangerous, but you won’t
die 100%. If you followed my plan, you have a high chance of surviving. So tell me,
why would you…”
Shuai interrupted him. “Shit, stop trying to fool me. You know why I asked that last
question? What would have happened to this wall after I left? And how did you
answer me? It would open a minute after you hear the explosion? Don’t fucking
fool me. Do you remember what I am good at? Even though I am not a genius, but I
really did read a lot of books. Including some militaristic themed books. The isolating
walls in spacecrafts like this one usually can’t be activated again within half an hour
of putting them down. This is designed to prevent people from taking control of the
spacecraft through the computer. I specifically looked at your inputs on the control
panel. You only scheduled the commands to close them. There was no command to
open it again!”
He started laughing like a madman. “That last question was my final struggle. Fuck,
who wouldn’t want to live? If there’s even a slightest bit of hope, I would still wish
to live. But you faggot wants to put me in the mouth of those Aliens! Fuck. Say
something! Why do you have to put me in a hopeless situation?”
Xuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I underestimated you. That’s my
mistake. I have said it before. We don’t need anyone unnecessary in this group.
You’re just a burden. I didn’t intent to give you up originally, but you were not satisfied
with my plan. That’s the way humans work, just a little bit of dissatisfaction will easily
grow into hideous intentions. So instead of having an unpredictable factor in our
future plans, it’s better to give you up. I didn’t intent to sacrifice you either. Even
though the wall needs to wait half an hour to open up again, but if you kept running
I will trap you in a hall without any Aliens. Then let you out after half an hour. You
shouldn’t had shown that hideous expression on your face.”
Shuai looked even crazier. He yelled with a twisted face. “Fuck. Why can’t I look
hideous when you force me to die? Are you the leader of this group? Who do you
think you are? If I can’t live, then you shouldn’t live either. Come die with me!”
As he finished, he pulled the ring on the grenade.
When Shuai first walked away with his head down, he was several meters away from
the group. After he threw the grenade he ran another several meters. By this time, he
was over ten meters away. They could only watch as he pulled the ring. Even Zero
couldn’t do anything with his gun as he was knocked to the ground by the shock
wave.
34
“All of you go to hell! I…”
He pulled the ring while laughing crazily. Just as he was going to throw the grenade
at them, it suddenly exploded. It only took a second from the time he pulled the ring
till the grenade exploded. He didn’t even have time to throw it. The fire and shock
wave quickly reached the group.
“No!”
Zheng watched in daze as the fire closed up on him. Thankfully Lan brought him
down to the ground. He just watched as the fire flew past him. For a moment, he
could still smell the scent of burnt flesh.
No! How can life be so fragile? Why is life so fragile!
Zheng suddenly jumped up from the ground and ran toward the smoke. Going inside
the smoke, he found Shuai lying on the ground. His whole body burned black. His
hands and chest were gone. Other than pieces of flesh on the ground, there was
black colored blood that gushed out from his chest. So human blood wasn’t always
red, after going through an explosion, it… can become burned black.
“Why? Why did the grenade explode immediately after pulling the ring?”
Zheng came out from the smoke. He walked over to Xuan silently and asked.
Xuan was the one nearest to the center of explosion this time. Blood gushed out
from his nose and mouth. He wiped the blood and said. “Yes, the grenades I had
Kampa modify, one of them explodes after a few seconds, the other one will explode
immediately. When I handed him the grenades, I put the one that will explode later
on the outside, so he could only use that one first…”
Zheng punched him on the face and knocked him away. Zero immediately pointed
his gun at Zheng and Kampa stood in between Zheng and Xuan.
Xuan slowly sat up from the ground. He spat out a tooth and said calmly. “This is
the true intention of the bait plan. Do you really think just a little blood can lure the
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