Chapter 19: Zheng Cha's Interrogation

Zhang Jie pulled out his dagger and stabbed directly into a trembling mass of "flesh."

As it turned out, the thing was not as hard as he had imagined; in fact, it could be described as offering no resistance at all.

"Ugh! Disgusting."

Zhang Jie looked at the viscous liquid on his dagger with a face full of loathing.

Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses and spoke calmly

"Let's go. This passage isn't large enough for the Alien Queen to enter."

Zhan Lan tightened her pant legs again and asked Chu Xuan curiously

"You were certain the Alien Queen's nest was located at Warehouses One and Two back when we were in the control room."

"How were you so sure? Just because the surveillance facilities there were damaged?"

Chu Xuan answered as he walked

"No matter how the Main God increases the difficulty, the basic logic remains unchanged. The entire universe merchant ship did not land on this unknown planet where Aliens exist."

The spacecraft truly capable of carrying Aliens was the exploration vessel that the three plot characters had taken out.

And Warehouse One is located in the rear belly of the spacecraft. When we were in the control room, I noticed that was exactly where the exploration vessel was docked.

One reason might not be proof, but three supporting reasons make the location of the Alien Queen's nest certain.

Zheng Zha, who was eavesdropping nearby, was stunned. "Three reasons? Didn't you just say two?"

Zhan Lan rolled her eyes at the captain and said irritably, "The location of the exploration vessel, the surveillance failure, and the direction in which those newcomers disappeared. Stop trying to think with that brain of yours; just focus on hitting your targets in a moment!"

"Hehe, smart people are just smart. We just excel in different directions."

Being criticized, Zheng Zha gave an embarrassed smile.

After three intersections, everyone except Chu Xuan was walking in a daze.

Zhang Jie said speechlessly

"Besides being scary, I didn't expect this thing to be like a maze. Every intersection looks the same."

"I've completely forgotten which direction we came from."

The others, feeling the same way, nodded in agreement.

Only Chu Xuan remained meticulous at the front, leading the way with full concentration.

Li Xiao felt the viscous substance beneath his feet; every step felt as if he were sinking into some kind of flesh.

As they walked further, it was inevitable that a sense of dread would set in.

Due to the presence of corrosive secretions, the further they went, the fewer lights remained lit.

Most of the equipment had already fallen victim to the mucus and organic matter.

This also caused the group's pace to slow down.

As Zheng Zha pulled his gaze back, he suddenly noticed a piece of flesh not far from him twitch twice.

Subconsciously, he thrust his spiral spike toward it, wanting to see what was inside.

Lifting the surface of the blood-colored flesh, he revealed an oval-shaped organ the size of a human head.

Before he could warn the others, he suddenly discovered with horror that a piece of tender flesh at the top of the oval began to wriggle.

This scene was exactly like the moment in the movies when an Alien egg senses a biological organism and is about to transform into a Facehugger.

If someone were to be parasitized, they would grow into a new, terrifying Alien in just a few hours.

There was no time to think; the spiral spike was about to strike.

But in the next instant, the Facehugger, which hadn't even fully emerged from the embryo, was blasted into minced meat by a bullet.

Just as Chu Xuan had said, Aliens in their first state are the weakest; they have neither hard chitinous shells nor extremely high agility.

A single bullet can end one.

Looking at Li Xiao behind him, Zheng Zha said with a smile, "Thanks. I didn't expect there to be some in here too."

【Killed Alien—Facehugger, Reward: 10 points.】

Li Xiao replied

"It's fine. Everyone, be careful."

Upon learning that this thing yielded ten reward points, Li Xiao really wanted to say, *You guys take a break and let me handle this.*

Perhaps due to the sound of gunfire, the fleshy masses in the passage they had just walked through began to tremble one after another.

Li Xiao and Zhang Jie exchanged a glance and shouted simultaneously

"Open fire!"

The dim passage was instantly filled with muzzle flashes. Only then did the group realize that the path they had just walked was actually composed of individual Alien eggs.

Even though they were weak at this stage, the ejection speed from the embryos was staggering.

Despite the covering fire from Zhan Lan, Zhang Jie, Ling Dian, and Li Xiao, many Facehuggers still spread their disgusting wings in mid-air, rapidly approaching Zheng Zha and the others.

Just then, several muffled gunshots rang out, and the larvae in the air were all blasted into fragments.

A detached-looking Chu Xuan retracted his firearms.

"Let's go. The commotion here has already alerted it. We need to pick up the pace!"

"According to my calculations, the passage ahead leads down to the location of Warehouse Two. The last Alien should have been waiting for a long time!"

Zheng Zha looked at the blood-soaked passage behind them and exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

"Then let's go. Finish this damn mission, and then we all survive together..."

Zhang Jie gave a nonchalant smile

"Not just survive, we're going to live comfortably. When we get back, everyone come to my place, and I'll have Na'er cook a feast for you!"

Meanwhile, Li Xiao was calculating his recent gains. Not bad; in just a moment, he had gained another hundred-plus reward points.

It's not the losing that's scary, it's the fear that the Main God won't give any.

Zhang Jie raised his gun and uttered a phrase in a strange, pleasant-sounding language, looking to be in a good mood.

The others, unable to understand, shifted their gaze, and a reluctant Chu Xuan translated.

"What he said in Russian is: 'Many twists and turns, but hope for a good end.'"

Zhan Lan's eyes flickered as she asked with a hint of scrutiny, "Do you know who said that?"

Chu Xuan's expression remained flat as he replied

"That phrase is said to have been left by Einstein during his travels to Russia in the 19th century. As for its authenticity, it is impossible to verify."

Zhan Lan secretly stuck out her tongue and whispered

"To know even that... he really is a monster."

Chu Xuan continued seriously

"The marker for this place on the map is an emergency passage. Following it straight down will allow us to bypass Channel Three directly."

"We will arrive directly at Warehouse Two. But I am wondering: should we all go down together, or should we send one person ahead to scout?"

"Scout? I'm afraid that's just another bait, isn't it?"

Hearing this, someone seemed provoked.

Zheng Zha wiped away his recent smile and spat out the last words through gritted teeth.

He walked to the front of the group, eyes staring straight ahead.

"Chu Xuan! What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Bawang is already dead. Who do you want to go this time? Zhan Lan? Or Zhang Jie?"

Looking at the furious Zheng Zha, Chu Xuan's expression remained indifferent as he spoke

"Bawang's chances of survival were not small; he died because he acted on his own. If he had followed my plan—hiding behind the isolation board after the first bomb injured the Alien—his chance of survival would have been one hundred percent."

"Furthermore, I only want this team to complete the mission. If no one is willing, I can naturally be the one to go down and scout."

"And my presence is naturally much more important during combat than certain people!"

Hearing this, Zheng Zha took another step forward, his large hands gripping Chu Xuan's collar.