Chapter 13: Bait Plan 2

“Everyone, I think you should come and take a look. After all, these are the people we’ve been thinking about day and night.”

Hearing this, the group gathered around. On the large surveillance screen, they saw four figures walking with great difficulty, trembling as they moved.

They were the two middle-aged men with potbellies, plus the man and woman who were white-collar workers.

The reason they were struggling to walk wasn't because they were severely injured, but because a pitch-black, mature Xenomorph was following closely behind them.

Looking at the broken tongue flickering in the creature's mouth, everyone recognized it instantly.

This was the very same one that had chased them an hour ago, only to be wounded by the combined efforts of Zheng Zha and Li Xiao.

The four people’s faces were as pale as paper, and their faces were covered in snot and tears, which had dripped down onto their previously clean white shirts.

They shivered as they walked, their legs seemingly cramping and refusing to obey them.

Yet, even so, none of them dared to slow down, moving forward in a daze.

Zheng Zha asked hurriedly after seeing this

“What’s going on? Why isn’t the Xenomorph attacking them?”

“And it looks like… it’s actually protecting them instead…?”

Chu Xuan showed no expression as he watched this scene, nor did he offer an explanation.

Instead, Zhan Lan held her forehead and said

“It seems our hypothesis has come true.

It’s clear that these four have already been parasitized, or are on their way to being so.

The only Xenomorph with reproductive capabilities is the Queen, and for the larvae to grow to maturity, they must have living hosts. This is likely why the Xenomorph hasn't killed the four on the screen.”

Chu Xuan nodded silently

“This is the worst-case scenario, and the probability of it happening wasn't high.

Because the Xenomorph’s intelligence is mostly focused on combat and killing, I had assumed they would be eaten by a hungry Xenomorph right from the start.

I didn't expect it to reach this point.”

“The bait mission must be carried out as soon as possible. Otherwise, if we wait any longer, we’ll be facing four newborn Xenomorphs!”

Hearing this, Li Xiao thought to himself that a mature Xenomorph was worth 500 points.

Those currently being parasitized should be worth at least two or three hundred.

Should he find a way to stall for time and let them “be born?”

Zheng Zha looked at the four newcomers being escorted on the screen and said helplessly

“Fine, let’s do it. But can you explain how to isolate the Xenomorphs? We can’t just have someone bleed themselves out to act as bait, right?”

Chu Xuan slowly walked up to the high platform and operated an interface that the others couldn't understand. After a moment, a flat map of the entire spaceship appeared on the large screen.

Furthermore, certain special rooms and isolation corridors were marked out.

Without Chu Xuan needing to say it, the group knew that the flashing red dots on the screen represented their current location.

“To complete this plan, we first need to know the location of the Xenomorph Queen’s nest.”

“Based on the corpse where the Queen was first discovered, combined with the direction the four newcomers are heading…”

“And the blind spot created by the current surveillance damage.”

The group looked at the gray, static-filled corridor footage on the screen and nodded thoughtfully.

“The nest must be in Warehouse 1 or 2.”

As he spoke, the pattern on the screen changed again.

“According to the ship’s system, our current location in the central control room is Room 27.”

“What you see now are the isolation corridors that the ship can still control.”

“Li Xiao, Bawang, you two have three minutes to memorize your respective routes.”

Li Xiao and Bawang consciously walked to the front of the crowd, carefully studying the route map above.

Because this was the path to survival they were about to take.

Chu Xuan continued

“The remaining five of us will go and hunt that lone Xenomorph!”

Zhan Lan asked subconsciously: “But there are three Xenomorphs out there. How can you guarantee we can isolate them one by one?”

“What if there are two Xenomorphs in one area?”

“Wouldn't that mean the plan still won't work?”

Chu Xuan looked at Zheng Zha, who was standing next to Zhan Lan, and said calmly

“In horror movies, Xenomorphs rely on their eyes when hunting and fighting.”

“But when tracking prey, they rely on their sense of smell. No matter how advanced a biological organism evolves, this is an unavoidable weakness.”

“Since it’s a weakness, there is room to exploit it.”

“The reason the Xenomorphs were able to find us so precisely before, and track you and Zhan Lan, is based on this principle.”

“Human blood and the scent of their own kind are the keys to luring them.”

Zheng Zha followed Chu Xuan’s gaze to the tattered clothes he had taken off earlier and suddenly realized.

“It’s the clothes. That’s right, this clothing is the key item.”

“But what about the blood?”

Chu Xuan smiled

“That is also why I didn't have Zhan Lan act as the bait; because he is with the main group, he is the best bait.”

Zhan Lan sighed helplessly

“That’s right. Since the Xenomorphs track by the scent of blood, the wound on my shoulder is the best bait!”

She looked at Chu Xuan and sighed

“Your brain is really…”

However, Zhan Lan was quickly distracted by a symbol on the screen.

Seeing it, she suddenly called out happily

“Great! Room 17 hasn't been corroded yet. Looking at this icon, this must be the armory without a doubt.”

Beside her, Zhang Jie’s face lit up: “The armory of this spaceship? Since they can perform interstellar migration, there should be plenty of good weapons in there!”

“I wouldn't be so sure. After all, in the original story, the protagonists only managed to get a flamethrower out of there!” Li Xiao said calmly, pulling his eyes away from the screen.

In truth, he was very surprised.

His and Bawang’s reactions shouldn't have triggered Chu Xuan’s killing intent.

Therefore, he had assumed Chu Xuan would do as the book said and use a certain amount of human blood as bait.

Because in this control room, he seemed to have seen equipment for drawing blood.

But this time, Chu Xuan had proposed a completely new method.

All these anomalies forced Li Xiao to think more deeply.

What Chu Xuan could think of this time, he must have been able to think of last time.

Was he trying to get rid of Li Shuaixi as a burden? Or was it because of Zhang Jie’s presence?

Then why this time?

Because of him?

Or was it to prepare for a disagreement with Zheng Zha?

In *The Grudge*, Li Xiao hadn't felt there was a problem with Chu Xuan’s team division at the time.

But looking back now, this old schemer was clearly trying to stay away from Zhang Jie.

And he had been laying the groundwork since the *Alien* mission.

He had even calculated his own eventual death and the sending of that video to force Zheng Zha to resurrect him.

For the number one human strategist to be forced by Zhang Jie to escape through death, Li Xiao was speechless.

Because if Chu Xuan had landed in any normal team, there wouldn't even be a need for Zheng Zha to exist.