Chapter 20: Traps and the Departed Past

Chapter 20: The Trap—With the Departed Past

Veins throbbed on his forehead as Zheng Zha said through gritted teeth

"Chu Xuan, I'll say it one last time. I don't need a victory bought by sacrificing the weak!"

"It's just an Alien Queen. Without bait, I believe we can still survive."

Chu Xuan's expression remained unchanged; he showed no reaction to Zheng Zha's words.

As the two men stood in a tense standoff, the only woman on the field finally stepped forward.

While separating the two, Zhan Lan said to Chu Xuan

"You two, don't be so stubborn. Honestly, the intelligence the Alien Queen displayed in the movies wasn't low."

"I don't think your bait plan will succeed. If we were facing the lowest-level Xenomorph drones, like before, there might be a chance. But against this Queen, I think it's a long shot."

Hearing this, Chu Xuan lowered his eyes

"The intelligence of the Xenomorphs?"

"Fine, I admit you're right... Is it because of fear and tension? My thoughts are actually starting to get muddled..."

"Then the bait plan is scrapped. We proceed according to the original plan. I will continue to lead the way; unexpected encounters could happen at any moment ahead. Zheng Zha, Ling Dian, prepare yourselves for an encounter battle! That's it!"

Li Xiao exchanged a glance with Zheng Zha, looking at Chu Xuan's back as he turned away.

Zheng Zha was astonished by the expression revealed by this strategist.

Li Xiao, on the other hand, felt a sincere admiration for the strategist's acting.

To deceive Zhang Jie, that "double agent" of the Main God, Chu Xuan had truly gone all out. This acting was so good even the Oscars would have to step aside.

It took the six of them over ten minutes to traverse a corridor less than twenty meters long.

But it was obvious that this Alien Queen possessed far more patience than other Xenomorphs.

Beyond the corridor, Chu Xuan stood at the junction

"This is Warehouse No. 2, though we haven't found it yet."

Before them lay a wide metal platform, which had now turned into a pitted swamp of flesh.

It wasn't just the viscous secretions covering the floor; there were also twitching, unidentified chunks of meat.

Faced with this, Li Xiao and the others didn't dare to act rashly. After all, the previous situation was still fresh in their minds.

Looking at the "meat granules" in the plaza, Zhang Jie whispered

"Since our mission is to eliminate the Xenomorphs, besides the boss Queen, should we kill these as well?"

Zhan Lan nodded: "Correct, though it will certainly be much easier than dealing with the Queen."

Without looking back, Chu Xuan said: "Once we engage the Queen, Zhang Jie, Zhan Lan, your primary task will be to destroy these Alien eggs. Ling Dian will handle sniper support; Li Xiao and I will fully coordinate with Zheng Zha!"

At this point, Chu Xuan suddenly looked up: "As for them... you mentioned earlier that killing a newcomer deducts one thousand points. In a moment, I'll try to get the Queen to do it, or we'll kill them at the very end!"

The group followed Chu Xuan's gaze and discovered with shock that the four missing newcomers were actually hanging upside down.

Looking at the pale-faced individuals who were barely breathing, Li Xiao estimated that even if they didn't act, these people likely wouldn't survive the day.

"Ling Dian, shoot them down. Since they're going to die anyway, it'll be easier to kill them later."

As the four landed, Chu Xuan's brow furrowed.

He muttered to himself: "No, as the host of a Breaker... It wasn't easy for the Alien eggs to evolve to the third stage. How could the Alien Queen not be guarding this place!"

As he muttered, his expression suddenly changed drastically. He turned his head and shouted behind him

"Wait, wait! It's a trap!"

"Its goal is more hosts—meaning us! You guys, hurry—!"

"Ling Dian, Zheng Zha... you..."

Before Chu Xuan could finish, the floor of Warehouse No. 2 shook violently.

Zheng Zha, who originally had the ability to escape, looked around and fell silent. As the strongest combatant of the team, if he escaped, the remaining five would have only one possible end. It was better to follow everyone and fight to the death.

However, before Chu Xuan could finish his second sentence, the sound of metal buckling under immense pressure rang out, and the entire floor plummeted into the darkness below.

In mid-air, a powerful sense of crisis hit them like a surging wave. The patience of the Alien Queen, waiting in the shadows to ambush them, exceeded their imagination.

After landing.

As time passed in the dim, yellowish corridor, the sweat on their foreheads increased.

Zheng Zha's fingers were turning blue from gripping the spiral steel spikes; his immense strength had even caused the spirals to dent slightly.

Finally, a sound of metal scraping against metal echoed—a sound so piercing it felt like someone was dragging a steel brush across the floor.

The moment the sound ended, a dark shadow appeared out of nowhere.

The extremely sensitive Zhang Jie and Ling Dian pulled their triggers immediately.

But compared to the complex mechanical transmission of a finger pulling a trigger and a firing pin striking a primer, someone's homemade weapon was a step faster.

Li Xiao felt a gust of wind whistling past his ear.

Then, the shadow flickered, and sparks erupted.

Without further hesitation, Zheng Zha poured all his internal strength and physical power into the spiral steel spikes. He hurled three spikes in rapid succession, accompanied by three sharp whistling sounds.

They arrived after the bullets but were somehow even faster.

Then, a beast-like, frenzied roar erupted...

At this moment, Li Xiao felt that the killing intent was a hundred times more intense than the surging danger in the hundred-meter corridor.

He had only one choice: to ignore the warnings deep within his body without hesitation and once again activate his near-shattered genes.

With eyes glazed in desperation, he believed that this time, facing the Alien Queen, he would definitely survive!

***

"Loli!"

"Loli!"

Accompanied by two loud shouts, Zheng Zha woke up in his single dormitory.

Looking at the unchanging room, he hammered his hungover brain. Only under the influence of external force did he finally clear his head a bit.

He looked at the white shirt draped over the back of the chair; the messy lipstick marks on it were like real brushstrokes, each one telling the story of this urban white-collar worker's numb and terrible life, and his day-after-day, repetitive routine.

Zheng Zha felt like a piece of polite and decent rotten meat, struggling to maintain his disguise.

But only he knew that living in this prosperous city, he was constantly waiting for his own "Morpheus" or "Truman's spotlight" to descend.

He went out.

He rushed for the 8:00 AM shuttle.

He stepped through the company gates exactly on time.

After the morning meeting, his colleagues were laughing and joking, mocking the authority of the leaders.

Turning away, Zheng Zha's expression froze as he left the crowd.

Open the door, make coffee, turn on the computer. He mechanically completed the preliminary tasks of his daily work.

*Ding-dong!*

The computer notification told this urban white-collar worker that his workday had officially begun.

"This pop-up?"