Preparations Complete (3)

Zheng Zha felt his vision go black, and in an instant, he entered a state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. But it did not last long. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, he could see everything around him clearly. He was in a rather cramped room. The floor, ceiling, and surrounding walls were all made of solid steel. There were many other devices in the room as well, all things Zheng Zha had never seen before.

Zheng Zha looked beside him. Eleven newcomers were sprawled haphazardly across the floor. Zhang Jie and the other two had already risen to their feet. Their physical fitness far surpassed that of these newcomers.

The moment Zhang Jie steadied himself, he looked at the floor. His face turned pale as he said, "This is bad. Fifteen people... This level of difficulty shouldn't appear in a science-fiction Horror Movie like Alien, one that can be explained through technology. The Main God must have changed the difficulty. This is really bad."

Zheng Zha and the other two looked at him in confusion. Zhang Jie drew a deep breath and said, "I've never encountered this situation before. I only heard about it from the experienced members when I entered my first Horror Movie. Apparently, under certain circumstances, the Main God changes the plot and difficulty of a Horror Movie. Anything can happen in that movie. Usually, the entire team ends up dead. Of course, completing a Horror Movie like that generally brings extremely generous rewards. Check your watches yourselves."

Zheng Zha and the other two looked at their watches. This time, the information displayed was completely different from what they had seen in Resident Evil 1. There was no numerical countdown. The watch contained only one line: Kill the Alien. Every team member would receive one thousand reward points and one D-rank Horror Movie Side Story.

Zhang Jie took a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and said, "Do any of you remember the plot of Alien One?"

Zheng Zha shook his head. "It's an old movie from a long time ago. It's a classic, but I watched it ages ago. I've basically forgotten all the plot details. I only remember the general story."

Li Xiaoyi shook his head as well. "These past few days, I've only watched a few recent horror films. Who knew the Main God would choose such an obscure movie?"

Only Zhan Lan let out a soft chuckle. She rubbed her forehead and said, "You people really aren't professional. Since our lives are on the line in Horror Movies now, of course we should dig up even the oldest ones to watch. And ever since I guessed that this space might have existed in ancient times, I even looked up some modern horror stories. As for the plot of Alien..."

"...The story of Alien takes place at some point in the future. By that time, humanity has developed technology for long-distance interstellar travel and established colonies in several solar-system-like star systems. But unfortunately, humanity still hasn't found any extraterrestrial life, at least not until the beginning of Alien One."

A voice interrupted Zhan Lan before she could continue. An ordinary-looking bespectacled man sat up from the floor. Though his appearance was utterly plain, his eyes were exceptionally calm, carrying an air of intelligence.

The four exchanged glances. Zheng Zha was the first to react. "Zheng Zha. Welcome, new companion." As he spoke, he extended a hand toward the man.

The man hesitated for a moment before shaking Zheng Zha's hand. "Chu Xuan. If you don't mind, could you also tell me where this place is?"

Zheng Zha exchanged wry smiles with the other three before replying, "You seem very familiar with the plot of Alien One. Could you tell us the detailed plot of this Horror Movie first?"

Chu Xuan remained seated on the floor. He adjusted his glasses and said, "If you insist."

"The story begins aboard a commercial spacecraft. According to the regulations of the human government at the time, whenever an unknown electronic signal is encountered along an interstellar route, any vessel is obligated to investigate it and determine whether the signal was sent by an intelligent life-form. In the story, a merchant vessel encounters such a signal during its journey. It does not belong to any known human frequency and uses strange runes as its language. It is very likely an electronic signal sent by aliens."

"Under human government regulations, merchant vessels possess instruments that automatically record electronic signals. If they fail to investigate such a signal, they suffer severe penalties and losses. Therefore, the crew has no choice but to land on the planet from which the signal originated and investigate its source."

"As expected, the crew finds the source: the enormous ruins of what may have been a spacecraft. Inside, they discover the remains of a massive extraterrestrial creature, one that may have been dead for tens of thousands of years. Its remains have completely fossilized. During their subsequent exploration, they accidentally discover several cocoon-like objects in the ruins. They... are still-living organic matter."

"One of the crew members touches one of these cocoons out of curiosity. Then, a highly corrosive creature leaps out. It resembles a starfish and completely covers the crew member's face with its body. After the incident, his companions carry him back to the exploration craft."

"This starfish-like creature is the Alien. More precisely, it is the Alien's infant form. I call it the Alien Initial Form. It has no offensive capability itself and cannot survive on its own. It must find a host, inject its main body into the host, and parasitize it. That crew member is then parasitized. Though there is no visible change on the outside, an Alien is continuously evolving inside his body."

"Then, after everyone returns to the merchant vessel, the Alien inside that crew member finally finishes growing. It bursts out of his chest like a chick breaking from an egg. Yes, that crew member's body has practically become the Alien's egg. At that point, the Alien is roughly the size of a snake, but far more dangerous. Still, it is not impossible to destroy at that stage. I call it the Alien Juvenile Form. The rest of the plot is rather simple. The Alien hides in the dark corners of the merchant vessel and keeps attacking the crew until it obtains enough nutrients to grow into its third form."

"At that point, the Alien is practically perfect: a shell hard enough to withstand bullets, lethally corrosive bodily fluids, swift reflexes and terrifying strength, as well as its instinct for hunting. Only then do the crew members realize what kind of disaster they have provoked. In truth, the signal from those alien ruins was not a distress call. It was a warning... Don't come here. Stay away from the ruins!"

"Then..."

At that moment, a voice interrupted Chu Xuan. "I say, enough already! First thing in the damn morning, I have to listen to you spouting this bullshit? Where the fuck is this place?"

Zheng Zha and the other three looked up. At some point, the other newcomers had all sat up as well. They were looking around in bafflement. Among them, three young men with brightly dyed hair were glaring at them impatiently. The leader was dressed like a hippie, with a nose ring and numerous lip rings. He said loudly, "Who the hell are you? We were surfing the internet at an internet café. How did we suddenly end up here?"