Infinite Horror! (1)

In the Horror Movie Alien One, only a single Alien appeared on the entire merchant ship, yet that one Alien killed everyone aboard except the protagonist. Its terrifying strength was undeniable in the film.

After seeing the three corpses, Zero Point silently crouched down. He wiped a bit of blood with his finger, held it beneath his nose, and sniffed. "They died around four or five hours ago."

Chu Xuan also crouched beside the bodies. He measured the holes in the chests of two of the corpses with his fingers, then measured the corpse whose chest had been torn open by a huge hole. After a long while, he finally stood, his expression grim. "It really is an Alien Queen. This is bad. The mission is to kill all the Aliens, right? If there really is an Alien Queen aboard this ship... I think we may be doomed."

Everyone else looked at him. Zhan Lan rubbed her forehead. "I remember the Alien Queen is the female Alien that lays eggs. It's several times larger than an ordinary Alien. Is that what you mean?"

Chu Xuan nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. It's nearly ten times stronger than a normal Alien. Without heavy weapons, it's impossible to hurt it. And the worst part is that our group is far too conspicuous."

Zheng Zha asked in confusion, "Too conspicuous? What do you mean?"

"Food. Think about it. For a creature no bigger than a small snake to grow over two meters tall in an extremely short time, do you think it can just grow out of thin air? Impossible. It requires vast amounts of organic matter and energy. In other words, they must feed during that period. I was wondering earlier—why didn't they devour these three corpses? Or have they already found enough bodies?" Chu Xuan muttered as he half-crouched.

After standing up, Chu Xuan continued, "In other words, we may become their food. If it were only the eight of us, it would be manageable. We're gathered together, so even if we encounter Aliens, we can keep track of them at any time. But what about the other seven? They've already scattered throughout the merchant ship. In the Aliens' eyes, they're the most delicious food. In fact, I suspect all the plot characters have become hosts for Alien eggs. Seven plot characters—excluding that robot, the worst-case scenario is one Alien Queen plus five Aliens. That is the most likely situation we'll face."

Zhang Jie asked strangely, "Then why can't there be more Alien Queens? We're already drowning in debt; a few more would only mean death anyway."

Chu Xuan shook his head. "Impossible. Aliens have their own survival structure, much like a colony of ants or a hive of bees. Only one queen can emerge within a colony. Otherwise, internal division would lead to war, or the weaker side would leave the colony. But this is an enclosed merchant ship, and with only this many Aliens, there's simply no way a second Alien Queen could appear."

"Actually, ever since I watched Alien, I've believed this fictional creature to be the most perfectly evolved organism in terms of flesh. They alter their forms and environmental adaptability according to their hosts' genes, constantly modifying their own genes to evolve. How similar is that to humans who have unlocked their Gene lock?"

Gene lock? Humans? Everyone looked at the Senior Colonel scientist, who had begun indulging himself. Just then, cries of alarm and pleas for help suddenly came from deep within the corridor. The voices grew increasingly miserable and agonized, before finally vanishing after more than ten seconds.

Zero Point stared fixedly down the corridor and said coldly, "It's those three little thugs... They were attacked."

Zheng Zha sighed. "Let's go take a look. If we find the Aliens, we can kill them while we're at it... The Aliens should still be weak right now, shouldn't they?"

Chu Xuan nodded. "Yes. The Aliens are still in their juvenile stage. If we have enough firearms to deal with them, they really are weak at this point. Other than a Desert Eagle, didn't any of you exchange for other weapons?"

Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, and the other two exchanged bitter smiles. Zheng Zha said, "We're different from you. I'm just an ordinary white-collar worker. Other than Zhang Jie, who's a retired soldier, she's a writer and he's a student. Do you really expect us to possess all sorts of knowledge or know how to fight?"

Chu Xuan smiled. "Let's go take a look first... And you're not entirely right. Didn't I just mention the Gene lock? This is the most cutting-edge science in the world. Our country happens to be at the forefront of it. It could be said that even America and the European countries may not know more than we do."

"In the extremely ancient past, when humanity's ancestors were still apes—no, even earlier than apes—there was an archaeological gap in the era of humanity's ancestors. Yes, nothing explains why humans suddenly evolved from apes into humans. Don't believe those passages in books claiming that humans evolved gradually. They're all lies. Millions of years of evolution? Let me tell you: the most advanced genetics tells us that this period lasted only a little over one hundred and twenty years. Yes, not millions of years, not hundreds of thousands of years, not even a thousand years. In only a little over one hundred and twenty years, humanity completed every necessary condition for evolving from apes into ancient humans."

"Within human genes, from the genes of the earliest single-celled organisms to multicellular life, then fish, amphibians, and onward through slow evolution into modern human genes, everything is displayed in the genetic code. Do you know what appeared in the human genetic code during those hundred-odd years? Let me tell you. A lock appeared."

"Yes, a lock. All of humanity's potential erupted for only a little over one hundred and twenty years, then for various unknown reasons, it was sealed away. That is why from ancient humans to modern humans, the extent of our evolution has actually been negligible. In fact, over the last tens of thousands of years, humanity has not evolved at all. Perhaps you'll say technology has advanced, that humans are far more advanced than they were tens of thousands of years ago. But that is merely an accumulation of knowledge. It has nothing to do with humanity's own evolution. Human evolution itself has gradually come to a halt."

Chu Xuan spoke as he ran, paying no attention to the utterly astonished expressions on the others' faces. He continued calmly, "This space—I'm not referring to the Horror Movie Alien One. I mean the entire Horror Movie Reincarnation space. I actually saw it long ago, though I didn't understand its significance at the time. In the ruins discovered in the Peking Man skullcap, our country found an inscribed stone tablet. We translated most of its writing. Its meaning could be summarized as: 'When human evolution falls into complete stagnation, horror shall once again unlock humanity's Gene lock and drive human evolution forward anew.' The person who left the message was called 'the first humans to unlock the Gene lock.' Perhaps this space has existed since ancient times."

Zheng Zha suddenly felt something stir within him and asked, "Then what happens after the Gene lock is unlocked? Do humans become supermen?"

Chu Xuan smiled. "You must have heard this line of poetry: Li Bai's 'Heaven-born talents are never without use.' That is precisely the definition of the Gene lock. According to what is shown in the genes, there are no weak humans. Every person should have their own greatest strength, and that ability must possess the most exceptional talent. In fact, humans can attain such talent through training—sports, memory, intelligence. Unlocking the Gene lock means allowing a human to decide their own talent according to their circumstances. You can become a super genius when you need to think, a strongman when you need strength, and when you need to fight... become a super soldier who must survive no matter what, one who can live even if everyone else is dead."

"Someone who can solve problems in any situation, who possesses a mindset that will never give up, who will never die under any circumstances! This! Is the evolution that comes after unlocking the Gene lock!"