Chu Xuan's words had deeply shaken the others. As he'd described it, a human who could freely change their strengths and survive in any situation would be a superhuman who had pushed human potential to its absolute limit.
"Imagine it for yourselves. If monkeys pushed themselves to that limit and became humans, then what would a human become if they reached that limit?"
Zheng Zha felt something stir inside him, as if a sudden thought had come to him. But when he calmed down and tried to think it through, he couldn't remember what it was.
Zero Point, who had been quiet until then, suddenly asked, "How do you unlock the Gene lock? Do you need some kind of drug or something else?"
Chu Xuan waved a hand. "You need a substance similar to adrenaline. The human body can only produce it on its own, and here's the most important part... It's highly toxic. I think you've all heard the story about an old woman lifting a car with one hand to save her grandson, who was trapped under a wheel. That really happened, but the old woman died soon afterward. Scientists found tiny traces of this substance in her blood."
"So, you can't rely on outside forces to unlock the Gene lock. At least, with the current state of human technology, it's impossible. The only way to unlock the Gene lock is to work at it yourself... Of course, we don't even know what direction to work in yet, so it's all just talk. Anyway, I suspect this space is connected to unlocking the Gene lock. I even suspect... it's a relic built by the first humans to unlock it."
Zhang Jie laughed. "You think ancient monkeys had already predicted that we'd be watching Horror Movies today? And that there'd be countless high-tech weapons from the future available for exchange? You think those monkeys could have predicted all this?"
Chu Xuan smiled calmly. "Maybe the monkeys couldn't. But what if they built something with an intelligent computer? A computer can't die. It could record our Horror Movies, then make us live through them in this Infinite Horror until we die, or break through our limits amid the terror and unlock the Gene lock. Then we'd earn enough Reward Points to leave. What do you think of my theory?"
Zero Point suddenly raised a hand and spoke in a low voice. "Maybe what you're saying makes sense, but pay attention to our situation... There's a smell of blood thirty meters ahead, around the corner to the left. Who'll go check?"
Zheng Zha gritted his teeth. "My physical enhancements are the strongest. I'll go take a look."
The others said nothing and cleared the passageway. Zhang Jie also picked up the Desert Eagle, then handed each of them a grenade.
Zheng Zha took a deep breath and forced down his overwhelming fear. He moved cautiously toward the left side of the passageway. He was so tense that, for a moment, he could hear his own heartbeat. Gradually, he could even feel the faintest pulse of blood through his veins. It was a strange feeling, hard to describe, but Zheng Zha had a glimmer of understanding: it seemed he was only one step away from unlocking the Gene lock.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long. When he cautiously peered left around the corner, he was suddenly terrified out of his wits. That indescribable state vanished, leaving him with nothing but deep fear.
The passageway to the left was piled high with unrecognizable scraps of flesh. They no longer looked human. Bones, organs, bits of flesh, and all kinds of filthy, disgusting matter were heaped together. Aside from a few scraps of clothing scattered on the floor, no one could have been certain the remains had once belonged to humans.
Zheng Zha doubled over and vomited. He clutched the wall and heaved violently. Once they saw there was no danger, everyone else rushed over. Zhan Lan, Li Xiaoyi, and Li Shuaixi all started vomiting alongside Zheng Zha. Even Zhang Jie's mouth twitched a few times. Only Zero Point, Overlord, and Chu Xuan crouched beside the remains, looking at them in silence.
Overlord picked up a few scraps of cloth from the ground and exchanged a glance with Zero Point. In halting speech, the white man said, "They're the three thugs. The amount of flesh on two corpses is missing."
Zheng Zha and the others had just stopped vomiting, but the moment they heard the word "flesh," they started heaving again, this time bringing up bile as well.
"No, I don't think so." Chu Xuan examined the scraps of flesh carefully. "I've done a few dissections. Most of this is chewed-up bone, along with the less palatable parts of the organs. And look here: this is a fragment of a shoulder bone. I've already found three different fragments of shoulder bones, so I think the Alien took all the flesh it could carry and left behind the remains of three corpses."
This time, Zheng Zha and the others couldn't even bring up bile. Their insides just kept twisting. Fortunately, Zheng Zha was far stronger than the others. After vomiting for a while, he could still move, but the others were already so weak in the limbs that they could barely stand without leaning against the wall.
After finishing their discussion, Chu Xuan and the other two returned to the group. He frowned at the three who could barely stand and said, "Let's get out of here first. Things are much worse than we imagined. A fully mature third-stage Alien has appeared, and... they're probably nearby."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zero Point and Overlord suddenly crouched low to the ground. Both men looked afraid, especially Zero Point, who hurriedly whispered, "Something's wrong. There's danger..."
People who lived on the edge of life and death often had a special instinct for danger. When Zero Point and Overlord crouched down, Zheng Zha felt a sudden pang of alarm, too. He couldn't explain the feeling; he could only turn around on instinct. A huge black shadow suddenly burst from the passageway behind him. It moved so fast that only his Nerve Reaction Speed let him catch a glimpse of it. It was a huge, terrifying shadow—a creature fit only for nightmares.
Li Xiaoyi was at the very back of the group, leaning against the wall. He'd vomited until his arms and legs were weak, and now he didn't have even the slightest bit of strength left. When he saw Zheng Zha turn toward him with a look of horror, the boy could only manage to turn around. Then terror left him unable to move.
It was a gigantic, fully grown Alien, about two meters seventy or eighty tall, and over three meters long including its tail. Its black shell gleamed, and its enormous, elongated head stretched back over its spine. Its terrifying mouth was full of sharp teeth. Most frightening of all, the tongue thrusting from its mouth was also lined with fangs. Its appearance alone was enough to scare an ordinary person to death.
Li Xiaoyi watched the Alien's mouth drool incessantly. He had just swallowed nervously when the Alien's enormous tongue pierced his shoulder. The fanged tongue moved so fast that even Zheng Zha could only make out a blurry shadow. Then the Alien dragged Li Xiaoyi toward the corner of the passageway.
"Ah! No! Brother Zhang, Brother Zheng, save me... I don't want to die!"
Li Xiaoyi screamed frantically, but compared to the Alien, his strength was pitiful. He struggled like an infant. The others could only watch as the hand he'd hooked around the corner of the passageway slid outward inch by inch. His fingernails peeled back, and his instinct to survive came into full force. Even with every nail torn back, Li Xiaoyi clung desperately to the corner. His fingers were dragged along, scraped raw bit by bit, until at last he was pulled into the passageway. Five bloody fingerprints were all that remained on the wall. Apart from that, Li Xiaoyi's pitiful screams rang through the passageway, accompanied by the sound of flesh and bone tearing apart, echoing on and on.
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