Zheng Zha, Zero Point, and Overlord were the first to snap out of it. Zero Point and Overlord both did the same thing: they gripped the grenades in their hands and pulled the pins with their other hands, ready to throw their only weapons the moment an Alien appeared. Only Zheng Zha gritted his teeth and charged toward the corner. He still remembered what he had once said: he would never abandon a single teammate. He really had heard Li Xiaoyi calling for help just now.
Around the corner, three enormous, pitch-black Aliens were tearing Li Xiaoyi apart. The boy was still alive, his whole body trembling and convulsing as he struggled. The Aliens were monstrously strong; a light rip from the tongue lined with sharp teeth tore his body apart as easily as paper. All Zheng Zha could see in the end was the boy's desperate gaze. Then one Alien's tongue smashed his head to pieces.
Another Alien turned its head toward Zheng Zha. Its tongue slowly slid out of its mouth, transparent saliva dripping steadily onto the floor. Then it roared at him, the deafening sound jolting Zheng Zha back to his senses. He took one last look at Li Xiaoyi—or rather, at Li Xiaoyi's mangled body—and then ran back the way he had come without looking back.
"Run! Damn it, there are three Aliens!"
Zheng Zha shouted as he ran. Zero Point and Overlord reacted fastest, hurling their grenades at the same time. Then they turned and sprinted deeper into the passageway, with Zhang Jie, Chu Xuan, and Li Shuaixi right behind them.
Because she had been at the back, Zhan Lan was closest to Zheng Zha. Her burst of speed was poor, and where she stood, she was likely to be caught in the blast. As he passed her, Zheng Zha could only scoop her up in his arms. The shock wave from the explosion struck from behind, and they were both hurled to the ground.
Zheng Zha's Nerve Reaction Speed was astonishing. The instant he fell, he fought to twist around, landing on his back. Zhan Lan fell across his chest. The buxom woman stared at him in astonishment, then, at a moment like this, even reached up to touch her forehead and giggled. "You really are a good man."
Zheng Zha froze for a moment, then shouted, "What are you babbling about? Run!" He tried to push Zhan Lan off and get to his feet.
But Zhan Lan clung to his collar. "I only enhanced my physical abilities a little. Apart from stamina, I'm definitely not a fast runner. Carry me."
By then, Zhang Jie and the others had already vanished ahead. Zheng Zha had no time to argue. The blast would only hold the Aliens back for a moment; if they didn't hurry, they might as well die right there. Gritting his teeth, he carried Zhan Lan and charged forward. The petite woman obediently rested her face against his chest.
Zheng Zha was exceptionally strong. Carrying someone hardly seemed to slow him down. After running through several passageways, he suddenly realized he was lost. He had fled blindly, only knowing to keep running forward. But he had gone so far without seeing Zhang Jie and the others. In other words, he had been separated from the group.
Zheng Zha gritted his teeth and kept running down the passageway. After another hundred meters or so, he spotted a steel door along the wall and rushed inside with Zhan Lan in his arms.
All the doors aboard the ship were equipped with automatic sensors and opened when a living being approached, so they entered the room without difficulty. As soon as they were inside, Zhan Lan jumped out of Zheng Zha's arms. She crouched beside the steel door and pressed a few buttons. After several tries, the door finally shut, and a red light appeared on it.
Zhan Lan let out a breath and patted her chest. "That scared me to death. I was so terrified my hands and feet went weak. It was disgusting and horrifying—those Aliens are much scarier than in the movie."
Zheng Zha had been watching Zhan Lan. The petite woman had a firm, full chest. He hadn't noticed while they were running, but now he remembered her pressing against him and could still feel the softness against his chest. Seeing her pat herself there, her generous curves jiggling, he quickly looked away.
Zhan Lan seemed to notice something. A faint, awkward blush appeared on her face. She lowered her hand and smiled. "I told you the door's automatic sensor could be turned off. Otherwise, anyone could walk right into your bedroom. You'd have no privacy at all."
Zheng Zha coughed and steadied himself. Then the image of Li Xiaoyi flashed through his mind. He hadn't been remarkable, and he'd seemed a little timid, but he truly was a kind boy. During training, whenever he made even a little progress, he would grin with delight. Zheng Zha remembered him saying his greatest dream was to gain strength beyond anyone else's through enhancements and return to school to teach the people who bullied him a lesson. But now he had already...
"Damn it! I said I wouldn't abandon a single teammate! But I was scared out of my wits and ran away too!"
The more Zheng Zha thought about it, the more grief and anger welled up inside him. He punched the wall beside him with all his strength. There was a bang, and the arm-thick steel bar next to him caved inward. Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Zhan Lan hurried over. The room wasn't very large. Apart from a metal bunk bed, it held some simple furniture and a wall-mounted television. Zheng Zha's punch had dented one of the bed's steel bars.
"Wow, when did you get so strong?"
Zhan Lan touched the fist-shaped dent in the bar, then took Zheng Zha's fist and examined it. His knuckles weren't even scraped. Astonished, she said, "No way. Is your fist made of iron? That's incredible strength."
Zheng Zha was just as astonished. He tried smashing another steel bar with all his strength. This time, the bar snapped clean in two, and the bed toppled over with it. Even Zheng Zha stared at his fist in bewilderment.
"That's impossible. I've never beaten Zhang Jie in a fight, unless I used Internal Force. If I were this strong, I could've knocked him down with one punch ages ago."
Zheng Zha stared incredulously at the broken steel bar. Zhan Lan touched her forehead, then said, "Maybe you were holding back. Not on purpose—since you've only just learned to control such immense strength, you might unconsciously pull your punches around people close to you. And it's not just that you're strong. Your skin isn't even scratched. My god, it seems tougher than steel."
Zheng Zha clenched his fist. A thought crossed his mind. "How much damage do you think a steel bar I throw could do if I put all my strength into it and added a burst of Internal Force?"
Zhan Lan glanced at the snapped bar beside them and smiled. "Why not try it right here? If you get a good result... hee-hee, when we get back, I won't tell little Li'er you were staring at my chest."
Zheng Zha didn't dare answer. He knew Zhan Lan's expression and gaze all too well. In the ten years he'd spent drifting through the mortal world, he had seen a few good women look at him that way... He knew that staying quiet and getting on with things was probably the best choice.
He silently turned around and grabbed the broken steel bar. Sure enough, he was strong enough to tear it off by hand. He hadn't had a chance to test his strength in the Main God Space, but now the bar came away in his grip. The shrill metallic screech was unpleasant, yet to Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan, it brought a strange sense of security.
Zheng Zha hefted the bar, judging its weight. Then he drew a deep breath and used his mind to guide Internal Force through his entire body. With a shout, he hurled the bar into the distance. A sharp crash rang out. The bar had been driven into the steel wall: it was several dozen centimeters long, yet only a few centimeters of its tip remained visible. The rest had sunk into the wall. The force behind the throw was astonishing.
Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan both froze. They stared at each other for a long moment, then, in perfect unison, turned to look at the steel bars on the bunk behind them...
"Since we forgot to exchange points for heavy weapons, let's use these primitive things to smash them to pieces!" Zheng Zha muttered as he pried off another bar. Beside him, Zhan Lan was already laughing uncontrollably. Her chest bounced with each laugh, making Zheng Zha sneak glances from the corners of his eyes. She seemed to know his gaze was wandering over her chest. Her face reddened slightly, but she even lifted her chest a little, making her curves stand out more.
Maybe this was the only fun they could have right now, Zheng Zha thought as he stole another glance. But when he thought of the three enormous, terrifying nightmare creatures, a near-despairing feeling rose within him, along with a stubborn refusal to accept his fate.
Stay alive. No matter how hopeless things seemed, no matter what the circumstances... they could still survive!
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