Throbbing Heart (2)

Zheng Zha's eyes were bloodshot, whether from grief or from Zhan Lan's blood staining his vision. As the girl was pulled through the passage and disappeared, he roared and charged forward. His footing was so forceful that he even overshot the passage and slammed into the wall.

His nerve reaction speed, three times that of an ordinary person, saved him. Everything around him slowed down. He felt as if he needed immense strength for every step. Even with his current physical condition, it was strenuous, and his body felt like it was being torn apart between movements. The ground, the air, and the rapidly approaching wall all seemed to exert a dragging force, preventing him from accelerating too quickly. He had never experienced anything like this before.

As he got closest to the wall, the surrounding air became as thick as liquid. He even stepped on air and leaped towards the wall. Then, he pushed off the wall with his feet, finally reversing his trajectory. The first thing he saw was an Alien dragging Zhan Lan. This Alien was clearly smaller than the ones he had encountered before, but it was still two meters tall and over three meters long. It was dragging Zhan Lan deeper into the corridor. The girl's left shoulder was almost shattered, and her frail body was covered in blood. Her eyes held only despair and a strange, lingering affection.

Zheng Zha suddenly understood the affection in her eyes. It was hope for life, for the future. Although he hadn't seen his own eyes, he knew that during several desperate moments, that same affection must have flashed in them... He was absolutely certain!

In Zheng Zha's eyes, Zhan Lan in the Alien's mouth seemed to transform into Li Xiaoyi, about to be torn apart and shredded by the Alien, then reduced to nothing but minced meat, or perhaps into himself. When he too was bitten and dragged away by an Alien, despair and that lingering affection would flash in his eyes, and he too would be torn apart and devoured by the Alien... He didn't want this! No matter what, he had to save this strong woman; no matter what, he had to let her live!

"Ah!"

Zheng Zha roared madly. Because his surroundings had slowed down, he could almost see every limb movement of the Alien. Moreover, the air had become thick, allowing him to leap several meters with the force of his push just moments ago, diving straight towards the Alien.

All of this happened in a mere instant. In Zhan Lan's eyes, Zheng Zha madly charged towards the wall, then, with an uncanny speed, pushed off it. The steel wall he kicked made a dull thud. The solid steel wall actually bore two deep, concave footprints. Then, Zheng Zha detached from the girl's dynamic vision like a cannonball; his speed was no longer something she could perceive.

Zheng Zha had already dived in front of the Alien. He could even clearly see the saliva constantly spraying from the Alien's mouth, and its long, sharp tongue. The moment he leaped over the Alien, he accurately swung the steel bar in his hand towards its tongue. With a dull thud, Zhan Lan fell to the ground, and the Alien let out a furious roar. Corrosive liquid continuously sprayed from its severed tongue, with more than half of its tongue being cleanly cut in two by Zheng Zha.

"Ah!"

This was not over. Zheng Zha also roared madly like the Alien. There was not a single trace of reason left in his eyes. Besides madness, all he saw was a sea of blood red, whether stained by Zhan Lan's blood or because his own eyes had turned red.

As Zheng Zha landed, he violently swung the steel bar towards the Alien's back. A clash of metal on metal rang out. The steel bar, as thick as an arm, was actually bent completely. However, the Alien didn't fare any better. The carapace on its back was cracked, and corrosive liquid continuously flowed out from within. The ground of the corridor was already pitted and damaged by these liquids.

The Alien's speed was also extremely fast. Even though Zheng Zha felt his surroundings slowing down and the air thickening, in this state, he was only on par with the Alien's speed. When the Alien's massive claws swept horizontally, Zheng Zha could only barely raise his arm to block. With a dull thud, the immense force knocked him to the ground, making the entire corridor seem to tremble. Zheng Zha's head hit the ground, causing him to bleed profusely.

At this point, Zheng Zha was fighting with his life on the line. He didn't have the Alien's iron-hard carapace. When he blocked that blow, his arm was left with several bloody holes. Not only that, the Alien's immense strength was terrifying. His head hitting the floor almost made him lose consciousness. Fortunately, at the critical moment, he bit his tongue hard, and the intense pain kept him conscious.

He didn't even plan to get up. He casually pulled out another steel bar from behind him and then slammed it fiercely along the ground towards the Alien's legs. This force, combined with a sudden burst of internal force, actually knocked the Alien, the size of two or three men, to the ground. But as the Alien fell, it managed to stab its sharp tail tip into his thigh. The Alien truly lived up to its reputation as a creature evolved solely for killing and survival; its combat instincts were incredibly powerful.

Zheng Zha's mind went blank. He felt as if his body was acting on its own. Countless combat instincts flooded his mind. He twisted his body and rolled backward. The tail tip piercing his thigh slid out of the wound. Then, he pushed off with his legs and charged forward again, thrusting the steel bar in his hand fiercely into the Alien's mouth.

He let go of this steel bar and pulled out another from behind him, repeatedly stabbing it into the Alien's head. He didn't even notice when the highly corrosive liquid sprayed all over him. His frenzied state was as if he intended to tear the Alien apart. Fortunately, Zhan Lan reacted in time. The girl, disregarding her own severe injuries, leaped up and tackled Zheng Zha, sending them both tumbling several meters away. Only then did Zheng Zha slowly regain his senses.

The front of his body felt like it was burning, stinging and painful. He quickly tore off all his clothes and then frantically wiped away the liquid. But as soon as this liquid touched the steel ground, it hissed, and the steel melted and corroded like ice. His skin, apart from turning black, showed no signs of injury from the corrosion. This sight astonished Zhan Lan beside him.

Zhan Lan was using a hemostatic spray on her shoulder wound. She said softly, "It's so good that you're alive. Thank you... But why isn't your skin injured at all? The Alien's blood is a super acid; even a little contact would leave nothing but bone."

Zheng Zha wiped the corrosive liquid off his entire body. His mind was still a blank slate. Everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare. He had fought purely on instinct, especially when the Alien's tail stabbed his thigh at the end. He felt as if something inside him had unlocked.

"Maybe my cell vitality and immunity are very strong. And it's not like nothing happened; at least my skin was scorched black by the acid..." Zheng Zha said with a wry smile.

As he was about to take out a hemostatic spray from his storage ring, his whole body suddenly convulsed violently. A painful and numb sensation began to spread from his internal organs, as if countless small insects were crawling inside him. Then, this pain deepened into his bone marrow, and as it flowed with his blood, it seemed to reach his skin. Soon, his entire body was engulfed in this pain, more unbearable than death. Gradually, his vision turned white, and he felt as if he were on the verge of death.

"Imagine this yourselves. After monkeys evolved to this limit, they became humans. So, if a human reaches this limit, what will they become?"

"It requires a substance similar to adrenaline. This substance can only be produced by the human body itself, and the most crucial point... it is highly toxic. I think you've all heard stories of elderly women lifting cars with one hand to save their grandchildren trapped under the wheels. This is a real event, but the old woman died soon after. Scientists found extremely trace amounts of this substance in her blood..."

"...Gene Lock..."

Zheng Zha recalled Chu Xuan's words about the Gene Lock. He didn't know if he had inadvertently unlocked this Gene Lock, but he knew he was struggling on the brink of death. The spasms in his internal organs intensified, and blood spurted from his mouth and nose. Then, his lungs began to spasm, and he could barely breathe. He could only open his mouth and struggle desperately for air.

Zhan Lan reacted the fastest. She desperately held the convulsing Zheng Zha and brought her mouth to his lips, continuously breathing air into his lungs. After more than ten seconds, the spasms in Zheng Zha's internal organs finally subsided. Then, his lungs began to breathe, and the pain in his skin gradually lessened. However, Zhan Lan didn't know this; she continued to breathe into Zheng Zha's mouth, crying as she did. Zheng Zha could only faintly hear her soft murmurs.

"Don't die, please, don't leave me alone again. Please live with me..."