Was it because someone close to her had once left her, making her so afraid of losing them again?
Zheng Zha seemed able to sense what she was thinking. He felt they were the same kind of person: after losing something especially important, they had sworn never to lose it again. That was why he was so attached to his life, and why he felt close to someone like her and reached out to help.
"I'm feeling much better..."
Just then, another girl's face flashed through Zheng Zha's mind. He gently pushed Zhan Lan away and said, though he could barely summon any strength. Even so, his push was firm.
Zhan Lan had been crying miserably. When he suddenly pushed her away, she froze for a long moment before forcing a smile. "Are you okay now? You scared me half to death just now. You suddenly started convulsing like you were having a seizure, and you kept coughing up blood. It was terrifying..."
Zheng Zha felt weak all over, but compared to the even worse agony he'd just endured, he felt as if he were in heaven now. He smiled bitterly. "I really have to thank you. If you hadn't kept... kept helping me breathe, I would've suffocated. If I'd passed out from suffocation in that situation... I'd probably be a corpse by now."
Zhan Lan had recovered her composure, too. She giggled. "Actually, I'm the one who should thank you. If you hadn't saved me, I don't know what would've happened to me... What happened just now? Is it some kind of illness?"
Zheng Zha shook his head. He had no idea how to describe what had happened. At that moment of mortal danger, he'd felt as if something inside him had unlocked. The fluidity of his movements, his millimeter-perfect control, using every bit of strength to its limit, and his merciless, fearless fighting instinct—it was all very much like an anime he'd once watched called Seed. At the most critical moment, he'd gone "Seed."
Of course, it was more likely to be the Gene lock Chu Xuan had mentioned, an evolutionary state that allowed humans to survive any extreme situation. That would also explain why he'd suffered so much afterward. It might have been a side effect of whatever substance had unlocked his Gene lock.
The pain had come and gone quickly. Zheng Zha felt his strength gradually returning, but the sensation of his Gene lock being unlocked was also fading. It seemed the highly toxic substance was being broken down by his body. His powerful cell vitality and immunity had saved him, but had also prevented the substance from unlocking his Gene lock again. Zheng Zha could almost imagine what might have happened otherwise. If he'd retained that fighting instinct, the Alien might not have been an unbeatable monster after all.
When Zhan Lan saw that Zheng Zha hadn't answered, she didn't press him. Instead, she suddenly grinned. "You killed an Alien. See if you got any rewards! Hehe, don't tell me you got nothing?"
Zheng Zha had recovered much of his strength by now. At her words, he hurriedly raised his wristwatch and looked. It did indeed say: Aliens killed: 1. The number of Reward Points listed afterward was five hundred. Maybe a reward notification had sounded while he was fighting, but at the time, his mind had been consumed by killing, and he hadn't heard it.
He tamped down his excitement and said, "I got five hundred Reward Points! That's amazing. It's almost half the Reward Points you get for surviving a Horror Movie."
Zhan Lan beamed, as if the Reward Points he'd earned belonged to her, too. "Five hundred per Alien! And maybe you can kill a few more. That could add up to a few thousand by the end of this movie... Hehe, since you said I saved your life, how about you buy me some little gifts when we get back?"
Zheng Zha looked at Zhan Lan's bright red lips. For some reason, his heart warmed, and he said, "Then I'll get you the perfect lipstick. That shade looks beautiful..."
Zhan Lan's cheeks immediately turned bright red. She gave Zheng Zha a reproachful look, and he realized at once how suggestive he'd sounded. He cleared his throat. "We'd better get out of here. The smell of the Alien's blood is too strong. Who knows if there's another one nearby? I've recovered a lot of my strength, so let's keep heading in the direction you suggested."
Zhan Lan nodded repeatedly, but the blush still hadn't completely faded from her face. She lowered her head and murmured, "You... are you all right? You were bleeding a lot from your legs and body just now."
Zheng Zha had already noticed his wounds. Strangely, after bleeding for a while, the muscles and skin on either side of each cut had quickly closed together. Healing so fast was nothing short of a miracle. It seemed the vampire genes in his body were taking effect, and quite powerfully.
He moved his arms and legs. "I'm fine. I've recovered a lot of my strength, and I still sense danger approaching. We'd better hurry."
This time, Zhan Lan didn't dare ignore Zheng Zha's premonition. She hurried off in the direction she'd planned, and after they'd passed through several more corridors, another doorway appeared before them. Just as she was about to go in alone, Zheng Zha grabbed her. "I'll go first. Your Nerve Reaction Speed is really bad. Let me take the lead."
Zhan Lan nodded silently, and Zheng Zha dashed into the room. It was quiet inside. The room turned out to be a kitchen packed with food boxes. They exchanged a glance, and both saw the joy in the other's eyes.
Suddenly, the intercom mounted on the wall rang. The two of them nearly collapsed in fright. Zheng Zha was the first to react. He rushed to the intercom and pressed the button that was flashing green.
Chu Xuan's voice came through the intercom. "We found an Alien corpse in the corridor outside Room 22. Did you kill it? Have you found the weapons locker?"
Zheng Zha sighed. "We'll discuss the details when we meet. Where are you? And how did you know we were here?"
Chu Xuan replied, "Every important room has a number. We're in the ship's control room, Room 27. There's a monitoring system here that covers all the corridors. If you hadn't entered this room, we wouldn't have been able to contact you. By the way, that room should be the kitchen, right? The control room display shows its name. If possible, take enough food and fresh water to last you without slowing you down, then follow the room numbers toward Room 27."
"The next part concerns whether you live or die, so I'll keep it short. Three Aliens are following you. They're about ten rooms behind you. At their speed, they'll catch up in about two and a half minutes. I don't know why, but they've been following you the whole time!"
The smell—it was the smell of Alien blood on Zheng Zha! The two of them immediately understood the reason.
Chu Xuan continued, "I'll give you two minutes. Keep running forward. The route is: forward, forward, forward, left, forward, left, forward, left. That's the route and direction to the control room. I'll repeat it, so memorize it! Forward, forward, forward, left, forward, left, forward, left! You have one minute to grab food. You must reach the control room within two minutes. At two minutes and forty-five seconds, I'll lower the bulkhead one room before the control room. If you can't get inside the bulkhead in time... I'm sorry, but I'll have to abandon you. There are five of us here, after all!"
"Timing... starts now!"
Zheng Zha took a deep breath and channeled Internal Force into his Storage Ring, then frantically swept up the food in the storeroom, especially the boxes of fresh water. A capacity of one and a half cubic meters could hold a lot, particularly boxes packed into neat rectangular blocks like these. About thirty seconds later, he scooped Zhan Lan up and raced out of the room like the wind.
Zheng Zha practically roared, "I'm going to run as fast as I can. I can't think about anything else. Tell me when to turn left and when to keep going straight! Got it?"
Zhan Lan nodded obediently. She stared straight ahead and kept muttering, "Keep running, just keep running. The first corridor is straight ahead. Keep going. The second one, too... The third one, too... This time, turn left..."
Zheng Zha charged forward like a madman, reaching almost his maximum speed. The sensation of the air growing thick slowly returned. Even so, he could feel the terrifying danger behind him drawing nearer and nearer. The fully grown, mature Alien was much faster than the slightly smaller one he'd fought earlier. It was definitely faster than Zheng Zha!
"Left! Turn left this time!"
Zheng Zha kicked off the wall and shot into the left corridor like an arrow. As he turned, he caught sight of a massive black shadow behind him. The Alien was at least as fast as he was when he launched himself off the wall—perhaps even faster! He couldn't think anymore. His mind held only one thought: run with all his strength! Death was right behind him, chasing him with everything it had!
There it was! He could already see the huge steel door slowly lowering! Each of Zheng Zha's strides carried him several meters, but after a few steps, he felt a slight sting in his back. The nearest Alien was now barely more than a meter away. Its tongue had shot out and grazed his back, so he'd felt only a slight pain!
No! I don't want to die! No matter what, I have to survive! No matter what!
Zheng Zha let out a furious roar and suddenly spun around and leaped. The Alien was much faster than he was. As he jumped, it closed the distance by several dozen centimeters, and its tongue slowly retracted. When it shot out again, it would blow his head apart!
After leaping, Zheng Zha suddenly kicked both feet against the Alien's body. He'd already used most of his Internal Force while running, so he concentrated all of it in his feet and kicked off with the Alien's momentum and his own strength. He shot toward the steel door, which was almost closed. He squeezed through the final gap just in time. All three Aliens slammed into the door with a series of booms. The impact seemed to shake the entire ship. Zheng Zha lay flat on the floor, completely unable to move even a finger.
Survive... No matter what, I have to survive!
Before you continue