Advance, the Nest! (2)

The five of them entered through Passageway Fifteen. Sure enough, thick, phlegm-like secretions appeared along both sides of the corridor. The steel beneath them had been corroded away by a layer, though fortunately, their acidity seemed to gradually weaken over time.

Chu Xuan carefully touched the secretion in a corner of the wall with one finger. Then he stood and said, "Most of the acidity has already oxidized away. It's probably only weak acid now, which makes things much easier. Even if we get covered in this stuff during the fight, it won't be a problem. At least it won't be fatal."

Zheng Zha stepped on the secretions and frowned. "But they're too slippery. If the ground is covered with this stuff when we fight the Alien Queen, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep our footing while running."

Chu Xuan thought for a moment. "No. If the battlefield is covered in this material, it would actually be more advantageous for us. That way, we wouldn't have to worry about the Alien Queen's blood corroding through the merchant ship's hull. That counts as a favorable condition. Compared to a few obstacles to movement, I'd rather have the battlefield covered in a thick layer of this material."

Zheng Zha gave a bitter laugh and looked at Chu Xuan. "Tell me honestly. What are the chances we'll survive this Horror Movie?"

Chu Xuan glanced at him and replied blandly, "I told you already: thirty percent. That's assuming you land a guaranteed hit. If your first throw misses, two or three people will die within thirty seconds. During that time, you'll have one more chance to throw. If you miss again, we'll all die. Likewise, this is our final opportunity. If we fail to seize it, we'll all die three days later anyway. In short, this is the decision with the lowest odds I've ever made in my life. Thinking about it really is depressing."

Zheng Zha fell silent for a moment. Then, unexpectedly, he patted Chu Xuan on the shoulder. "I don't know how to comfort you, and with your intelligence, you probably don't need anyone to comfort you anyway, but... live. We can all survive. No matter what, I absolutely refuse to die here!"

"Even if you say that, our chances of survival are indeed only thirty percent..."

Chu Xuan answered without even looking at Zheng Zha. At that moment, Zero Point's voice suddenly came from ahead in the corridor. "Something's wrong!"

The two exchanged a glance. Zheng Zha said to Zhang Jie and the other behind him, "Stay close to me. Don't fall behind or do anything else. Let's go!" With that, he took the lead and ran toward Zero Point.

Zero Point was standing at a section of corridor ahead, quietly waiting for the four of them to arrive. Then he pointed forward and said, "We can't get through. It's all covered in this secretion."

Zheng Zha looked up and saw that the corridor behind Zero Point was indeed covered in a thick layer of secretion. It looked like the inner wall of some creature's organs, and at first glance, it even seemed alive.

He carefully used the Spiral Thorn to lift the layer of secretion. It did not feel hard; on the contrary, he could pierce it with ease, and the layer was at most only a few centimeters thick.

Zheng Zha easily peeled back the secretion, but the space behind it gave him a fright. Everything beyond was covered in a thick layer of the same secretion—the floor, the walls, the ceiling. The entire merchant ship corridor was coated in it. If the space before had still been part of the merchant ship's corridor, then from here onward was the true Alien nest. It felt as though they were walking on flesh, as if the living flesh of creatures surrounded them on all sides. Just thinking about it was enough to make one's skin crawl.

Chu Xuan suddenly said, "Zero Point, the lighting here is dim, and your eyesight is the best. Look over there—are those Alien Eggs? Those oval, biological-organ-like things?"

Zero Point narrowed his eyes and stared carefully. After looking for a long time, he shook his head. "No. I can't see clearly. The lights are covered in this disgusting stuff. It's far too dark in here."

Chu Xuan nodded, then said to Zheng Zha, "Alien Eggs will never attack from more than twenty meters away, so we can approach them safely... Judging by the distance we've covered, we should be near Passageway Three. Further inside are Warehouse Two and Warehouse One. The Alien Queen should be there!"

Zheng Zha nodded and said to the others behind him, "Stay here. I'll go see whether those really are Alien Eggs... Zero Point, if anything appears around or behind me, I'll have to trouble you to shoot it down. I trust your sniping."

Zero Point silently nodded. Zheng Zha smiled and stepped into the nest. The instant his foot landed, a soft, yielding sensation rose from beneath his sole, as if he had stepped into the inner wall of a living creature's organs. The sensation of pushing through flesh made Zheng Zha's scalp go numb in an instant. He endured the discomfort and slowly walked deeper into the corridor. The lighting was so dim that he could see no farther than ten-odd meters. He cautiously traversed that short distance over several dozen seconds, until he was about ten meters away from those things. At last, he saw dozens of oval, organ-like objects arranged there.

"That's right! They're Alien Eggs!"

Zheng Zha shouted without turning around. Then he saw in alarm that the Alien Eggs were slowly writhing open. In the Alien Horror Movies, this was the beginning of the eggs releasing Alien larvae. There were dozens of Alien Eggs here. If all of them released larvae, they could easily hide within the secretions and attack the group. Once a human body was parasitized by them, the host would become a new Alien within several dozen minutes to several hours.

Without a second thought, Zheng Zha raised his semi-automatic rifle and opened fire on the Alien Eggs. A burst of shots rang out, and the eggs were easily blasted into minced flesh. Their shells did not seem very hard, but even so, several larvae were released. They sprang with astonishing speed, and after bouncing across the secretions several times, they had already closed in on Zheng Zha.

Several gunshots sounded from behind Zheng Zha. The larvae were blasted into fragments in midair. Zheng Zha turned around to see Zero Point aiming a Submachine gun in his direction, faint smoke still drifting from its muzzle.

Zheng Zha smiled at Zero Point. This killer, who had always been cold and indifferent, actually gave a slight nod in return. Only Chu Xuan ran over with complete calmness. He crouched and carefully examined the fragments of the Alien Eggs. A moment later, he stood and said, "After laying eggs, the Alien Queen enters a weakened state. These Alien Egg shells are all very soft, unlike the hard shells I remember... I believe the Alien Queen laid these eggs not long ago."

Zheng Zha took a deep breath. "Since we've come this far, we have to risk everything to kill that big one... Let's go! Kill the last Alien! Let all of us return alive to the Main God's space!"