Fight! For Your Life! (2)

Zheng Zha was sent flying several meters, but he did not fall to the ground. Instead, he kicked off and charged straight at the Alien Queen again, not slowing in the slightest despite the blood pouring from his right arm.

The Alien Queen's claw had hooked his right arm just now. With one pull and tear, most of his arm had been ripped off. The overwhelming pain struck him instantly. An ordinary person would have passed out from the agony long ago, but Zheng Zha had temporarily unlocked his Gene Lock. The moment he felt that searing pain, he instinctively shut it out. Still, he knew he did not have much time left.

Blood! Yes, blood!

If a person lost more than one-fifth of their blood, they would go into shock. More than one-third, and their life would be in danger...

Zheng Zha did not know how much blood he had already lost. During the previous battles against the ordinary Aliens, he had been constantly wounded and bleeding. Then there was the massive blood loss after his intestines had ruptured. By the time his right arm had been torn off, only a little blood had flowed from it. The amount of blood left in his body had definitely reached a critical danger point. But blood loss was only one of the dangers he faced. The other was genetic collapse after unlocking his Gene Lock.

The pain that came after unlocking his Gene Lock went without saying. Beyond that pain, he felt as if his body were falling apart. It was an instinctive realization. Ordinary lifeforms could hardly unlock their Gene Locks so easily, because such drastic changes to one's genes were fatal injuries to ordinary lifeforms. And this time, facing the Alien Queen, he had unlocked it far more deeply than during the previous two times.

He knew his time was running out. Severe injuries, blood loss, genetic collapse—any one of them could erase him from this world. If he failed to fight for his life, the Alien Queen would not even need to kill him. He already had one foot in the grave.

End this battle within three minutes. Either you die, or I do!

Zheng Zha charged toward the spot where he had dropped his rifle. The other Spiral Thorn bomb was in Zhan Lan's hands. Considering the distance, the rifle was clearly the better choice. Besides, a large section of the Alien Queen's waist shell had already been blown away. Even a rifle could deal it serious damage now. The only thing to watch out for was the Alien Queen's terrifying attacks. Its strength and speed had reached the point where a graze meant injury, and a hit meant death.

The Alien Queen let out a mournful cry. The bomb's power was neither great nor weak. It had probably only managed to do so much damage because it had exploded inside the Alien Queen's body. If it had gone off on the surface, it would not have been enough to break through that hard shell. Seeing Zheng Zha charge toward it again, it roared from its grotesque mouth and lashed its tail at him. The sound of tearing wind came rushing in, its speed too fast for human eyes to see.

Zheng Zha had just picked up the rifle when the whistling tail came for his head. Without a second thought, he sprang upright. There was no way he could dodge in time. Rather than use his head to take the blow, he might as well squeeze some remaining value out of his right arm... There was still a piece of it left, wasn't there? What a useful thing.

With a dull bang, Zheng Zha felt as though the side of his right chest had been hit by a truck. He spat out a huge mouthful of blood, and the information in his mind increased once more. Comminuted fractures in the ribs on the right side of his chest. Bone fragments piercing his right lung. Internal bleeding and insufficient oxygen. At this rate, he would definitely die within two or three minutes!

Zheng Zha had gone all out. The instant the Alien Queen's tail struck him, he desperately clamped it beneath his right arm. His grip was not tight, but it kept him from being flung away. Instead, he was swung in a wide arc around the Alien Queen and landed directly beside its other side—the side where its waist had been blown open!

The moment Zheng Zha landed, he aimed the rifle at the gap in the Alien Queen's waist. Several sharp cracks rang out, and yellow blood sprayed continuously from the wound. To others, that blood might have been an extremely terrifying corrosive liquid, but Zheng Zha's physique seemed able to resist the strong acid somewhat. When it landed on him, it merely burned his skin black. It was nowhere near as severe as Zhang Jie's forearm being corroded away.

What was truly terrifying was not the blood, but the Alien Queen's horrifying counterattack. Zheng Zha gritted his teeth and leaped fiercely toward it. Since he had already decided to risk his life, he might as well give it a surprise from up close.

"Die!"

Zheng Zha leaped onto the opening in the Alien Queen's waist, planting both feet directly in its flesh. His eyes had gone red with killing intent. He shoved the rifle into the Alien Queen's waist and began pulling the trigger frantically. Gunshots rang out in rapid succession. No one knew how severely he had injured it, but the Alien Queen's cries were gradually weakening.

After firing more than ten rounds, Zheng Zha was finally thrown off the Alien Queen's waist. Before he even hit the ground, the Alien Queen's claw had already seized him. Its sharp talons pierced straight through his left chest. He had no idea whether his heart had been hit, but he spat out another enormous mouthful of blood.

"Zhan Lan... Zhan Lan! Give me the Spiral Thorn bomb!"

Zheng Zha had no strength left. Those actions just now had nearly drained every last bit of potential from him. His internal energy was almost exhausted, and all his Vampire energy was being used to keep him alive. His consciousness was gradually growing hazy. He was holding on only through a ruthless refusal to die, but even that determination was clearly nearing its end.

Zhan Lan could be said to be the least injured among them. The wound on her shoulder looked terrifying, but compared to the others, it was merely a flesh wound. Upon hearing him, she immediately struggled to her feet and ran toward the Alien Queen without even looking at its hideous face. At that moment, gunfire rang out again from beside the Alien Queen. Zero Point lay on the ground, coughing up blood as he desperately fired his Submachine gun at the opening in the Alien Queen's waist. But he did not manage to fire many rounds before the Alien Queen's tail sent him flying again. Judging by the sight of his abdominal organs spilling out, he seemed unlikely to survive.

Zhan Lan kept running toward the Alien Queen, but it apparently did not consider her a threat. Instead, it violently slammed Zheng Zha, still held in its claw, against the sharp corner of a cargo container. With a crisp crack, Zheng Zha could hear his own spine breaking. Along with the intense pain, he discovered that everything below his waist had lost sensation. His entire body bent backward at an unnatural angle.

Don't die. I don't want to die!

Zheng Zha roared loudly. In that final flash of life before death, he gathered another small amount of internal energy in his left hand. He also forcibly concentrated the Vampire energy in his mind. Then he grabbed the shell of the Alien Queen's claw. Inch by inch, the unique corrosive power of Vampire energy revealed itself for the first time. He actually tore five bloody finger holes into the Alien Queen's claw.

"Zheng Zha! Catch!"

Zhan Lan's speed was limited, and she had seen Zheng Zha's entire body being broken. She threw herself forward without regard for her life, hurling the Spiral Thorn bomb in her hand toward him. But just as she released the bomb, the Alien Queen's tail stabbed viciously through her chest, piercing a huge bloody hole straight through its center. With such a massive penetrating wound reaching her spine, the girl also looked as though she would not survive.

As the Spiral Thorn bomb flew close, Zheng Zha forcibly snapped apart the claw pinning him down. Then he bit down hard on the Alien Queen's shell. With his only remaining left hand, he caught the Spiral Thorn bomb in midair. But at that moment, the Alien Queen's other claw came crashing down. With a sharp cracking sound, Zheng Zha's lower body was completely smashed apart. He had been split into two!