The Newcomers' Role Was to Move the Plot Along

Chapter 4: The Newcomers' Role Was to Move the Plot Along

Some time later, at the town police station.

"Yes, yes. If we remember any other important information, we'll notify you right away. Until then, please allow us to stay here for a while."

Suzuki bowed deeply to the small-town officer. He waited until the man left the lounge to him and the other newcomers, then waited several more seconds before carefully lifting his head and letting out a breath. As a Japanese man living near Yokohama, he'd always felt an instinctive reverence for American police officers.

"Phew..." He let out a quiet breath.

"Will this really work, Suzuki?" Another newcomer cautiously looked at him—the only young man among them who knew the story. "If we stay here, can we complete that mission? Weren't we supposed to board the helicopter?"

"We don't necessarily have to board it." Suzuki adjusted his glasses and spoke with confidence. "Didn't you read the mission description? There's no penalty for failure. In other words, even if we don't board the helicopter, all that happens is that we fail a mission with no penalty. As long as we avoid the final nuclear blast, we can stay wherever we want."

"Oh, I see." The newcomer who'd asked was a mature office lady. She patted her chest, making her ample neckline jiggle rather deliberately. "You're amazing, Suzuki. But if that's the case, why don't we just leave the city? The military probably hasn't been mobilized yet, right?"

Suzuki was about to answer.

"We can't do that." Another newcomer, a middle-aged office worker, spoke first, beating Suzuki to it by half a step. "I've watched several installments in the Xenomorph series, including the movie that came before this one. And just as Suzuki said earlier..." He gave Suzuki a slight nod.

Suzuki made a helpless gesture. Their eyes met for a brief moment.

"This all started yesterday, when the Yautja ship fell out of the sky. The Predalien escaped from it, along with a whole lot of Facehuggers..."

Suzuki pressed his lips together slightly and avoided the office worker's meaningful gaze. He was certain he hadn't mentioned the exact time the ship crashed while vaguely explaining the plot. Which meant he wasn't the only one who knew the story of this installment.

He wasn't special. He'd simply failed to keep his cool.

He'd lost the silent contest, and the office worker's voice rose a little.

"The ship crashed outside this town. And conveniently, there's a poster here advertising the town." He pointed to the wall of the lounge, his fingertip landing on an artist's rendering of a town surrounded by forest. "It's forest all around the town—good hunting ground. There must be plenty of large animals for the Xenomorphs to hunt and infect. If we try to leave town without taking the main road, we'll probably run into them in the forest."

"There might not be any Xenomorphs hiding in the forest. That Yautja..." Suzuki gritted his teeth.

But the office worker interrupted him again.

"Wolf only cares about the Predalien, because it's a disgrace to his species. And given the Xenomorphs' intelligence, after completing their initial infections, they certainly won't all gather in one place."

Wolf was the Yautja's name—or perhaps his title. It had never been revealed in the movie itself. The only way to learn the truth was through supplementary material and guidebooks.

"So we can't leave right away. Not yet, at least." The office worker laid out a plan that Suzuki had already roughly considered, but hadn't fully worked out. "We should stay here until things get more tense in town. Then we can use our information as an excuse to persuade the police to escort us outside the town. Even if we run into a National Guard roadblock along the way, having the police with us will give us a lot more room to maneuver."

The office lady's eyes lit up.

"That's brilliant!" She clasped her hands to her chest, looking full of admiration. "We have to choose the right time to leave town. I never would've thought of that!"

"It's just a little life experience." The office worker smiled and waved it off. "More importantly, where those two seniors went, and what that strange, powerful Chinese man who said he was going to take the fight to them plans to do—those things could have a big impact on us. We'll have plenty of time to adapt as things unfold, so we'd better stay alert."

"Oh, is that so...? I've learned something new again." The office lady blinked. No one knew when she'd managed to put on a light layer of makeup to make herself look cuter.

But then the last person in the lounge, a man in work clothes who hadn't said a word from the start, let out a mocking laugh.

"Heh..." He seemed to be an auto mechanic. It was only when he rolled up his sleeves that the others noticed how muscular he was.

"Those 'seniors'? They're a bunch of useless dead weight. The fat guy is a spineless NEET who can't make up his own mind. And the woman's a parasitic vine who can't survive without clinging to someone stronger. I've met plenty like them. Do you think they didn't follow us because they had some other plan? Wrong. They just couldn't decide whether to listen to that Chinese guy or come with us. If I'm right, they're probably still hiding on the roof of that hospital."

He continued.

"As for that Chinese guy, I can tell he's both aloof and arrogant. He doesn't give a damn about anyone else. Someone like that will probably get into trouble with the Xenomorphs soon enough. He looks like the type who'd jump straight into a sewer to fight one head-on. Who knows if the Xenomorphs down there would be willing to fight him one-on-one, though."

Suzuki finally found a chance to speak again.

"My great-grandfather went to China last century and fought its army. He used to say the people there were uncivilized savages who couldn't be reasoned with. And now I can see he was right."

"You don't look like you come from a family with a crest, Suzuki." The man in work clothes chuckled, the mockery in his voice undiminished. "Judging individuals by your impressions of an entire group is foolish. Even if that isn't a University of Tokyo uniform you're wearing, you should know that much."

Then he changed tack.

"But you're right about that man. He really is impossible to reason with. But that's just as well. If he wants to go on the offensive, he'll surely make a big scene. If he dies early, so be it. But if he really does cause a commotion, wouldn't that be even better for us? The police will take our information more seriously and provide us with even more protection."

He made a good point.

His conclusion went even further than the middle-aged office worker's. And when he casually clenched his fist, the muscles in his arm bulging, he became the axis of their little group.

The office worker's eye twitched almost imperceptibly, but he still managed to pull his lips into another smile.

The office lady quickly and naturally transferred her admiration to the new man. Her eyes nearly sparkled.

Suzuki suddenly felt a pang in his stomach.

"Sorry, I need to use the restroom." He covered his mouth and turned to leave.

"I have some tissues, if you need—" the office lady offered as he walked away.

Of course, he didn't stop.

The remaining three exchanged a brief glance.

"What a kid. He can't keep his cool." The man in work clothes chuckled, dismissing Suzuki's behavior. With the office worker's agreement, they began discussing their next move.

A dozen seconds later...

Bang! Suzuki slammed his fist against the restroom windowsill. He'd meant to hit it hard, but when he actually swung, he instinctively held back most of his strength.

"Damn it, damn it..." He gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched tight.

He drew a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil surging inside him. What had already happened couldn't be undone, but he could still take control of the opportunities ahead.

There was still a chance. He could still turn things around. He'd finally gotten a fresh start in a new environment. He couldn't keep acting the way he had back at school...

He exhaled.

Some of his old bruises had started to ache again.

He slapped his cheeks and took several deep breaths. Just as he was about to return to the lounge...

Something seemed to be crawling at the edge of his vision.

He turned around instinctively—

Pfft—

A steel pipe flew through the air.

Si Ming raised an eyebrow.

A tiny creature crawling through the shadows was struck with pinpoint accuracy by the weapon, now wrapped in Night Battle Qi. The pipe pierced it and pinned it to the ground, where it twitched feebly.

—[Killed one Facehugger. Received 50 reward points.]

A voice sounded.

The Main God's announcement rang in Si Ming's mind the instant the creature died. Almost at the same time, he realized something was wrong with the announcement.

No, something was off!

It was already the second day. How could there still be a Facehugger roaming the sewers that hadn't managed to infect a host and reproduce?

His thoughts raced.

His body was already in motion.

Si Ming had been holding his breath at the sewer entrance, never recklessly venturing inside. He suddenly kicked off, shooting straight upward. The instant he leaped out of the sewer, he heard—and saw—something crash down where he'd just been!

A Xenomorph.

But there shouldn't have been a Facehugger.

The breeding-capable Predalien reproduced by implanting eggs directly. Yet at that moment, a tiny detail from the original movie suddenly came into clear focus in Si Ming's mind!

It was from the later part of the story, when the Xenomorphs had spread everywhere and the National Guard had been wiped out. That was when the monitor had shown a surveillance image with red markers spreading across the entire town at an exponential rate!

Too fast.

Even if the time it took a chestburster to mature into an adult had been drastically shortened, it was still too fast. Unless there had been more Xenomorphs from the very beginning than anyone expected.

Si Ming thought of the crashed ship. He knew all the Facehuggers had escaped from its containment units. The wreckage clearly belonged to a small research vessel. That meant the specimens deliberately kept in the containment pods were very likely unusual in some way!

—Queen Facehugger.

His thoughts shifted.

His toes touched the ground again.

Battle Qi erupted inside him, rapidly enhancing his physical strength. The instant he touched down, he darted sideways at high speed, just dodging a swift strike from a tail.

Had the bait trap been discovered? No, it hadn't. The countertrap had failed to close around its target. The Xenomorphs were simply being cautious by instinct, like the predators they were.

The next instant, Si Ming had the Samurai Edge in his hand. He aimed at the second Xenomorph emerging from the shadows beneath the bridge and squeezed the trigger with precision.

Bang!