"Brother Zhang, Wang Zhen, how many Xenomorphs do you think we'll run into in this world?" Zheng Zha hurried into the dim corridor. As he gazed down the increasingly dark passage, he couldn't help asking.
"You killed one, I killed one, and Chu Xuan and the other two died alongside one. That makes three Xenomorphs we've killed in total! There was only one in the movie, but the crew had six people and a cat. One of them was the heroine, Ripley, and there's one hidden inside her, so that one probably won't show up. Another was a synthetic spy from Weyland Corporation. So, in the movie, there were four people and a cat who could be connected to the Xenomorphs." Wang Zhen thought for a moment before answering.
"After the story began, we left the starting room and found... four bodies by the corridor entrance. Three white men and one Black man, just like in the movie. If..." Wang Zhen continued, pretending to rack his memory.
"If the story's changed, the most likely explanation is that those four had already been impregnated by Xenomorphs, and four had hatched from them!" Zhang Jie cut in.
"If there are only those four, then we've already killed all four! That means there's only one left?" Zheng Zha perked up at the thought that only one Xenomorph remained.
"Zheng Zha, don't celebrate too soon! Popping the champagne at halftime is a debuff! First, you forgot the cat. In the movie, the Xenomorph species could impregnate mammals like cats, and... the special Xenomorphs born from mammal hosts had their own name: Runners. They fused with and adapted the mammals' genes, so their bodies and features were much closer to those of their hosts!" Wang Zhen reminded him pointedly.
"Since we're talking about it, should we bring up an even more despairing possibility? The Main God has never been merciful or kind. It's not about to let us off the hook!" Zhang Jie said mockingly.
"Did you two forget about the newcomers? The Main God sent fifteen of them into this world, which makes this a fifteen-person difficulty scenario! But only Chu Xuan, Zero, Ba Wang, and Li Shuaixi came with us. The other eleven left together once the story began!" Zhang Jie said coldly.
"So we have to consider how many Xenomorphs those eleven dead newcomers might turn into?" Wang Zhen added.
"Eleven newcomers... If we go with the worst-case scenario, that's eleven Xenomorphs! Add the one we already mentioned, and that makes twelve!" Zheng Zha really wanted to finish off the remaining Xenomorphs as soon as possible and return to God Hall, where he could kiss and cuddle Loli and soothe the pain inside him.
"Zheng Zha, you forgot the cat again! If a Xenomorph egg implanted itself in that cat, then we'll have to face the most terrifying Xenomorph of all: a Cat Xenomorph!" Wang Zhen followed Zheng Zha into the gloomy corridor. Faced with its dark, silent depths, even he—who had been relaxed until now—grew more alert.
"A cat? A Xenomorph? The most terrifying? How big could a cat be? Even if a Xenomorph implanted itself in one, how big could the Cat Xenomorph be? It'd be a little bigger than the original, tops. I could smash it to bits with one swing of my hammer!" Having killed a Drone Xenomorph and crippled a Drone Xenomorph, Zheng Zha had a vivid memory of the two- or three-meter-tall ones. He wasn't worried about a Cat Xenomorph that couldn't grow beyond a meter.
"Smash it with one swing? Zheng Zha, which do you think is more dangerous: a conspicuous wild boar or black bear, or a slender venomous snake?" Wang Zhen asked gravely, staying alert and using all his focus to sense what was around them.
"Fuck! You're saying that Cat Xenomorph has speed, claws, fangs, and a long tongue?" Zheng Zha's expression turned ugly at once. He asked the question in a hoarse voice.
"Bingo! You got it! In a place with such poor visibility, if one of those Cat Xenomorphs really is hiding in a dark corner, the three of us had better stay sharp!" Wang Zhen replied casually. "Because none of us can dodge a sneak attack from one of these things!"
Zheng Zha fell silent and slowed his pace. As the one walking in front, he had clearly taken Wang Zhen's warning to heart. He'd experienced the Main God's deviousness firsthand, after all, so he wasn't about to assume a Cat Xenomorph couldn't appear. On the contrary, if they suspected one might be there, then with the Main God's nature, it was bound to send one after them!
As he walked, Wang Zhen reconsidered some of the countermeasures he'd been mulling over. He casually folded his arms across his chest and gave himself a light pat. A faint, dusky glow flashed across his clothes, but with the surroundings so dark, no one would notice unless they were paying attention.
Wang Zhen was boosting his defenses first. He didn't have any psychic abilities, so he couldn't be sure he'd detect a Cat Xenomorph skilled at moving unseen.
That meant he couldn't be sure he'd evade its opening ambush!
If he couldn't dodge it, then he had to find a way to withstand the attack!
What Wang Zhen was doing was using his Transmutation Circle to break down and reassemble his clothes. Their appearance and color hadn't changed, but their composition had!
The outfit still looked like Sephiroth's leather trench coat with a single pauldron, but it was now made of a special material: chitin reinforced with an alloy, an enhanced version of a Xenomorph's exoskeleton!
Even so, Wang Zhen didn't let his guard down. If a Xenomorph's inner jaw could pierce a Yautja's armor, then it could probably pierce this special material, too. So Wang Zhen subtly adjusted his position, making sure he could keep Zheng Zha entirely behind him.
After making all those preparations, Wang Zhen couldn't help feeling a little frustrated. Where was the cat? Where was that Cat Xenomorph? Where had that huge cat gone?
There was no way the Main God would cancel such a badass Cat Xenomorph!
Absolutely no way!
So where was that Cat Xenomorph hiding?
All Wang Zhen wanted now was to get back to God Hall as quickly as possible and shore up his weaknesses!
Practice really was the best teacher! Only actual combat could reveal your flaws and weaknesses; only by fixing them could you become a well-rounded, all-around new-generation main battle tank!
That was wrong!
He meant a new-generation God Apostle of Infinite Space!
Wang Zhen continued searching his surroundings for the Cat Xenomorph. It still hadn't appeared, but his powerful mental sense could faintly detect a gloomy killing intent, like a mist silently enveloping the three of them!
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