Wang Zhen jumped straight down into the real Xenomorph hive beneath the floor. This was the spaceship's cargo hold, so it was enormous. Since no cargo had been loaded yet, it seemed exceptionally empty. And with no lights, the darkness that had once been so thick it felt almost solid now shrouded the place.
Dead silence, empty space, darkness—and you knew several enormous, fearsome apex predators were lurking here. Were you scared yet?
Wang Zhen wasn't.
He had no psychic abilities, but his mental strength was far greater than an ordinary person's, so he could still easily sense the Xenomorph Queens and Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs hiding nearby.
After burning away that white, sticky substance earlier, Wang Zhen had felt his mental sensing become a little clearer, though not by much. But now that he had jumped into the real Xenomorph hive, his mental senses suddenly sharpened!
As expected, an intelligent species like the Xenomorphs wouldn't build their hive using only that conspicuous white adhesive material to weaken and muddle psychic powers.
Wang Zhen sensed that two Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs were closest to him, almost directly beneath the spot he had previously guessed would give way and drop him down.
They'd really learned how to lie in wait for their prey!
After a quick look around, Wang Zhen guessed that the two Xenomorphs were waiting beneath the trap. If someone fell from above, they could ambush them the moment they landed. Unless they were a cheat like him or a talented newcomer like Zheng Zha, who had unlocked the Gene Lock, no one could escape an ambush by two Xenomorphs.
Wang Zhen didn't try to talk them down. They were Xenomorphs and couldn't understand him anyway. Talking to them would be like playing music to a cow—a complete waste of effort!
He used a Transmutation Circle again, activating the metal and sending dozens of metal strips curling around the two Xenomorphs to bind them!
But to Wang Zhen's surprise, this slick little combo—which had already taken out several Xenomorphs—failed!
These two Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs were over four meters tall, yet their reactions were astonishingly quick and agile, completely at odds with their massive frames. In the projection of Wang Zhen's small universe, they were already on guard the moment the metal walls began to activate. By the time metal strips sprang from the activated alloy panels, the two Xenomorphs had already found their positions and prepared to fight!
It was their incredible reaction speed that rendered Wang Zhen's repeatedly successful tactic useless!
Quick reactions and sharp senses. That was exciting!
Wang Zhen didn't panic. Alchemy was an extraordinary system with an enormous range between its floor and ceiling. It required users to think outside the box; the more imaginative they were, the better they could develop Alchemy, and the more powerful it became!
"Combining the Metal Transmutation Array with the Explosion Transmutation Circle has tremendous power, but it's still too slow. And it requires activating the metal first, which gives perceptive, quick-reacting enemies time to exploit the opening. They can dodge or block. In short, any enemy who senses the metal activating in advance can avoid this little combo." Wang Zhen thought back to the Alchemy combos he had worked out in his mind, trying to pick one.
"Let's try this one first." Wang Zhen picked one at random.
Wang Zhen used the Metal Transmutation Array again. This time, instead of activating the metal panels and sending out strips to bind the Xenomorphs, he simply made a huge iron coffin for the two slow-moving Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs as they came toward him!
The iron coffin wasn't sturdy. The two enormous Xenomorphs could easily tear apart its flimsy walls. But they were still too slow. Before they could break their way out, Wang Zhen detonated the coffin!
The explosion made the inside of the iron coffin act like a fragmentation shell, shattering it into countless pieces. Propelled by the sudden blast, the fragments instantly became a storm of high-speed blades that struck the Xenomorphs' massive bodies. The Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs had incredibly tough exoskeletons, but a fragmentation shell might only hit one or two targets. These two, however, faced an almost endless barrage!
As long as the two Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs didn't break out of the iron coffin right away, they could only stand there and be torn apart by the speeding metal fragments.
The reason was simple: Wang Zhen wasn't going to stand by and watch. He would keep repeating the process—put the Xenomorphs in an iron coffin, detonate it, put them in another iron coffin, detonate it again...
As long as nothing broke the rhythm, Wang Zhen could keep chaining the combo until the two Xenomorphs were dead!
Wang Zhen was having the time of his life!
He felt that this new combo was simple and brutal, and that was precisely its strength. It wasn't well suited to fast targets, but it worked surprisingly well against these two Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs!
Those two Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs had truly frightening defenses. They held out for a full minute before the speeding metal fragments pierced their thick, tough exoskeletons!
Seeing the two Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs turned into a heap of honeycomb coal—and not even intact honeycomb coal, but a heap of scraps in every size and shape—made Wang Zhen quite happy.
After all, these were Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs, far stronger than the Drone Xenomorphs he had killed earlier!
Wang Zhen carefully went over every detail of how he had used the Metal Transmutation Array and the Explosion Transmutation Circle. After a bit of tinkering, he optimized some details of the combo. He wanted to make the simple, brutal move faster, stronger, and smoother!
After all, there was still one Queen and three Royal Guard-class Xenomorphs hiding inside. The four of them wouldn't budge, no matter what. Even after the two Royal Guards had been beaten into a heap of shit, they still didn't move. The three Royal Guards standing in front of the Queen showed no intention of leaving, never mind the Queen herself, who was probably hiding inside and plotting something nasty.
"So dedicated, huh?" Wang Zhen muttered as he thought it over.
It was a timed mission, but Wang Zhen was confident that he was making the fastest progress, so he didn't rush forward. Instead, he carefully considered the possibilities.
"Could the Queen be laying eggs right now, and I just happened to catch her in the act?" Wang Zhen suddenly thought of a possibility, and couldn't help getting excited.
Everyone knew that living things were at their most vulnerable during sex and reproduction! They were basically immobile targets, and their stamina, reaction speed, and focus were all at their lowest.
The strongest member of the Xenomorph species, the Queen, was laying eggs right now?
"Fuck! What the hell! Trying to tempt me with something like that! Do you think I'm the kind of person who takes advantage of someone when they're down?" Wang Zhen curled his lip and muttered under his breath.
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