Xeno

Xeno.

The first Alien movie was released in Sui Bian's world in 1979. It was called Alien, which literally meant "extraterrestrial," but in China it was translated as Xeno, a title more fitting for the film.

The species received its official name, Xenomorph, in Aliens.

Born from a Facehugger and a human, a Xeno had a black exoskeleton, long, slender limbs, and a smooth head with no eyes. Its tail ended in a sharp, bony spike.

These Xenos were called Drones or Warriors. They belonged to the lower and middle ranks of the Xeno species, serving as workers and cannon fodder.

At that moment,

a Drone Xeno was lurking above the stone pillar Chris was leaning against.

At first, it had planned to coordinate with its two companions and seize the right moment to ambush Chris and the other humans.

However, Celtic and Chopper attacked the humans first, so the Drones immediately called off their ambush and secretly communicated through pheromones to revise their plan.

In the end, the Drones unanimously decided to let the humans and Yautja fight each other first, then take out both sides by surprise.

Suddenly!

Just as Chopper, who had dropped his Optical Camouflage, was about to tear out Chris's spine and skull while he was still alive, the Drone hiding above the stone pillar sprang into the air, claws outstretched, and charged at Chopper.

Chopper was focused on Chris and never expected a Xeno to be lying in wait. With a thud, the Drone slammed him to the ground.

Before Chopper could react, the Drone's mouth was already aimed at his helmet.

With a wet crunch!

With a splat! Fluorescent green blood burst everywhere.

The inner jaw inside the Xeno's mouth shot forward, piercing Chopper's mask and skull.

He was beyond dead.

The Chopper in the movie had only appeared briefly, but even in the real world, he had at least traded a few blows with Chris. Still, he couldn't escape his ultimate fate—

being the first to die.

Actually, looking at it another way, if Chopper had faced someone other than Chris, he might not have died so early.

In a sense, Chris had been Chopper's downfall.

!!

Speaking of Chris, he stared in shock as the black Drone instantly killed Chopper.

He had mentally prepared himself, but seeing two kinds of monsters—or perhaps anomalies—up close still terrified him.

With no time to think, Chris, who had almost recovered, immediately raised his gun in his right hand, aimed at the Drone Xeno not far in front of him, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With a wet splat! The bullets punched through its exoskeleton and soft tissue.

Sss! Sss! Its acidic blood ate into the ground.

And the Xeno let out a shrill scream!

A Drone Xeno's exoskeleton was incredibly tough, enough to withstand human small-caliber bullets. But no matter how tough it was, it was still part of its body.

Against the MA5B, loaded with full-metal-jacket armor-piercing rounds and firing at an extremely high rate, the Drone's only possible fate was to die in a hail of bullets.

"..."

Seeing that the Xeno's blood was indeed acidic, just as Sui Bian had said, Chris glanced at Chopper's body beside the Drone's corpse and stood up with a grave expression.

A few months ago, he had still been a "small-time" cop in Raccoon City.

Now, he was fighting anomalies designated as such by the company.

And these anomalies included extraterrestrials...

If he told anyone, they'd take his story for a joke. No one would believe it, would they?

"Roar!" A sudden, earth-shaking bellow interrupted Chris's melancholy.

He turned toward the source of the roar.

There he saw Celtic, who had already slaughtered the remaining D-Class Personnel, being attacked by two Drone Xenos.

The brawny Celtic was locked in a back-and-forth fight with the two Xenos.

As Celtic grabbed one Xeno by the tail and swung it wildly, then kicked the other one flying as it charged him, he happened to see Chopper get his head blown off by the Drone, followed by Chris killing it.

Furious at losing a teammate, Celtic no longer felt like toying with the Xenos. With all his strength, he swung the Xeno in his hands into a stone wall.

With a sharp crack! The Xeno exploded against the wall.

Sss! Acidic blood splattered everywhere, corroding everything it touched.

"Roar."

Celtic gave an annoyed growl and glanced at Chris, who was standing nearby, then turned to chase after the last Drone as it tried to flee.

Celtic wasn't letting Chris off out of mercy. His top priority was eliminating the Xenos and completing the trial.

Once Celtic and the Drone Xeno disappeared from sight, Chris replaced his magazine and immediately kept watch over his surroundings.

There had been three Yautja Youths to begin with, and six D-Class Personnel had been left in the Sacrificial Chamber. That meant there had to be at least six Xenos.

After all, as Sui Bian had warned him, a Facehugger could still hatch a Xeno from a human who was already dying.

However, Chris detected no abnormalities. Although he didn't know where the third Yautja Youth was, he decided to keep moving.

He went over to Chopper's corpse, whose head had been blown off, and reported over the radio, "Poseidon, this is Redfield. I'm the only member of the temporary task force left, and I've engaged both the Xenos and the Yautja.

"So far, I've found one dead Yautja Youth and two dead Xenos. Given the unusual nature of the Xeno corpses, I'll first try to recover some of the Yautja equipment."

As he spoke, Chris bent down.

He took Chopper's Wrist Computer, Wristblade, Smart Disc, Combi-Stick, mask, and everything else he could carry.

The Mechanical Exoskeleton's left leg was somewhat damaged, but it was still usable. It could certainly handle the extra weight.

But Chris, like Leon, Claire, Jill, and the others from the games, was a "walking arsenal."

Sui Bian was sure that even without the Mechanical Exoskeleton, Chris could find a way to carry all the equipment.

Before long, Chris had packed away everything he could take. The Red Queen, who had been serving as the communications officer on the Poseidon's bridge, replied over the comms:

"Poseidon copies. Also, Captain Redfield, please collect a tissue sample from the Yautja Youth's corpse."

"Okay." Chris instinctively gave a slight nod.

He took a small, airtight container from a pouch on his belt with his left hand and drew a dagger from the sheath on his lower leg with his right.

Using the dagger, he cut a piece of flesh from the gunshot wound on Chopper's left abdomen and put it in the container.

He sealed the lid.

Put away the dagger.

Then stood and left.

The Pyramid shifted its structure once again, forcing Chris into a new chamber.

And there lay the corpse of the third Yautja Youth.