Vol 2: Chapter 2-3.
Is it because someone close to her left her before, so she’s afraid of losing someone again?
Zheng felt as if he could understand her. He thinks they are the same kind of people, after losing something especially important, they made a promise with themselves never to lose again. That’s why they’re desperately clinging onto their lives. That’s why they’re supporting each other.
“I’m much better.” Then another girl’s face flashed through Zheng’s mind. He lightly pushed Lan away. Even though he could barely move, this push was firm and determined.
Lan was crying, then suddenly she got pushed away. Her mind goes blank for a moment then she smiled unnaturally. “Are you alright now? You scared me just then. You were like you were having an epileptic seizure, and blood was coming out of your mouth. That looked so horrifying…”
Zheng felt totally exhausted, yet compared to the pain a moment ago, this was like heaven to him. He smiled bitterly. “Thank you so much, thanks for helping… helping me breathe. Otherwise I would have fainted from suffocation. If I lost conscious under that situation… I think I would have been a corpse by now.”
Lan’s expression went back to normal. She laughed. “I have to thank you, if you didn’t save me then I don’t know what would have happened. So what was that? Do you have a medical history?”
Zheng shook his head, he didn’t know how to describe what just happened. When he was on the border of life and death, he felt something unlock within him. The combat was smooth and the precision of his movements was within a millimeter. He spent every bit of his energy without waste. The combat instincts had no compa.s.sion or fear. If he really had to describe it with a phenomenon, it would be similar to SEED mode.[1]
Of course, this is probably the genetic constraint that Xuan talked about, evolved human beings that can survive through any extreme. This also explained why it was so painful afterward, that was probably the side effects from the substance generated from unlocking the constraint.
The pain came and went quickly. Zheng felt he was gradually recovering his energy. Yet the feeling of unlocking the genetic constraint also subsided. Perhaps the poisonous substance was being decomposed by his body. His enhanced cellular vitality and immunization strength saved him, at the same time they prevented the substance from totally unlocking the constraint. Zheng can almost imagine that if he kept these combat instincts, the Aliens wouldn’t be unbeatable.
Lan saw that Zheng didn’t reply, she didn’t continue with the topic, instead she laughed. “See what rewards you got for killing an Alien. Hehe. There can’t be no reward for it.”
Zheng had recovered a lot by then. After hearing her words, he immediately looked at his watch. It said Aliens killed 1, and next to it was 500 points. Perhaps the reward was announced during his combat, but at the time his mind was filled with killing and didn’t notice the announcement.
He suppressed his happiness and said, “Awarded 500 points. That’s great, this is half the reward from surviving a movie.”
Lan was smiling also, as if she earned the reward herself. She said happily, “500 points for one, maybe you can kill a few more then you will get a few thousand points in just this movie… hehe, since you said I saved your life, then shouldn’t you exchange some gifts for me when we go back?”
Zheng looks at her red lips and replies without thinking, “Then I will give you the perfect lipstick, that color is so beautiful.”
Lan immediately blushed. Then Zheng realized the ambiguity of his tone. He coughed and continued, “We should leave this place as soon as possible. The smell of the Alien’s blood is too strong. I don’t know if there’s another one. I’ve also recovered a lot. So we will continue forward like you said.”
Lan nodded but her face was still slightly blushed. With her head down she said in a low voice, “Are you… alright? You your leg and body bled a lot.”
In fact, Zheng already noticed his wounds. The strange thing was after bleeding for a while, his muscles and skin quickly closed up. The speed of healing was simply amazing. It seemed like the genetics of vampire are working.
He stretched his arms and legs. “No problem. I have recovered a lot of energy. And there is a sense of danger approaching. So let’s hurry up and move on.”
Lan took his warning seriously this time. They continued on the path hurriedly, after a few intersections, they came to a large door. Lan was about to go in, but Zheng pulls her back. “I’ll walk in the front. Your reaction speed is honestly horrible. It’s better to let me take the lead.”
By the time Lan nodded her head in silence, Zheng was already inside. The room was very quiet. It was a kitchen filled with all kinds of packaged food. They looked at each other and could see the delight in their eyes.
Suddenly, the communication device on the wall started ringing. They almost fell to the ground from the scare. Zheng reacted immediately, he ran to the device and pressed the b.u.t.ton blinking with green light.
Xuan’s voice came from the other side, “We found an Alien corpse outside room 22, did you kill it? Did you find the a.r.s.enal?”
Zheng sighs. “I’ll tell you the details face to face. Where are you guys? And how do you know we are here?”
“Every important room has a number. We are in room 27, the control room. This room has access to the security system. If you don’t enter a room, we won’t be able to reach you. And you are probably in the kitchen right? If you can, take as much water and food without slowing yourself down. Then follow the numbers on the doors to room 27.”
“What I am going to say next concerns your lives. Long story short, there are three Aliens following you, about the distance of ten rooms. According to their speed, they will reach you in two and a half minutes. I don’t know the reason but they have been following you all along.”
Scent, it’s the scent of Alien blood on Zheng’s body. Zheng and Lan immediately realized it.
Xuan continued, “I will give you two minutes. Run straight then on the intersections go straight, straight, straight, left, straight, left, straight, left! This is the path to reach the control room. Remember it! You have one minute to collect food, and must reach the control room in two minutes. At two minutes forty five seconds I will put down the walls outside the control room to isolate it. If you can’t reach the wall within the time frame… then I’m sorry I have to give up on you. We have five people here after all.
“The timer starts… NOW!”
Zheng took a deep breath, he focused his Qi on his ring and started to sweep the food in this room. Especially the cases of water. A 1.5 cubic meter s.p.a.ce can fit a lot of stuff, especially when these food and water are already packaged in boxes. After thirty seconds, he picked up Lan then sprinted out of the room.
Zheng shouts, “I’m going to run as fast as I can, I won’t have time to think. So tell me when to make the turn! Okay?”
Lan nodded, her eyes focused at the front. “Keep going, keep going, the first intersection go straight, the second one is the same, the third one same, this time make a left…”
Zheng ran like a lunatic. His speed almost reached his limit. That feeling of the air becoming dense was back again. Even then he can still feel the danger approaching from behind. And it was getting closer and closer. Compared to the smaller sized Alien he killed earlier, the fully matured Aliens are faster, even faster than Zheng!
“Left! Left this time.”
Zheng kicked at the wall and shot into the left hall. As he was making the turn, he could see the shadow behind him. He couldn’t even think anymore, all that was left in his head was to keep running straight as fast as he can! Death! Is following right behind him!
He could see it, a steel wall that was slowly coming down. Zheng could cross several meters with every step he took, but after a few steps, he felt a pain in his back. The nearest Alien is just one meter behind him. It shot its tongue at him and just barely reached his back. That’s why he felt the pain.
‘No! I don’t want to die! I have to live no matter what!’
Zheng shouted like a madman. He suddenly turned around and jumped up. The Alien was really much faster than him, the moment he jumped up, the Alien closed distance even more, and it retracted its tongue. The next time it shoots its tongue, that’s when Zheng’s head gets crushed.
As Zheng jumped up, he kicked at the Alien with both feet. He had spent most of his Qi during the run. He focused the remaining Qi on his feet. Then he used the speed the Alien was running at and the power of this kick to shoot himself at the half closed wall. He finally made it in at the last split second. While the Aliens ran into the door with a bang! That impact caused the whole room to tremble. Zheng laid on the ground like a dead fish. He really couldn’t even move a finger this time.
‘Live… no matter what I must live!’
- SEED mode comes from the anime Gundam SEED. It refers to when a character enters into a state of enhanced awareness and peak physical ability. While in this state, the person demonstrates heightened reflexes and extremely quick information processing. This ability is usually triggered by extreme situations or from recalling significant traumas, often arising out of a need to protect someone else in a critical situation.