The so-called urgent quest made Zhang Heng's expression, which had only relaxed mere moments ago, turn completely glum again.
He had expected the Dimensional Star to extract the chestbuster from his body automatically once he completed the mission. He didn't expect the chestbuster would become an urgent quest instead.
He shook his foggy head a bit. He didn't know how long the antifreeze could work in delaying the chestbuster, but he dared not delay any longer. While his body was telling him that he needed to sleep immediately, he couldn't afford to doze off like that, or else he would find the chestbuster bursting out of his chest when he woke up.
He struggled and barely managed to stand at that thought. When he turned to look beside him, he saw an alloy coffin that was about two meters long and half a meter wide, and the cover of the coffin-like structure was made of opaque reinforced glass. Its simplistic, pure white build also gave a futuristic air to it.
Despite being a piece of future technology, the equipment's interface and operation of the technology became increasingly simple and intuitive as they got more advanced. That was why he didn't fear not being able to use the equipment.
He pushed a green button on the right side of the sleep pod and the cover opened immediately without making a sound and revealed an opening just large about enough for a person to climb in. He willed himself to stay awake and mobile enough to take off all of his clothing before climbing in the sleep pod naked. There was a layer of white, real leather cushioning inside which made lying inside a lot more comfortable than lying on a massage chair. The reinforced glass cover closed without making a sound again and turned completely dark.
"Beep."
A deep blue 3D panel lit up in the dark and was some kind of augmented reality function.
Augmented reality was something that could be accomplished using AR glasses or some other kind of equipment in his reality, but in the Alien plane, such technology had long matured and became a common household product.
The panel's interface had English writing all over it, and while Zhang Heng had no problem with speaking English, he nonetheless wanted to be sure, "translate everything to Huaxian."
The words on the panel shifted immediately, becoming filled with Huaxian script.
There were five options seen appearing on the panel.
1) Cryogenic sleep function
2) VR gaming function
3) Surgical operation function
4) Auxiliary equipment manipulation function
5) Health maintenance and fitness function
The first of the five functions listed was the most used function on spaceships, enabling one to achieve effects similar to hibernation through cryogenic sleep. Theoretically-speaking, a person could undergo cryogenic sleep for over a hundred years without signs of aging appearing on the body.
The second function was some kind of function that facilitated gaming, learning, social interaction, and so on. Humans have created and developed a kind of unified virtual space in the Alien plane that resembled Corona's virtual space simulation function, allowing for 'fully immersed' gaming, learning, conversation, and many other activities to be carried out in that virtual space.
The third function was what Zhang Heng required at the moment—the surgical operation function. The fourth was meant as an auxiliary function to control other equipment, like a spaceship. It was done through the link that connected the sleep pod with any other external equipment or facilities, like spaceships, cars, and whatever else. One could lie inside the sleep pod to control all those pieces of equipment and facilities outside and increase productivity.
Zhang Heng extended his hand and pointed at the surgical operation function in the air and a prompt was immediately displayed.
"System prompt: Unable to detect an external power source. The sleep pod can only provide backup power lasting 13 hours. Do you want to proceed with the surgical operation function regardless?"
Zhang Heng pressed the confirmation button and several other prompts were displayed afterward.
"System prompt: Surgical operation module activated. Please confirm if you would be operating without aid from the medical staff."
"Yes."
"System prompt: Disinfection function of the sleep pod is activated. The remaining disinfectant loaded is currently at 70 percent. Do you wish to proceed with full-body disinfection?"
"Yes."
He felt jets of liquid spray all over him inside the sleep pod immediately after selecting the option, with his nose detecting the smell of alcohol, and he felt a sharp pain when the liquid touched the wounds on his body.
Several types of disinfectants were sprayed all over Zhang Heng after the round with alcohol was finished. Then he realized why the sleep pod needed real leather cushioning inside.
The system confirmed the disinfection process was completed at the very end of the procedure before it activated the drying system.
"System prompt: Please fill in the illness, or allow the system to determine the type of operation and procedures to be performed."
Zhang Heng opted for the system to decide for itself and beams of X-rays, CT scans, and the likes scanned his entire body from head to toe at once. Several new prompts appeared on the panel simultaneously when the scans were complete.
"System prompt: You have suffered bone fractures on your left rib and your left arm, you have multiple burns all over your body, and a tumor-like entity was detected in your chest cavity. The system advises you to get a diagnosis from a certified hospital."
Zhang Heng denied the suggestion and a prompt was heard from the system immediately.
"System prompt: If you were to insist on operating, please sign the Federal Habeas Corpus Regulations to confirm that you shall shoulder all responsibilities regarding the outcome of the procedure and waive all responsibilities from the Weyland-Yutani Company."
"Yes."
"System prompt: Sleep pod anesthesia function activated. Pharmaceuticals loaded. Do you want to activate anesthesia?"
"No."
Zhang Heng didn't opt for anesthesia. He knew all too well that he was not about to extract some kind of tumor, but a living extraterrestrial lifeform. If something dangerous were to happen, it wouldn't have been something the sleep pod's current AI system would be able to handle.
"System prompt: Do you confirm not using the anesthesia function?"
"Yes."
Zhang Heng continued to set up the sleep pod according to the instructions and he was able to finally finish less than 20 minutes later. Two mechanical arms about the thickness of a finger emerged from the walls of the sleep pod and scanned his chest once over quickly before pausing for a few seconds. It seemed like it was going to decide where the incision should be.
Another mechanical arm about the thickness of a finger extended out from the side wall several seconds later and aimed at the crevice between his ribs. A beam of blue light shot out of the tip of the mechanical arm and shone onto his chest.
"Hissss…" The pain was so intense that Zhang Heng hissed immediately. That beam of deep blue light disappeared as soon as it drew a line, but he was already able to see that a wound about 10 centimeters long was made on his chest before he knew it.
He had no idea just what kind of laser that blue beam of light was, but he noted that the beam sealed his blood vessels while cutting open his body. There was not even a single drop of blood that could leak out of the wound.
The other two mechanical arms that emerged from the walls first split up in the middle at the very next second, which made them look like pliers. Those two arms then went into his wound and immediately pried it open.
He gritted his teeth after feeling the pain instantly. If it hadn't been for Corona's training, which enabled him to withstand a level of pain that no regular person would be able to withstand, that one move from the arms would have most probably knocked him out instantly.
In the next moment, his entire body was pinned down, which meant that he was only able to watch as the mechanical arm that emitted a blue laser beam emerged again and drew another line on his rib without him being able to do anything about it. A piece of his rib bone was extracted, revealing the pulsing, wriggling, blood-red internal organs underneath.
Beads of cold sweat dripped from Zhang Heng's brow when he saw that. Yet another two mechanical arms extended out and cut open his abdominal diaphragm in a fantastical fashion.
Then again, the precision of the incisions was down to micrometers, which was something that far exceeded the capabilities of an experienced human surgeon. Zhang Heng felt the mechanical arms move fluidly with every incision made to be unbelievably precise and exact.
He spent about 20 minutes being subjected to the torture of having to watch himself being cut open and operated on. He suddenly felt an empty feeling that came out of his chest. Two of the mechanical arms yanked and pulled out a bloody, pulsing blob of flesh from his chest cavity, which was about the size of a grown man's fist.
That blob of flesh was placed on a metal platter before his cut-up rib bones were put back together where they belonged again. Yet another mechanical arm sprayed something called 'wound-sealing gel' on the cut portions of his rib bones, which managed to instantly stabilize his ribs just like that.
Another round of patch-up work was carried out afterward, which lasted for five minutes before his wounds were finally closed up. His wounds were not sewn back together, as they were closed with the wound-sealing glue-like gel, just like how it was with his ribs before his entire body was sprayed with disinfectants all over again.
Zhang Heng discovered to his surprise that not a single drop of blood dripped out throughout the entire operation and was incredibly impressed by how advanced the high-tech surgical equipment truly was.
The system prompt from the Dimensional Star was heard again when the procedure was done.
"Urgent Quest: Extract chestbuster using the med pod before the chestbuster bursts out of the host. Destroy or contain the extracted chestbuster. Urgent quest completed. Host access progress is now at all three parts of Level E. Host access promoted. Current Access: D. Access Upgrade: Dimensional Star Transportation Cooling reduced to 24 hours. Access Upgrade: The research system was upgraded according to the rules of the Dimensional Star, to assist the host in researching new technology. Access Upgrade: Access system upgraded. Current access: D. The host could perform space-time transformation with an object with a volume of 50 cubic meters. Weight unlimited. The host could carry 10 living beings to perform space-time transformation. Weight unlimited."
Zhang Heng felt more and more stunned as the prompts from the Dimensional Star were heard one after another. However, that was not the time for him to be concerned about all of that. He fought back the pain throughout his entire body and the joy deep down to order the mechanical arms to mend his broken arm and ribs.
It was not until the last round of disinfection was done that he climbed out of the sleep pod in a wobbling manner. He went to the waste compartment of the sleep pod and picked up the piece of flesh without putting on his clothes first.
The blob of flesh was about the size of a grown man's fist, with a layer of translucent membrane covering the sticky, wriggling thing inside. The key thing about this was that the sticky thing in the membrane continued to wiggle even as he picked it up. He held the blob up to the light and was able to make out a completely pale, snake-like creature coiled up inside that was about as thick as a finger.
"Alright, so this is the so-called chestbuster!"
His heart suddenly started to beat hard against his chest. While that chestbuster looked incredibly weak and harmless at that moment, so much so it seemed that he could have simply crushed it with a single hand, but when it was able to fully grow, it would become something capable of making short work out of fully armed members of special forces. That was what made the xenomorphs so terrifying.
Additionally, he believed that the chestbuster would definitely survive even if it was taken out of the host. Xenomorphs were known for their extreme resilience and adaptability, which was to such insane extents that they could even survive for a short period of time in a vacuum as well as high temperatures of hundreds of degrees Celsius.
Zhang Heng felt rather reluctant to dispose of the chestbuster when he thought of all that. He took a deep breath as his heart continued to beat in excitement.
"While they are dangerous, the research value of the xenomorphs is just too damn high. If I could make something out of it…" A glint of ambition was seen in his eyes, and he fished the tube of antifreeze out from his clothes immediately.
There were still small amounts of fluid left in the tube and he quickly popped the lid open, revealed the needle, and jabbed into the chestbuster immediately without a second thought.
He quickly chucked the chestbuster in the fridge before wrapping a very thick chain around the fridge over and over to completely freeze and contain the chestbuster trapped inside.