Because the people around her had once left her, is that why she's so afraid of losing again?
Zheng Zha seemed to sense her thoughts. He felt that they were the same kind of person, someone who, after losing something extremely important, swore never to lose it again. That's why they were so obsessed with preserving this life, and why he felt a deep connection with people like her, offering help in return.
"I'm feeling much better..."
At this moment, another girl's face flashed through Zheng Zha's mind. He gently pushed aside Zhan Lan and said, though his body was still weak, his push was firm.
Zhan Lan, who had been crying miserably just moments ago, was stunned when he pushed her away. She stood frozen for a while before she awkwardly smiled and said,"Are you okay now? You really scared me earlier. You suddenly started convulsing like you had seizures and kept spitting blood. It was so terrifying..."
Zheng Zha only felt weak all over, but compared to the intense pain that almost brought him to death earlier, he now felt as though he were in paradise. He smiled bitterly and said,"I really owe you my life. If you hadn't been helping me breathe like that, I'd have suffocated. If I had passed out from suffocation... I think I'd have turned into a corpse by now."
Zhan Lan's expression returned to normal, and she giggled."Actually, I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn't saved me, I really don't know what would have happened to me... What exactly happened just now? Was it some kind of illness?"
Zheng Zha shook his head. He really didn't know how to explain what had happened. In that life-or-death moment, it felt like something inside him had unlocked. The smoothness of the battle, the precision in every move, each bit of strength pushed to the limit, with no mercy or fear—his combat instincts. If he had to describe it, it resembled an animated film he had once watched called "Seed," where, at the critical moment, he"exploded the seed."
Of course, it was more likely to be the gene lock that Chu Xuan had mentioned, a human evolution that could survive extreme circumstances. This also explained why he suffered so much afterward; it was likely the side effects of unlocking that gene.
The pain came quickly and left just as fast. Zheng Zha felt his strength gradually returning, but the sensation of the gene lock being unlocked was fading. It seemed like the toxic substance in his body was being broken down, and his strong cellular vitality and immune system had saved him, preventing the one-time unlocking of his gene. Zheng Zha could almost imagine what would have happened if he had kept that combat instinct. The alien monsters wouldn't have been unbeatable.
Seeing that Zheng Zha didn't answer her question, Zhan Lan didn't press further. Instead, she suddenly grinned and said,"You killed an alien, didn't you? Let's see what reward you got!"
Zheng Zha, now feeling much stronger, quickly checked his wristwatch. Sure enough, it showed that he had killed one alien and earned 500 reward points. Perhaps there had been a reward sound when he was in the heat of the battle, but he hadn't heard it since his mind had been consumed by the fight.
Suppressing his joy, he said,"I got 500 reward points. This is amazing! It's almost half of what you'd get after surviving a horror movie."
Zhan Lan also smiled widely, as if his reward points were her own. She beamed and said,"500 points for just one alien? You might be able to kill more and get thousands of points! Hehe, since you say you saved my life, will you buy me some small gifts when we get back?"
Zheng Zha looked at Zhan Lan's rosy lips, and for some reason, his heart skipped a beat. He said,"I'll get you the perfect lipstick. Your lip color looks beautiful."
Zhan Lan's face instantly turned crimson. She shot him a playful glare, and Zheng Zha realized the ambiguity in his words. He cleared his throat and said,"Let's hurry and leave. The smell of alien blood is so strong, I'm not sure if another alien will show up. My strength is recovering, so let's head in the direction you suggested."
Zhan Lan nodded repeatedly, but the flush on her face didn't fade. She lowered her head and murmured,"Are you sure you're okay? You were bleeding a lot from your leg and body earlier."
Zheng Zha had noticed his wounds. Strangely, after the blood flowed out, the muscles and skin around the wounds quickly closed up. The healing speed was miraculous, suggesting that his vampire gene was in effect, and its effectiveness was quite apparent.
He moved his limbs and said,"It's fine. My strength has mostly recovered, and I feel like danger is still approaching. We should move quickly."
Zhan Lan, now realizing that Zheng Zha's instincts were right, quickly followed his lead, and after passing through several more passages, they reached another large door. As Zhan Lan was about to enter alone, Zheng Zha suddenly grabbed her and said,"I'll go first. Your reflexes are too slow. Let me take point."
Zhan Lan nodded silently. Zheng Zha instantly dashed into the room. It was eerily quiet inside, and to their surprise, it was a kitchen filled with food packaging boxes. They exchanged a look, both seeing joy in each other's eyes.
Suddenly, the intercom on the wall rang, making both of them jump. Zheng Zha reacted quickly, rushing to the intercom and pressing the flashing green button.
Chu Xuan's voice came from the intercom:"We found an alien corpse outside room 22. Was that you who killed it? Have you found the armory?"
Zheng Zha sighed and replied,"We'll talk about it when we meet. Where are you? Also, how do you know we're here?"
Chu Xuan's voice responded:"Every important room has a number. We're in the ship's control room, number 27. There are monitoring systems for all the passages here. If you don't enter this room, we can't contact you. By the way, you should be in the kitchen, right? The control room shows its name. If possible, try to grab enough food and water and head towards room 27."
His tone became more serious."Now, this next bit is about your survival. I'll keep it short. Three aliens are following you, and they're about ten rooms behind. At their speed, they'll catch up with you in about two and a half minutes. For some reason, they've been trailing you closely!"
The smell—it was the alien blood on Zheng Zha's body! Both of them immediately understood why the aliens were following them.
Chu Xuan's voice continued:"I'll give you two minutes to keep running. The directions are as follows: forward, forward, forward, left, forward, left, forward, left! I'll repeat, memorize this: forward, forward, forward, left, forward, left, forward, left! You have one minute to gather food, and you must reach the control room within two minutes. At 2 minutes 45 seconds, I'll lower the isolation wall outside the control room. If you're not inside by then... I'm sorry, but I'll have to abandon you. We have five people here."
"Start the timer!"
Zheng Zha took a deep breath, input his inner energy into the space ring, and began frantically searching the kitchen for food, especially boxes of water. The one and a half cubic meters of space allowed for a lot of items, especially the neatly packed boxes. After about 30 seconds, he grabbed them and ran out of the room with Zhan Lan in tow.
Zheng Zha shouted,"I'll run as fast as I can! I can't worry about anything else now. You tell me when to turn left and when to keep running! Got it?"
Zhan Lan nodded obediently, her eyes fixed on the front, constantly chanting,"Keep running, keep running... the first passage is forward, keep going, the second is also forward... the third is forward... now it's left..."
Zheng Zha ran as if possessed, reaching his maximum speed. The air around him felt thick, but he still sensed the terrifying danger chasing him, closing in faster and faster. The mature aliens, much faster than the previous smaller ones, were gaining on him quickly.
"Left! Turn left!"
Zheng Zha pushed off the wall with both feet and shot into the left passage. As he turned, he saw a huge black shadow right behind him, the alien's speed clearly surpassing his own. It was only getting closer. He couldn't think, only run with all his might—death was mere steps behind!
He could see the massive steel door slowly closing ahead! With every step, he covered meters in the air, but just as he made a few steps, he felt a slight pain in his back. The closest alien was barely a meter away, and its tongue shot out, landing just on his back!
No! I won't die! I will survive no matter what!!
Zheng Zha screamed inwardly. He leaped into the air and kicked off the alien's body. With all his remaining inner strength, he shot like a cannonball toward the closing steel door. At the last moment, he managed to squeeze through the barely open gap, and the three aliens collided with the door with a deafening crash. The entire ship seemed to tremble.
Zheng Zha crashed to the ground, unable to
move. He had no strength left.
I must survive... no matter what!!