After Li Shuaixi had walked a few meters ahead of the group, he threw the first grenade and ran another few meters forward. At this point, he was already more than ten meters away from the others, and they could only watch helplessly as he pulled the pin on the grenade. Even Zero, holding the Desert Eagle, couldn't react in time because he had been knocked to the ground by the shockwave of the previous explosion.
"You all go to hell! I…"
Li Shuaixi pulled the pin and laughed madly. Just as he was about to throw the grenade toward the group, the grenade exploded in his hand. From the moment he pulled the pin to the moment the grenade detonated, less than a second passed. He didn't even get a chance to throw it. The massive explosion and shockwave rushed toward the group.
"No!"
Zheng Zha's eyes were bloodshot as he stared in disbelief at the approaching explosion. Fortunately, Zhan Lan threw herself on top of him and forced him to the ground. He lay flat on the ground, staring numbly as the fireball passed inches above his face. For a moment, he could almost smell the scent of burning human flesh in the air.
No! How can life be so fragile? Why is life so fragile?
Zheng Zha jumped to his feet in a frenzy, charging into the white smoke. He broke through the outer layer of smoke and immediately saw Li Shuaixi's body, mangled and blackened from the blast. His hands and chest were completely disintegrated, and the ground was stained with the dark, black blood that had flowed from his chest. It turned out that human blood, when exposed to such destruction, wasn't just red—it could turn black as well.
"Why? Why did the grenade explode the moment he pulled the pin?" Zheng Zha walked out of the smoke, his voice trembling with disbelief. He approached Chu Xuan.
Chu Xuan, who had been closest to the explosion, was also severely injured. Blood was spilling from his mouth and nose, but he wiped it away and calmly replied,"That's right, the grenades I asked Bawang to modify were designed this way. One detonates a few seconds after the pin is pulled, and the other explodes immediately. When I handed them to him, the one that exploded right away was on the outside. So, he had no choice but to use the first one…"
Zheng Zha couldn't hold back his fury and threw a punch at Chu Xuan's face. Before Chu Xuan could finish his sentence, he was sent flying. However, Zero immediately pointed the Desert Eagle at Zheng Zha, while Bawang stepped between Chu Xuan and Zheng Zha.
Chu Xuan slowly got up from the ground, spat out a tooth, and then spoke in his usual calm manner."This is the true face of the bait plan. Did you really think that a little blood would attract the aliens? Impossible. They have a keen sense of smell, but during the queen's hatching period, they stay near the nest. You've seen on the monitor—they're heading toward the nest. So, it requires a lot of blood and the scent of alien blood on your skin to lure them in. If I'm not mistaken, they're probably heading our way right now. If you want to die, stay outside the isolation wall."
Zheng Zha's anger intensified, but under the threat of Zero's Desert Eagle, he could only yell in frustration,"So, he was right all along? You planned to abandon him from the beginning and have him killed, didn't you? Why are you two helping him? With people like him as your partners, we never know when we'll be abandoned! What kind of partner is that?"
Chu Xuan turned around and coldly said,"I never intended to abandon him. Originally, I planned for all of us to give some blood, and he only needed to… forget it, I don't need to explain. Just know this: everything I've done was to help this team survive this horror movie. I haven't made any mistakes."
Zheng Zha's voice became even colder as he said,"Abandoning a partner, having him blown up, then using his blood and flesh to attract aliens—that's not a mistake? Then what do you consider right? Is life really that worthless to you?"
Chu Xuan walked away without looking back,"I gave him his last chance. If he didn't use the second grenade to blow us up, the plan would have worked. As long as one alien was injured, others might have been attracted. He could have hidden in a safe isolation zone between the two corridors. But unfortunately, human wisdom… is often filled with resentment. It's too insignificant."
Zero remained silent the whole time, walking backwards while pointing the Desert Eagle at Zheng Zha. After retreating a good distance, he finally turned and left. Only Bawang remained, seriously addressing Zheng Zha,"In our mercenary code, we value unity. In battle, we trust our teammates with our backs. But for that to happen, the other person must be someone you trust, not someone who's a burden. I think Zero feels the same. We're not like you people, living in ordinary environments. We're more suited to survive in this horror movie world. To me, these horror movies are just like mercenary missions. Chu Xuan did the right thing, choosing the plan that gives the majority of us a chance to survive and complete the mission. Li Shuaixi was someone I couldn't trust with my back. In the end, he chose self-destruction…"
Zheng Zha stood there in a daze. As the isolation wall slowly descended, Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan pulled him inside. It was only then that he looked up at them and asked,"Does it really have to be this cruel? To survive, we have to abandon others? Or if there's a little bit of resentment, we drag everyone down with us? So, what are we to them? The next pawns to be used and discarded?"
Zhang Jie sneered,"I don't care what they want to do. Being with these three is too unsettling. I thought Chu Xuan was smart and would come up with a good plan to save us, but now I see that smart people are just too cunning. I can't stay with them anymore. Zheng Zha, I'll go get the Desert Eagle back. If I can't, so be it. Once they've isolated the aliens, the three of us will go off and do our own thing. I don't want to be sold out by them and not even know it."
Zhan Lan sighed,"But… do we really have to act alone? Why not just stick it out and get through this horror movie together? In the next one, we can stay far away from them."
Zheng Zha glanced at Zhan Lan and then said resolutely,"No, we act alone. I don't want to see them again. If you can't trust your teammates, how can your teammates trust you? I will never abandon anyone. If I can save my teammates, they'll save me in danger. So, I'll never stand with them again."