Zhang Jie didn't retreat, even though his shoulder was pierced by the alien's tongue. He remained firmly in front of Zheng Zha, using all his strength to push the spiral spear further into the alien's head, despite the blood and alien fluids flowing down his arms. The corrosion continued to spread, leaving only bones where his flesh once was.
"Ahhh!!"
Zhang Jie pressed forward, desperately pushing the spear into the alien's skull. His arms were almost entirely eaten away, leaving just bones where his flesh had been. By the time the damage reached his forearms, there was no flesh left. Luckily, Zheng Zha reacted quickly, pulling Zhang Jie away. The spiral spear was nearly completely corroded, leaving just a small segment still intact.
Zheng Zha yelled for Zhan Lan, quickly pouring fresh water from his storage ring onto Zhang Jie's arm, while Zhan Lan sprayed a hemostatic agent onto his wound.
As they treated Zhang Jie's injuries, the motionless alien finally fell to the ground. Its yellow corrosive fluids leaked from its body, filling the air with a nauseating white smoke.
Zheng Zha dragged Zhang Jie down the hallway, and once they stepped out of the corrosive fog, he noticed the corrosion had stopped. Zhang Jie's arms were now completely destroyed, reduced to nothing but broken stumps.
Zhang Jie had passed out from the pain but woke up when the cold water hit his severed limbs. He grinned weakly,"Damn, one alien gives you 500 reward points? You've been keeping it a secret, huh? A little Desert Eagle doesn't compare now, with this, I can buy an AK with unlimited bullets!"
Zheng Zha silently looked at his severed arms. Zhang Jie chuckled,"Don't worry, don't worry, as long as we make it back to 'Master'—they'll fix us up no problem. It won't take much reward points. Though, I'll be your burden now… Heh, imagine if I were following Chu Xuan, I'd probably be abandoned by now."
Zheng Zha sighed,"Don't worry, I'll never abandon my friends. Wait here for a moment. Unless I call for you, go back to the control room. Just follow Zhan Lan's plan. Whether we survive is up to fate." With that, he grabbed a spiral spear bomb and walked toward the armory.
The hallway had been corroded by alien blood, leaving large holes in the ground, so Zheng Zha carefully made his way toward the armory. Halfway there, someone stepped out from the white smoke—Zero Point, holding a long rifle. His left chest was crudely bandaged, blood seeping through the cloth, looking rather worn.
Zheng Zha and Zero Point exchanged wry smiles, both clearly injured. Zero Point silently looked at the dead alien,"Another one killed? You're amazing, even without a gun, you took down an alien?"
Zheng Zha smiled bitterly,"You guys are great too, killed an alien, right?"
Zero Point sighed,"Let's go to the armory. They're both inside."
Zheng Zha called for Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan, and after a while, the two of them appeared from behind the walls. Zero Point was shocked when he saw them, especially Zhang Jie, who had his arms severed. After a long pause, he gasped,"Let's go inside. You still have hemostatic spray and strong bandages, right? Ba Wang... might not make it."
The three followed Zero Point into the armory, and Zheng Zha noticed that the armory door was much thicker than usual, almost as thick as the isolation wall. A large hole, over a meter high, had been corroded into the door by alien fluid. The other alien lay in pieces just inside the armory, where it had been shot to death after trying to force its way through the door.
"Just got lucky. This alien tried to crawl inside before the door was fully corroded, but got stuck. We shot it with bullets for several minutes before it died. The second alien, though, if you'd been half a minute later, all three of us would've been dead."
Zero Point explained as they walked through the armory.
On the armory platform, Zheng Zha saw Ba Wang and Chu Xuan. Ba Wang had a large hole in his chest, likely caused by an alien tail. Thankfully, it hadn't penetrated completely, or he would've been killed instantly.
Among the three of them, only Chu Xuan seemed unharmed, except for some blood stains. His clothes were the same as when they first arrived, though his slightly weary eyes betrayed the shock he'd suffered from the aliens—what he truly felt, no one but him knew.
"I didn't expect the aliens to be this strong," Chu Xuan said before Zheng Zha could speak."My calculations were off. In the first four alien movies, the aliens never directly fought human firearms, so I underestimated their strength. If the normal aliens are this strong, I can't even imagine how powerful the queen will be. We might have already..."
Zheng Zha ignored him, focusing on treating Ba Wang's wound. After a moment, the bleeding stopped, but this strong Russian man now seemed so weak that a single movement could take his life.
"Then let's form an alliance," Chu Xuan said."You're a team, we're a team. No one will betray anyone, and no one can. Of course, you can refuse, but I won't be controlled by you. Your intelligence and strategic skills are important, and I need those. But likewise, you need our strength and knowledge of this world. We're valuable to each other. You decide."
Chu Xuan bit his finger, looking at Zheng Zha."Fine, I accept your proposal. But you should know one thing... if you can't keep up with me, for the safety of most, I will abandon you."
"But I will save you!" Zheng Zha replied coldly,"For your intelligence, I will save you!"