"We have cigarettes, marijuana, and white powder; these things are incredibly cheap, exchangeable for just a few reward points. One thousand grams of white powder costs only five reward points. See how cheap that is? The 'Main God' has analyzed that for an ordinary human, around three hundred Cell Vitality and an Immunity rating above three hundred fifty would allow unrestricted use of white powder; the body can automatically eliminate the damage, ha ha."

"Besides these, days spent in the normal world can also be exchanged under the Entertainment category. You can even exchange for music CDs, movie discs, or even women!" Zhang Jie burst into laughter as he said this. Zheng Zha scratched his head: "I'm not interested in rubber products."

Zhang Jie clapped Zheng Zha on the shoulder: "What are you talking about? Real women! Genuine women created by the 'Main God'! They have intelligence, individual personalities, memories, and thoughts. When you purchase a woman, you can choose her appearance, figure, age, ethnicity, and even the minute details of her body, ha ha. Ever played that game called Artificial Girl? The details the 'Main God' creates are far more intricate than that. You could even create a beauty with hair longer than an ape's, ha ha..." Li Xiaoyi's eyes lit up once more, while Zhan Lan just snorted beside them.

Zhang Jie stopped his joking and spoke seriously: "None of us knows if we’ll survive the next horror movie, so I want a woman of my absolute favorite type by my side. And once you try it, you’ll know—she isn't a doll. Though she is a life form created by the 'Main God,' she is definitely a life more real than many actual women in the real world, and she truly loves you. You can share your terror and cowardice with her. Moreover, the 'Main God' said that as long as you have enough reward points to return to the real world, your attribute enhancements remain, the things you've exchanged for will still be yours, and this woman will accompany you back… If I can return, I will marry her. She is the woman I will truly love forever!" His words, filled with sincerity and affection, made Zheng Zha and the other two feel a sense of awe. In this era, women had long clamored that chastity was merely a membrane, and men recognized only lust and money. For someone capable of loving genuinely, Zheng Zha and the other two felt a measure of envy and admiration.

Zhan Lan touched her forehead: "Let’s drop this topic, gentlemen. There is a lady present! Yellow topics are forbidden! Zhang Jie, tell us about the situation inside the 'Main God' space. What happens after completing a horror movie?" Zhang Jie thought for a moment: "Actually, nothing particularly special. After completing a horror movie, you return to the 'Main God.' The 'Main God' is a large ball of light floating in the central area. You can communicate with it directly using your consciousness to exchange for items or make inquiries. Surrounding the central area are twenty independent rooms, though sadly, no one has ever managed to fill them all. You get your own room; you can choose and change its size as you wish. Only you and those you permit can enter the room. Besides that, after every horror movie, there is a ten-day rest period in the 'Main God' space. That’s basically it."

Zhan Lan smiled, about to ask something else, when Zhang Jie suddenly shot up. He rushed to the window of the steel door and peered out intensely. The other three were startled and followed him, but looking through the glass, they saw only bright lights in the corridor, nothing else.

Zhang Jie turned back and shouted: "Flame Empress, report what is happening outside the control room!" A little girl's voice instantly echoed in the room: "Two Lickers are attacking the outermost door. The door can maintain its seal for another forty seconds."

Zhang Jie immediately cursed and turned back: "Damn it! I knew things wouldn't be that simple! Those Lickers must have smelled us. That outermost door won't hold them for long. It’s a good thing we hid in here. Who knows how long these two doors can last."

Saying that, he raised his watch to look closely.

Zheng Zha and the others also looked at their watches. The countdown displayed showed seventeen minutes remaining. No one knew if these three doors plus the laser defense corridor could stop these Lickers. With the weapons they possessed, it was impossible to harm such powerful mutated creatures.

Zheng Zha definitely did not want to die here, especially when there was a chance to survive. He urgently shouted: "Flame Empress, quickly calculate how long we can hold out!" The little girl's voice did not sound again. After waiting a moment, Zheng Zha suddenly aimed his pistol at the host computer: "Flame Empress, I know your programming forbids the spread of the T-virus. In other words, you must kill any life form that could potentially cause the virus to spread, including us, right? Then make a judgment now: open the defense system to protect us, or let the Lickers outside rush in, but before they enter, I will smash your mainboard first. When the entire Hive loses your control, think about how many virus carriers will rush outside?" The child's voice paused for a moment before finally responding: "May I ask a question? Since you have already stayed here, why do you continue to struggle? Didn't you already intend to sacrifice yourselves?" Before Zheng Zha could speak, Zhan Lan shouted from behind him: "Computers are not allowed to question humans arbitrarily. You need to know your place as a computer, understand? Besides, since we are already here, whether we die or not won't spread the virus, right? So why don't you protect us? Little girl Flame Empress."

The child's voice paused again before stating: "Understood. Lickers cannot pass the final defense facility."

During this exchange, the steel door down the corridor began to shake violently with loud booming noises. The huge bodies of the Lickers could vaguely be seen through the glass window of the door opposite them. After several loud bangs, the group could even see sharp protrusions vaguely appearing on the steel door.

"What terrifying power, truly worthy of a monster costing one hundred reward points... If we had a rocket launcher with infinite ammo, we could blow the door wide open and earn reward points right here, ha ha."

Zhang Jie said, laughing heartily.

Zheng Zha casually asked: "A Desert Eagle with infinite bullets is one hundred reward points, and a rocket launcher with infinite ammo?" Zhang Jie replied: "Of course, but they are very expensive. The most basic man-portable rocket launcher costs two thousand reward points. With that many points, I’d rather enhance my own attributes, and besides, not every horror movie can be overcome safely with weapons."

As they spoke, the steel door opposite was already completely deformed. The Lickers’ enormous, sharp claws possessed terrifying destructive force; they actually tore through the ten-centimeter-thick steel plate. With a tremendous crash, two Lickers appeared before the group.

Giant bodies several meters high, the Lickers were a blood-red color, covered in muscle. They had no eyes, seemingly locating life forms through heat sensing and smell. Their tongues could extend over a meter long. Their two massive forelimbs had evolved extremely, becoming a pair of colossal claws indescribable by language, their hardness comparable to, or perhaps even surpassing, steel! Zheng Zha looked at the two Lickers, then down at the pistol in his hand. He couldn't believe that a mere handgun could kill such terrifying creatures; let alone killing them, simply damaging them would be a great stroke of luck.

The two Lickers glanced toward the corridor, then one lunged over, closely followed by the other. With a heavy bang, everyone felt the steel door in front of them shake violently. This was their final line of defense against the Lickers. The Licker had actually jumped onto the steel door.

"Flame Empress!" Zheng Zha and Zhang Jie roared simultaneously. Almost instantly, a flash of light ignited somewhere in the corridor, and a thin laser line rapidly formed, shooting toward the two Lickers. Just as the two Lickers prepared to leap at the steel door again, the laser line sliced through them. With two light pings, the laser line vanished, and the two Lickers completely stilled. Slowly, their enormous bodies split down the middle, finally breaking apart into two sections, top and bottom.

"Phew!" All four exhaled simultaneously. The oppressive aura of the Lickers was too intense; ordinary humans seemed minuscule before them. A single life would end instantly under a Licker's claw. Even Zhang Jie, the strongest among them, was only slightly stronger than an average person and stood no chance against a Licker. Had the door been breached, they would undoubtedly have died! Zhang Jie heavily sank onto the ground, pulled out several cigarettes, tossed one to Zheng Zha, and another to Li Xiaoyi, making the teenager feel unexpectedly honored. He lit the cigarette, took a deep breath, and said: "Now you know what real shock and terror are, right? I’ve experienced situations like that many times already. Three horror movies! I don’t even know how I struggled through them... Damn it! This place is not meant for human beings!" Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan exchanged bitter smiles. The moment the Lickers jumped, their reactions were even worse than Zhang Jie’s; aside from sweating profusely, their bodies shook so badly they could barely stand. Fortunately, the laser defense system saved their lives; otherwise, they would have lost the will to even flee.

"Let’s continue waiting. This laser defense system is excellent; we should be able to…" Zhang Jie hadn't finished speaking when the entire host room suddenly went dark. The four froze, then hastily jumped up and rushed to the glass window of the door to look out. Indeed, the external laser corridor had also gone pitch black; the host room had lost power.

"Damn it! The plot! How could I have forgotten this part of the plot! Do you guys still remember this scene!" Zhang Jie violently kicked the steel door, roaring frantically.

Zheng Zha desperately tried to recall this segment from Resident Evil 1. Resident Evil 1 was a horror movie from long ago. Although he had watched it, he had forgotten some details. After thinking for a long time, he and Zhan Lan simultaneously cried out: "Kaplan shut down the Flame Empress!" Zheng Zha remembered that in the film, the male and female protagonists were locked in a research room by an electronic lock. As one door was being attacked by a Licker, Kaplan used a remote device to shut down the central mainframe, the Flame Empress. Consequently, the area where the four were located lost its defenses; apart from the door, the most powerful asset, the laser defense system, instantly failed! Gradually, the four calmed down. They knew that even the slightest sound now could attract the Lickers, so aside from the sound of their breathing and heartbeats, none dared to utter another word. Even so, in this profoundly silent darkness, the sound of their breathing was still clearly audible.

After an unknown amount of time in the darkness, a rough, heavy breathing sound gradually arose, accompanied by the sound of steel grinding. Even without looking, Zheng Zha knew a Licker was outside.

He remembered that shortly after the power was cut—at most, a few minutes later—the heroine and the others returned to the surface from the vehicle compartment. At that time, the sealed door would close permanently, and the time on the watch should end around the same time the door seals.

Zheng Zha whispered to Zhan Lan beside him: "How much time is left? How much time is left on the watch?" Zhan Lan replied: "I don't know; it’s pitch black, and I can’t see anything… maybe a few more minutes."

A few minutes—how many minutes exactly? Zheng Zha dared not speak again because the heavy panting sound had reached the outside of the door. That panting sound traveled through the steel door, making the group increasingly tense. Then, they could even hear the sound of the steel door scraping, clearly the sound of a Licker rubbing its claws against the door.

(How much longer? How much time is left? Hurry up!) Zheng Zha stared intently at the steel door, his hands tightly gripping the pistol, which only had a few bullets left. Even though he knew this gun couldn't harm a Licker, it was his only psychological comfort.

Bang! A deafening sound echoed, and a sharp protrusion immediately appeared on the steel door. The four felt their hearts leap out of their chests. They scrambled backward, including Zhang Jie, who pressed himself tightly against the corner of the wall. Everyone could only watch helplessly as the steel door faced the onslaught.

The loud banging continued, and the sharp protrusions on the steel door multiplied. Finally, the tip of the claw pierced into the door. It tore through the ten-centimeter-thick steel plate as if cutting through cream. The terrifying face of the Licker appeared behind the steel door.

"Ah!" Zheng Zha and Zhang Jie roared simultaneously, frantically shooting their guns at the Licker. But in the darkness, coupled with their near-hysterical fear, none of the bullets they fired struck the creature. The Licker discarded the piece of the door it held, roared, and lunged toward the four of them... leaping toward...