Both Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan wanted to speak, but Zheng Zha waved his hand, interrupting them, and first asked, “When did you watch the horror film Alien?” Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses and replied, “About seven years ago. Since I watched it so recently, my memory is still quite fresh.”

Zheng Zha and the others nearby secretly clicked their tongues. To still have such fresh memories of something from seven years ago meant that they were all people without memory? Chu Xuan suddenly turned to the group of newcomers and said, “You all must have seen the option on the webpage: ‘Do you wish to understand the meaning of life? Do you wish to truly… live?’” The crowd around responded affirmatively, though their accents were varied, and everyone present had chosen the ‘YES’ option.

“I was writing a program on my computer at the time, but such an option appeared right under the programming interface. More crucially, my computer was completely disconnected from the network then, and I didn’t know of any virus that could penetrate my self-written, self-used firewall, so I immediately started deciphering the source and code of this option. But guess what I discovered?” Chu Xuan calmly continued, adjusting his glasses: “This text was not composed of the computer’s zero and one. Its source code was not an electronic program but was constructed from a peculiar set of textual symbols. If my memory serves me correctly, these symbols were constituted by three types of script: Oracle Bone Script, Papyrus Script, and Cuneiform—the three most ancient scripts in the world. Furthermore, there were large sections of inexplicable, strange symbols, but these couldn’t be translated without a comparative reference.”

“I was extremely curious. You must understand, when a computer surpasses the limits of zero and one, that is essentially when artificial intelligence emerges. To say nothing of the fact that this text simultaneously utilized so many different scripts. Therefore, I chose the ‘YES’ option, which had a much larger character count, and discarded the ‘NO’ option which only had a few characters. The result was quite astonishing: I actually appeared here. Although I don’t know where this place is, it should be very, very far from Beijing, right?” Zheng Zha looked at the dumbfounded crowd. Honestly, he was quite shocked himself. It seemed the newcomers this time were truly exceptional. And who exactly was this newcomer? Zheng Zha hesitated before asking, “Who exactly are you? Why do you think this place is so far from Beijing?” Chu Xuan smiled faintly and said, “If I couldn’t deduce these questions with an IQ of 220, then I would truly have lived in vain. Let me introduce myself again: Chu Xuan… Colonel. Before coming here, I was likely at the Longyin Military Base in Beijing, which is the second largest secret military base in China, second only to the Longxing Military Base. I genuinely cannot believe anyone could abduct me from there. Moreover, my detector indicates I haven't left the Longyin Base at all. I pondered this for a long time and could only come up with one possibility for this situation: I have clearly left the Longyin Base, yet my detector shows I haven't moved half a step.”

Chu Xuan showed his watch. According to him, this watch had been redesigned. For a national treasure-level researcher like himself, to guard against abduction by spies, his watch could communicate with the main computer at Longyin Base. Not only could it continuously transmit a signal to the main computer to confirm his location, but the watch also displayed how far he had moved from the Longyin Base.

“That means I instantly left the space I was in. Therefore, in this space, the watch naturally cannot receive the electronic signal from the Longyin Base main computer. It will still believe I am inside Longyin Base. This is the only logical conclusion I could reach. Now it seems this incredible hypothesis is actually true?” Zheng Zha exchanged glances with Zhang Jie. He suddenly said, “Zhan Lan, why don’t you explain to them what this place is and why we all appeared here.”

Zhan Lan’s eyes lit up, and she giggled, “Then I thank you all… Hehe, when we get back, I’ll personally cook a few dishes for you. You know, a girl’s stamina is naturally weaker than you men. Those one hundred reward points, when we return, should all be added to cell vitality and muscle tissue strength.”

Then Zhan Lan explained the situation here to everyone, detailing that everyone would perpetually cycle through countless horror films. Surviving each film would earn one thousand reward points, which could be exchanged for weapons or physical enhancements. Currently, they were all inside the Alien horror film, and the watch that had just appeared on their wrists displayed their mission: kill the Xenomorphs. Of course, the girl concealed the information about the horror film side-plots; that was intelligence property shared among the four of them and could not be told to every newcomer they met.

Most of the newcomers either looked incredulous or utterly panicked. Among the newcomers, besides Chu Xuan calmly surveying the surroundings, two others were watching the four of them with composure. Zheng Zha was surprised to discover that there was a tall, powerfully built Caucasian man among the group.

Zheng Zha approached the two and extended his hand: “May I ask your names? Does this gentleman understand Mandarin Chinese?” One of them was slightly leaner, but it was clear his entire body was tightly toned with muscle. He did not shake Zheng Zha’s hand but stepped back instead: “You can call me Zero Point. I don’t wish to answer any other questions.”

The Caucasian man, however, heartily shook Zheng Zha’s hand: “Kamparovsky, you can call me Kampa. And yes, I understand Mandarin Chinese, although speaking it is still a bit awkward… You have quite a strong grip.”

Zheng Zha looked at the remaining people. Excluding the three ruffians who remained kneeling softly on the ground, the other five consisted of two portly middle-aged men. Observing their oily, shiny hair and the way they cautiously stood together clutching briefcases, these two were clearly business associates who knew each other in the real world. The remaining three were two young men and one woman. These two men looked to be in their early twenties; one was quite sharp, scanning the surroundings, while the other was cheerfully flirting with the female white-collar worker. Judging by their attire, they all seemed to be office workers. After their initial panic, they seemed to have calmed down.

Zheng Zha shook his head and announced loudly, “Now, I ask everyone to state your previous occupation, age, and what you are best at. Only then can we properly assign our respective roles.”

These people seemed hesitant. Chu Xuan spoke first: “While you say these things, it doesn’t confirm that what you say is the truth. Is there anything to prove you aren’t lying? For instance, the items you’ve exchanged for, or your supremely enhanced physical condition?” Zhang Jie sneered, “Do you think surviving horror films is that easy? ‘Nine deaths out of ten chances’ is insufficient to describe its terror. Perhaps someone who has survived about twenty rounds could satisfy your demand; such physical conditioning would certainly allow one to punch through steel plating.”

Chu Xuan shook his head: “No, you’ve misunderstood. I meant no sarcasm. It’s just that for our cooperation to proceed smoothly, I think it’s best to dispel the caution among all of us.”

Having said that, he glanced at Zero Point and Kamparovsky.

Then he added, “Just let me see the hemostatic spray and bandages you used previously.”

Zhang Jie nodded to Li Xiaoyi, who immediately tossed the bandage and hemostatic spray he was holding into Chu Xuan’s hands. Unexpectedly, the bespectacled man then asked, “Who has a dagger? Preferably a sharp one.”

Zheng Zha and the other three exchanged glances; they truly lacked any melee weapons. Just then, the Caucasian, Kamparovsky, suddenly pulled out a dagger wrapped in black sharkskin from his pocket. He generously tossed the dagger to Chu Xuan. Only then did Zheng Zha and the others realize that both the Caucasian and Zero Point were watching Chu Xuan with complete concentration.

Chu Xuan decisively slashed his own wrist first, as if the limb didn't belong to him. The blood vessel instantly severed, and blood gushed out like water. Zhan Lan and the female white-collar worker both shrieked, while the other ordinary newcomers secretly gasped. Then, Chu Xuan sprayed his wrist twice with the spray. Miraculously, the blood quickly scabbed over and sealed. A few seconds later, the bleeding on Chu Xuan’s wrist had stopped completely. He quickly wrapped his hand a few times with the bandage, then tossed the sharkskin dagger, the medicine, and the bandage back to Kamparovsky.

Zheng Zha and the others immediately looked at each other, realizing that Kamparovsky and Zero Point proceeded to do the exact same thing. After everything was done, Kamparovsky declared heartily, “I am a member of an international mercenary group, the top-tier firepower specialist. You can call me Overlord. Honestly, I’d prefer you were all lying; this is truly a terrible place.”

Zero Point threw the medicine and bandage back to Li Xiaoyi, continuously examining the bandaged wrist. After a moment, he coldly stated, “I have no name; you can just call me Zero Point. I am a professional assassin, specializing in long-range precision sniping. Unfortunately, this horror film doesn't seem to require my skills, nor are there any sniper rifles here.”

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