That shriek was one thing, but accompanying it was a thunderous crash against the door; a single impact warped the steel panel inward. Zheng Zha could clearly see half the Alien’s body wedged outside. Two of the three spiral spikes had struck home—one impaled the Alien’s left chest, the other just beneath its neck. Both hits were significant, yet neither penetrated a truly vital spot.

This was Zheng Zha’s second direct confrontation with an Alien. While the situation was slightly better than the last encounter, it remained far from optimistic. This creature was a fully mature specimen, nearly thirty percent larger than the one he had faced previously. It was pitch-black, dense and solid like black iron. In reality, the spiral spikes had only sunk in about a third of their length, leaving a substantial portion protruding from the Alien's exterior.

Zheng Zha stared at the Alien’s grotesque, terrifying form, his entire body trembling, especially when he saw its tail lash out and strike. A massive breach instantly appeared in the steel door. If that impact had landed on a person, it would have ripped them open; no matter how much Zheng Zha had strengthened himself, he didn't believe his flesh was harder than steel.

(It was this crushing pressure, a sensation that seemed to obliterate consciousness itself, leaving only deep-seated terror and an unending surge of instinct…)

Zheng Zha felt something within him unlock once more. Countless combat instincts erupted from his brain, instincts that even included the most efficient methods for channeling his internal energy (Neili).

He guided the Neili with his awareness, cycling it upward from his coccyx, spiraling along his spine, crossing over his scalp, and then flowing down the front of his body through his arms toward his right hand. This entire process took less than a blink. Zheng Zha ceded complete control of the Neili's circulation to his combat instincts, and it was strikingly clear that the energy had become exceptionally pliable under their direction.

However, as the Neili passed over his scalp, something seemed to be added from the depths of his mind. The two forces merged, concentrating in his right hand. Just as the Alien smashed the door open and charged in, he roared and hurled a spiral spike. Almost simultaneously, the Alien’s tail slammed heavily into his abdomen!

Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan cried out in alarm. They watched Zheng Zha get violently thrown backward, striking the bathroom wall with a muffled thud. The spiral spike he had thrown, however, possessed immense power. It not only pierced the Alien’s head with ease but, with a sharp hiss, embedded itself deeply into the corridor wall behind the creature. The Alien’s head was cleanly sheared off by a third. It staggered a few times before finally collapsing onto the ground with a thump. Against the wall behind the creature, a spiral-shaped indentation the size of a human fist remained.

Zhan Lan, disregarding everything else, quickly grabbed some clothing to bind her chest and rushed toward Zheng Zha. Her breasts, considerably larger than those of an average woman, were quite alluring, though she merely managed to wrap a scrap of fabric around her chest, leaving nearly half of her cleavage exposed. Fortunately, the two men present were in no condition to notice—one lay unconscious, and the other was already sprinting ahead of her. Otherwise, the sheer spectacle of her upper body would have left many men utterly dumbfounded.

“How is it? How is it, Zheng Zha! Are you alright?” Seeing Zhang Jie standing there frozen, Zhan Lan immediately started to cry in distress. Weeping, she maneuvered around him and knelt beside Zheng Zha.

To her surprise, as she knelt, she saw Zheng Zha lying there dazedly, rubbing his head with a strangely vacant expression. Enraged, without a second thought, she delivered several hard slaps across his stomach. She gasped out, “You scared us half to death! Attacking that Alien without saying a word—what if you had failed? You would have been… and you would have dragged us both down! You could have gotten us both killed!”

After a few sharp slaps to his gut, Zheng Zha clutched his stomach and groaned in pain. Zhan Lan then noticed her hands were covered in blood. Panic immediately seized her again, and she began crying while stammering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know your stomach was already injured,, I am truly so sorry…”

Zheng Zha shakily lowered his hands. Both looked closely: there was a bleeding hole on his abdomen, about as wide as three fingers. Fortunately, the wound only appeared to have broken the skin; the intestines and internal organs seemed untouched.

Zhang Jie quickly knelt where Zheng Zha had been standing moments before. He indeed found a distinct footprint pressed into the steel floor, the outline already molded into the metal. Standing up, Zhang Jie exclaimed in awe, “Incredible! You leaped backward the very instant the Alien’s tail struck you. That’s why it didn’t rip through your belly. If I had been standing there, my guts might have been utterly pulverized…”

Zhang Jie grew more animated as he spoke. He rushed over to Zheng Zha and clapped him hard on the shoulder. “Kid, how did you do that? You were like a god just now! If I hadn’t seen you take down that Alien with my own eyes, I would have sworn some martial arts master had done it. Heavens, tell me how you did it!”

Zheng Zha sucked in another sharp breath from the impact of the clapping. He offered a strained smile. “You two, please help me bandage this wound first. If this keeps up, I could bleed to death… Also, someone had better adjust their attire…”

Zhan Lan paused, finally realizing her state of dress. The young woman’s face flushed a deep crimson. She shot Zheng Zha a fierce glare and hastily retreated into the shower stall. Zheng Zha, meanwhile, retrieved bandages and styptic spray from his ring. With Zhang Jie’s assistance, he managed to secure a tight wrap around the hole in his stomach.

When Zhan Lan emerged from the stall, Zheng Zha urgently addressed them. “I can’t explain the details right now. Zhang Jie, carry me toward Chu Xuan and the others. No matter what happens to me, you absolutely cannot stop… Zhan Lan, my right hand is completely useless now. Help me carry the remaining spiral spike rods. You must keep up with us… Zhang Jie, let’s go!”

Zheng Zha was now certain of his theory: the secret to unlocking the Gene Lock lay in extreme crisis and fear. However, an ordinary physical body simply could not withstand the immense power released when the Lock opened. For instance, his own reinforced body had suffered a comminuted fracture in his right hand after unleashing its full power following the Lock's activation. What followed would be an agony akin to death—what would happen to a normal person?

It was a double-edged sword, wounding the enemy while simultaneously damaging the self. Furthermore, this unlocking could only be triggered by facing absolute mortal danger, that desperate fear of an inescapable predicament, allowing the Gene Lock to briefly disengage. In essence, opening the Gene Lock was humanity’s final, desperate struggle against death.

“…Heh heh, the only stroke of luck is that I found a way to potentially use the vampire energy just now, though I have no idea…”

Zheng Zha spoke with a bitter laugh while slumped on Zhang Jie’s back. Before he could finish his sentence, a sensation like death began spreading from his internal organs throughout his entire body. Then, he began convulsing violently on Zhang Jie’s back. The immense pain prevented him from even forming words; his muscles felt as if they were tearing themselves free from his flesh. Blood poured profusely from his stomach, soaking through the already coagulating wound, which burst open again. Blood dripped steadily from his thigh onto the ground… (Jump to)