Chu Xuan carefully touched the secretion on the corner of the wall, then stood up and said, "The acidity has been oxidized quite a bit; it's probably only a weak acid now. This makes things much easier. Even if we get covered in this secretion during the fight later, it won't be fatal."

Zheng Zha stomped on the secretion, frowning as he spoke, "But it's incredibly slippery to walk on. If the ground is covered in this stuff when we fight the Queen, I’m afraid we won't be able to keep our footing when we run."

Chu Xuan pondered for a moment. "No, if the entire battlefield is coated in this substance, it might actually work in our favor. That way, we won't have to worry about the Queen's blood corroding through the hull of the merchant ship. This could be considered an advantage. Compared to having some mobility issues, I would much rather the ground be covered in a thick layer of this substance."

Zheng Zha managed a wry smile. He looked at Chu Xuan and said, "Be honest, what are our chances of surviving this horror movie?" Chu Xuan glanced at him and replied flatly, "I told you, a thirty percent chance. And that's assuming your first throw hits perfectly. If the initial toss misses, two or three people will die within thirty seconds. You'll still have a chance to throw again in that time. If that one also misses, all of us will die. Similarly, this is our last chance; if we fail to seize it, we will all die three days later. In short, this is the decision with the lowest probability of success I have ever made. Thinking about it is truly depressing."

Zheng Zha fell silent for a moment, then surprisingly patted Chu Xuan on the shoulder. "Though I don't know how to comfort you—and with your intellect, you probably don't need anyone's comfort—still... let's survive. We can all make it. No matter what, I absolutely refuse to die here!"

"While you say that, our survival chance really is only thirty percent..." Chu Xuan retorted coolly without looking at Zheng Zha. Just then, a voice called out from the corridor ahead: "Movement!" The two exchanged a look. Zheng Zha told Zhang Jie and the other behind him, "Stay right behind me, do not fall behind or do anything else. Let's go!" With that, he took the lead and sprinted toward Ling Dian.

Ling Dian was currently standing at a corridor intersection in front of the group, waiting quietly for the four to catch up. He then pointed ahead down the passage. "We can't go through. That entire area is covered in this secretion."

Zheng Zha looked up and indeed saw a thick layer of secretion covering the corridor behind Ling Dian, resembling the internal lining of some creature's organs. At first glance, it seemed almost alive.

He carefully used his Helix Stab to probe the secretion. By feel, the layer wasn't tough; on the contrary, he could pierce it with ease, and the substance was only a few centimeters thick at most.

Seizing the opportunity, Zheng Zha easily peeled back this layer, but the space beyond startled him. The area behind it was also covered in a thick layer of the secretion—the floor, the walls, the ceiling—the entire passage of the merchant ship was awash in it. If the previous area could still be called a ship corridor, then from this point onward, it was truly the Alien nest. The sensation of walking on flesh, the feeling that living tissue surrounded him on all sides, was enough to turn his blood to ice just contemplating it.

Chu Xuan suddenly spoke up. "Ling Dian, the light here is dim. Since your vision is best, check if that thing over there is an Alien egg—one of those oval biological organs?" Ling Dian squinted and looked carefully. After a long moment, he shook his head. "No, I can't see clearly. The light fixtures are all coated in this disgusting stuff. The lighting in here is far too dim."

Chu Xuan nodded. He then turned to Zheng Zha. "These Alien eggs absolutely will not attack if we are beyond twenty meters away, so we can approach it safely... Judging by the distance we've traveled, this should be near Corridor Three. Further in are Warehouse Two and Warehouse One. The Queen should be waiting there!"

Zheng Zha nodded and told those behind him, "Wait here. I’ll go see if those are actually Alien eggs... Ling Dian, if anything approaches from around me, please take care of it. I trust your sniping ability."

Ling Dian nodded silently. Zheng Zha smiled and stepped into the nest. The moment his foot landed, a soft, yielding sensation immediately traveled up from the sole, as if he were treading inside a biological organ. The feeling of pushing through actual flesh made the hairs on the back of Zheng Zha’s neck stand up instantly. He suppressed the revulsion and slowly moved toward the depths of the corridor. Because the light was so poor, he could only see about ten meters ahead. He cautiously walked for dozens of seconds over this short distance. Only when he was about ten meters away from the objects did he finally see dozens of those oval, organ-like entities scattered about.

"That’s right! They are Alien eggs!" Zheng Zha yelled out without turning back. He suddenly noticed with alarm that the Alien eggs were slowly wriggling open. In the terrifying Alien movies, this was the precursor to the Facehuggers emerging from the eggs. If dozens of eggs hatched simultaneously, the young might burst forth from the secretions to attack them. Once a human was successfully implanted, that person would transform into a new Alien within minutes to hours.

Without thinking, Zheng Zha raised his semi-automatic rifle and opened fire on the eggs. A series of rapid shots shattered the eggs into pulp. Their outer shells didn't seem particularly hard. Nevertheless, a few Facehuggers were released. They sprang up with astonishing speed, bouncing a few times on the secretions before closing in on Zheng Zha.

At that moment, several gunshots rang out from behind Zheng Zha. Those few Facehuggers were blown into pieces mid-air. Zheng Zha turned to see Ling Dian pointing his submachine gun in his direction, faint wisps of smoke curling from the muzzle.

Zheng Zha gave Ling Dian a grateful smile; even the usually cold assassin offered a slight nod. Only Chu Xuan ran over with complete composure. He knelt down to examine the fragments of the Alien eggs closely. A moment later, he stood up and announced, "The Queen enters a weakened state after laying eggs. The shells of these Alien eggs are very soft, which contradicts my memory of them being hard... I suspect the Queen has only recently finished laying these."

Zheng Zha took a deep breath. "Since we've made it this far, we have to fight with everything we have to kill that behemoth... Let's go! Let’s kill that last Alien! So we can all return alive to the 'Main God' space!"