The group surged onward through the passage. Zheng Zha naturally held Loli close, while Zhang Heng clutched Xiao Honglü. Xiao Honglü, however, was deeply vexed; he could only watch as Zhao Yingkong held the beautiful woman, while due to his size and physical conditioning, even attempting to embrace someone felt utterly impossible. As for Zhan Lan and Cheng Xiao, they managed to keep pace with the main group. Those five newcomers struggling to keep up at the rear were decidedly unlucky; their physical prowess simply couldn't compare to the others, and they were quickly left far behind, vanishing without a trace after a few turns.

Zheng Zha spoke calmly, his voice carrying slight indifference: "I abandoned them. Perhaps there are talents among them that we require, so you can all blame me. If we manage to return alive from this survival horror film, I will offer a sincere apology to all of you. My apologies."

The rest of the group didn't know what to say for a moment. Only Zhan Lan spoke up first: "They aren't official team members yet. Abandoning them is better for the team. Their physical condition, their speed, their reactions—none of it aligns with the demands of this survival horror. Protecting them might cost us our own team members."

This statement carried a hint of sophistry. After all, if there were truly needed talents, like someone skilled in engineering or a rare asset like Qi Tengyi, it might be worth the team's effort to protect them. Furthermore, the difficulty of this film might not inherently be high; it was their current, utterly bizarre starting position that had forced them into this passive situation. Once the alien was removed from Lolli’s body, rescuing the others wouldn't be overly difficult; the researchers could simply perform the surgery again. With the chest already breached, no one dared burden themselves further by slowing down the travel. Therefore, Zheng Zha had indeed prioritized his own interests.

Cheng Xiao let out a slight chuckle. "Speaking of which, I feel quite fortunate. Not only have I gained your acknowledgment..."

Zheng Zha frowned, cutting him off. "You haven't earned our acknowledgment yet. You're only a prospective team member under probation. We need a doctor, nothing more."

Cheng Xiao whistled softly. "That's fine by me; medicine is my profession, even if it’s just to earn a living. But I am perhaps too fortunate here—so many beautiful ladies! Oh, hehe, am I in heaven? My favorite kind of girl, beautiful and so coolly distant, and what a figure..." Smack! Seeing Cheng Xiao staring intently at her chest, Zhan Lan snapped, instantly infuriated, and slapped him across the face.

Cheng Xiao didn't seem angered by the blow. He just laughed with characteristic recklessness. "Being hit by a girl is a sign of respect, hehe. Too bad many people don't understand that kind of respect. Well, never mind that. Just seeing so many beauties, even dragged into this bizarre horror world, I still consider it a stroke of luck! Hahaha!"

The others ignored him. Although his words were flippant and annoying, they sensed no genuine malice from him—or at least, no obvious malice. After all, the other three men who were currently unattached didn't view lecherousness as a fault; in fact, Zhang Heng and Xiao Honglü both nodded subtly. The reaction from the girls, however, was complex; they felt both annoyed and secretly pleased, perhaps because every woman enjoys being called beautiful, regardless of whether the compliment is flattering or forced.

As they ran, Zhao Yingkong suddenly asked, "I’m very curious. Why is your physical conditioning so excellent? You haven't even gasped for breath yet."

Cheng Xiao instantly shifted his expression into one of practiced flirtation, eyes sparkling. "Miss—oh, pardon me, young Miss. It’s because I come from a traditional Chinese medicine family! Since childhood, my old man constantly force-fed me tonics and made me practice all sorts of useless martial arts, haha! It’s nothing, really. If you're interested, Young Miss, perhaps we could exchange pointers privately? I'm quite skilled at making tea, you know. Oh, and I sing well too. Look, my Adam's apple even moves up and down when I talk!" Saying this, he threw his head back to demonstrate for Zhao Yingkong.

Thump!

Zhao Yingkong offered no pleasantries. She delivered a swift, hard punch, then continued running as if nothing had happened. One of Cheng Xiao's eyes instantly bruised to a deep black, but his expression remained that of a heedlessly grinning fool. Especially when his gaze accidentally fell upon Zhao Yingkong's chest, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he stared there for a long moment before stammering out, "Impossible? Is that... is that really such perfection?"

Zhang Heng seemed to have struck up a rapport with Cheng Xiao and chimed in, "What’s impossible? What perfection? Spit it out, man!"

Cheng Xiao’s eyes immediately lit up. "Heavens! A 'child-face, mature-body'—that is the ultimate rarity! Do you know? My greatest dream was to have a perfect lolita in fine stockings! Oh my God, half my dream has already come true!" Crack!

A sharp sound followed, and Cheng Xiao's other eye socket instantly turned pitch black. He still smiled foolishly. "Meeting her fulfills half of it. The other half, I must fight for myself! Hahaha!"

Zhao Yingkong’s response was equally direct. She drew a dagger from her waist. Cheng Xiao’s face underwent an instant metamorphosis, dropping the roguish, lighthearted demeanor for the serious concentration of a scholar. He touched his own pulse. "Hmm, I’ve got about seventeen or eighteen minutes left, I think. Hahaha. Otherwise, I’ll be dead."

Zheng Zha smiled faintly. He found the man rather interesting. While his behavior toward women was somewhat licentious, his actions and words still maintained a certain boundary; he was a man of lust with a bottom line. Moreover, his nonchalance toward life and death was something Zheng Zha had previously only witnessed in Chu Xuan, Zero Point, and Zhao Yingkong. Clearly, Cheng Xiao lacked the hardened aura of someone who had survived numerous bloody conflicts. For an ordinary person, achieving such equanimity was truly rare.

At that moment, the group reached the entrance to a stairwell. Nearby was an elevator shaft, but they opted for the staircase, which resembled an emergency exit. Almost unanimously, they paused. Nobody felt it wise to risk the elevator, and while the stairs were more tiring, for people whose physical condition surpassed the norm—and with the added buff from Zhan Lan’s True Word: Endurance spell—they had run for several minutes without a single person heavily panting.

Zheng Zha looked at Zhan Lan, who nodded knowingly and activated her mental scan toward the stairwell. After a few seconds, she reported, "It’s clear. No aliens or people in the stairs. Going up leads to Compartment One. If we run another five minutes that way, we reach the medical bay. The researchers are in Compartment Thirteen; they’ve sealed the door and are remotely controlling the ship’s central computer from inside."

Zheng Zha let out a breath and addressed the others. "Let's move! If we encounter any aliens, unleash everything you have. There’s nothing else to say—I'm counting on all of you!"

Without further words, everyone ran alongside Zheng Zha, ascending the stairs. The stairway was neither short nor excessively long. They ran for about three minutes, leaving only twelve or thirteen minutes before the thirty-minute critical deadline reached for Lolli. Whether they could hold out until then remained unknown.

Cheng Xiao’s reaction to their mortal danger remained placid. He spent the ascent joking flirtatiously with both Zhao Yingkong and Zhan Lan, but his conversational style was clearly below par, and in such a tense situation, who had the mood to engage? Consequently, he soon acquired a face full of bruises, looking as if he had just been pummeled by several thugs.

When the group reached the second-floor lobby, a noxious odor immediately assaulted their nostrils. Zhan Lan exclaimed, "The aliens have started corroding the ship’s hull, just like in Alien I, altering the structure! Hurry! There are two aliens attacking the door outside Compartment Thirteen—everyone move!"

Zheng Zha felt a surge of anxiety. Those researchers were virtually his only hope now. If they died, Lolli’s demise would be practically sealed. He absolutely refused that outcome! As soon as Zhan Lan spoke, he quickly handed Lolli to her and activated his Qinggong (light body skill), shooting toward the location.

Zheng Zha’s natural speed was already extreme, but enhanced by his Qinggong and the speed spell cast by Zhan Lan, he reached a velocity incomprehensible to ordinary men. In barely two minutes, he covered ground that should have taken the group five minutes. Two massive, pitch-black aliens, standing over three meters tall, materialized in his sight. The lead creature was relentlessly slamming its spiked tail against the steel door, which had already buckled inward from the impacts.

The familiar sense of oppressive danger was palpable. Compared to the Xenomorphs in Alien I, these two were significantly larger and radiated a far greater sense of menace. It seemed the monsters in these survival horror films scaled up with the installment number. He wondered how their strength stacked up against the enhancements he had acquired over time. The answer, however, was self-evident!

Zheng Zha pulled the Fusion Cannon from his storage ring, aiming it at the two aliens. They clearly detected him and simultaneously charged, their speed so incredible that they were within ten meters of him in the blink of an eye. Zheng Zha pulled the trigger. An energy sphere shot from the muzzle and slammed directly into the leading alien. After a brilliant flash, the creature was utterly vaporized.

The intense light momentarily blinded Zheng Zha. He quickly scanned his surroundings, finding no trace of the second alien. Then, he looked sharply upward. The creature was suspended directly above him, its tongue, lined with razor-sharp teeth, flicking rapidly. It lunged down toward Zheng Zha!