Zheng Zha advanced while attacking, constantly chanting the remaining time he had, because if time ran out completely, he would have no choice but to use the "Explosion" skill to attack... or even use the "Destruction" skill to flatten this entire research institute.

"Forty-two seconds left... seven drones remaining..." Zheng Zha muttered to himself. In truth, after unlocking the second stage of the Gene Lock, his speed had already far surpassed these drones. However, he dared not leave them behind, as he did not know if they would attack Chu Xuan, who was inside that small room, once they couldn't keep up. Thus, he had to constantly engage and attack the drones, ensuring they were preoccupied and unable to target Chu Xuan in the small room.

It must be said that after entering the second stage of the Gene Lock, Zheng Zha's strength and speed had increased to a terrifying degree. Especially after countless life-or-death trials, his understanding and mastery of this second stage were already very refined. Before every drone attack, he could instinctively evade it easily, followed by a sweeping strike with his Electric Light Axe. Before the drone could react, he could usually cleave it cleanly in two.

When only twenty-seven or twenty-eight seconds remained, only two of the seven drones were left. Suddenly, these two drones took to the air. A profoundly dangerous premonition struck Zheng Zha, so without thinking, he retreated with all his might. But his backward movement was still a fraction too slow. Just as he managed to pull back a few meters, a searing pain shot through his left leg. The lower half of that drone had completely severed, its twitching tail segment, bearing the stinger, plunging into his thigh. Fortunately, he had dodged just in time; the severed tail of the other drone whizzed past him, shredding the hexagonal honeycomb structure several meters wide near him into dust.

Zheng Zha yanked the stinger out of his thigh without a second thought.

This bee's stinger remained connected to its venom sac, continuously pumping poison into the body even after piercing the flesh. In that single instant, his thigh was already becoming numb. This was only mitigated by his astonishing immunity and cellular vitality; otherwise, the entire leg would have suffered far worse than mere numbness.

(Time... twenty-five seconds left. Not much time left...) Zheng Zha grew increasingly anxious. He sprinted forward, his feet churning through the spreading blood plasma, each step kicking up a calf-high wave of gore. Only after running for several seconds in the direction the previous drones had flown did he finally spot something above him—a massive bee, larger than his entire body, clinging to the ceiling and facing their direction. The moment Zheng Zha registered its presence, the creature dove straight down from the ceiling.

A sound of clashing metal rang out. Zheng Zha barely managed to bring the Electric Light Axe up to block, but the bee’s tail pierced right into the axe’s body. What horrified him further was that the tail had actually punctured the axe’s structure—high-density aluminized alloy several centimeters thick. The stinger stopped mere centimeters from his eyes, close enough that he could see the black venom dripping from its tip. Had he not blocked with the axe for that split second, the thrust would have split his skull open.

(Red... Red Flame!) A thought ignited in Zheng Zha’s mind. He was just preparing to activate the Red Flame skill when the massive bee, which had been almost touching him, suddenly retreated backward.

Its speed was several points faster than when he was utilizing the second stage of the Gene Lock.

The red flames erupting from his body didn't even manage to scorch the colossal insect.

The giant bee was not only incredibly fast but also seemed keenly aware of the situation.

While the red flame burned on Zheng Zha, it continuously pulled back, forcing him to stop using Red Flame. Every time the giant bee lunged with its stinger, it left a clear, penetrating hole in the body of the Electric Light Axe. This sheer destructive power chilled Zheng Zha to the bone. The two remained locked in this tense standoff for over ten seconds. Zheng Zha’s speed simply couldn't match the giant bee’s. Merely defending kept his nerves taut. After several failed attacks, his left shoulder was finally struck by the Queen Bee. In an instant, a bloody hole was pierced through his shoulder, and his entire arm immediately turned a sickly black. If he hadn't immediately unleashed the Red Flame to drive the Queen away as its massive jaws snapped toward his head, his skull would have been halved—or less than half might have remained.

(There's no other way; I have to use the 'Explosion' skill... If I only use it for two or three seconds, it shouldn't significantly impact my escape chances...) With less than ten seconds remaining, Zheng Zha's movements finally halted abruptly. The Queen Bee, however, charged him relentlessly. Just as it was about to crash into him, a red line traced straight down from the center of Zheng Zha's forehead, while a gust of air rushed upward, converging at his heart. Then... everything around Zheng Zha seemed to slow down. Capturing the Queen Bee's movements had been incredibly difficult before, relying half on instinct and half on sight. Now, the Queen Bee's motions appeared sluggish, even slower than an ordinary person’s. Meeting the incoming stinger, Zheng Zha planted the Zaku Electric Light Axe before him, allowing the stinger to embed itself in the weapon. Then, channeling corrosive internal force through his hands, he grabbed the stinger and violently wrenched it, bending the entire needle against the axe. The Queen Bee immediately tried to pull free, but its stinger was now hooked backward onto the axe. What was once a sharp weapon had turned into a debilitating tether. The Queen Bee could only rely on its massive strength, attempting to drag Zheng Zha along as it flew.

Zheng Zha was already in the "Explosion" state; time was life itself.

He completely ignored the Queen Bee’s next move, stomping down hard with his foot, hurling himself onto the creature. Both fists hammered into the Queen Bee with furious intensity. With output strength more than ten times his normal level, every punch landed like a cannonball strike. With just two blows, the Queen Bee was brutally broken into two segments by the sheer force. That wasn't all; Zheng Zha stamped down violently with one foot, crushing the upper half of the Queen Bee along with several meters of the hexagonal honeycomb structure on the floor beneath it. The alloy floor beneath the comb even buckled several centimeters from the impact... Although the "Explosion" state lasted only three seconds, the moment it deactivated, Zheng Zha felt his entire body weaken, as if he were about to collapse onto his knees.

His thigh and left shoulder throbbed with a dull, painful numbness that almost made him want to scream out loud. But relying purely on willpower, he struggled to remain upright and began sprinting madly toward Chu Xuan’s location.

This time, there was no need to search. The result of running at full speed meant he burst into the room just seconds later. Chu Xuan was there, trembling slightly, clutching a document file.

Next to the safe from earlier, two more small safes had appeared. The honeycomb on the floor also looked as if it had been disturbed again. It seemed Chu Xuan hadn't found the documents in the initial safe and had to dig through the buried spots in the room, finally locating the file in his hands.

Zheng Zha didn't care whether this was the real document or not. Seeing Chu Xuan gradually slipping into asphyxiation, he quickly snatched Chu Xuan up into his arms and began channeling internal energy into him. This was an experiment he had learned from that blond youth, and this internal energy truly worked, just as depicted in Wuxia novels.

It could actually be transferred into another person's body. As he poured his energy in, Zheng Zha frantically bolted back toward their entry route.

The spasms wracking Chu Xuan’s body slowly ceased, and he finally opened his eyes. The first thing this man did was look down at the file clutched in his hand. Only once he confirmed the document was safe did he shift his gaze to the area outside the research institute. He had retrieved the Gauss pistol again, though the hand holding the weapon appeared somewhat shaky and weak.

Zheng Zha raced outward, carrying one person wildly in his arms.

He noticed the thick smoke billowing from the research institute was thinning rapidly.

He could even hear the incessant flapping of wings coming from outside—the dense sound of vibrating pinions.

The sound alone was enough to inspire terror, conjuring visions of being swarmed and gnawed upon by countless insects. While the drones and the Queen Bee were formidable, the truly terrifying aspect of the giant bees was the multitude of ordinary bees outside, each larger than a human palm—they were the truly horrifying force! The two of them rushed outward. Even as Zheng Zha continuously supplied energy to Chu Xuan, he watched Chu Xuan’s complexion slowly turn ashen and pale. Even Zheng Zha himself began to feel suffocated; their oxygen supply was critically low. Only then did they finally burst out of the research institute, piercing straight through the thick smoke.

"Side mission complete. Each person on the island receives four thousand reward points, two C-rank side mission completions, and the plot item, the Bio-Reformation Gene Map file..." the system chimed in.

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