Zhang Jie's consciousness swayed under the shockwave of the explosion, his world filled with chaos and noise.
As his vision gradually cleared, he realized he was buried under a pile of rubble. The heavy stones pressed against his body, making it almost impossible to breathe.
He felt like he was about to die. Sharp pain radiated through his body, especially in his legs—a pain he had never experienced before.
Yet, at the edge of life and death, a stubborn determination blazed in his heart, like a fire, fueling his will!
He had to survive. He had to live to reach that place, to see that face again.
This sheer will to live awakened Zhang Jie. Suddenly, a surge of strength coursed through his body!
His muscles tensed, and he unleashed a power he had never known before, pushing the stones off of him.
"Huff… huff…"
Finally crawling out from the rubble, Zhang Jie looked back at his crushed foot.
Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as he had imagined.
He struggled out of the ruins and gazed at the deep pit in the distance, shock rising in his chest.
Yujin, at the center of the explosion, probably wouldn't survive.
A wave of complex emotions surged in Zhang Jie's heart.
Having served in the military, Zhang Jie had come to see Yujin, even as a temporary teammate, as a comrade.
He also knew very well that even if he survived, returning to the Lord God Space would not spare him from the fate of becoming a breeding pig.
Couldn't he at least see her once more? Or even greedily hold her in his arms?
Suddenly, Zhang Jie had an idea!
He quickly lifted his wrist and looked at his Reincarnation Watch!
When he saw the number "Seventeen" displayed, a spark of joy flashed in his eyes. "Yes! Yes!"
Before the team battle had started, the watch had shown seventeen crew members. And now, it still showed seventeen, which meant…
Including Yujin and the heroine, the recent explosion hadn't caused any casualties.
Zhang Jie scanned his surroundings, and a pair of eyes in the rubble met his.
"Daniels!"
Zhang Jie was overjoyed. "Are… are you okay?"
Danice gritted her teeth. "I… I'm trapped under something. I think my arm might be broken."
"Don't move for now. I can't lift a stone this heavy."
Zhang Jie dragged his injured body, painfully crawling toward the deep pit.
Every inch he moved felt like it took all the strength from his body.
When he finally reached the edge of the pit, the scene inside etched itself into his memory forever.
Yujin lay there, his body battered and torn, his clothes shredded by the explosion.
Black, irregular, cloud-like "tattoos" covered his body—traces of the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
Half of his body was submerged in water, looking utterly desolate.
His eyes had rolled back, unconscious, yet his hands remained pressed together in a gesture of prayer.
Even in unconsciousness, his body maintained its final posture.
The sight stirred a torrent of complicated emotions in Zhang Jie.
He suddenly wondered, if he had endured what Yujin had, would he still have such a strong will to survive?
Most likely… he would have collapsed long ago, his mind broken.
Suddenly!
Zhang Jie's attention was drawn to a faintly glowing object.
He turned his head and saw that the light came from a corner of the pit.
He painfully crawled toward it, gritting his teeth and enduring the sharp pain in his legs, and picked up the glowing object.
It was a bracelet that radiated a purple light.
Human skin tissue clung to it, making it look extremely eerie.
Could it be… the bracelet that the woman from the Devil Team wore on her wrist?
It was glowing. This couldn't be just a simple decoration.
A thought flashed through Zhang Jie's mind, and without hesitation, he plunged into the pit where Yujin lay.
Splash!
The water in the pit, reinforced by Yujin's water formation, splashed into Zhang Jie's mouth a couple of times, but he quickly hopped to his feet on one leg, propped Yujin up at the edge of the pit, and fastened the bracelet onto his wrist.
Time passed, second by second.
Zhang Jie's condition was worsening.
He had tried calling out to Yujin, but it had no effect.
If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of Yujin's upper chest and the numbers on the Reincarnation Watch proving he was still alive, Zhang Jie would have felt as if he were waiting for a corpse to come back to life.
"Da-da-da…"
What… what was that sound?
Zhang Jie suddenly looked up!
One glance, and his blood ran cold.
A Facehugger!
This was the Facehugger that had been soaking in the nutrient solution until the explosion. It had broken free from its restraints and awakened!
One of them, drawn by the scent, had come here.
Earlier, his Infinite Bullet Desert Eagle had long since been lost in the explosion's blast. Zhang Jie, weak and barely able to stand, was dumbfounded.
In a panic, he searched for a rock or something he could use to fight off the Facehugger.
The next moment, his heart skipped a beat.
Another Facehugger appeared above the pit!
The two Facehuggers, as if in silent agreement, lunged together at Zhang Jie and the recovering Yujin!
(Zhang Jie thought, No way… you can do this too?)
His heart pounded wildly in his chest, his eyes bulging as he watched the black shadow leap onto Yujin first!
There was no time to think, because immediately after, one jumped onto Zhang Jie himself.
Despair filled his heart.
But at this life-and-death moment, a fierce will to survive erupted from deep within him.
He gripped the Facehugger's body with all his might, trying to fling it off.
Its mouthparts hovered no more than five centimeters from Zhang Jie's nose—a lethal threat so close he could almost feel it.
He could feel its tendrils sliding across his face, cold and slick, raising goosebumps on his skin.
Zhang Jie and the Facehugger were locked in a brief stalemate.
But soon, a wave of dizziness overcame him, spinning his mind uncontrollably.
The side effects of the first-stage gene lock were beyond ordinary resistance.
Zhang Jie's consciousness began to blur, and strength drained from his fingertips.
Seizing the moment, the Facehugger shoved its mouthparts into Zhang Jie's mouth!
He could feel that icy touch crawling deep into his throat, a wave of indescribable fear and nausea rising in his chest.
Having watched enough movies, Zhang Jie knew that inside his burning stomach, the Face-Hugger had implanted an Xenomorph embryo.
He had no idea how much time had passed, or when the Xenomorph would burst open and tear him apart.
The anticipation of death was far more torturous than death itself.
Gradually, Zhang Jie gave up resisting, allowing the Face-Hugger to hold him.
The next moment—
"Pfft!"
Scalding green liquid exploded across Zhang Jie's face! The sensation, like acid eating through flesh, made him wish he were dead.
He hurriedly shook off the already dead Face-Hugger clinging to his face, stripped off his clothes, and frantically wiped the parts burned by the corrosive liquid.
"Better to be disfigured than ripped open from the inside," he muttered.
A hoarse voice broke through—Yujin.
Zhang Jie forced his eyes open. On the ground lay two Face-Huggers, each with a kunai embedded in their heads.
Then he saw the sole savior of the breeding team—Yujin.
"Th-Thank God," Zhang Jie breathed.
Yujin waved off his gratitude. "The Face-Hugger implanted an Xenomorph embryo… cough, cough."
"If you forcibly sever the link with the host…"
Yujin rubbed his sore throat. "The embryo takes several hours to hatch… cough!"
"There are only two options in front of us."
"One: wait and die."
"Two…"
Yujin toyed with the bracelet on his wrist. "Go back to the Covenant Ship and take this damn thing out!"
"Ah… if we go back like this, Meng Yao and Da Qiang will know you killed a Devil Team member. She'll tear you apart to snatch the reward points!"
Yujin narrowed his eyes. "No… she won't have time to bother with me."
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