HISD Chapter 32: Facing the Nightmare from Three Years Ago
The brilliant sunlight poured unimpeded through the gaping hole into the storage room, dispersing the darkness.
It swept away the gloom in Pan Hu and Bai Xiaolu's hearts.
"We can finally get out of here! Leave this cursed place!" Pan Hu shouted, unable to contain his excitement.
Bai Xiaolu was laughing so hard that tears were about to spill.
Only Dream Tifa pressed her lips together tightly, as if she had realized something, and looked silently at Yi Meng.
The room brightened with the sudden flood of light.
Pan Hu suddenly cried out, "Boss, that guy's Wang Xuan!"
Yi Meng looked down.
Sure enough—it was Wang Xuan, the one who had been entangled by a facehugger earlier, the same Wang Xuan who had always pursued Dream Tifa.
Because his mouth and nose were no longer sealed, the unconscious Wang Xuan was breathing faintly.
But Tifa, Pan Hu, and Bai Xiaolu all instinctively glanced at his gently rising chest, shuddering at the thought of a hideous creature gestating inside.
"Give me the gun. You all head out." Yi Meng glanced at the sunny world beyond, then turned back. "Tell the people outside what happened here. Have them perform full X-ray scans on everyone leaving, to check for alien embryos inside."
"I got it." Pan Hu nodded, then suddenly realized something. His eyes widened as he stared at Yi Meng. "Boss… you're not coming with us?"
Bai Xiaolu froze too. She recalled his words: "You all go." Not "Let's all go."
"I need to go somewhere before I leave," Yi Meng said calmly.
"Boss, no way! You know how many monsters are still in there!" Pan Hu panicked, turning to Dream Tifa. "Sister-in-law, talk him out of it!"
Dream Tifa was silent for a long moment, then asked softly, "Is it really necessary?"
"Not really," Yi Meng smiled faintly, locking eyes with her. "But I want to."
Tifa nodded firmly. "Then go. Be careful, come back soon. I'll be waiting…"
No matter how she tried to hide it, her voice trembled slightly at the words "I'll be waiting."
"Alright."
Yi Meng nodded, gazing deeply at her. "I'll come back. And when I do, I'll find you."
Then he turned and walked back into the building, now a dark purgatory.
Pan Hu and Bai Xiaolu stared blankly, unsure what he intended to do.
But they knew it would take unimaginable courage to return to that place of death.
…
Rifle slung on his back, Yi Meng pushed against the flow of survivors and climbed to the third-floor corridor, where the alien ship's ruptured hull loomed like a gateway to hell.
"I really do want to leave… what am I even doing?"
He gave a helpless smile, gritted his teeth, and climbed inside.
The ship's interior was black, its walls and corridors resembling a grotesque exoskeleton.
It was hot and damp, reeking of blood.
Yi Meng brushed a hand against the wall, static sparking in his mind.
His eyes lit up.
Even here, inside an alien ship, he could control its electronic systems—though only within ten meters.
He exhaled, steadying himself, and pressed forward, using his mind to scout ahead.
…
Details from films flashed in his memory.
Somewhere inside this ship was something far more terrifying than xenomorphs or facehuggers.
It was called—"Black Water."
In those movies, Black Water was a bioweapon created by a godlike alien race to wipe out humanity.
It mutated on contact with air, and spread through water.
Xenomorphs were nothing more than accidental offshoots of Black Water infecting humans and aliens.
To Yi Meng, it was no different from the T-Virus of Resident Evil. Such a thing should never exist in this world.
If it did appear, it had to be destroyed immediately.
He didn't distrust the supernatural department. He just knew only he understood the true danger of this substance.
The moment anyone thought of studying it, humanity would be doomed.
He had to eliminate the threat before anyone else touched it.
Not for humanity—for himself.
If Black Water spread, reality would fall. The world would rot until no safe haven remained.
Yes, doomsday might come eventually. This world would one day be invaded and consumed.
But Yi Meng wanted to buy time. Not now.
"It's unavoidable after all…"
He sighed. A faint rustling came from ahead.
He gripped his rifle in one hand, shaped his other into a blade, silver light flashing in his eyes, cold as a machine.
He was getting used to battle.
…
Deeper in the ship, the silver-haired youth staggered forward, breathing heavily.
His bullets long spent, his gun discarded, his right hand red and raw from acid burns.
He was truly out of options.
Exhaustion dragged at his body, but his steps only grew firmer.
Who knew how he'd survived this far—fighting off facehuggers, encountering two full-grown xenomorphs…
That he'd even reached this place was a miracle.
But now it was time to end it.
Summoning the last of his strength, Yi Meng entered the cockpit.
As long as he got within ten meters, he could seize control with his mind, restart the ship, and launch it back into space.
It was the only plan he'd thought of to stop Black Water.
At least, until this moment.
…
As soon as he stepped inside, his boots squelched against mucous-coated flooring.
The sight froze him.
Corpses were piled high, chests ripped open. Hundreds of facehugger eggs pulsed around them.
And towering over the cockpit was a monstrous alien queen, over ten meters tall. Its sleek head turned toward him, inner jaws clicking wetly.
At once, three adult xenomorphs leapt from the shadows.
"I knew it…"
Yi Meng looked back to see two more dragging corpses in from the hall.
No chance now. None at all.
Even if he had the strength to push forward thirty meters to the console, it would take too long to restart the ship.
And he was already at his limit—his body only moving by sheer will.
He gave a wry smile.
He'd tried. Truly, this was as far as he could go.
Right now… he just wanted to lie down. Sleep forever. Forget everything.
His vision blurred as he looked at the queen's grotesque form. "I've seen beings far scarier than you…"
A spark flashed in his mind.
Clarity filled his gaze. He whispered, "So that's it. Deep down, I've been afraid all along. I came here on purpose—to corner myself, to force the choice, to face my true self… to face the nightmare from three years ago."
Closing his eyes, Yi Meng collapsed backward, consciousness sinking into endless dark.
At the same time—
The xenomorphs, the facehuggers, the hideous swarms rushed in from every side, about to tear him apart.
But then—
A suffocating aura of destruction erupted from his body.
In the next instant—
Before his body even hit the floor, Yi Meng floated in midair. His eyes and mouth snapped wide, spilling searing red-gold light that speared through the ceiling and into the skies beyond. Crimson lightning arced violently from his body.
Crack!
A single bolt disintegrated a xenomorph into ash.
The alien queen—who had never known fear—felt terror rooted in its genes. It tried to flee.
Too late.
Boom!
From Yi Meng's body, a storm of crimson energy exploded outward, carrying with it a mysterious substance that annihilated everything in its reach.
The queen. The xenomorphs. The facehuggers. The serpents. The Black Water.
The cockpit consoles. The metal floor. The exoskeletal walls.
Even the air itself—
All was reduced to nothing.
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