Zhan Lan and the others had long since reached their limits. Once the danger was cleared, they collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, turning a deaf ear to his banter.
Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses and asked, "How much ammunition do you have left?"
Xia Ren chuckled and said, "You really are a smart one."
Expressionless, Chu Xuan replied indifferently, "If you had an ample supply of ammunition, you could have wiped out all the Xenomorphs by yourself and taken all the rewards. There would have been no need to come back for us."
Xia Ren smiled and walked over to Zheng Zha.
Relying on the high attributes brought by his Vampire strengthening, Zheng Zha had successfully endured the side effects of unlocking the Gene Limit.
The wounds stabbed through by the Xenomorphs had already stopped bleeding and were beginning to heal.
Chu Xuan explained from the side, "He has unlocked the Gene Limit and is our strongest combatant. I suggest you feed him some nutrient solution."
Xia Ren took out a pouch of nutrient solution, pried open Zheng Zha's mouth, and poured it down.
Sure enough, Zheng Zha's pale complexion improved slightly. He opened his eyes and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
*Well, considering you're basically my son-in-law—no, wait, daughter-in-law—it's only right that I take care of you.*
......
The fall of Zheng Zha, their strongest fighter, cast a pall of gloom over everyone.
After resting for a moment, Zhan Lan regained her energy. Summoning her courage, she said, "Xia Ren, the difficulty of this mission far exceeds imagination. This is no longer the time for us to argue over ideologies. The most important thing right now is how to survive and get back."
Xia Ren said, "Since you've figured that out, then follow my orders."
"I didn't mean it like that..."
"Agreed! I will follow your commands, but on one condition!" Chu Xuan spoke up, interrupting Zhan Lan.
"The command authority can be handed over to you, but the basic tactical planning must be made public. I can execute your orders, but you must clearly state the reasons behind our actions."
Bawang raised his hand: "That's right! We agree to reasonable tactical arrangements, even if we are sent out as bait, but I cannot accept being sent to my death without rhyme or reason."
Zero Point also gave a rare nod.
Before they knew it, these three guys had gotten mixed up together.
Xia Ren nodded and said, "Very well. From now on, I am the temporary commander of Team China. Does anyone else have any questions?"
Zhan Lan had no objections, Zhang Jie let out a cold snort, and Li Shuaixi didn't dare speak.
The opinions of those three didn't matter; the important one was Zheng Zha.
Xia Ren gave the prone Zheng Zha a kick and asked with a smile, "Old Zheng, do you agree?"
Looking very weak, Zheng Zha was silent for a moment before saying, "I agree. But just like Chu Xuan said, you must explain the purpose of your arrangements to us."
Xia Ren's expression turned stern.
"Good. Now, everyone move to Room 27. That's the spaceship's central control room, where we can monitor the ship's status through the security cameras."
"Zhang Jie, carry Zheng Zha on your back and run. Zero Point, Bawang, take these two assault rifles and provide covering fire when necessary."
He unslung the assault rifle from his back, handed it to the two of them, and threw in a few extra magazines for good measure.
Chu Xuan stated: "Someone must stay behind to cover our retreat, otherwise none of us will make it out."
Xia Ren gave him a cold, indifferent look and said, "Don't worry. A job like covering our retreat naturally falls to me. I could never bear to hand over this sweet, sweet 500 reward points to you guys."
Yet Chu Xuan still had more to say: "Your machine gun ammunition is of vital importance. I do not recommend wasting it here. I suggest splitting our forces..."
"Execute the order!"
Helplessly, Chu Xuan shut his mouth and followed Zhang Jie and the others as they left.
Xia Ren sneer-laughed inwardly; you could never give this pretentious bastard a pleasant look—the moment he got a shred of influence, he'd start plotting to sacrifice his teammates.
...
Zhang Jie carried Zheng Zha on his shoulder to take the lead, and the rest closely followed.
Xia Ren held a machine gun in each hand, unhurriedly trailing at the very back of the group.
Every now and then, he fired a burst to kill any pursuing Xenomorphs.
"Killed a Xenomorph, obtained 500 reward points."
"Killed a Xenomorph, obtained 500 reward points."
......
After killing two more Xenomorphs, no other creatures appeared along the way.
The Red Queen saw this clearly through the surveillance cameras: these Xenomorphs seemed to have realized something and stopped pursuing this group entirely.
Finally, the group safely arrived at the spaceship's central control room.
The door opened automatically, and they filed in.
"Hoo!! Damn it! That scared the hell out of me!"
Zhang Jie collapsed heavily against the wall with a thud, panting heavily as if he had suffered a major fright.
At that moment, Chu Xuan spoke up again:
"Did you guys notice that after Xia Ren killed those two Xenomorphs, no other Xenomorphs chased us?"
"Were all the Xenomorphs killed?" Zheng Zha asked in surprise.
Everyone rolled their eyes in unison. As expected of you, to actually come up with such a possibility.
The clever Zhan Lan turned pale: "You mean something is directing them!"
"Correct! Perhaps a Xenomorph Queen, or something else. Realizing the power of the heavy machine gun, these Xenomorphs have retreated!"
"Look! These fluids are the trails left behind by the Xenomorphs when they retreated. Judging from the surveillance feeds, there are still at least 20 more Xenomorphs inside the ship!"
Before anyone realized it, Chu Xuan was already crouched at the center of the control room, beginning to operate the ship's console.
However, the spaceship's system had already been hacked and heavily secured by the Red Queen; he could only view the surveillance feeds, not control the ship.
"Oh my god! Twenty Xenomorphs? How are we supposed to play this? Goddamn Main God, are you really trying to force me to death?" Zhang Jie sat powerlessly on the floor and wailed.
Chu Xuan looked at Xia Ren and said, "Whether we can survive depends on how much ammunition Xia Ren has left for his heavy machine gun. If I'm not mistaken, that should be a Type 89 heavy machine gun, 12.7mm caliber."
Xia Ren nodded: "That's right. 10 points each, isn't it super cheap? Too bad my storage bracelet doesn't have enough space; I only brought 10 sets of ammunition, and I've already used up 7."
He smiled and added, "As for the remaining ammunition, if every single round hits a vital spot, it's just enough to kill all the Xenomorphs."
Zhan Lan shot him an exasperated glare and speechlessly said, "We're in this kind of situation, and you're still in the mood to smile? If we fail the mission, all of us are going to die."
Xia Ren raised a finger and wagged it: "No! No! No! I've already prepared an escape pod. If I can't beat them, I'm running away. Only you guys will die here."
"You really are cunning!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
......
Their conversation reached the ears of everyone present, word for word.
Xia Ren clapped his hands and said to the group, "Well, you should understand the situation by now. I've got an escape pod to ride in, and the worst-case scenario is I blow up the ship and run away. But if you guys don't fight for your lives, you're all going to die right here!"
A faint ripple stirred in Zhang Jie's heart.
*Huh?? What did I just hear? All of them die here?*