Chapter 36: The Genetic Lock

There is naturally more than one path leading to the central control room.

Qian Gu had previously taken the shortest route—excluding the path of brute force. Since Zheng Zha and his team were currently taking that one, he simply chose another.

Most of the space aboard the *Auriga* joint vessel had been converted into experimental facilities for the Xenomorph cloning project. Since the project's inception, an unknown number of people had been transported here via smuggling ships to serve as hosts for the facehuggers. Thus far, the project had not spiraled out of control; after all, the military’s security measures were quite comprehensive.

However, that was about to change.

"Hello."

In Laboratory No. 3, Qian Gu flashed a brilliant smile. He raised his hand toward the researchers and snapped his fingers. "Good morning, gentlemen."

Good morning? According to standard time, it was currently noon.

*Click.*

A series of tapping sounds suddenly echoed throughout the laboratory. Every shackle and containment unit holding the Xenomorphs had its locks disengaged.

A hiss erupted.

The pitch-black monsters surged through the laboratory. Each time they stopped, they claimed a life, leaving behind blood and dismembered remains. Screams and the frantic sound of terrified footsteps wove together into a background melody, until finally, no one could truly escape.

"Hiss—"

Li Shuaixi’s hands, gripping his gun, trembled slightly. "Um, Brother Qian, isn't this a bit much?"

Raising his gun, Qian Gu took aim. He smiled faintly, though his eyes were cold to the core. "Li Shuaixi, let me teach you your first lesson here: do not treat anyone you meet as an NPC. Every film is a real, tangible world, and every person has a life of their own. Naturally, they also have their own causalities."

*Bang!*

The bullet erupted from the barrel.

The deafening roar of the shot accompanied a heavy-caliber sniper round, sending ripples of shockwaves through the air. The runic structure on the barrel imbued the projectile with newfound power, and under Qian Gu’s almost absurdly precise insight, it struck the released Xenomorph squarely.

The creature’s entire head was blown off, and its corrosive bodily fluids inevitably sprayed outward.

"One."

100 reward points secured.

Qian Gu clicked his tongue, but after surveying the laboratory, he found something else of interest.

DNA samples.

DNA samples belonging to Ripley.

It could be said that the foundation of the entire project was built upon these small DNA samples, and the subsequent evolved Xenomorphs also originated from them.

[Destroy all DNA samples to receive one Class C side quest and 2,500 reward points.]

"Hm?"

The God’s prompt echoed in his ears, stirring Qian Gu slightly.

"Interesting. All of the DNA samples?"

Zhao Yingkong and the others had not heard this prompt from the God; clearly, this was a personal mission.

*If this is the original 'Infinite Terror' timeline, Alien 4 serves as the finale of the series, then the side quests within it...*

It was a matter of era. In that age, the *Alien* film series had not yet flourished. Viewed solely as the *Alien* franchise, it was merely a tetralogy, so it made perfect sense for it to be the finale. By the third generation, there was already *Alien vs. Predator*, so the concept of a "quadrilogy" no longer applied.

*Dig!*

He had to dig! Qian Gu never turned down extra side quests and reward points.

...

"F***! F***! F***!"

In the vast hall, Zheng Zha was cursing loudly. *God, you don't play fair!*

They were one kilometer away from the sealed door. The space was a sprawling space hall with alloy glass on all sides, revealing the deep, abyssal darkness of space outside, dotted with distant stars.

Of course, that wasn't the point.

The point was that standing before them were twenty bionic war machines, their inorganic eyes fixed on them, raising laser emitters and Gauss weapons.

*Scan!*

A dense barrage of lasers swept over, almost covering the entire hall. Everywhere they looked was filled with the color of high-energy lasers and the high-energy transition particles leaking from the beams.

*Rrrrrip—*

Acting decisively, Zhan Lan tore open a spell scroll. Before the lasers could reach them, a shroud of pitch-black darkness enveloped everyone. All the high-energy lasers poured into it as if swallowed by a black hole in space; there were no waves, only silence.

Five seconds later, the Light-Sealing Spell lifted.

Arno stood in front of everyone, arms wide, his chest covered in charred black marks, his skin flushed with burn marks.

Single-handedly, he had absorbed the full force of the weakened high-energy lasers!

But what next?

*Damn you, God!* Zhang Jie’s expression was cold, his mouth twitching slightly as he felt a sense of helplessness at this sudden encounter.

*Boom!*

*Charge!*

The hulking form of Arno rushed out, clad in mage armor. With his immense strength and terrifying muscle density, he began a path of violent demolition.

But!

*Squelch—*

A spray of blood erupted from Arno’s body.

"It’s Gauss weapons!" Zhan Lan’s expression changed. "The Gauss weapons on these war machines have activated."

Gauss weapons. These futuristic weapons utilizing Gauss technology had an effective range starting at over five thousand meters, capable of easily piercing human bodies and even tearing through the armor of tanks from the Second World War.

And the bionic war machines on the *Auriga* were all equipped with them.

Under such simple, extreme, and pure destructive power, even mage armor would be shredded, and the terrifying strength of Arno’s muscle tissue would be torn apart, much like a cavalry regiment struck by artillery fire.

Zheng Zha’s face was contorted with ferocity as he stared fixedly at the war machines.

Arno had lost count of how many times he had been hit. His body was riddled with four or five holes, the flesh within them already obliterated. Despite this, he remained as fierce as a bear, tearing the war machines apart into scattered scrap metal.

"16, 15, 14, 13..."

Zheng Zha counted under his breath, feeling a fire rising within him.

"Prepare to support!"

He squeezed the words out from between his teeth.

*Boom!*

Crimson flames rose.

It wasn't a pure scarlet, but a nearly abyssal, dark red color that flowed like water, rippling outward from Zheng Zha’s footsteps like "water splashes."

Wherever the ripples passed, the alloy melted, nearly turning into molten iron.

His power was surging!

It wasn't merely an increase in physical stats, but rather a release akin to breaking the brain’s limiters. The power hidden deep within his flesh was unleashed, and the primitive instincts and ancient combat techniques dormant in the deepest reaches of his genes gushed forth, surfacing in his mind.

*12 left.*

Zheng Zha’s eyes were dazed, yet within that daze lay the coldness of a mechanized mental state.

He tapped his toes.

A splash of red flame erupted from the ground, and he transformed into a shadow of blood, charging directly into the ranks of the war machines. His entire body remained clean, devoid of a single drop of blood.

As he landed, the primitive instincts and combat techniques in his mind were dismantled and reassembled, subconsciously manipulating his vampire energy and the crimson flames.

*Splash—*

The red flames emitted a sound like rushing water.

The crimson spread from his toes, and in the blink of an eye, a river of red flowed beneath the feet of all the war machines.

*Bullets!*

A thought flashed through Zheng Zha’s mind, and he ducked simultaneously. Several Gauss bullets grazed his spine, tearing through flesh and exposing his white vertebrae.

However, with a mere shift of his vampire energy, the wound gradually knit itself back together, leaving only a distinct scar.

It didn't end there.

Just as he ducked, more gunfire erupted.

Submachine guns, and more Gauss rifles.

Everyone poured their firepower into the fray. With Zhan Lan, the team's visible psychokinetic user, adjusting the trajectories, they tore one war machine to shreds in an instant.

Chu Xuan’s Gauss rifle blew the upper half of another war machine apart, and he was already reloading.

*Ten... eight left.*

As he calculated, Arno, who hadn't stopped for a single moment, smashed two more.

Eight?

Then—

*Boom!*

A pillar of dark red flame rose from the ground, engulfing the remaining eight war machines.