Vol 2: Chapter 7-1.

“Although I don’t want to admit it, our fighting capacity is at the lowest point,” Xuan muttered with his head down.

Out of the six of them here, Kampa was critically injured. He could die any time without proper treatment. Jie had lost both his arms. He couldn’t operate any firearms even though they’ve obtained them. Zheng’s the strongest one, but his right arm suffered a comminuted fracture and he’d spent the majority of his Qi already.

Zero had strong sniping skills, but the gun he had was a submachine gun. Neither its accuracy nor power were strong enough to kill Aliens. Xuan excelled in analysis and planning, but he was inferior to Kampa and Zero in using firearms. And not to mention Lan, even though she trained for a few days, she was even worse than Xuan in handling firearms.

Zheng nodded. “Yes, we are basically all injured. Luckily… we killed all the Aliens. Since no Alien came out from room 15 after all this time, there should only be the Queen inside.”

Xuan said, “Just that one Queen… can kill all of us. We basically don’t have any means to deal with her. The Queen is approximately three times the size of an Alien. I will assume her exoskeleton is twice the thickness of an Alien. Even then, normal bullets can’t penetrate it. Perhaps heavy firearms, sniper rifles, or AP shells could damage it. But we can only find smaller firearms in this room. This is a normal commercial spacecraft afterall.”

Zheng thought for a moment. “What if we can break its exoskeleton? Then all of us focused on shooting the part of it without a shell. Will we be able to kill it?”

Xuan looked at Zheng and said, “I won’t do any illogical analysis. If you can break its shell, then please show me evidence.”

Zheng couldn’t help but pick up a steel bar without grenade. Aside from two bars tied with grenades, this was the only bar left intact. He stood up, took a deep breath, focused his Qi then threw the bar. Just like it had before, the bar pierced deeply into the wall.

Xuan stared at the steel bar, then sighed. “You’re not left handed. Your right hand is already… It’s my fault. If I knew you had this kind of strength, I wouldn’t have let you get injured no matter what. Yes, like you said if you can break the Queen’s shell, then we have a high probability of killing it. If your throw can be more accurate and hit her head, you may even be able to kill it instantly.”

Zheng laughed bitterly. “I can’t get that accurate, I’m using my left hand after all. I only have the stamina to throw one or two more. Instead of taking this risk to aim for her head, it’s more practical to just aim for her body.”

“True.” Xuan nodded. “We have a higher chance of success aiming for her body. The probability of killing the Queen is… about 30%. It’s good enough for us to take this risk. Then let's arrange our responsibilities. Zheng…”

Zheng interrupted him, “Wait. You only have to be responsible for your comrades. Each party will take a separate role. Our responsibilities are to break open the Queen’s shell and offer fire support. Your responsibilities are to protect us and also offer fire support. How’s that?”

Xuan bit his finger and said, “Is this what you mean by ally? Okay, we will each be responsible for our roles. I agree with your suggestion but this way I won’t have to make my plan with extra attention for your safety. We will share our risks equally.”

Zheng sneered at him. “This is the equality we need. Why do we need your special protection? So you can discard us in the future? Don’t joke with me. I need your wisdom and you need our power. Our relationship is this simple.”

Xuan didn’t say anything more. He took out the weapons in this room then handed them to Zheng and the other two and also explained to them the advantage of each gun and how to use them. Lan chose the desert eagle that Zero wasn’t using. Zheng took a short range semi automatic rifle.

After they picked up the guns, Xuan said, “We are actually quite lucky. If we delayed just one or two more days. Then we wouldn’t be facing three but seven Aliens! Those four people probably became hosts already. So we have to kill the Queen in the shortest amount of time. Otherwise when those four Aliens come out, we will certainly be dead.”

“Aside from that, there’s one more thing you should be aware of. Once the Queen is injured and starts to bleed, we have to kill her as fast as possible. Alien blood is highly corrosive and the Queen’s location is on the edge of this spacecraft. If her blood corrodes a large hole, then we will all be sucked into space.”

Zheng praised him silently. If only Xuan wasn’t so cold blooded, he was definitely a genius in analysis. He could consider every detail including everyone’s personality and reactions. Even though Zheng didn’t agree with some of Xuan’s methods, having such a person as an ally would be a big help for survival.

Xuan continued, “Everyone tuck the bottom of your trousers into your shoes, just like what I am doing. We will be going into their nest. Even though their secretions aren’t highly acidic, they still have some corrosive properties. So keeping your shoes and trousers closed can keep those secretions away for a short period of time. Also, don’t touch the wall. If you see any cocoons, shoot them immediately. Don’t get close. That’s basically it. Everything else will rely on you to act accordingly.”

They checked their weapons one last time. Jie and Kampa couldn’t really fight anymore. Xuan originally planned to have them stay here but Zheng worried that an Alien might run past them and come to the arsenal. So he insisted on bringing Jie along. Though Kampa belonged to Xuan’s team. Xuan’s decision was to have him lie here and let fate decide his life.

As Zheng stepped out of the arsenal, he turned around to look at Kampa. This man could barely keep conscious. Zheng felt a sense of melancholy then turned his eyes away. Looking straight ahead, the area was dim past room 15. That was the Alien nest… it seemed like an entrance to hell. Will it be death… or the end of this movie?