Chapter 32: Who Will Stay Behind? (Please keep reading! Please add it to your library!)

Unlike before, this time Wu Xian was not “making things up out of thin air”; he had indeed tried this trick with a companion. The difference was that the companion referred to here was from the world of Devouring Star.

Within shared memories, it was revealed that during one of his expeditions, Devouring Wu Xian had fused his mental power with another psychic adept skilled in perception, thus expanding their scanning range to locate more monsters.

It was this very experience that taught him the skill.

On the other side, after hearing Wu Xian’s explanation, Zhan Lan’s expression shifted slightly. She took a deep breath, stepped forward two paces, and said, “Captain, let’s begin. I’m willing to try.”

“Good!” Wu Xian smiled, then pulled from his storage space a vial containing a blue, double-helix structured serum—none other than the T-virus obtained from the world of Resident Evil.

Under Chu Xuan’s reflective gaze, Wu Xian briefly explained the T-virus’s effect in helping unlock genetic locks, instantly causing a wave of astonishment among the members of the Zhongzhou team.

They had heard Wu Xian mention the principle of genetic locks during their training in the Divine Core realm, and knew that Zheng Zha had already unlocked the second-tier genetic lock.

Because of this, although their bloodline enhancement levels varied greatly, Zheng Zha’s displayed power far surpassed the other three, ranking just below Wu Xian who had unlocked the third tier.

Thinking of this, Mou Gang and Li Xiaoyi cast envious glances at Zhan Lan.

There was no doubt that Wu Xian had brought out the T-virus now to help Zhan Lan unlock her genetic lock and elevate her abilities further.

“No need to envy. When we returned from Resident Evil, I swiped quite a bit from Umbrella Corporation. Everyone got a share, including your synthetic humans,” Wu Xian said with a knowing smile upon seeing their expressions.

At this point, he no longer cared about the curse battle. As long as the Zhongzhou team became strong enough, they could bulldoze through whatever Kayako or the Yinzou squad threw at them.

He refused to believe that the original Zhongzhou team, so weak in the source material, could beat those two enemies, yet now, with them stronger and himself enhanced, they wouldn’t win.

It was inconceivable that the Divine Core realm would deliberately throw the God Team or Demon Team into the fray just to increase his difficulty.

Ridiculous! Impossible!

...

“It hurts so much, I felt like I almost died…”

Ten minutes later, under the effects of a D-tier side quest recovery potion Wu Xian had prepared, Zhan Lan recovered from the side effects of unlocking her genetic lock.

Though drenched in sweat and pale to the point of fright, an unprecedented confidence gleamed in her eyes.

A true psychic controller’s power is entirely different with or without unlocking the genetic lock—at least that was Zhan Lan’s feeling.

She was confident that once she reentered that state, her psychic scanning range would expand at least five to six times. With Wu Xian’s assistance, they might even cover the entire Nostromo spacecraft.

“Well then, let’s begin now,” Wu Xian’s voice came from behind.

Suddenly, Zhan Lan felt a cold hand press against her head.

Startled, she quickly steadied herself and said in a calm voice, “Captain, I’m ready.”

“Hmm…”

Wu Xian smiled, then with a gentler tone said, “I haven’t used this skill many times either, so it might feel uncomfortable. Please try to endure it. When we return to the Divine Core realm, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Ah? Uh… thank you.”

Perhaps feeling the strangeness of the words, Zhan Lan’s cheeks flushed slightly. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, a dazed look replaced her pupils, which now emitted a faint white glow.

First-level genetic lock—unlocked!

Seeing this, Wu Xian wasted no time. His eyes sharpened as he rapidly injected his own mental power—already exceeding a thousand units—into Zhan Lan’s brain, searching for her psychic energy to fuse with.

The process was swift but far from smooth. With no prior practice, two completely different psychic energies trying to merge perfectly inevitably faced problems.

At that moment, Wu Xian’s eyes also glazed over into a daze...

A strange buzzing sound filled the air.

Everyone in the control room felt an indescribable pressure rising from their chests. Newcomers outside the compartment panicked, thinking the aliens were attacking, shrieking until Zheng Zha stepped up to calm them.

“Did it succeed?” Chu Xuan asked, watching the scene with a complex, unnameable emotion flickering behind his glasses.

Wu Xian didn’t answer, fully focused on the initial fusion of his and Zhan Lan’s psychic powers.

The next second, both nearly simultaneously activated their psychic scanning ability. Instantly, the interior structure of the spacecraft began to unfold within their “vision.”

A diameter of one kilometer, two kilometers, five kilometers... ten kilometers, fifteen kilometers... found it!

Finally, about twenty kilometers from the main control room, inside a warehouse, they suddenly sensed a strange obstruction.

Then, aided by Zhan Lan, Wu Xian thrust their combined psychic power toward the source of the obstruction.

In the next moment, he saw a nest filled with disgusting secretions and dead crew members, along with an alien queen seemingly in the process of laying eggs.

Perhaps sensing their gaze, the alien queen suddenly lifted her head and looked around, then let out two shrill cries in the air. From the slime-covered walls, countless aliens descended, forming a protective guard around her.

Among them, a few were especially bulky, over three meters tall—mutants designed specifically to guard the queen, their strength far surpassing ordinary aliens.

“Queen’s guards… with this number, even Zheng Zha at second-tier might get surrounded and killed,” Wu Xian thought, exhaling heavily.

He first helped Zhan Lan stabilize her current scanning range, then turned to Chu Xuan seriously.

“We found the alien queen’s location, but the defenses around her are tricky. Only I can handle this quickly.”

“Also, there are other scattered aliens hiding in this ship. Zhan Lan has locked onto their positions. I’ll have Friday help mark them on the map.”

“If… I mean if we can’t eliminate the aliens before the ship returns to Earth, let’s execute your plan to blow up the ship.”

At this, Wu Xian glanced at the already restless Zheng Zha.

“Zheng Zha, clearing out these guys is your task. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Of course!” Zheng Zha grinned, his teeth gleaming.

“Splitting forces again…” Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses. “Given the remaining time, this is indeed optimal. With your strength, you can single-handedly wipe out the alien nest, while Zheng Zha, the other veterans, and Zero Point sweep the hidden aliens inside the ship. There might be just enough time.”

“But there’s another issue… Zhan Lan must continuously identify alien hiding spots for everyone. She can’t join the fight and must stay in the control room, relaying information via Friday. That means we need to leave someone trustworthy and capable behind.”

The atmosphere fell silent once more.

Everyone knew that if the main mission failed, all present would lose 7,000 reward points.

Besides Wu Xian, no one could offset the penalty from mission failure. For now, the only way to survive was to hunt more aliens.

But if they left someone behind in the control room, it was essentially handing over their chance to live.

With time so tight, no one could guarantee completing the main mission before returning to Earth.

“Let me stay.”