Chapter 43: Return

"That is absolutely fantastic!"

Zheng Zha exclaimed, "Then let's set off as soon as possible. I don't want to spend another second in this place."

"Understood."

Ba Wang stood up and stretched his body. "Although the space here is large enough, by comparison, I miss the frozen earth of Siberia. Even though it's cold, the vast sky always makes one feel joyful."

Silence.

Everyone looked at the burly Russian man with surprise, as if they felt something was not quite right.

"What's with those looks?"

The corner of Ba Wang’s mouth twitched. "It’s called: 'A tiger resides in the heart, sniffing the rose.'"

When talking about the men from that land, one can never escape the topics of vodka and meat, or the unforgettable "Suka Blyat." Yet, the imprints of that era, the trends of that time, and even the unique Soviet literature and art—which balanced delicacy with ruggedness—possess a literary beauty rarely seen in this world.

Ba Wang is not particularly young, but he is certainly not old either.

In a sense, he lived through one of the worst eras and witnessed the disintegration of a legend; he is one of the millions swept along by the tides of history.

There is still a trace of that Soviet literary aura about him, though it is merely an aura now.

"Let’s go."

Zheng Zha patted Ba Wang on the shoulder. "It’s time to pick up our strategist."

...

Crash!

Bottles and jars were scattered across the floor, then incinerated by a fierce flame. The DNA within was completely burned away, leaving not even a fragment behind.

"Soon, it will be soon."

Qian Gu stood before the door, yawning at the tragedy unfolding in the laboratory.

This was essentially the last laboratory. He had lost count of how many such labs he had thoroughly destroyed. Every person involved had been slaughtered, and alongside the Ripley DNA samples, they had vanished into the flames.

"I feel surprisingly relaxed. Is it because of the Xenomorph evolution?"

The reward for the mission had already been received.

Just moments ago, the final Ripley DNA sample had been destroyed, and the mission was officially complete. Relatively speaking, it had been a bit too simple.

Qian Gu pondered for a moment and realized the reason: it all stemmed from that single Xenomorph evolution.

The difficulty of the so-called DNA sample task was concentrated within the hive. In a place filled with facehuggers, a Xenomorph Queen, and a Xenomorph evolution, trying to destroy a DNA sample hidden somewhere inside was like finding a needle in a haystack—not to mention the danger of being parasitized or killed at any moment.

But!

Qian Gu had taken a "shortcut."

He had simply uprooted the entire hive. The Queen, the evolution, and all those facehuggers had been crushed to dust.

With a Rampage Bear in hand, it was truly effortless.

Consequently, the inherent difficulty had naturally plummeted. Though the mission remained non-trivial for Qian Gu himself, in the face of a Rampage Bear, it was just a matter of a few back-and-forth skirmishes.

"Qian Gu!"

At that moment, a familiar, hearty voice rang out from behind him.

"You’re only just getting here?"

Qian Gu turned his head, looking somewhat helpless. "How did things go?"

"Already resolved."

Zheng Zha gave a thumbs-up. "Very simple."

Heh.

Qian Gu rolled his eyes.

If not for Chu Xuan, it certainly wouldn't have been simple at all, especially since Li Shuai-Xi—that slightly heaven-defying genius—was on their side.

"So, does that mean we can head back?"

"Yes."

"Then let’s go."

He needed to leave immediately. He didn't want to stay in this place for even one more second.

*The Rampage Bear?*

He glanced at the Rampage Bear following behind Zhan Lan, relieved to see that the other party hadn't been stupid enough to be beyond saving.

In that case, the assassination incident could be avoided.

After all, the initiative shown by this current Zhan Lan completely eclipsed the original one.

"The route."

"This way."

Chu Xuan was the one leading the way.

At the time, he was the only "Super Coordinator" capable of instantly imprinting the entire map of the Auriga joint naval vessel into his mind.

Perhaps it was the deterrent force of the two Rampage Bears, or perhaps some other reason.

In any case, the return journey went exceptionally smoothly. Even when the escape pod door activated at the pre-set time, no other Xenomorphs or war machines intervened.

The reincarnators stepped into the escape pod one by one. Once they crossed that threshold, they were directly teleported back to the God space, without waiting for everyone to gather in the pod for a collective return.

Until only Qian Gu and Chu Xuan remained.

"Go ahead."

Qian Gu adjusted his glasses, signaling for Chu Xuan to leave first.

A flash of light crossed Chu Xuan's lenses. "You must have already guessed it, right?"

"I suppose so."

Qian Gu did not hide anything and readily admitted it. "It was easy enough to guess; you didn't do anything overly cryptic. Besides, you are my teammate, and I have no objections to you taking it."

"The apex of mortal wisdom," Chu Xuan looked at Qian Gu. "I will abide by the team rules."

"Good."

Qian Gu and Arno stepped into the escape pod.

Chu Xuan walked to the door. He did not look back, but counted silently: "Three, two..."

One!

BOOM—

Explosions bloomed across the entire Auriga joint naval vessel.

[Destroyed the Auriga joint naval vessel. Obtained one Grade B Horror Side-Story, 5,000 reward points.]

...

Qian Gu awoke from a half-dream state and slowly descended onto the platform.

He looked up at Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan's clothes were essentially blown to shreds. He was currently undergoing a full-body repair by the "God," constantly mending injuries caused by the blast—even missing limbs. If not for Chu Xuan’s indomitable willpower, he might have simply died from the pain.

*As I thought.*

Qian Gu was contemplative; he had an answer for what Chu Xuan had been doing while being the last to return.

He had blown up the Auriga!

Yes.

He had blown up that massive joint vessel.

Clearly, destruction on such a scale was also rewarded by God, and sometimes, it was even more valuable than the mission itself.

However, what Qian Gu hadn't expected was that Chu Xuan would be so bold. If he had been even a second later, he would have likely become space debris alongside the Auriga.

"The body repair cost one hundred points. Is it always this expensive?"

Chu Xuan asked with a frown.

Hmm?

Qian Gu’s heart skipped a beat.

Logically speaking, the injuries Chu Xuan sustained were significantly lighter than those in the original story, yet the points consumed for the repair were nearly the same.

What did this imply?

*So then…*

Qian Gu looked up at the giant glowing ball—the "God."

Was the state of Chu Xuan’s "Super Coordinator" nervous system and emotions also viewed by God as a defect in need of repair?

Of course, that wasn't the main point for Qian Gu.

The point was—

*Zhang Jie!*