Chapter Thirteen: Preparations Before the Battle (Part Two)

Chapter Thirteen: Preparations Before Battle

“By the way, do you need me to explain the details of the first Predator movie?” After listening, Chu Xuan spoke up again.

“I’d appreciate it,” Zheng Zha replied.

“From the third film, we can deduce that there are two factions among the Predators. The Predator in the first movie doesn’t kill women, so as long as the female members don’t die in the first battle, they should survive. Only one Predator appears in the first film, which suggests they usually operate alone. The Predator’s mask has a function—what we’d call ‘thermal imaging’ in scientific terms. Anything with a body temperature creates a contrast with its surroundings, and this device displays different colors, particularly bright ones, making it easy to distinguish living things, since all biological creatures have a body temperature above fifteen degrees, even if some are cold-blooded. When Arnold was covered in mud, the mud absorbed most of his body heat, so the Predator couldn’t detect him.”

“The Predator’s wrist blades come in both long and short varieties. If you judge the distance correctly, you can usually dodge them. But you should be aware that the blades can be launched.”

“I’ve finished explaining the plot. Now, can the four of you tell me something? For instance, where are we? If my guess is correct... this should be the American military camp before we set out to search for the pilot, right?” Chu Xuan watched as Zheng Zha and the other three exchanged bewildered glances. Only then did he smile and say, “I was just testing you, but now I’m fairly certain… Still, I hope you’ll clarify the situation, otherwise I cannot imagine why I am here.”

Zhang Jie and Zhan Lan were about to speak, but Zheng Zha interrupted them and asked first, “When did you watch Alien, the first horror film?”

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses, “About seven years ago. It’s recent enough that I still remember it clearly.”

Zheng Zha and the others, along with the people around them, were secretly astonished. To remember something from seven years ago so vividly—did that mean they themselves had poor memories? Even Shuste and Lorita were surprised; unless one was special, ordinary memories from seven years ago wouldn’t remain so fresh.

Suddenly, Chu Xuan turned to the group of newcomers and said, “I imagine all of you saw the option ‘Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you truly want… to live?’ on some webpage?”

The surrounding people responded, their accents diverse, but all confirmed it. Every one of them had chosen “YES.”

“At the time, I was writing a program on my computer. But unexpectedly, this option appeared on my programming interface. The key point is, my computer was disconnected from the internet. I wasn’t aware of any virus capable of penetrating my custom firewall, so I immediately started decoding the origin and source code of this option. And guess what I found?”

Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses and continued calmly, “This text wasn’t formed from the zeros and ones of a computer. Its source code wasn’t an electronic program, but rather a set of strange symbols. If my memory serves me, these symbols were composed of three kinds of scripts: oracle bone script, papyrus script, and cuneiform—three of the oldest writing systems in the world—along with a large number of inexplicable symbols. Without a reference, those cannot be translated.”

“I was extremely curious. You must understand, when computers break through the limits of zeros and ones, that’s when artificial intelligence emerges. Never mind that this text used multiple ancient scripts simultaneously. So I chose the ‘YES’ option, which had many more characters than ‘NO,’ and abandoned the simpler one. The result was astonishing—I found myself here. I don’t know where this is, but it must be far, far away from Beijing, right?”

Zheng Zha glanced around at the dumbfounded crowd. To be honest, he too was alarmed. This newcomer was remarkable, but who exactly was he?

Hesitantly, Zheng Zha asked, “Who exactly are you? And why do you believe this place is so far from Beijing?”

Chu Xuan smiled, “With an IQ of 220, if I couldn’t deduce these things, I’d have wasted my life. Let me introduce myself once more: Chu Xuan, Colonel. Before coming here, I was at the Longyin Military Base in Beijing. Second only to Longxing, it’s China’s second largest secret military base. I don’t believe anyone could abduct me from there. Moreover, my detection instrument indicated I hadn’t left Longyin Base. I pondered for a long time and could only think of one possibility for this situation: I had clearly left Longyin Base, yet my detector still showed I hadn’t moved a step.”

Chu Xuan displayed his wristwatch. According to him, it had been redesigned. For national treasure-level researchers like him, to prevent kidnapping by spies, his watch could connect with the main computer at Longyin Base, continually sending signals to determine his location. The watch would also display how far he had gone from Longyin Base.

“That means I left my original space in an instant. So, in this space, the watch can’t receive electronic signals from Longyin’s main computer. It still thinks I’m inside Longyin Base. That’s the only logical explanation I could come up with, and now it seems this unbelievable answer is true.”

Most of the newcomers either looked skeptical or were visibly panicked. Among them, aside from Chu Xuan calmly observing, there were two others quietly watching the four veterans. Zheng Zha was surprised to notice a tall, strongly-built Caucasian among the crowd.

He approached the two and extended his hand, “May I ask your names? Does this gentleman understand Mandarin?”

One of them was rather thin, but his body was tightly muscled. He did not shake hands with Zheng Zha—instead, he stepped back and said, “You can call me Zero. I won’t answer any other questions.”

The Caucasian grasped Zheng Zha’s hand heartily, “Kampa Rovsky. You can call me Kampa. Of course I understand Mandarin—though I’m not used to speaking it yet. You have quite a grip.”

Zheng Zha looked at the rest. Aside from the three small-time thugs who remained kneeling, the other five consisted of two middle-aged men with large bellies. Their oily hair and the fact they held briefcases and stood cautiously together suggested they knew each other from the business world. The remaining three were two young men and a woman. Both men looked to be in their twenties; one was scanning his surroundings alertly, the other was joking with the woman, who was dressed as a white-collar worker. Judging from their attire, they were probably professionals, and after their earlier panic, seemed to have calmed down.

Zheng Zha shook his head and spoke loudly, “Now, please tell us your previous occupation, age, and area of expertise. We need to allocate roles accordingly.”

They hesitated, but Chu Xuan spoke first, “Even if you say so, there’s no way to confirm you’re telling the truth. Is there anything to prove you’re not lying? For example, items you’ve exchanged or your exceptional physical abilities?”

Zhang Jie sneered, “Do you think surviving a horror movie is easy? ‘Nine deaths and one life’ can’t even describe the terror. Maybe those who’ve survived twenty movies could meet your standards—their bodies could punch through steel plates. Those two over there could definitely do it.” He gestured toward Shuste and his companion by the wall.

Chu Xuan shook his head, “No, you misunderstand. I wasn’t mocking you. For the sake of our cooperation, I just want to dispel everyone’s suspicions.” He glanced at Zero and Kampa Rovsky.

Then he said, “Just hand me the hemostatic spray you used earlier.”

Zhang Jie nodded to Li Xiaoyi, who promptly tossed his spray to Chu Xuan. Unexpectedly, the bespectacled man asked, “Does anyone have a dagger? Preferably a sharp one.”

With a whistling sound, a throwing knife landed at his feet, thrown by Shuste.

Chu Xuan resolutely sliced his own wrist, as if it were not part of his body. Blood poured out like water, and veins were cut. Zhan Lan and the white-collar woman shrieked, and several of the new arrivals were secretly shocked. Chu Xuan sprayed his wrist with the hemostatic agent; remarkably, the blood quickly scabbed over. Within seconds, his wrist had stopped bleeding and begun to heal. He tossed the knife and spray to Kampa Rovsky.

“Wrap it with this bandage and it’ll heal faster,” Shuste threw over a roll of bandages.

Chu Xuan said nothing, bandaged his wound, and handed it to Kampa Rovsky, who had just stopped his own bleeding.

Zheng Zha and his three companions exchanged glances. They noticed Zero did the same. Once everything was done, Kampa Rovsky spoke heartily, “I’m a member of an international mercenary group, the top firepower specialist. You can call me Overlord. Honestly, I’d prefer if you were lying—this place is truly dreadful.”

Zero tossed the medicine and bandages back to Li Xiaoyi, rotating his bandaged wrist. After a moment, he said coldly, “I have no name. Just call me Zero. I’m a professional assassin, specializing in long-range precision sniping. Unfortunately, this horror film doesn’t seem to require my skills, and there are no sniper rifles here.”

Zheng Zha nodded. Before he could speak, Zhang Jie laughed, “Not bad, you’re all pretty strong. We four survived the last horror movie—I’ve made it through four, the others once each. Looks like we were careless; we should have exchanged for some heavy weapons with limited ammo to use first. Those consumables are dirt cheap in terms of exchange points.”

PS: It’s raining and I’m feeling great! I’m a monster, don’t mind me. Rain always puts me in a good mood!