Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 52 begins for the second time!
Zheng Zha had already entered that mysterious and indescribable state. His eyes were blank, and his mind seemed to be empty... He forgot the pain after unlocking the gene lock, couldn't hear the voice in his earpiece, and couldn't even see his own movements. At this moment, all he could see was that cat alien!

His first encounter with the cat-like alien was evenly matched; the alien's long, agile tail struck him on the first contact. However, the dual-D class power armor was strong enough that the tail, though a soft spear, slipped away after the initial stab, unable to stop its momentum. Zheng Zha grabbed the cat-like alien's hind leg, and red flames instantly ignited at the point of contact. However, the cat-like alien reacted quickly, its upper body frantically twisting around Zheng Zha, a force that nearly knocked Zheng Zha over, and he lost his grip.

The cat-like alien leaped aside, its hind legs, which had been scratched, somewhat stiff. Zheng Zha seemed to smell a strange, acrid odor. Even he himself didn't realize that red flames had only ignited on his hands, instead of his usual full-body red flames.

The cat-like alien was much heavier and stronger than Zheng Zha had imagined. Without this power armor, the brief struggle might have knocked him down and caused him to be strangled.

However, these were not within Zheng Zha's considerations. His fighting instinct surged forth from his body, as if his entire being was controlled by this instinct... How to attack, whether to defend, whether to dodge—all the answers were decided before he even made a move!

In an instant, the rifle in his other hand was aimed at the still-dodging cat alien, and then he roared. No matter how it dodged, the muzzle remained locked on its body. In less than two seconds, the cat alien was shot through in several places, but it finally pounced and swung a claw at Zheng Zha.

Zheng Zha knew it was going to shoot the gun away, but he didn't dodge. Instead, it used its claws to cut off the muzzle and then sliced ​​open the grenade launcher... Four grenades exploded at the same time. The violent shockwave made Zheng Zha take a step back. Even with the enhancements of a vampire viscount and power armor, he felt a sweet taste in his throat, but he didn't care. He had won this fight!
The cat-like alien was blasted away; the explosion of four grenades was enough to damage its exoskeleton, and acidic blood splattered from its chest. The paw that triggered the explosion was also severed. Before it could regain its footing, it fell sharply to the side, and half of a rifle stuck in the spot where it had just landed, embedded straight into the metal wall.

The attack missed, but Zheng Zha showed no regret. Ignoring the slight abnormality in his left arm armor, he took a step and stood in front of the cat alien, then roared and slammed his fist down!
The cat-like alien's tail snapped upwards, only to be deflected by the punch, which then slammed into its head. With a crisp crack, the exoskeleton of its skull shattered, leaving a small dent in its head.

But its vitality is so tenacious that when Zheng Zha's punch was exhausted, it used its four legs to push off Zheng Zha's feet.

Zheng Zha roared and stomped on its tail. This deadly weapon now became an obstacle to its escape. Without turning its head, it tried to sever its tail itself, but Zheng Zha grabbed it and swung it around, slamming it against the wall and the ground. Just as Zheng Zha swung it for the third time, the tail could not withstand the force and finally broke off at the base, just as it wished. A spray of acidic blood splattered onto Zheng Zha's armor, corroding patches of white marks.

The cat-like alien fled, and seeing that the other two humans had finished their fight and were heading this way, it decisively used the wall for leverage, attempting to rush towards its reinforcements. This person in front of it was formidable, but the two in front of it seemed far less dangerous!
While it was still in the air, Zheng Zha suddenly leaped up, lifting the bulky power armor with him, and grabbed the cat alien by the neck mid-air. The cat alien struggled frantically while still in his grasp, trying to use its tail to stab at Zheng Zha's mask, but its tail had already been severed, so it could only kick at Zheng Zha with its hind legs.

Zheng Zha subconsciously activated the jetpack he wasn't used to, and with a roar, he rose again before even landing, pushing his speed to its maximum without reservation. In an instant, he slammed the cat alien into the ceiling while gripping its neck.

Then, crimson light enveloped everything in Zheng Zha's vision, and crimson flames erupted from his entire body. The immense force pushed the cat-like alien upwards, rendering it immobile, while the crimson flames spread to its head, neck, and entire body.

When Zheng Zha came to his senses, the cat-like alien's head and neck shell had been burned through. With the upward force of the jetpack, this fragile structure was broken, and the head and remains, completely burned to charcoal, fell to the ground.

Just as Zheng Zha was about to deactivate his jetpack and descend, another sensation flared up within him—a numbing and painful numbness, as if countless tiny insects were crawling inside him. This pain instantly penetrated to his very bones and then spread outwards, causing him to lose control of the jetpack. The sudden closure sent him crashing heavily to the ground from the ceiling, but the pain of the fall was nothing compared to the pain of unlocking his genetic potential. Zheng Zha screamed once more, rolling and convulsing on the ground.

His vision blurred, and he was plunged into unbearable agony once more. Fortunately, he vaguely sensed someone supporting him, keeping him in a position where he could breathe easily. So, with the help of Zhan Lan and Zhang Jie, he endured the pain and spasms, letting the life support device forcefully pump oxygen into him. Even though his spasming lungs felt like they were about to burst, he accepted it willingly.

When he finally snapped out of his daze and looked at Zhan Lan and Zhang Jie with gratitude, he heard a scream from the other end. "That...that was Li Xiaoyi's voice?" Zheng Zha was stunned. He was still a little incoherent. After saying this, he tried to stand up, but Zhan Lan and Zhang Jie pressed him back down. He also coughed violently, spraying blood into his helmet.

Zhang Jie advised him, "You're already like this, you should rest first... We can't open the isolation door for the time being."

Zhan Lan looked at Zheng Zha's body, which was twitching from time to time, with a worried expression, and said, "Chu Xuan said he would lower the isolation wall and wait for Mu Xiang to come and rescue us... So let's rest first, it seems that they have finished over there."

"What about Li Xiaoyi..." Zheng Zha chuckled bitterly as he spoke. Leaving aside Mu Xiang's attitude towards Li Xiaoyi, he himself had witnessed Li Xiaoyi deserting his post several times... Li Xiaoyi wasn't here now, probably for the same reason. Although he felt a pang of pity, he couldn't say anything.

"Zheng Zha, how are you guys?" Mu Xiang's voice rang in Zheng Zha's ear. "You've unlocked your genetic lock again?"

Zheng Zha chuckled, panting, "Yeah, although it was painful afterwards, when the magic was removed, I really felt like I could live if I wanted to. That feeling was amazing, like the selflessness in fantasy novels. How about you guys?"

Mu Xiang chuckled on the other end of the line: "We're in good shape, none of us are seriously injured... You guys must have heard the team's reward point notification, right? We were right, there really is hidden story content waiting for us to complete."

"The reward..." Zheng Zha glanced at his watch upon hearing this, then said with some surprise, "I just killed a cat alien and got a D-level side quest and 1000 reward points... Wow, that's a good deal! It's more than what this horror movie gave me. I'd like to make a few more, haha..."

Mu Xiang said irritably, "If you unlock your gene lock a few more times, your genes will collapse. I'm afraid you won't last until the God Space before you die in my earphones... It seems that Chu Xuan's research results need to be more widely disseminated. But there's good news. Since most of our initial speculation about the unusually low rewards has been verified, I dare say that the final reward for completing the mission will be much higher, much more than that."

Then another scream interrupted their conversation. Mu Xiang couldn't tell for a moment whether it came from Zheng Zha's earpiece or from his own ear. He and Ba Wang stopped in front of the first barrier wall at the fork in the road. After glancing at the barrier wall, the Russian man looked at Mu Xiang's left wrist... after all, getting things from there was like magic.

Now that Mu Xiang had established some ties with Zero Point and Overlord, he no longer held back. With a flick of his left hand, another directional corrosion canister appeared in his palm, which he then placed on the isolation wall.

“Zheng Zha, I’ll have Ba Wang release you in a bit. I’ll open Li Xiaoyi’s isolation wall first. If I’m not mistaken, Ripley is over there too,” Mu Xiang said.

Another scream rang out, and Mu Xiang clicked his tongue.

(End of this chapter)