Chapter 524: Swamp Zone Xenomorph
"You're just a new player. Don't mistake your own perspective for the upper limit of the game world. There are plenty of things you don't know," Yue Weiping said.
"We've seen the corpses of Xenomorphs," Liang Song added. "Although their external degenerative features aren't obvious, their bodies are severely contaminated. They even use their appearance to lure warriors. If that fails, they might resort to suicide attacks. Once a person comes into contact with the germs, they're easily infected."
"So you're facing two difficulties," Xu Huo summarized. "First, direct contact with a Xenomorph can transmit the disease. Second, taking off the glasses will injure your eyes."
"As for the first point, as long as you avoid direct contact, the chance of infection decreases. Your mouths and noses are exposed, which means you're not worried about airborne transmission. In that case, examining a corpse carries a low risk of infection."
"As for the second point, the high-intensity lights on the protective wall can damage the eyes. But we're far enough from the wall, and there are no lights nearby. The naked eye should be able to adapt to the ambient light here."
"You're trying to say that certain light might unknowingly harm the eyes, but the glasses we're using don't seem to be made of special materials. In other words, they don't target specific light. Other eye covers could achieve the same effect."
The other three exchanged glances. Yi Mao said, "What you're saying makes some sense, but forcibly breaking the glasses might cause identity verification to fail, which means we won't get the government's reward."
"That is indeed a problem," Xu Huo said, suddenly turning to the right. A moment later, the sound of a bullet hitting metal rang out!
As he tilted his head back, fragments flew from his face. Yi Mao and the others instinctively crouched behind a withered tree for cover while firing shots in the direction the bullet came from!
In truth, none of them had spotted the target. They only saw Xu Huo being "killed" and feared a repeat of what happened before. They fired first and asked questions later. Seconds later, a "person" leaped out from under the mud. Instead of fleeing under the barrage, it charged straight at them!
"It's a Xenomorph!" Yi Mao was the first to see clearly and couldn't help shouting. But the creature came fiercely, lunging at him in a single bound. He barely dodged and nearly fell, only saved by Liang Song's timely pull.
However, the Xenomorph, failing its first strike, lunged at Xu Huo standing nearby.
Yue Weiping had already let go of Xu Huo's hand and escaped when he was hit. The other three were surprised to see him still standing, but then realized they had misjudged—Xu Huo hadn't been hit at all!
Xu Huo wasn't surprised the creature lunged at him. As it closed in, he crossed two fingers, and the floating strings hoisted the creature into the air.
Suspended midair, the "Xenomorph" clutched its throat, struggling and gasping out broken sounds. Xu Huo took off his shattered glasses and said to the mud-covered figure, "Can you still talk?"
The "mud figure" didn't respond. Its bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at him, drool dripping from its mouth.
Xu Huo took out some food he carried and tossed it over. The creature, ignoring the string around its neck, lunged forward and caught the jerky with its mouth. It struggled desperately but refused to let go of the meat.
"You'd better not make a move," Xu Huo said, turning to look at Yue Weiping.
By now, the four of them could see he wasn't wearing glasses. His warning gaze made them pause before they realized his vision wasn't affected.
Yue Weiping, who had just raised his gun, slowly lowered his hand and stepped back with the other three.
Only then did Xu Huo lower the "mud figure," keeping the string around its neck but not tightening it. The creature, however, showed no interest in attacking him. It chewed the jerky loudly, watching him warily.
It didn't seem completely out of its mind.
Xu Huo tossed his water flask over. This time, the "mud figure" caught it, pried open the lid, and poured water into its mouth. When it choked, it pounded its chest violently. Before it had even fully swallowed, it reached out again.
Xu Huo gave it a few more pieces of jerky. The creature sat down, tearing at the meat and drinking water, completely ignoring the people who wanted to kill it.
To Yi Mao and the others, Xu Huo was "feeding" a Xenomorph. But the human-shaped thermal image was behaving exactly like a normal person, nothing like a mentally degenerated Xenomorph.
"Xenomorphs can imitate humans," Yue Weiping said. "And they were originally human. It's not strange for their habits to resemble ours."
"Do you have extra water? Give me some," Xu Huo said, turning to Liang Song.
"Our water might not be enough," Wan Xiao whispered.
Still, Liang Song didn't hesitate to bring out a bucket. Xu Huo thanked him, took it, and splashed the water over the Xenomorph, washing off some of the mud. After observing for a moment, he said, "There are red and black patches on the skin. It should be infected with germs."
"That's the germs the Xenomorph carries!" Yi Mao's face changed dramatically. He wrapped a scarf around his mouth and nose and said indistinctly, "Don't get too close!"
Liang Song and the others also changed expressions, hurriedly backing away.
Only Xu Huo remained squatting in front of the figure. After a careful look, he said, "I think I've seen this kind of germ before."
He searched his personal panel, took out a bottle of potion, and tossed it over.
The creature didn't care what was thrown at it—anything edible or drinkable went into its mouth. It bit the bottle to pieces, swallowing the potion and blood together.
After a while, it reached out for more food. This time, Xu Huo didn't give any. He tightened the string and pulled the figure up, but only to make it stand.
The figure seemed to fall into a brief state of confusion again, struggling and kicking, but not as wildly as before. Eventually, exhausted from its own efforts, it simply stood still. Before long, it even started dozing off on the spot.
"What is he doing?" Yue Weiping couldn't help whispering. "Does he think he can make a Xenomorph return to normal?"
"Should we leave?" Wan Xiao said.
"Let's wait a bit more," Liang Song said, frowning, and patted Yi Mao's shoulder reassuringly.
With no other choice, they waited. Another hour passed, and Xu Huo suddenly spoke, "Awake?"
He wasn't asking Liang Song and the others, but the Xenomorph in front.
The creature, whose eyes had been bloodshot and expression manic, now seemed to have a glimmer of clarity. It observed its own condition, then looked at Yi Mao and the others, who had their guns trained on it. It pointed to its neck and waved its hand.
Xu Huo casually broke off a dry branch and handed it over, retracting the string. "If you can't talk, write."
The figure crouched down and wrote on the damp ground: "What time is it now?"
(Chapter End)