Chapter 14: Fang Ge: Zhang Jie, stay away from me!
"How could this be?" Zhan Lan exclaimed in surprise, her voice laced with a sob.
They had already given up on shutting down Red Queen, so why were they still plunged into darkness?
Why had the plot undergone such a significant change?
"What happened! Kaplan?"
"It's like... it's like the power went out, the Hive is out of power!"
"Fuck!"
Darkness, tinged with annoyance and fear, enveloped everyone.
The Hive losing power meant that the central computer defense system, which had been isolating the zombies and creepers, was now ineffective. The entire laboratory would become their world!
"We don't have time to find a backup power supply... Do you remember those refrigerators? In about fifteen minutes, they'll defrost, and then they'll be running rampant throughout the Hive."
Fang Ge's words heightened the tension to the extreme.
"Before the biological weapons can move normally, we must leave the Hive as quickly as possible!"
The Main God's rewards were very strict.
James Shade had already been injected with the T-Virus, becoming a 【Valuable Experiment Subject】. No matter what happened next, he wouldn't die; Umbrella Corporation would try their best to capture him alive.
Therefore, the reward for saving him had already been issued.
The other mercenaries, however, were not so lucky. Even if they escaped the original death trap, they could still die in the Hive.
Based on Fang Ge's past experience, once they started their return journey, the corresponding side mission would be triggered.
Before that, Zhang Jie needed to be 【dealt with】.
It was well-known that Zhang Jie was a half-Reincarnator, half-Guide, a bug in the Main God Space.
To fix this bug, the Main God would significantly increase the difficulty for the Central Continent Team, forcing the members to unlock their Gene Lock and compelling Zhang Jie to undergo the Captain's assessment.
Therefore, there were two things to avoid next.
Firstly, Zhang Jie could not participate in the return journey, otherwise, the difficulty of the return mission would greatly increase. It should be noted that the Main God had preferential treatment for 【newcomers】; missions involving pure newcomers were much simpler than those with veterans.
Secondly, no one should unlock their Gene Lock by 【their own ability】 in the first horror movie. Otherwise, the Main God would force Zhang Jie to start his assessment.
The current situation was still different from the original Alien plot.
Although Colonel Chu in the original story also unlocked his Gene Lock in the first movie, it was in the final stages of the horror movie. At that time, Zhang Jie had lost his combat ability, and he also had two choices, Zheng Zha and Chu Xuan, to waver between. He also had excuses to delay the Main God.
If Colonel Chu were to suddenly unlock his Gene Lock now, Zhang Jie might not be able to be saved!
Zhang Jie was a strong candidate for the strongest psychic. If Zhang Jie couldn't be saved, Fang Ge would have to restart!
"Whoosh..."
The sound of flowing water kept coming from afar. James Shade could easily infer the situation outside. He loudly ordered:
"Five minutes, everyone prepare for five minutes. Take the Red Queen's motherboard as evidence, and then we'll break out of the Hive as fast as possible, using the shortest path!"
When they came to the control room, they had taken a long detour because the path was flooded.
Now that the Hive had started draining water and B Restaurant was extremely dangerous, the choice of route was obvious.
Fang Ge could feel Zhan Lan, beside him in the darkness, trembling slightly.
According to the original story, she was feeling excited... In fact, the woman was just being stubborn. Didn't Fang Ge know Zhan Lan's true colors?
He suddenly reached out and patted the bespectacled girl's shoulder, startling Zhan Lan, who almost jumped.
Even in the darkness, Fang Ge felt that resentful gaze.
Fang Ge grinned, feeling a 【thrill】 like pulling a female deskmate's pigtail in elementary school.
Then he gestured for the Reincarnators to go to a nearby corner, away from the mercenaries, to discuss their next move.
"I think this is a kind of... backlash."
Fang Ge's opening statement was radical. He analyzed: "According to Brother Jie, neither the Main God nor the plot characters will allow us to arbitrarily change the plot. Now we've messed up the plot completely and earned a considerable amount of reward points..."
"I'm afraid it's time to face the Main God's test!"
"I told you not to change the plot! Don't change the plot! You're just asking for trouble..."
Zhang Jie scratched his head and complained, not hiding his anxiety in the slightest.
"Don't you understand the principle of earning money but not having the life to spend it? In all the horror movies I've been through, I've never seen anyone bring a side plot back to the Main God Space!"
This was a side of him he hadn't shown before, which precisely indicated that Zhang Jie was in a difficult position now.
—You're full of crap. I truly don't believe you haven't brought a side plot back to the Main God Space...
Zhang Jie's lying skills were indeed not great. Without applying the Eye of Suggestion, he was full of flaws.
No wonder, after all, he was the good person designated by Z. If he were like Fang Ge, spouting nonsense and never telling the truth, with every word being an impromptu performance, Zheng Zha wouldn't have ten lives to spare.
"Stop dwelling on these things!"
Zhan Lan clasped her hands together, gently and softly mediating: "What we need to consider now is how to survive this horror movie! We won't change the plot anymore, okay...?"
"No, this information indeed holds some special significance."
Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses and began his performance: "Look at your watches. Presumably, because James Shade was originally supposed to die in the laser corridor, the distance restriction has now been lifted."
"We can actually stay in the control room and wait for the time to end."
"Stay in here? Isn't that asking for death?" Zheng Zha spread his hands, looking at the bespectacled man with a look of disbelief.
—Oh no, Zheng Zha thinks Chu Xuan is an idiot!
"Of course not. There are roughly 45 minutes left until the mission is complete. Although the control room is in the very center of the Hive, there's only one path to get here, and it requires passing through five intersections."
Chu Xuan narrated a possibility:
"Ordinary zombies have no sight or smell, only not-so-strong hearing... or rather, the ability to perceive vibrations. So as long as we're quiet enough, staying here won't be a problem."
"After all... the mercenaries will make a lot of noise, which will definitely attract the attention of most zombies. And we have the antidote on hand, so even if we're very unlucky and encounter scattered ordinary zombies, we can risk getting bitten and neutralize them silently."
"Furthermore, after the power outage, Umbrella Corporation's monitoring capabilities here will drop to their lowest point, which will actually make this place safer."
—You truly are an excellent mouthpiece.
Fang Ge blinked, realizing how much easier things were with Chu Xuan around.
Presumably, Colonel Chu had already deduced that veterans and newcomers would not have the same difficulty, and wanted to split up with Zhang Jie.
This coincided with Fang Ge's thoughts.
"So, according to you, we should stay here?"
Zhang Jie rubbed his chin, clearly quite tempted.
He even found reasons to start convincing the others:
"The Main God won't issue a suicidal mission, so there's no need to worry about a sudden objective appearing that we have to follow. Staying here is a good idea."
Fang Ge spoke up at the right time, expressing his opposition:
"No... strictly speaking, only you and Zheng Zha are qualified to stay here."
"Brother Jie, you've always been law-abiding and haven't gained any extra benefits, so the Main God won't be too harsh on you... After all, as you said, the difficulty of this horror movie is the lowest, possibly so low that you won't die even if you do nothing."
"And Zheng Zha has already faced two life-or-death crises and survived both. The Main God won't be envious of him getting some rewards... He deserves it."
"But the three of us, who haven't gone through life-and-death trials and took shortcuts, probably won't be able to escape the Main God's targeting by staying here, and will instead drag you down."
Then, Fang Ge pulled out his trump card against Zhang Jie—retreating to advance.
He sincerely said:
"Brother Jie, in the current situation, it's us who are dragging you down, and you and I are just passing acquaintances. As a veteran, you don't owe us anything."
"If you don't want to face those dozens of creepers... or even more terrifying threats, then stay here."
"Yeah, yeah, anyway, besides a desert eagle, you haven't shown any other skills."
Zheng Zha chuckled in agreement: "If we can really go back alive with reward points, we'll show you what a 【Superman】 is!"
Zheng Zha was also a minor supervisor, and with a few words, he drew a clear line between himself and Zhang Jie, rejoining Fang Ge and the others.
He was unwilling to wait here; this passive style didn't suit him.
"Damn rookies, they're looking down on me!" Zhang Jie cursed upon hearing this, but his eyes gradually wavered.
He knew better than anyone that only if he stayed here would these newcomers have a better chance of survival.
Moreover... while they were disobedient, the qualities these newcomers 【displayed】 were quite good.
Fang Ge had once sacrificed himself to help Zhan Lan escape the Death Stairs...
Zheng Zha, even when wrongly accused, still had the kindness to help James Shade...
Chu Xuan, despite his rash plans, was still diligent and responsible... and most military officers had good character, as Zhang Jie knew best.
Zhan Lan's personality was quite likable, and she seemed to be just a somewhat poor female writer; she probably wasn't too bad... After all, with her talent and looks, it wouldn't be difficult to make some money if she was willing to go all out.
Perhaps they each had their own calculations, perhaps their friendliness was only superficial and not from the heart.
But what did that matter? Who in the world wouldn't have selfish motives? Even if they had selfish motives, did they do anything bad?
Zhou Gong feared gossip when he was in power; Wang Mang was humble before usurping. If they had died then, who would know their true nature?
Zhang Jie would not speculate about the newcomers with the worst malice, because he himself also wanted to be a good person.
Chu Xuan did not speak further. He was not good at playing the emotional card, and subtly gave Fang Ge a pleading look.
For some reason, Fang Ge felt this was a bit ambiguous... Chu Xuan's attitude towards him had subtly changed at some point.
However, that wasn't important. Once they returned to the Main God Space, Chu Xuan would be his employee.
So Fang Ge cooperated and delivered the finishing blow:
"I don't want the incident with the uncle and aunt to repeat. Their tragic deaths are still vivid in my mind!"
"Of course, I'm confident I can win everything here, but if another good person is dragged down and dies..."
"If I die, my conscience won't be at peace!"
【If another good person is dragged down and dies】
No one could understand the destructive power of this sentence on Zhang Jie.
He decided to stay, and besides, staying was for his own good.
The scarred man immediately sneered:
"Alright then, if you want to take risks, go ahead. If you want to die, go die. This old man won't accompany you!"