Chapter 63: Paradise

As the xenomorph lunged toward them, the monkey-like creature beside the rider—half-pig, half-monkey, with a round body and slender limbs—leapt up and unleashed the 【Empty Hand Slash】 skill, slashing its palm at the xenomorph's neck side.

The Thousand Throats Beast, a large guild, is renowned for breeding, raising, and cultivating various fantasy creatures.

As a guild member, the rider learned many cultivation techniques from seniors, feeding his battle beasts specially formulated food laced with protein powder and steroids, supplemented by rigorous scientific fitness regimens.

This greatly enhanced their strength while maintaining physical health, making their combat power far superior to that of similar characters in animated works.

The furry paw of the monkey beast slammed down, forcing the xenomorph off its trajectory; it skidded past the rider and tumbled into the corner of the locker room, knocking over a row of lockers.

Li Cheng immediately pulled a domestically produced QJZ-171 machine gun from his backpack slot, aimed at the xenomorph, and pulled the trigger.

Although this machine gun fires 12.7mm rounds, its extensive use of carbon-fiber plastic and titanium alloy makes it so lightweight it can be carried with one hand—more akin to a fully automatic anti-materiel rifle than a traditional heavy machine gun.

Boom—boom—boom—

The locker room echoed with the deafening roar of gunfire; a chain of metal rounds struck the xenomorph's slender body in a continuous stream.

The first few bullets ricocheted off its streamlined armor, leaving minor dents, allowing the subsequent metal stream to pierce through.

After the 60-round belt was emptied, the xenomorph finally ceased moving, lying in shattered pieces in the corner.

"My ears are ringing."

The rider muttered, pulled out a Poké Ball, and recalled the monkey beast—the creature had an especially volatile temper and went berserk at the sound of gunfire, ready to charge at "Chuxuan" and fight to the death.

"This thing… doesn't seem to be the original xenomorph."

Li Cheng holstered the machine gun, stepped forward, and examined the broken carcass closely, noticing something odd.

In films, xenomorph blood is highly corrosive, easily melting through metal decks of spacecraft.

But this xenomorph's blood was nowhere near that potent—after more than ten seconds, it had only produced faint green smoke on the marble surface.

Second, the density and strength of its muscle fibers didn't suggest it could move in a vacuum.

Most crucially, a chip was implanted beneath its cerebellum at the back of the neck.

Li Cheng narrowed his eyes, extended a finger, and lightly touched the severed limb's cross-section—【Gene Hunger】 showed no activation whatsoever, as if utterly uninterested.

After confirming the xenomorph's corpse couldn't be stored in his backpack slot for some reason, Li Cheng took the chip, turned, and looked at the fallen security guard—only to find he was already dead; his earlier words must have been a final flicker of consciousness.

"I couldn't save him," Su Jie said, his healing motions stopping, sorrowful. He stood up and sighed.

"It's fine. You did enough. May he rest in peace."

Li Cheng patted Su Jie's shoulder, walked to the guard's side, feigned crossing himself over the chest, then pulled out a kitchen knife and severed both hands from the corpse.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" the rider exclaimed, startled by his sudden action.

"Covering all bases."

Li Cheng didn't look up. "I noticed the locker room door uses a fingerprint lock. Given this guy mentioned it was some theme park, other areas likely use similar access-restricted designs. We take his hands—just in case."

As a pragmatist, using the corpse to uncover the truth and avenge him mattered far more than societal norms.

"Can't we do something less… gruesome?" the rider groaned. "Like using tape to lift the prints, or just cutting off a finger?"

"Human logic."

Li Cheng said casually, "I did bring tape, but fingerprint lifting only works on basic locks. Any lock with pressure sensors or depth detection will fail."

Cutting off a finger is equally unreliable—some people refuse to register their thumbs or index fingers anyway.

Also, don't you think carrying ten fingers is far more bizarre than carrying two palms?"

The rider answered honestly: "I think both are equally bizarre."

"Kira Kira gave a thumbs-down."

Li Cheng smirked, stripped the bulletproof vest with the walkie-talkie from the corpse, put it on himself, and hung the severed hands on either side of the vest.

Muttering "One's hands, brave man," he strode toward the door and pushed open the locker room entrance.

Outside was a wide corridor, also severely damaged, littered with bloodstains, ceiling bulbs shattered, and on the right wall hung a half-destroyed LED advertisement screen still glowing faintly.

【Dark Universe Horror Theme Park Opens!】

【Recreating classic monsters, blurring the line between fantasy and reality, delivering the most thrilling experience】

【Embark on an unforgettable adventure with your family】

【This is a love letter to all horror fans】

【Note: Children under 1m2 get half-price tickets; military personnel get half-price】

The motorcycle rider, stepping out of the locker room, immediately saw the ad and exclaimed in shock: "What the hell is this? A theme park? Don't tell me someone went insane and cloned every monster from horror movies into reality."

"Congratulations. You're right."

Li Cheng walked to the left side of the corridor, where there was no wall—only a large pane of glass. Through it, he saw a vast space below.

It appeared to be the staff cafeteria. Rows of tables and chairs stood before the serving counters, piled high with human corpses.

Some wore security uniforms, others lab coats, others bright yellow worker overalls—all clearly employees of the bunker.

And the ones who piled these corpses together? A group of… monsters.

Zombies, werewolves, bat creatures, tree spirits, mutated giant snakes from 【Anaconda】, Lickers from 【Resident Evil】, Necromorphs from 【Dead Space】, mutated fish monsters from 【The Host】.

All manner of monsters feasted on the corpses, gorging themselves on this banquet of death.

"Holy shit."

The motorcycle rider's body hair stood on end. He grabbed the curious Bulbasaur, pressing it down so it couldn't see the gory spectacle.

Su Jie turned pale, stepping back involuntarily, away from the glass wall and railing.

"So ketogenic diets are this popular now?"

Li Cheng also stepped back quietly, adjusted his glasses, and murmured, "If Xiao Han were still alive, he'd be proud."

What the hell is a ketogenic diet? Is Xiao Han Hannibal? He must've been a real charmer.

The rider's eye twitched, but deep down, he had to admit: having such a calm, composed companion did bring real reassurance.

(End of Chapter)