American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 427 The Hunt Has Only Just Begun

Even after Roy left, the others remained vigilant and focused.

However, these people did not know what kind of enemy they were facing, so their guns were actually aimed at the entrance to the passage.

No one noticed that something was crawling in the small passageway in the corner.

Well, it's not like no one noticed at all. At least Heather and Penny both smelled something strange, but neither of them could pinpoint the source of the smell.

The alien's body seems to be specially designed as a hunter; it has a hard, black carapace that ordinary weapons cannot penetrate.

Moreover, the shell does not reflect light and cannot be detected by thermal imaging.

So, this suddenly appearing small alien bit a Black Mountain mercenary's neck silently, and it wasn't until the mercenary screamed that the others noticed its presence.

The Black Mountain mercenary, his neck being bitten, instinctively pulled the trigger, but the small alien was clearly out of reach of him on his back.

The other Black Mountain mercenaries, fearing they might accidentally injure their own men, dared not fire.

With no other option, Heather drew her cursed dagger and charged at the Black Mountain mercenary.

Upon seeing Heather approach, the small alien immediately released its prey and leaped towards Heather.

However, this guy had obviously chosen the wrong target. After a summer of training, Heather was no longer an ordinary woman, but a calm and collected female warrior.

Upon seeing the small alien leap up, Heather threw her cursed dagger, successfully pinning the creature to the stone wall.

The gray curse power spread through the alien's body, causing it to let out a painful roar.

The roar seemed to attract something else, but the Black Mountain mercenaries' attention was drawn to their wounded comrade. Only Penny noticed another alien creeping up from behind.

This alien was much larger than the previous one, standing up to be two meters tall, and when it ran, you could hear a distinct whooshing sound.

"Watch out! There are monsters behind us!"

The alien's sneak attack failed, so it switched to a direct assault.

The other Black Mountain mercenaries immediately turned their guns on the alien, but the alien's defense was beyond everyone's imagination. It withstood the attack of four rifles and rushed towards the lone Charles.

At the critical moment, Roy suddenly appeared and threw the Leviathan Axe, which had transformed into a swirling blade.

The reason for using a rotating blade is that this weapon is designed for throwing, making it easier to control.

If you throw the Leviathan Axe in its axe-like form, you might accidentally injure Charles.

The blade spun precisely cleaved the attacking alien in half, splattering corrosive blood all over the ground. For a moment, the passage was filled with a pungent odor, causing Heather and Penny to frown.

"Roy, you're back!"

Heather and Penny looked at Roy with delight, and Roy nodded to the two women.

"what's going on?"

The mercenary captain answered Roy.

"Something strange just attacked my teammate, he's already..."

The small alien that launched the sneak attack bit through the mercenary's throat, causing him to suffocate and die.

The small alien was still pinned to the stone wall by the cursed dagger.

Roy felt somewhat helpless. If he had been there, he might have had a chance to save the mercenary, but some things are unavoidable.

"That's it."

Heather stepped forward, drew the cursed dagger, and subdued the alien, handing it over to Roy.

Within just a minute or two, a black oxide layer had appeared on the blade of the Cursed Dagger, a result of corrosion from the alien blood.

Roy was somewhat surprised; wasn't this the Runner from Alien?

(Messenger Aliens, including cat and dog aliens)
The typical size of a Xenomorph is determined by the size of the object on which the facehugger parasitizes.

When a creature parasitizes a human, it will create a human-sized alien; when it parasitizes a cat, it will create a cat-sized alien.

This alien is much weaker in terms of strength and endurance, but its small size makes it more stealthy in its attacks.

The messenger alien in his hand was still struggling, so Roy simply twisted its neck to the right.

"Charles, does that Lucas Barnes have a habit of keeping pets?"

Charles nodded upon hearing this.

"Yes, Lucas Barnes owns a Ragdoll cat and a dachshund, and he takes them everywhere he goes."

Then there's no problem. It's probably just that Ragdoll cat that got infected with a facehugger.

The mercenary captain still had questions.

"Mr. Black, do you know what these monsters are?"

Seeing Roy's calm expression, the mercenary captain guessed that Roy knew something.

This guy actually guessed right.

"I just had a fair fight with a group of aliens, and after I defeated them, they told me some things about this pyramid."

Roy's explanation was actually quite far-fetched, but Charles and the Black Mountain mercenaries had experienced so many unbelievable things that they believed it even though it was absurd.

"Were those aliens in that passage just now?"

"Yes. They are a space civilization with a hunting tradition, and their purpose in coming to Earth is to complete their tribal coming-of-age trials. This pyramid was built by them in ancient times when they came to Earth to teach primitive humans. Their coming-of-age trial is to kill a special creature called an alien on their own."

Charles frowned slightly.

"This alien civilization sounds quite barbaric."

"Who knows? But at least they are willing to respect the strong, so they should not harass us again. Now we only need to be wary of the aliens and monsters."

After listening to Roy's words, Charles pondered for a moment.

"Roy, this is something I can't get involved in anymore. Could you please send me out first?"

Of the group, Charles was completely incapable of fighting. At least the mercenaries had guns, but he was just an old man in his fifties.

Charles wanted to be remembered in history, but he hadn't thought about becoming a martyr so early.

"Sure. But the terrain has just changed, so it might not be so easy for us to get out."

The pyramid contains a mechanism that, once activated, changes the terrain periodically, with the ultimate goal of forcing the Predator to confront the Alien Queen.

Even with Roy's photographic memory, finding the exit would be difficult.

Charles sighed.

"I'll try my best, but I'm already starting to regret this expedition."

Although Charles made some discoveries on his trip to Antarctica, none of them could be made public. His trip was essentially a waste of time and money.

At this moment, Penny spoke up.

"Have you forgotten that there's still one person we haven't asked?"

Then the group remembered that there was a member of Lucas Barnes' team on the ground who had been knocked unconscious.

This guy is really lucky to have run into Roy and his group, and he doesn't seem to have been parasitized by the aliens or the monsters.

After waking the guy, he tried to shout again, but the mercenary captain immediately covered his mouth. "Listen! Loud noises will attract the monster's attention. If you don't want to die, speak softly!"

The guy finally regained his senses and nodded repeatedly.

Then Roy began to ask questions.

"Are you a member of Lucas Barnes' expedition?"

"Yes, I am Mr. Lucas Barnes's chef!"

Upon hearing this, Charles immediately showed an expression of sudden realization.

"I remember you, your name is Bruce, right?"

Bruce nodded vigorously, like he was pounding garlic.

"Yes, yes, I am Bruce! And you are Mr. Charles Weyland?"

Unexpectedly, Charles knew this Bruce.

"Bruce, right? Don't rush to get close to me. What happened to Lucas Barnes' expedition? Tell me everything."

Bruce looked hesitantly at Roy and Charles.

"If I tell you, will you take me out?"

"As long as you are not possessed by a monster, we will take you out."

Upon hearing Roy's promise, Bruce immediately began to recount what had happened.

Yesterday, after Lucas Barnes got the coordinates from Mike Dean, he headed straight here.

We arrived at our destination around midnight, before the blizzard began.

To facilitate exploration, Lucas Barnes ordered the expedition members to build a station outside, preparing to use drilling tools to break through the ice at dawn the next day.

"But just as the site was being set up and we were about to take a break, we saw a blinding light, followed by a loud bang. When we came out to check, we saw a huge tunnel in the ground. We were all terrified, but Mr. Barnes insisted on going into the tunnel as if he were possessed."

There was no other way; the mercenaries had to escort Mr. Barnes into the tunnel, while I stayed behind at the temporary station. Unexpectedly, Barnes's female companion suddenly turned into a monster and started attacking the others, so I had no choice but to escape into the tunnel…”

Barnes' female companion was probably also infected by the Thing. The Thing's parasitism methods are very difficult to detect, which is the most dangerous aspect of this thing.

But this guy is really lucky; he's actually managed to survive until now.

"So, nothing happened after you came down?"

“I originally intended to hide at the entrance of the pyramid and wait for Mr. Barnes to come out, but several strangely dressed, alien-like creatures came down from the tunnel, which scared me so much that I quickly went into the pyramid. After that, I kept hiding inside the pyramid until I met you.”

You might say Bruce was lucky, but he just happened to be involved in such a terrifying event.

If you say Bruce was unlucky, the fact that he survived for several hours against the Thing, the Alien, and the Predator is truly a stroke of good luck.

"I'm really curious, how have you managed to hold on until now?"

The mercenary captain sized up Bruce, whose weak appearance made him seem completely unlike someone who could survive in a pyramid for several hours.

Bruce chuckled awkwardly.

"I don't know either. I'm a cripple, and I never thought I'd be alive today!"

Bruce showed off one of his feet, which turned out to be a prosthetic leg.

Roy understood now.

Honorable Predators will not kill women and children, nor will they lay a hand on the disabled, unless the disabled person strikes first.

It's likely that the Predator didn't kill Bruce because they discovered he was disabled.

As for why the alien didn't attack Bruce, could it be because it encountered the Thing first and couldn't spare a hand?

To be honest, Roy is quite curious about what would happen if a Xenomorph parasitized a Zerg.

However, the priority now is to get the others out of here. As for the Thing parasitizing the alien, we can deal with that later.

"Let's go, I'll figure out a way to get you out of here first."

No sooner had they finished speaking than the terrain inside the pyramid changed again. This time, because the people were standing rather loosely, the movable stone walls separated them completely.

Heather, Penny, and Charles were together, while Roy, Bruce, and the Black Mountain mercenaries were on the other side.

"Mr. Blake, what should we do?"

"No problem! You guys step back a bit."

After saying that, Roy punched the stone wall, punching a hole right through it.

Charles, who was behind the wall, was startled. In fact, not only him, but Bruce and the Black Mountain mercenaries were also so frightened that they took several steps back.

"My God! This is a stone wall that's fifty centimeters thick!"

Bruce stared in disbelief at the broken stone wall, his expression as if he had seen God.

"Don't make a fuss, I'm just naturally strong."

Heather and Penny showed no expression; they knew Roy's power—a power capable of bringing them to ecstasy.

Roy mentally simulated his position inside the pyramid.

Although there were two changes in terrain after entering the pyramid, the distance between everyone and the entrance remained the same.

Now, all you need to do is find the right direction and then open up the walls blocking your way to leave the pyramid.

"I know where to go, follow me."

The 85 memory attribute came into play, allowing Roy to quickly determine the direction of the exit.

Roy then strictly followed the shortest path between two points, smashing all the obstructing stone walls and successfully reaching the entrance of the pyramid.

"Heather, Penny, you two should evacuate with Charles. Charles, once you're back on the surface, immediately take the expedition team away from here, the farther the better!"

Charles paused for a moment.

"Roy, shouldn't we wait for you?"

Roy shook his head.

"It's more dangerous for you to wait for me outside! Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Roy remembered the original movie, where the female protagonist brought out the Predator's corpse and was almost killed by the other Predators who came to pick her up. They only let her go when they saw the mark on her face.

Half a day has passed since the Predator entered the arena, and the trial is probably almost over. It would be troublesome if Charles and the others encountered the Predator while waiting for Roy.

“Okay, we’ll wait for you at McMurdo Station for a few days.”

Charles was a decisive man. After agreeing to meet Roy at McMurdo Station, he walked toward the car.

Meanwhile, the scientists in the car were still arguing, completely unaware that Charles and his group had already returned.

After glancing at Heather and Penny's retreating figures, Roy turned and returned to the pyramid.

"Heh, the hunt has only just begun."

Fraudulent space, activated!
(End of this chapter)