Chapter 9: Final Act

It wasn’t difficult.

Thanks to maintaining good control of the pace early on, he successfully acquired a high-energy weapon at the start and swiftly killed the Alien Queen. From then on, the trials that followed posed little challenge to Kouga.

In fact, the entire process seemed more like he was adapting to the power of the Uchiha Clan, better inheriting and mastering this body, rather than solely relying on the familiar yet unfamiliar fragments of memory.

Team-building benefit phase?

Apart from that, a thought popped into Kouga's mind.

However, the more he considered this possibility, the less excited he felt. After all, his current ease was built upon the previous team’s complete wipeout.

The easier things are early on, the harder they’ll get later.

Of course, this was just speculation. The truth would only be partially revealed after returning.

“Killed 16 facehuggers, earned 400 reward points.”

“Killed 3 mutated drone Xenomorphs, earned 600 reward points.”

One thousand reward points earned.

Unfortunately, the main god was quite stingy with side story rewards!

Up to this point, Kouga had only received one B-rank side story, and that was for killing the final boss, the Alien Queen.

“In fact, if my moral bottom line were low enough, I could have sacrificed my teammates and the three Predators, turned them into more Xenomorphs to slaughter for more points…”

“But, I just can’t do that.”

“After all, I was just a regular working-class guy before crossing over, no anti-social tendencies. Maybe if it were a true obsessive and insane Uchiha, they could do it without guilt, like Obito.”

“Plus, there are plenty of adult Predators watching this trial, including an ancient elder. If I pushed things too far, it would likely trigger terrifying consequences.”

As he pondered, the earthen wall with the owl's mark slowly crumbled, opening up the enclosed battlefield.

At the same time, Kouga clearly saw that the battle on the other side of the ventilation ducts had only just begun.

The last remaining Predator, Celtic, silently joined his companions, putting the three Xenomorphs at a complete disadvantage. Their defeat was only a matter of time—the facehuggers lurking in the shadows couldn’t even approach, having been cleared out as mere fodder long ago.

From the looks of it, if no external forces intervened, the trial could end at any moment.

And indeed, that’s exactly what happened.

Because Kouga made his move!

As a reincarnator, stealing kills is a mandatory skill!

At that moment, the three vigilant Predator brothers were standing back-to-back, hoping to achieve glory in their next defensive counterattack.

But… in an instant, two of the drooling mutated drone Xenomorphs were sent flying, kicked out of the ventilation ducts by a powerful force, crashing hard onto the ground.

“Boom! Boom!”

Two explosions erupted simultaneously.

“Killed 2 mutated drone Xenomorphs, earned 400 reward points.”

——The main god declared his arrival.

After a brief recharge, Kouga's plasma guns were back online, and combined with his martial arts, he completed the instant kills!

The last remaining Xenomorph didn’t escape either. Its drooling mouth was abruptly pierced by a kunai along a gap in its armor.

Attached to the kunai was a paper bomb covered in runes…

While the Xenomorph's outer shell was tough and fire-resistant, that didn’t mean its insides were invulnerable.

In the blink of an eye after the second explosion, yet another boom echoed through the air. Acidic blood splattered everywhere, corroding large patches of the ground.

After these moves, it seemed like the three Predators were left stunned. Even though they didn’t speak the same language, Kouga could tell that they thought he was dishonorable:

He stole their prey!

Especially the owl-faced Predator. After a brief pause, he helplessly crouched down, using a facehugger carcass to carve a clan mark into his face, barely meeting the requirements for his coming-of-age ritual.

As for the squad leader, Celtic, he, like Scarface, already had a mark on his forehead, clearly having hunted a Xenomorph on his own earlier.

At that moment, Celtic silently began fiddling with the device on his wrist.

Typically, when a Predator knows they cannot escape, they choose a heroic way to die—taking their enemies down with them.

Their self-destruct device is activated by the portable computer on their wrist, and after a brief countdown, it can cause a massive explosion strong enough to destroy a medium-sized town!

“They must’ve realized the Alien Queen is dead and see no reason for this trial site to exist anymore,” Kouga thought, unbothered.

The earlier commotion couldn’t guarantee 100%, but it had likely drawn over 95% of the Xenomorphs and facehuggers.

“Big brother, as expected of you, I knew it…”

From the corner, a lucky newcomer popped out, looking eager to flatter.

With no more Predators or Xenomorphs and the ultimate boss being just one queen, which he had already eliminated early on, Kouga finally let out a sigh of relief:

“Let’s escape quickly. As long as we leave the pyramid before the explosion, our mission should be complete.”

Upon hearing about the explosion, Tang Tian quickly stopped trying to butter him up and anxiously said, “Boss, big brother, save me! I’m Tang Tian.”

“Long story short, can you take me with you when you escape? I’ll split the main story rewards with you 50/50! I really don’t want to die again!”

No joke—the official lore says a Predator’s self-destruct can wipe out 300 city blocks in one go. Staying underground would be a death sentence!

In the face of absolute power, luck is meaningless!

“Alright,” Kouga replied concisely.

But in his mind, he wondered if this counted as exploiting his teammate, running a farming operation?

In the original “Infinity” series, farming teams never ended well.

Quickly.

Grabbing the newcomer with one hand, Kouga reached the entrance ahead of the Predators. Originally, there were twelve cables anchored to the ground, but now only eleven remained.

Not bothering to dwell on the small detail, Kouga and Tang Tian each grabbed a cable. Kouga drew a shuriken and cut the safety latch.

Whoosh!

Without the latch, the cable whirred as the gears spun, pulling it upward with great force.

The lucky newcomer took off first.

Kouga followed closely behind.

Moments later, the Predators also decided to use the exploration team’s remaining equipment to quickly ascend to the surface.

About five minutes later, the ground shook violently!

Tang Tian, who had narrowly survived, could feel the icy surface of the polar landscape tremble, and inside the ice cave, a blazing fire erupted, its light piercing through the tunnel…

Out of eight reincarnators, only two survived.

The survival rate was pretty low.

Having power is great…

Sitting on the low slope where he had stood earlier, Kouga’s thoughts quickly passed as he noticed three more cables moving.

The next moment, three figures, each with varying degrees of injury, emerged in a disheveled state.

——Side mission: Cleanse the pyramid trial ground, complete.

Based on contribution, reincarnator Kouga earned two C-rank side stories, plus 2,000 reward points.

——Main mission: Escape the trial ground alive, complete.

All survivors earned one C-rank side story and 2,000 reward points.

The announcements rang out again.

(End of chapter)