Tomb raider: You're going to extract my alien bloodline?

A hazy, roughly 10-cubic-meter square space appeared in my perception, crystal clear at my thought. The large amount of supplies he had secretly purchased that afternoon while the fat man wasn't looking had already been piled up in one corner of that space.

From military-grade portable tents and sleeping bags to toilet paper rolls, and even a deck of cards and a mahjong set... a wide variety of items filled most of the space.

There's nothing Qin-Doraemon-Kuroto can't come up with! After all, we're people with spatial abilities now, so we can be as capricious as we want! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Next, he looked at the system shop. The interface was simple: bloodlines, skills, knowledge, weapons, items... a dazzling array. What Qilin bloodline (pure), the Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique (complete), the Black Gold Ancient Sword (imitation), the Vajra Umbrella... he was dazzled and his mouth watered.

Then he saw the long string of zeros after the price.

Qin Yuan: "..."

Very well, a poor wretch, can't afford anything.

pass!

Finally, his consciousness focused on the treasure chest-shaped object emitting a faint golden light in the very center of the system space.

New player gift pack!

He waited all afternoon without opening it, almost giving him internal injuries from holding it in. What's the difference between this and buying a blind box and forcing yourself not to open it? Now that it's late at night and the fat guy is asleep, it's the perfect time to open the box!

He even silently recited Amitabha Buddha, Infinite Heavenly Venerable, God bless, Amen several times in his mind... Combining Chinese and Western elements, he strived to cover all areas of mysticism.

"System! Activate the newbie gift pack!" he silently chanted in his mind.

[Ding—New player gift pack is now open...]

[Congratulations, host, you have received basic physical enhancements! (Strength, speed, endurance, and reaction time have been slightly improved, reaching the level of an elite soldier.)]

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired the passive skill - Combat Instinct! (When facing danger, your body will instinctively make the most effective evasive or offensive response.)]

[Congratulations, host, you have been granted one chance to randomly draw a bloodline! (Draw now?)]

Qin Yuan: "..."

He was somewhat speechless. What was this? A nested lottery? A mini blind box inside a big gift package? Why did they have to draw lots for bloodlines?

But with the atmosphere already built up, how could I not smoke?

"Extract!"

[Ding—Bloodline extraction in progress... The roulette wheel is spinning... Zhu'er Bloodline (weak), Pangolin Bloodline (common), Cave Salamander Bloodline (rare)...]

Qin Yuan's heart pounded with the invisible pointer, and his face darkened as he saw some strange bloodlines flashing by.

[…Congratulations, host, you have obtained a special bloodline—Alien Bloodline (Adapted Version)! Do you wish to fuse with it immediately?]

.........

! ! ! ! !

"What the hell?! An alien?! Is it the alien I know?! That facehugger, the one with the ruptured chest, the one that bleeds out acid blood, the one that's so ugly it's inhuman?!" Qin Yuan felt his head buzz and almost jumped out of bed.

What is this? Did the blood packs of the Qilin, Chilong, and Phoenix from the Classic of Mountains and Seas get drained by the previous army of time travelers? Now they're starting to wreak havoc on imported extraterrestrial creatures? This isn't right!

Zhang Qiling has a Qilin riding fire tattooed on his body, which is mysterious, cool, and incredibly stylish! But that doesn't mean I'd look just as cool if I got a drooling facehugger or a long-headed alien tattooed on my body! Those things are disgusting!

While he was overloaded with his pig brain and ranting wildly, the system completely ignored the host's shock. After mechanically asking three times whether to merge, and receiving no response, it took the lead in starting the fusion process and added a tattoo as a bonus, adhering to the underlying logic of "giving more freebies is never wrong, but what if you get complaints from troublemakers if you give less?"

[Host unresponsive detected. Defaulting to the optimal solution, initiating fusion of alien bloodline (adapted version)... Fusion in progress... 10%... 50%... 100%! Fusion complete!]

[Bonus: Bloodline Manifestation Tattoo (Heat-sensitive) is already loaded.]

A burning sensation instantly swept over Qin Yuan's entire body, as if every cell was being torn apart and reorganized. It felt like ants were crawling inside his bone marrow, both itchy and painful, but the sensation was extremely short-lived, disappearing almost instantly. In its place was an indescribable sense of power; his body seemed lighter, and his five senses were much more acute.

At the same time, he felt a slight warmth on the skin below his left scapula, and an abstract, dark pattern with a strong biomechanical feel quietly appeared and then quickly disappeared.

Qin Yuan: "..."

He touched the patch of skin, tears welling up in his eyes, but couldn't feel anything. According to the system description, this tattoo was the same as Zhang Qiling's, only appearing when heated. But that guy had a Qilin tattoo; what was this? Some kind of alien totem? He didn't want this freebie at all!

He tried picking up a sewing needle from the bedside table, hesitated for a moment, then gently pricked his fingertip. A drop of blood, dark red mixed with a trace of yellow, seeped out.

Immediately afterwards, with a slight hissing sound, a wisp of almost invisible blue smoke rose from the tip of the metal needle right before his eyes, quickly melting, shrinking, and finally disappearing completely, leaving not a trace behind.

Qin Yuan stared dumbfounded at his fingertips, only one thought in his mind: "It's over... I've become a walking concentrated sulfuric acid! And a high-concentration aqua regia at that!"

According to subsequent explanations provided by the system, his bloodline is currently only initially activated. As he progresses through the story and completes missions, its power will gradually unlock and strengthen. Once fully activated, he can undergo "mutation" for short periods, becoming more agile and unpredictable, with significantly increased defense, attack, and recovery abilities. He will also possess exceptional adaptability to harsh environments such as vacuum, radiation, and extreme temperatures. If there is no other Xenomorph in this world, he might even have a very small chance of evolving into a "Queen" template, theoretically possessing… the ability to reproduce parthenogenetically?

then……

Qin Yuan was so terrified by the possibility of "having a baby" that he couldn't sleep.

He didn't want the back of his head to reach his heels! He didn't want a mouth full of drooling inner teeth! And he definitely didn't want to be born a sticky facehugger baby!!! What kind of hellish drawing is this!

The next morning, Qin Yuan, sporting dark circles under his eyes and hair as messy as a bird's nest, symbolically carried a half-empty backpack and boarded the green train to Shandong with Fatty Wang.

"Hey! Hey Blackie, are you alright? Did you go thieving last night? Or were you so excited about doing something big with me that you didn't sleep a wink all night?" The fat guy sitting across from Qin Yuan couldn't help but tease him, looking at his listless appearance.

"Don't worry, I'm in good spirits." Qin Yuan waved his hand weakly, slumped back in the hard seat, feeling like a rag doll whose soul had been taken away.

He is now not only mentally devastated, but also experiencing a new physical change—his appetite has skyrocketed! Both his physical enhancement and alien bloodline seem to be energy-intensive. Just now at the train station, he devoured five large meat buns, two bowls of soy milk, three fried dough sticks, and three bowls of wontons all by himself, making the fat man click his tongue and shout that he couldn't afford to feed him.

He was in a daze the whole way, following the fat man from train to bus, from bus to a dilapidated Jinbei van, and finally from the Jinbei van to a local villager's oxcart. The bumpy ride almost made him vomit his insides. Finally, they arrived at that remote little mountain village and checked into the only guesthouse in the village with simple conditions.

Fatty lived up to his reputation as the "Fat Prince" of the tomb raiding world. He had extensive connections and knew the routes well. Although the journey was bumpy, he successfully avoided the dangerous waterways that Wu Xie and his companions had taken in the original story. The two of them arrived at their destination safely.

"Come on, Little Blackie, let's eat! It's my treat, I'll order some braised chicken feet to help you get some nutrition, look at you so listless!" Fatty patted Qin Yuan on the shoulder. "This afternoon, come up the mountain with me, let's do some... you know, geological exploration! Professional, right?"

Qin Yuan silently rolled his eyes. Geological exploration? Only a fool would believe that!

However, thinking about how he was about to actually step into the tomb, come into contact with the core secrets of this world, and the tasks that the system might issue, Qin Yuan picked at the coarse rice in his bowl, and a glint of fear and excitement finally flashed in his eyes.

In any case, the path has been chosen, and we have to keep going.