The King of Black Fog

On the bus, while they still hadn't returned to the real world, the three of them changed into spare clothes.

A twenty-year-old man and two women changing clothes together—what a tantalizing scene. If Li Changzhou had known such a day would come, he surely would have been looking forward to it from his mother's womb.

Unfortunately, one of them was his sister.

Utterly disappointing.

Li Changzhou chose not to think about anything and not to ponder anything, his mind as still as water while he wiped his body and changed into clean, comfortable clothes.

"Are you done yet?" he asked, his back to the others.

"Wait! I'm pulling up my pants!" Li Qianxia hurriedly said.

"...You could've just said 'wait,' no need to tell me what you're specifically doing," Li Changzhou sighed almost in despair.

Returning to the commercial street on Yanhe Road, the three of them were exhausted. They waved to each other, bade goodnight, and then went home to sleep.

The next day, Saturday.

In a few days, it would be the autumn equinox when days and nights are of equal length, and then the days would slowly shorten. But today, the daybreak still came very early.

Li Changzhou woke up at four o'clock and engaged in comprehensive training in the yard.

Deadlifts, curls, behind-the-neck presses, upright rows, barbell squats, bench presses, bicep curls...

Five sets of each exercise, sixty reps per set.

Even with his constitution and strength, he was still a bit out of breath afterward.

But not tired; his body felt warm and exhilarated.

At this moment, Li Qianxia woke up.

"Bro, I'm going to find Qing Lan. We'll go to the riverside for a morning run together later," she said.

"Hmm."

Li Changzhou activated his energy; his muscles tensed like segments of a grapefruit, full of power and vigor.

Strength like the most capable soldiers, lined up beneath his skin, ready to charge like a flow of steel at his command.

He took out a group of bee-like flying devices that he had bought from a website recommended by Zheng Qing.

The flying devices were as agile as birds, equipped with the capability to sense human bodies from above, below, front, and back.

The devices flew around him. Suddenly, one darted towards him from the side.

Li Changzhou slightly sidestepped but still got brushed by it.

He twisted his neck. When the second one came at him, he easily dodged it.

After evading five consecutive attacks, he closed his eyes.

The devices made a soft buzzing sound, the noise of their propellers turning.

Suddenly, Li Changzhou turned his head, but his head still collided with one of them.

He laughed. The money was well spent; it was still good for training his reflexes.

While he was cheerfully dodging, his phone rang.

"Bro, Qing Lan has caught a cold and can't make it," Qian Xia said.

"A cold?"

"Yeah, she was fine last night, but she woke up this morning with dizziness, fever, and weakness. I've already given her some medicine. You go run by yourself and pick up breakfast for both of us," she added.

"Okay, you take care too, don't catch it yourself," he responded.

Hanging up the call, Li Changzhou put on a 20-kilogram vest and then a loose sports jacket priced at 50, and went out.

Yanhe Road has a dedicated running track, very long, as long as the Moat, available for residents from different areas to use for fitness.

There were many runners: office workers, elderly people, children accompanied by adults, high school students seen only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Li Changzhou blended in among them, his slightly panted breath hardly noticeable.

"What's that?"

"Is it the police?" they wondered.

As he ran past Ming City Bridge and by the ecological park, a crowd had gathered.

Li Changzhou initially didn't pay it much attention, but a sudden glance made him slow down his steps.

Official-looking figures had arrived at the Moat—two policemen and a dozen in black combat uniforms with gas masks, as if they had just escaped from a nuclear weapons lab.

Armed with stun guns, some even had guns.

"Everyone, step back!" a policeman shouted through a megaphone to the crowd, "A crocodile has entered the Moat. It's extremely dangerous; we are dealing with it!"

"A crocodile needs this many people? Give me a net, and I'll catch it!"

"You're bluffing!"

"My family raises crocodiles!"

"Thank you for your enthusiasm, but this is our job! Please step back! Please step back!" the police said as they pressed into the crowd.

Though the crowd was skeptical, they wouldn't trouble themselves to confront the police and all stepped back.

"Splash!"

It was like a Flood Dragon emerging from the sea. A huge wave surged on the wide surface of the moat, and the massive crocodile raised its head like a monster.

"Bang, bang, bang!" He opened fire directly.

Screams erupted from the shore.

"It's headed downstream! Chase it!"

People in black combat uniforms and gas masks ran towards the distance, each one moving agilely and well-trained.

Just then, a shout came from the crowd, "Do I look cool?"

"Damn!"

"Who was that?!"

The entire crowd turned around, but no one was found.

"Roar!!!"

The crocodile let out a dinosaur-like deep roar, turned its giant head, and pounced toward the shore.

The ones in black combat uniforms didn't stand idly.

"Take action!"

The gunshots hadn't caused much damage to the crocodile; its tough skin had resisted most of the bullets, and the crocodile was eventually subdued by electrocution.

"Make way! Make way!" the police with the megaphone dispersed the crowd, and soon, the crocodile was bagged in a black sack and pulled away.

"What was that? A dinosaur?"

"It's a crocodile, damn huge! No wonder they called the police and even used guns!"

"Why use guns? Crocodiles are also lives. Can't they use tranquilizers?"

"Wonder if it's for sale, breeding it would definitely bring in big money!"

"Breed with that kind of beast? Want to spend time in jail with free board?"

Whether it was the unusually large crocodile or the gunfire, none frightened the citizens. Too much peace had elapsed; they saw no danger, only novelty.

Behind a camphor tree on the banks of the Moat, Li Changzhou uploaded the video he had taken to the "Three Sisters" group, and then called Zheng Qing.

After two rings, Zheng Qing's efficient voice came through.

"Hello."

"Hello, Officer Zheng, it's me, a good citizen here."

"Good citizen?" There was a second of silence, "Li Changzhou?"

"Right, right, it's me, good citizen Li Changzhou."

"What's the matter?"

"Well, this morning I went out for a morning run and was buying breakfast for my sister. As I passed by Ming City Bridge Ecological Park, I happened to come across..."

Li Changzhou recounted the events.

"Officer Zheng, please tell your leaders not to waste time investigating me."

"No worries, your testimony is already filed, and thanks for stepping in."

"It's the least I could do. Does this count as acting heroically? I saw on the news a few days ago that someone who subdued a man with a kitchen knife got a reward of twenty thousand."

"...I'll ask for you."

"Great, great, thank you, Officer Zheng, I won't bother you anymore, goodbye."

Li Changzhou hung up the phone and continued his run.

Along the way, he did squats and leaps on stairs linking the road and the running track, surrounded by grass, which was much more tiring than running.

After exercising, he ran to the breakfast shop and bought some food. Yang Qinglan had a cold, so he only bought her corn porridge and eggs.

He thought about whether to shower but was afraid of being teased by Li Qianxia and Yang Qinglan.

In the end, he quickly took a shower and carried the breakfast to Yang Qinglan's house's yard.