The King of Black Fog

Armed helicopters circled above the skyscraper, and more than a dozen police armored vehicles formed a temporary fortification on the ground. Numerous ambulances flashed their lights, ready to sound the alarm and step on the gas at any moment.

There were too many vehicles. Li Changzhou glanced around a couple of times, unable to grasp the situation clearly, when Zheng Qing had already spotted them.

"Been waiting for you guys," she strode over quickly.

"My brother was dawdling," Li Qianxia immediately tattled.

"Sorry about that," Li Changzhou apologized with a smile.

"Come on," Zheng Qing didn't linger and led the three of them into the fortification.

Soldiers around them were fully armed and loaded, wearing gas masks.

Among these people, other than them, three others were in casual clothes.

Zheng Qing said, "The six of you are players with identity cards; thank you for joining this mission. Whether you want to introduce yourselves to each other is up to you; I won't interfere."

Among the three opposite them, a short and plump middle-aged man smiled and spoke to Li Changzhou and the others, "Lou Yong, owner of the Lou's Gym, pleased to meet you."

"Li Changzhou, student, very pleased to meet you," Li Changzhou replied.

Li Qianxia and Yang Qinglan didn't speak. They stood behind Li Changzhou, appearing to be in a follower's stance, but in reality, Li Changzhou was their boss.

The other male was young, seemingly a high school student, wearing rimless round glasses.

"Nice to meet you Brother Li, I'm Tang Yijun, my gaming nickname is 'Nothing Goes Smoothly,'" he greeted familiarly, without a trace of a high school student's shyness.

"Hello, my gaming nickname is 'Owl.'"

The last one was a female, very pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair carefully trimmed, meticulously chosen clothes, fair and lovely with delicate makeup, exuding a sense of distance.

Her chest was very big. Extremely big.

"Mu Rong from Gusu."

Is this how it's going to be?

"I am Li Changzhou from Ming City," Li Changzhou clasped his hands in greeting, then introduced his sister and Yang Qinglan with a steady voice, "This is my second sister Ah Zhu and my third sister Ah Zi."

"..."

Li Qianxia tugged at her brother's sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Brother, her Mu is the Mu from wood, her Rong is the Rong from lotus, and Gusu is from Gusu City. She's a celebrity!"

"Isn't this provocation? I was ready to show off my Grand Ancestor Chang's Fist and let the folks from Gusu City see the might of Ming City's local snakes."

"Don't embarrass us," Yang Qinglan spoke up.

"Just livening up the atmosphere," Li Changzhou fell silent.

Why a celebrity from Gusu City had come to Ming City and even joined the official group of Ming City, he had no interest at all.

With this time, he'd rather ponder on the Great Strength Bull Demon Fist and have a few more looks at the center of the universe.

The three players opposite Li Changzhou gave him odd looks, feeling this guy wasn't normal. Was he acting goofy to attract attention because he couldn't help but see a beautiful celebrity?

But the two people beside him were no less attractive than Mu Rong, with Yang Qinglan being incomparably exquisite.

"Do you need bulletproof vests and weapons?" Zheng Qing asked, unphased by Li Changzhou's antics.

This is reality, any equipment can be used with no inventory restrictions; whatever fits can be worn, whatever you can carry can be used.

"I don't need it," Li Qianxia was the first to speak.

She was speed-oriented and had the lightweight and form-fitting Horned Robe. A bulletproof vest would only add extra weight.

"Yang Miss and I will take one each, and add a flamethrower with strong firepower," Li Changzhou said.

He had "Skin Enhancement," but he wasn't fully confident he could block a mosquito's proboscis.

As for Yang Qinglan, even more needless to say, her skin was so delicate that a pinch could make it weep. Aside from looking, touching, and smelling, what else could it do?

Li Changzhou licked his lips, feeling a bit thirsty; he'd only had a small sip of water in the morning.

"Bulletproof vests are fine, but no flamethrowers," Zheng Qing said.

"Why?" asked Li Changzhou, "Flamethrowers are more effective against mosquitoes than guns."

"The higher-ups didn't approve," Zheng Qing explained, "If this office building catches fire, or if important documents, shops, or equipment are burned, the consequences would be equally severe."

She paused, as if repeating someone else's words, "We can't save people, let them survive, but then destroy their livelihood."

"I understand," Yang Qinglan nodded, thinking of her own bookstore.

"Alright," Li Changzhou said indifferently, "after all, they are just a bunch of mosquitoes. Just put on more clothes. Qian Xia, be careful yourself. I will mainly protect Miss Yang."

"Watch me suck their blood dry!" Li Qianxia spread her hands, and within five heartbeats, the blood-colored steel spear appeared in her palm.

Li Changzhou and Yang Qinglan also put on bulletproof vests, the black vests adding a touch of efficiency and heroism to their appearance.

The chubby owner didn't take a bulletproof vest or weapon, instead he took out a pair of crab-claw boxing gloves from his item bar.

The high school student and the female celebrity only took bulletproof vests, not weapons.

Everyone received an earpiece and a camera.

"Yijun, please scout ahead," said Zheng Qing.

"No problem." Tang Yijun said little and walked towards Building A.

Two steps out, his body turned the color of an armored car, his feet the black of tires, his head the color of the sky.

If he weren't moving and everyone hadn't been watching him, they might have thought he disappeared.

Wherever Tang Yijun went, his body would change to blend in with the colors around him, as if God, the painter, was brushing paint onto the world and accidentally brushed him into the scene as well.

When he reached the base of Building A, he climbed up like a gecko.

As he moved farther away, those with lower Perception could no longer spot him, but he couldn't quite elude Li Changzhou's four points of Perception.

"Mosquitoes mainly rely on smell, right?" the chubby owner asked Zheng Qing, puzzled.

"In addition to changing color and climbing, Yijun also has a skill to conceal his scent," Zheng Qing explained briefly, "Let's also get ready. Once the soldiers attract the attention of the mosquitoes, we will cover the rescue team to carry out the rescue."

It seemed that these three were not teammates from a game, as they did not know much about each other—Li Changzhou listened carefully, analyzing the information.

"Sister Qing, I found them, the hostages are on the 22nd floor," Tang Yijun's voice came through the earpiece.

Zheng Qing turned to look at the computer, which showed the live feed from Tang Yijun.

The 22nd floor was a large buffet restaurant, where hostages huddled together like vagrants, leaning on each other, shivering as they watched their surroundings.

The walls, columns, tables, and chairs were all black. The camera zoomed in to reveal that the black paint was actually densely packed, layer upon layer of mosquitoes, both startling and terrifying.

Zheng Qing swept a glance across the screen and said into the earpiece, "There are not a thousand people here. Yijun, keep looking."

"Right," the camera climbed higher as Tang Yijun continued to ascend.

Building A had a total of 24 floors.

"Why send him? A drone would be better," Li Changzhou said, puzzled.

"Sweat." Tang Yijun expressed an emoji, "Brother Li, cut me some slack."

"Yijun has potential, and no one knows what the future holds. There may come a day when drones cannot be used, so it's good to give him more practice," Zheng Qing explained.

"Has he joined the officials?" Li Changzhou asked.

"He's on a mission right now," Zheng Qing did not answer directly.

"Sister Qing, Sister Qing!" Tang Yijun's voice came through the earpiece, panicked.

The people gathered around the screen took a deep breath.

Hundreds of mosquito soldiers, standing upright at around one meter sixty, patrolled with black steel guns in hand.

Seven or eight red upright mosquitoes used syringe-like red steel spears to collect blood; the spears' tentacles at the tail end were connected to the queen mosquito, continuously supplying blood.

The queen mosquito was slender on top, but her bottom half was as swollen as a ball, her belly filled with blood and countless eggs soaked in it.

There were also corpses, human corpses, pale-faced, devoid of any color, and extraordinarily eerie to behold.

The living were on their last breaths, barely alive, offering no resistance as the red upright mosquitoes drew their blood.

The female celebrity turned away, the chubby owner took a deep breath, Li Qianxia gripped her steel spear tightly, Yang Qinglan frowned slightly, and Li Changzhou fixated on the queen mosquito.

"Prepare for action!" Zheng Qing commanded in a deep voice.

A rumble of thunder came from the sky, followed by the sudden patter of rain.