The next day, early morning.
Eight o'clock.
As soon as the time came,
Chen Sheng opened his eyes on his own accord.
He sat up on the bed, stretching lazily.
He felt invigorated and refreshed.
He took out the earplugs, got up, and washed up.
After breakfast, Chen Sheng put on his weighted gear and went out.
Chen Sheng was highly doubtful whether he could complete twenty kilometers carrying 30kg of weight.
But it did not matter.
If not today, then tomorrow.
If still not tomorrow, then later it will.
Chen Sheng had full confidence in his progress.
He started running.
Five kilometers in,
Chen Sheng usually found this distance to be a piece of cake.
But now,
He clearly felt that his stamina was already diminished by more than half, and his breathing rate had involuntarily become faster.
Ten kilometers.
Stamina gradually depleted.
Chen Sheng's face turned red.
But he did not stop; instead, he gritted his teeth and kept going.
Relying on the stamina recovery brought by the increase of his physical attribute,
he felt like he could still push further.
Thirteen kilometers.
"Heh—Woooah—Heh!"
Chen Sheng bent down on the side of the road, placing both hands on his knees, panting heavily.
His calves trembled as if he was dancing to disco music.
Only half the distance,
And he was already exhausted.
His stamina recovery speed could no longer keep up with the rate he was expending.
Once his breathing slowed down a bit, Chen Sheng decided to rest for a while and then catch a moto-taxi.
Chen Sheng sat on a stone stool, bored, watching the passing traffic.
Behind him was the edge of a small town in Jincheng District, still retaining the style of the 1980s.
Across the road, there was an old park.
Apart from Chen Sheng, many people were running here.
"Help me~"
"Robbery~"
However,
He had barely settled in when he suddenly heard cries for help from his right side.
Chen Sheng looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw a middle-aged man in a black hooded sweatshirt, rushing in his direction.
Not far behind the man, a woman in a red cotton padded jacket was chasing him.
The cries for help came from her.
As the distance between him and the robber was getting closer, Chen Sheng could not just stand by.
As fast as lightning, he stood up from the stone stool, ready to intercept the robber.
But the next second,
something unexpected happened.
The robber, whether out of fear of Chen Sheng or something else,
changed direction in an instant upon seeing him and rushed towards the town instead.
Chen Sheng knew this was bad.
This small town had many narrow alleys, and no surveillance cameras.
If the robber escaped, it would be difficult to find him.
Without any time to think,
Chen Sheng immediately started chasing the robber.
But he soon regretted it.
At present, his stamina was almost completely depleted, and he still had 30kg of weight on him, which he didn't have time to take off.
When it came to running speed, he was no match for the robber.
Within just a few seconds, he was already left more than ten meters behind.
Damn it!
The two of them chased and fled until they reached a narrow alley, with residential houses on both sides.
Seeing that the other party was about to run out of his sight, Chen Sheng couldn't help but curse inwardly.
But at that moment,
"Stop!"
A command came from behind.
Chen Sheng turned to look.
He saw a black figure, swiftly passing by him and heading straight for the robber.
It was so fast, it was astounding.
In the blink of an eye, it was already close to the robber.
The black figure stretched out its right arm, and its fist hit the back of the robber.
The off-balance robber flew several meters away under the effect of inertia.
But he didn't lose consciousness and instead struggled to get up from the ground, all the while cursing loudly.
"F*ck you—Ah!!"
The words were not even finished,
when there was a muffled thud.
The black figure's right leg swung like a whip, instantly smashing into the robber's leg.
Crack!
Even from a distance of more than ten meters, Chen Sheng could hear the crisp sound of bone breaking.
With this hit,
it completely cut off the possibility of the robber escaping.
Chen Sheng stopped in his tracks,
only then did he see the figure clearly.
To his surprise, it was a young woman.
The other party was not tall, she seemed to not even reach 1.6 meters.
She wore a sports outfit, long braids fluttering behind her.
A pair of almond-shaped eyes fiercely glared at the robber on the ground but did not seem intimidating, even a bit adorable.
"Don't move!"
The woman kicked again and knocked over the struggling robber.
After that,
she turned her head to look at Chen Sheng.
Seeing that Chen Sheng was staring at her,
the woman subconsciously turned her head to avoid making eye contact.
Her belligerent expression quickly faded away.
She opened her mouth, seemingly brewing something.
After a while, she stuttered out a sentence.
"Can... can you, please, call the police?"
Her voice was not loud.
If Chen Sheng's senses were not beyond those of ordinary people, he might not have heard her clearly.
He looked at the woman in surprise.
Her current introverted demeanor was quite difficult to reconcile with her fierce appearance when she fought the robber moments ago.
However, the desire to help remained.
"Oh, sure."
Chen Sheng took out his phone, preparing to call the police.
At this moment,
an unexpected change occurred.
"Hurry up!"
The robber suddenly shouted.
The next second,
Boom!
The iron gate of the courtyard next to Chen Sheng was suddenly slammed open, and three skinny guys wielding small knives rushed out from it.
Two of them charged towards the woman, preparing to subdue her together.
The remaining one stabbed the gleaming blade towards Chen Sheng.
This robber actually had accomplices!
"Stop!"
The woman's face turned pale with fright.
She was a Qi-sensor, her physical constitution far beyond ordinary people.
If the three men charged at her, she wouldn't be particularly frightened.
However, judging from the speed at which Chen Sheng had pursued the robber earlier, it was evident that he was an ordinary person with a subpar physical constitution.
He was highly likely to be stabbed.
With that thought,
the woman pushed off with her right foot, her body shooting forward like an arrow off the string, trying to save Chen Sheng.
However, the other two robber accomplices blocked her way.
Without any hesitation, she directly leaped into the air and kicked at the head of one of them.
In a crisis, she couldn't afford to hold back.
Boom!
Her foot landed solidly on the skinny guy's temple, sending him flipping through the air and landing unconscious on the ground.
Without stopping, she landed, spun around and kicked the head of another skinny guy.
At that moment,
in the corner of her eye, she noticed the last skinny guy was already approaching Chen Sheng with a knife.
No good, she was running out of time!
Her face anxious, she abandoned her attack and rushed towards Chen Sheng, disregarding the fact that an enemy, wielding a knife, was right beside her.
However, no matter how fast she was, she could not cross the ten meters in such a short instant.
She watched as the gleaming knife was about to stab Chen Sheng.
That's when the woman unexpectedly saw,
the young man who had come to help... appeared to be smiling?
Yes.
Chen Sheng was smiling.
At the moment the skinny guy got close to him,
he suddenly felt the blood and Qi inside his body surge rapidly.
Everything in his field of vision seemed to slow down.
His heart raced, the pounding echoed in his ears, one beat after another.
His body was shaking uncontrollably,
but it wasn't fear,
but sheer excitement.
So much so,
that Chen Sheng subconsciously curved the corners of his mouth.
The next second,
he made his move.
Instead of retreating, Chen Sheng advanced with a half step, closing in on the skinny guy.
He stomped his right foot on the ground, his fist slicing through the air, striking the skinny guy's abdomen with lightning speed.
Half-step Bashing Fist!