29: Chapter 29 The West Mountain Explosion

Chapter 29: Xishan Explosion Incident

Rumble——

Muffled thunder echoed through the night sky.

Fang Cheng snapped awake abruptly.

He raised his head to check the alarm clock; it was only 4:36.

Outside the window, it was still pitch black.

The sound of thunder faintly drifted from the distance.

Intermingled with it were faint, rustling sounds.

Clearly, after just clearing up for two days, it was about to start raining again.

Fang Cheng yawned, his sleepiness completely gone, and simply got up early.

He turned off the preset alarm, put on a sports jacket, and went to the bathroom to wash his face and rinse his mouth.

Then, he walked over to the living room balcony.

Gazing at the dawn scenery outside the window, he slowly squatted down and whispered,

"December 4th, the 15th morning exercise begins!"

Night fell low, and neon lights flickered.

The figure in front of the window was like a sculpture, outlining an upright and steady silhouette.

In less than a moment,

this figure suddenly changed, leaping back and forth like a nimble antelope.

Whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Fists pierced through the air, and footwork shifted and turned.

Just finishing his warm-up exercises, Fang Cheng began practicing Shadow Boxing.

Punching techniques, Kicking Techniques, punch-kick combinations, punch-throw combinations...

Various combat skills came naturally to him, executed with pure mastery and without the slightest sense of stagnation.

After finishing a round of Shadow Boxing, Fang Cheng paused briefly to catch his breath, closing his eyes to concentrate for a moment.

Then he struck a four-knuckle combat stance and, following the knowledge points from the instructional disc, tried practicing the basics of Karate.

That was the kata demonstrated by Majima Goro during training.

It included various complex techniques such as kicking, striking, throwing, seizing, projection, joint locks, choking, counter-techniques, Acupoint Striking, and breathing.

Many theoretical techniques of Karate were actually very similar to traditional martial arts.

Because it originally originated in the Xia Country and flourished in Dongying.

After being improved by generations of Great Master figures, its practical combat ability had greatly improved, making it more adaptable to modern combat sports styles.

No matter how it was improved, Karate's philosophy still leaned towards tradition, focusing on personal cultivation and aesthetic movements.

It was completely different from modern combat sports, which emphasized competition and decided winners and losers through fists.

Its performance in the ring was only slightly better than traditional martial artists of the Xia Country.

When it came to actual combat ability, a school like Jiu-Jitsu, which looked less aesthetically pleasing, was actually much stronger.

However, yesterday at the club, Majima Goro's performance made Fang Cheng look at him in a new light.

Disregarding his somewhat abnormal mental issues,

just looking at the solid basics he displayed, his beast-like abundant physical strength, and his desire to attack,

he was definitely a top-tier combat athlete.

It was just unclear how large the gap would be compared to a world-class Boxing champion like Zheng Haokang.

The figure flashed nimbly, and the sky gradually grew dim and bright.

6:50.

A rain shower stopped, and the voices on the street became active again.

After entering winter, the rainy weather had been intermittent for a full week.

The climate was abnormal; those who didn't know would have thought they were back in the early summer plum rain season.

Fang Cheng exhaled a breath of hot air, beads of sweat slightly oozing from his face.

He simply took off his sports jacket and undershirt to let his body breathe and cool down.

Then he revealed his back muscles, which had a few bruised areas rubbed with red medicinal wine.

Another new day had arrived.

Another morning exercise had ended.

The panel light screen emerged before his eyes, and Fang Cheng reviewed today's gains.

[Focus Experience + 3]

[Boxing Experience + 7]

[Sanda Experience + 20]

[Squat Experience + 15]

[Leg Raise Experience + 9]

"Not bad!"

Fang Cheng wiped the sweat from his forehead, a slight sense of fulfillment increasing in his heart.

Looking at another prompt message, the arc of the corners of his mouth lifting became even more obvious.

[Congratulations, through unremitting efforts, your Agility has been improved.]

Because he participated in the coaching department's physical fitness test yesterday and did 250 Push-ups in a row,

today's training volume was actually much less than before.

Moreover, to prevent worsening the fatigue of his upper limb muscles, Fang Cheng specially omitted the Push-up practice.

Even so, the gains from this morning exercise were still very considerable.

His current attributes were:

[Strength: 12]

[Agility: 12]

[Physique: 16]

[Spirit: 18]

Except for the newly broken-through Agility, the specific progress of the other three attributes was Strength 12%, Physique 37%, and Spirit 59%.

The special effect of The Aloof was like a continuous refueling machine,

shortening the time required to improve and break through bodily attributes—which originally took at least a month or more—by two to three times.

Fang Cheng moved his limbs, pulled back his arms, and threw a series of lightning-fast jabs at the air.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh——

He experienced the obvious change in punching speed after Agility increased,

and also felt a burst of soreness coming from his arm muscles.

That was a physiological phenomenon caused by lactic acid accumulation and protein breakdown.

Error-free, first release, internal content, check one by one!

As long as one exercised, it was unavoidable.

"Indulging oneself occasionally ultimately comes with a price..."

Fang Cheng muttered to himself and put away his stance.

Doing 250 Push-ups in one go,

he hadn't felt much of a burden at the time, and had even found it thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying.

Only after sleeping did his body muscles enter a state of fatigue instead.

Coupled with the bruises on his arms and back caused by being hit with benches during the brawl with the hoodlums in the night market the day before yesterday,

the two factors compounded.

Before fully recovering, it would inevitably have some impact on his daily training plan.

Fortunately, his Physique attribute was high and his body was tough enough.

Otherwise, he would probably have to ask for leave to rest for a few days.

"If I could master another fast-healing skill like in games, that would be even better..."

Fang Cheng's mind stirred slightly, summoning the light screen.

He looked at all the skills he currently mastered.

[Speed Reading lv1 (54/250)]

[Focus lv1 (106/250)]

[Culinary Arts lv0 (89/100)]

[Cleaning lv0 (91/100)]

[Boxing lv1 (164/250)]

[Sanda lv0 (35/100)]

[Push-up lv1 (132/250)]

[Squat lv1 (90/250)]

[Leg Raise lv1 (18/250)]

[Potential Activation (23:58:16)]

His gaze swept across them one by one, landing on the final skill column in a gray, sealed state.

The cooldown time displayed on it was surprisingly less than a day.

"I hope it won't affect tomorrow's plan to unlock Pull-up..."

Seeing this, Fang Cheng immediately reined in his thoughts and walked toward the bedroom.

He packed a few clean clothes, preparing to go to the public bathhouse downstairs later for a hot shower.

Today was Friday, and he didn't have to go to work; his rest time was quite sufficient.

Glancing at the gloomy sky outside the window,

Fang Cheng turned on the television again, tuned to the Dongdu News Channel, wanting to watch the 7:30 weather forecast.

The host's melodious voice immediately resounded through the room.

Before the exact hour, the television station was still broadcasting the morning news of "Good Morning Dongdu".

Fang Cheng put down the remote control, walked into the bathroom, first drew some cold water, and wiped his body with a towel.

"This station's major news broadcast: around 3:00 this morning, a serious explosion accident occurred at the Xishan Ruins excavation site, triggering a large-scale mountain fire..."

"Xishan?"

Hearing this, Fang Cheng rubbed his back with the towel behind his hand and walked back out to watch the news.

Renan Hospital, where his mother worked, happened to be located at the foot of Xishan.

"...The specific cause of this accident is currently unclear, and the losses caused have not yet been counted; it may be due to human sabotage."

"Currently, the Dongdu City Government and the National Security Department have dispatched a large number of military police and fire brigades to the area to carry out personnel clearance and search and rescue operations."

"To prevent traffic congestion and the potential escape of criminals, the entire Xiguan district has temporarily entered a state of alert, blocking various intersections and strictly prohibiting unauthorized vehicles from entering or leaving."

"General citizens who intend to visit the district recently, please pay attention to changing your schedule and wait for subsequent news from this station..."

Watching the host solemnly broadcast the news, along with the fleeting footage of Xishan billowing thick black smoke,

Fang Cheng frowned slightly.

Immediately returning to the bedroom, he took his mobile phone out of the bag and quickly dialed a number.

Soon, a waiting busy tone sounded.

Beep—— Beep—— Beep——————

Finally, the call hung up automatically.