Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups Chapter 1182 - 574:
Previously on Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups...
The bedroom lights had been switched off.
Moonlight, crisp and chilly, poured in via the windowpane, throwing a faint silver gleam across the floor that was hard to make out.
At the desk, Fang Cheng remained still, his eyes locked on the pair of starkly contrasting masks.
One appeared terrifying and savage, while the other seemed comically absurd.
Beneath the moon's glow, they emitted a chilling, spectral radiance, their mouths contorted in over-the-top curves.
Almost as though they were wordlessly revealing his concealed, shadowy aspect while he roamed the world.
Beyond the window, the noise from Old Factory Street had faded away.
Distant dog barks and the rumbling motors of vehicles coming home late resounded through the hushed night.
Farther off, the towering buildings of East Capital Center kept shining with relentless neon brilliance.
Resembling a steel woodland, they loomed quietly in the shadows, gazing down on the city's concealed vices.
With his hand, Fang Cheng softly caressed the pale Evil Ghost Mask, then raised his sight to the far-off, dazzling cityscape.
His gaze stayed serene like still water, though a fierce inner examination raged beneath.
Back at the barbecue spot, Ma Donghe’s urging to enter the Special Search Team lingered in his mind.
Even though he’d seemed unconcerned then, something deep within had been subtly stirred, sparking a deep contemplation of his position.
The "White Owl" persona essentially captured his ruthless, revenge-driven side in the shadowy realm.
It earned him his first notoriety, turning him into a byword for bloodshed and brutality.
Yet Fang Cheng knew full well that this kind of "justice" outside the law was ultimately a blade with two edges.
It might slice through foes in his path, but in time, it would draw fiercer retribution from the system of order.
With Fang Cheng’s adversaries escalating, from street gang lowlifes to the Noah Organization’s altered humans, and up to elite S-Class ability wielders.
The power he revealed had far exceeded what typical ability users possessed.
The chaos he stirred and the impact he unleashed kept expanding, pulling eyes from every direction.
Under these circumstances, aiming to stay unharmed and comfortable was surely no easy feat.
Fang Cheng pulled his eyes away from the remote panorama, returning them to the eerie white Evil Ghost Mask in front of him.
There’s an old proverb: "How can you not get your shoes wet if you often walk by the riverside."
Regardless of his careful moves, he’d inevitably leave marks behind in the world.
Eye witnesses, camera recordings, and even the wrecked remnants of fight zones...
Such hints might stump regular cops as impossible riddles.
However, for the Special Search Team, as the embodiment of state-backed enforcement, piecing together the facts was merely a question of time and investigative manpower.
When that moment arrived, where would he position himself?
To run endlessly, turning into a wanted man chased by the full force of the nation’s apparatus?
Or to fight back fiercely, defying the entire globe, sparking torrents of gore, and slaying until opposition crumbles and the world yields?
Fang Cheng stayed seated in silence, eyelids down, his presence subdued, but a torrent of savage power churned inside.
Both choices fell short of what he truly wanted.
Leaving aside if he possessed the might to challenge the world at all.
At heart, he craved harmony, yearning for a peaceful existence.
As his mind swirled with unrest, the neon-drenched night beyond the glass turned ever more dreamlike.
Slowly, Fang Cheng shifted his attention from the Evil Ghost Mask over to the crimson clown mask.
This one was a keepsake he’d grabbed from the site after blocking military cargo and eliminating the Masked Guest during that fateful night at Silver Wing Building.
It symbolized an abyss of obscurity and dread far deeper than East Capital’s underworld.
The Noah Organization, the enigmatic Xiao Family, the armed forces with spies in every nook...
And that "Ideal Land," shrouded in mystery, looming like a haunting specter.
Ever since he massacred Red Tiger Gang thugs in the pier storage and got unwillingly pulled into this maelstrom of strife, escape had become impossible.
Moreover, after his bold strike at Silver Wing Building, downing a combat chopper and wiping out the army’s covert agents.
It could be said he teetered right on the brink of disaster.
Should his real self link even faintly to these incidents.
He’d encounter far worse than probes from a handful of altered ability users or grudges from wealthy clan heads.
It would mean a devastating blow from the country’s engine, from colossal entities, strong enough to grind all in his vicinity to powder.
His relatives, his fresh Illuminati group, and all linked to him would vanish utterly in the ensuing tempest.
Though Fang Cheng held immense power to guard his survival, safeguarding others near him lay beyond his grasp.
Would he have to enact a dramatic saga of concealing his face, training relentlessly, and coming back for payback?
A faint smile tugged at Fang Cheng’s mouth as he shook his head lightly.
That kind of storyline obviously didn’t suit him.
In truth, he’d always been donning disguises, forever masking his authentic self.
Be it posing as a top coach in a gym or a law postgraduate, these were covers to stand openly in daylight, veiling his sinister essence.
Given that, why not seek an ideal platform to harbor every mystery and take on a grander part?
Ma Donghe’s invitation this evening, or more precisely, the route set by Ma Jianguo and Shi Chengyi, now loomed vividly in his view once more.
Namely, becoming part of the Special Search Team.