Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups Chapter 1267 - 615
Previously on Starting to Gain Experience from Push-Ups...
Fang Cheng remained by the fire, opting not to pursue.
His gaze pierced the dancing flames, calmly fixing on the direction the figure had disappeared.
Based on the silhouette and voice, the individual appeared to be merely a child.
Furthermore, as the figure plunged into the darkness, Fang Cheng’s sharp eyes detected an unusual sight.
The fabric of the other person's clothing seemed to shimmer with a distorted, wave-like iridescence.
Immediately after, the living silhouette completely melded with the surrounding ruined structures, vanishing as if into thin air.
"Is that optical camouflage? Or perhaps some biological mutation granting invisibility?"
A flicker of speculation crossed Fang Cheng’s mind.
He tossed the remaining monster leg bone into the fire, igniting a shower of sparks.
Then, he lifted his right foot and extinguished the newly formed campfire.
The immediate vicinity was plunged into complete darkness.
Fang Cheng closed his eyes, ceasing to rely on his limited sight and instead amplifying his hearing and sense of smell to their maximum capacity.
Under a gravity twice that of Earth, no being’s movement could truly be 'without a trace'.
Fierce winds howled through the ruins, emitting a mournful cry and carrying diverse scents.
Fang Cheng’s ears twitched subtly, filtering out the wind’s roar and the tumbling of small stones.
Two seconds later, he pinpointed a faint yet regular “creaking” sound approximately two hundred meters ahead.
It was the noise of shoe soles compressing volcanic ash underfoot, unable to support the weight without creating a subtle sound.
Despite the other’s strenuous efforts to move silently, to Fang Cheng, it was akin to a drumbeat next to his ear.
He abruptly opened his eyes, a faint golden luminescence swirling in the depths of his pupils.
Next, he completely suppressed his own surging vital energy, forcing his heartbeat down to less than ten beats per minute.
His entire being transformed, becoming like a phantom Black Panther merging into the night’s embrace, his leg muscles coiling before swiftly unleashing their power.
Swish!
Without generating any extraneous wind noise, Fang Cheng’s body propelled itself directly upward, effortlessly vaulting onto a slanted, broken concrete wall.
He silently bounded and weaved between the skeletal remains of buildings.
Like a phantom absorbed by the night, he meticulously controlled the force of each landing.
Maintaining a discreet distance of about a hundred meters from the invisible figure making faint sounds, he continued his silent pursuit.
The tracking continued for several minutes.
As they ventured deeper into the city’s ruins, the surrounding structures grew taller and more densely packed.
Thick volcanic ash lay like a layer of black frost and snow that never melted, coating every twisted rebar and crumbling wall.
The ambient temperature had already plummeted below freezing.
The sharp scent of sulfur began to mingle with a wild stench emanating from fermented sewers.
Urgent footsteps echoed repeatedly from ahead.
The invisible child was clearly intimately familiar with the local environs.
They would pause occasionally to look back or decisively alter their course.
Fang Cheng’s gaze drifted downwards, instantly grasping the reason.
Within the shadows cast by the surrounding ruins, numerous monstrous, mutated beasts lay in wait.
The child navigated the treacherous paths, guided by an innate sense of danger, carefully picking through the gaps.
Silently avoiding those lairs that radiated a hazardous aura, not a single monster was disturbed.
Finally.
The footsteps ceased before a vast collapsed pit, resembling an ancient subway entrance.
Fang Cheng utilized both his hands and feet, clinging silently to a thick load-bearing column over ten meters high, much like a gecko, overlooking the deep chasm.
Below, three indistinct figures were concealed behind a heap of rusted ticket machines.
A faintly glowing green cold light tube lay discarded on the ground, barely illuminating a few square meters of the area.
Accompanied by an air distortion akin to water ripples, the invisible child deactivated their disguise, materializing at the edge of the green light.
They gasped for air, their chest heaving like damaged bellows.
In the dim cold light, Fang Cheng discerned their clothing, a hint of surprise surfacing in his heart.
These four individuals were all clad in remarkably bulky jumpsuits.
The material appeared to have been crudely stitched together from mutant beast hides and industrial canvas, coated with black oil to provide radiation resistance.
They also wore heavy sheepskin gloves and gas masks equipped with thick filter canisters atop their heads.
The lenses of their goggles were marred by scratches and dust, vaguely revealing the eyes concealed behind them.
This was unmistakably a primitive, rugged survival suit custom-made for a wasteland existence.
Fang Cheng meticulously observed the other three adult-sized figures.
Among them, two possessed larger frames and were armed with weapons.
These were not sophisticated beam weapons but rather crude firearms crudely assembled from steel pipes, springs, and rough bolts.
An equally slender silhouette, appearing to be female based on her posture, gripped a sharp, solid rebar held upside down. "Hoo... hoo..." Heavy, muffled breaths emanated from the gas mask, carried by the night wind to Fang Cheng’s ears. The child seemed frightened, or perhaps had been running at full tilt. He doubled over, hands braced against his knees, gasping for air and muttering unintelligibly. On the very edge of the green light, the 'Omniscient Language' ability activated without delay. What were once static, inarticulate sounds, like garbled code, morphed into coherent, understandable dialogue after a quick mental translation.