Monsters Die When Killed-Chapter 39 - 18: Pardon the Intrusion

The rest of his workout and self-tests confirmed Su Zhou’s suspicions. Both his squats and deadlifts far surpassed his previous records. If his physical fitness had once been comparable to that of professional athletes, it was now on a level that left them in the dust!

By this time, it was nearly ten o’clock, and the people with money and free time, or the dedicated fitness enthusiasts, began to arrive. The Rui’an Fitness Center was right next to a food street, so no one had to worry about where to eat. Some people even just came to kill time before grabbing a meal.

Pretty much everyone knew Su Zhou. Most people greeted him warmly with a "Brother Zhou," while the older folks would call him "Azhou."

Of course, it wasn’t because of his good looks that everyone showed him respect—it was because they’d been beaten up after provoking him, or had learned their lesson after being utterly crushed in contests of strength. This path of blood and tears had built up the formidable reputation of "Brother Zhou." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

By now, there was hardly anyone in the Hongcheng fitness scene who didn’t know his name.

"...Who’s this kid?"

Of course, there were always newcomers joining the circle who didn’t know him.

Feng Sen, from Min State, 19 years old, a first-year student in the engineering department of Yuzhang Academy, and a weightlifting enthusiast.

His temper wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly good either. His key principle for daily interactions was simple: he couldn’t stand seeing others show off.

Since he’d gotten into Yuzhang Academy, he decided to first check out the gym his older brother owned and get a membership card. Feng Sen hadn’t planned on being high-profile in a new city, but when he saw almost everyone in the gym greeting a young man—who only looked a little muscular, not particularly strong—with such respect, he just couldn’t understand it.

’Showing off in my brother’s gym? What rich guy or young master is this? How can he get everyone to suck up to him like that?’

It wasn’t that Feng Sen wanted the spotlight for himself; he just wanted to see what this guy’s deal was. If the guy really was rich and powerful, he wouldn’t mind sucking up a bit himself. But if not, he wanted to see just what gave this guy the right to be called "Brother" by so many people!

But just as he peeked his head out, before he could get a good look, let alone provoke him with some trash talk or taunts, Feng Sen saw a figure retract his arm, twist at the waist, and slam a solid punch into the punching bag!

BAM—THUD!!!

A one-two impact echoed out. The first was the sound of a fist smashing into the bag with the force of a car crash. The second was the THUD of the bag flying up and slamming against a protruding part of its stand!

A heavy punching bag, weighing at least a hundred pounds, was nearly sent into a full circular motion by that single blow. As the bag swung back toward the puncher, the still-shocked Feng Sen saw the guy casually raise a hand to block it.

’Hey, you’ll break your arm!’ In that instant, Feng Sen really wanted to shout those words. The scene was just too dangerous. A moment of carelessness and the force of the blowback could easily injure someone. In fact, such incidents were not uncommon.

But the man’s strength and technique were simply too immense, too powerful.

The moment the fiercely swinging bag touched his palm, it was met with an opposing force. With a deft give and take, all of its violent kinetic energy was instantly neutralized, and it hung motionless as if it had never been struck.

Except for the fist imprint in the center of the bag that still hadn’t faded, everything was calm as ever.

Dumbfounded, his facial muscles frozen, Feng Sen swallowed hard. His body swayed. Just then, the person who’d thrown the punch seemed to notice he was being watched. He turned and met the gaze of the blank-minded Feng Sen.

"Hey, Brother Zhou!"

On pure instinct, Feng Sen blurted it out. Su Zhou, though a bit confused, nodded back and gave him a bright, cheerful smile. "You too."

「At two in the afternoon.」

After eating at a nearby buffet, Su Zhou worked out for a while longer. Then, after receiving a text message notification, he said his goodbyes to Brother Qiang and left.

"That guy... who the hell is he?"

At that moment, Feng Sen, who was jogging on a treadmill, watched Su Zhou’s departing figure through the window and muttered to himself, still shaken, "What kind of Monster was that..."

He didn’t even look that strong, but no matter the exercise, no matter the intensity, he made it look as easy as child’s play. If he didn’t know the country hadn’t developed Terminator-style robots yet, he would have suspected the guy was a humanoid Terminator.

’Wait, have they really not developed them? I think there was already an Exoskeleton Armor unit in the last National Day parade...’

SLAP!

Just as he was thinking this, a large hand slapped the back of his head. Feng Sen turned around, annoyed, but when he saw who it was, his expression immediately changed to a grin. He stopped the treadmill. "Yo, Big Bro! You’re here?"

The person behind Feng Sen was none other than the beast-like director of the Hongcheng Rui’an Club, Feng Qiang, also known as Brother Qiang. You could see his bald head shining, giving off a smooth luster as if it had been polished to a fine patina.

"You little brat, what are you mumbling about!" Brother Qiang didn’t hold back with his younger brother. He reached out, squeezed the muscle on his brother’s arm, and then sighed. "You’re not cutting it. It’s passable, I guess, but only just."

"I’m just an enthusiast, not like you, Big Bro. You do this for a living..." Facing Feng Qiang, who was a whole size bigger than him, Feng Sen clearly lacked confidence. But he quickly changed the subject, asking eagerly, "By the way, Big Bro, that guy..."

As he spoke, he looked up and gestured toward Su Zhou’s back, which was about to disappear at the end of the road. "What kind of Monster is he? That punch of his is good enough for professional competitions!"

"Haha."

Before Feng Qiang could answer, another fitness enthusiast jogging nearby grabbed a towel, wiped the sweat from his brow, and chuckled. "You’re Brother Qiang’s younger brother? Just moved here, right? Who in the Hongcheng fitness scene doesn’t know the great name of Brother Zhou!"

"Isn’t that the truth! A humanoid Monster!" Hearing the discussion, a random muscular guy who was passing by for a drink chimed in. "Don’t be fooled by his average-looking build. He weighs one and a half times as much as a normal person of the same height! And that’s with Brother Zhou controlling his physique, not intentionally bulking up to increase strength, all to maintain his flexibility!"

"Yeah, his natural talent is insane. He was born with high-density muscles. His physical fitness is on a completely different level from us amateurs. They say if Brother Zhou didn’t want to test into one of the seventy-two A Class Academies, he could’ve joined the national team long ago and brought glory to the country! He’s got both brains and brawn!"

Instantly, the entire gym was filled with the voices of Su Zhou’s various hype men. The cacophony of accents and exaggerated anecdotes sounded like a Reddit thread full of tall tales.

"Don’t listen to their hype. These guys all lost miserably when they challenged Su Zhou back in the day. If they don’t hype him up, are they supposed to admit they’re weaklings?"

Just as Feng Sen was getting a bit dizzy from all the wild praise, another gentle slap landed on the back of his head. Feng Qiang’s calm voice followed. "But they’re right about one thing: be more polite next time you see him. That kid, Su Zhou... even if he doesn’t get into an A Class Academy, he could just use his physical abilities to compete in the National Youth Games, win a few championships, and get a special admission into one of the special A Class Academies."

"When that time comes, we’ll invite him to do some promotions for our club. Our reputation will skyrocket, and headquarters will give me a bonus."

After speaking, Feng Qiang paid no mind to his brother’s look of sudden understanding. Instead, he frowned, staring absently at his own hand.

He had, of course, noticed Su Zhou’s clearly abnormal stats. He knew the kid’s strength seemed to have increased by another huge margin compared to before.

’But... this isn’t just a problem with him alone.’

’Could it be that the equipment isn’t malfunctioning... but that my strength has really increased?’

He clenched his right fist, powerful muscles bulging, gathering immense strength. Feng Qiang shook his head in confusion, recalling how he’d inexplicably and easily lifted a 190-kilogram barbell first thing in the morning—so easily that he’d thought he’d bought counterfeit weight plates. "It’s strange," he said. "Come to think of it, over the past few years, the rate at which global records for human physical limits are being broken is just too fast..."

"What in the world is happening?"

Meanwhile, Su Zhou—the subject of his defeated challengers’ wild hype—was humming a little tune as he headed home.

He was in high spirits. Part of it was, of course, due to the massive increase in his physical fitness and having gotten a rough grasp of his body’s new level of strength. But the most important reason was something else entirely.

’My weapon has arrived!’