Chapter 2: The Vision in the Dense Fog_1

When he woke up, Zheng Yichen washed his face and looked at the thin fog outside the window as he pulled back the curtains. It was a characteristic of Hazy City, and he was already used to the fog; it didn't affect local life anyway.

Bare-chested, he checked his reflection in the mirror and carefully rubbed the fine wrinkles on his skin before getting dressed and heading downstairs to have breakfast, starting his plan for the day.

He needed to find a suitable target; he was searching for a mutant chicken.

While it was true that he could pursue different Extraordinary creatures, for the sake of getting the license quickly—the proof of his endeavor—he chose the simplest and fastest option. After all, choosing this wouldn't affect the things he wanted to do later.

This wasn't like a game where your final reward is determined by your score.

"Xiao Qing, are you going fishing?" the breakfast stall owner asked with a chuckle, eying the gear beside Zheng Yichen.

"...Yeah, just call me Chang Qing," Zheng Yichen replied as he paid his bill, struggling to keep a straight face. Chang Qing was the name he used publicly, which was fine as both a name and a code.

The reason he chose this name was partly due to this world; when he first arrived, instead of starting over entirely, he only trimmed back half and regrew from there. At the initial stage, he saw an advertisement on a public television about the meaning of names.

It seemed similar to those fortune-telling services based on one's name that you'd find on Earth, which wouldn't normally be broadcast on TV, would it? Keeping it in mind, Zheng Yichen went with 'Chang Qing.' He didn't have acquaintances in this world anyway, so whatever he said went.

It was just that the breakfast stall owner who got familiar with him kept calling him 'Xiao Qing,' and it felt odd every time he heard it.

Hopefully, he wouldn't meet someone named Monk Fahai in the future.

"Then you better be careful, the weather forecast said there's going to be a strong fog today," the breakfast stall owner said, taking the money and reminding Zheng Yichen.

"I'll be careful," Zheng Yichen said as he picked up his bag and left the place. Strong fogs appeared occasionally in Hazy City, but an intense fog only happened a few times a year. If one did come, indeed, he would need to be more careful.

When such weather occurred, Hazy City would essentially shut down.

Checking the weather forecast on his phone, he saw that the strong fog would appear in the afternoon. This wouldn't interfere with his plan; with some luck, he could quickly find his target, or if not, just find a nearby inn to stay overnight.

After all, he was alone in this world, so going on a trip was not a lot of pressure.

However, his luck didn't seem good today. In the past, he would find an Extraordinary creature every few days, but after waiting for over two hours, he discovered nothing. Could it be due to the approaching strong fog?

Looking at the river not far away, Zheng Yichen felt an urge to cast a fishing rod. Since he hadn't found his target here, why not give it a try? He was here anyway.

A few minutes later, Zheng Yichen sat by the river with his fishing rod unfold, seriously staring at the fog-covered river. Fishing could also result in catching an Extraordinary creature.

If a regular chicken farm could catalyze the mutation of a hen due to the sheer number of chickens, then it was also quite likely something abnormal could emerge from a place like this river.

The fish in the river today seemed as lifeless as could be.

"..." Glancing at the time, Zheng Yichen picked up his bag and left. If he continued to wait, the strong fog would roll in, and then visibility would drop to the point where it would be hard to distinguish anything within fifty meters—walking might even lead to an accidental plunge into the river.

The market was temporarily closed due to the weather forecast, even though there was still an hour left before the predicted arrival of the strong fog. There goes the money they could have made.

Muttering to himself, Zheng Yichen went to a nearby inn and decided not to go back as there was no time; with the market closed, the bus station was out of the question.

The room price at the inn had tripled...

"Other places have increased even more. You should know what time it is," the middle-aged inn owner said with a radiant smile. A fisherman, once hooked, doesn't think too much.

"Understood," Zheng Yichen muttered inwardly, yet he accepted the tripled room price. Actually, it wasn't against the rules here since the forecast for strong fog was already issued. Going out in such weather, one should be prepared for this.

It's got to be said that there are quite a number of people who have a death wish, as you can tell from the long list of registered names and times on the form. This thing also serves as a liability waiver form, primarily to prevent some from recklessly seeking death by sneaking out in the dense fog. Once they've written their names down and completed the registration, whatever happens next has nothing to do with the inn.

In the dense fog of Hazy City, more abnormalities accompany the weather. It's said, and this is just hearsay, that even the Hunters try to avoid going out under such conditions. Zheng Yichen isn't very sure about the reality since most of what he knows about it comes from the internet and news sources.

Only by truly joining this circle can one gradually figure out what's really going on.

Besides the Hunters, there's another group of people who love roaming around in the foggy weather, much like the Storm Chasers on Earth before he became a transmigrator. They knew the areas where tornadoes appeared were dangerous, yet they still pursued them, aiming to record the changes and grandeur of the tornadoes.

Dense fog isn't a tornado, but the anomalies that manifest in such weather are indeed worth recording. There are official recording projects for this, as well as some idle folks among the public who engage in it. Although official channels don't encourage such behavior, they can't stop the human race's desire to court death.

Zheng Yichen himself had seen brief clips online, visions of an apocalyptic scene emerging within the dense fog, much like a mirage. The clarity wasn't high, but the general details were discernible. Some people had even compared these clips, unable to locate the specific places they depicted.

And then, that was all there was to it.

It satisfied the curiosity of the general public without revealing any more secrets or anomalies, or if there were any, they weren't something the average person could comprehend.

The weather forecast indicated that the dense fog wouldn't last more than ten hours; just a night's stay in the inn would suffice before resuming normal travel the next day.

He had both a charger and a power bank, and while the signal in dense foggy weather would be affected, most of that was the signal maintained by the towers; the inn's internet signal was relatively stable overall.

It didn't interfere with browsing information online and interacting with netizens of this world. On the forums, Hazy City netizens mentioned that they were already used to such events. In the foggy weather, they occasionally saw the dense fog churning in the distance, as if some monstrous creatures were fighting, offering more thrill than some blockbuster movies.

Netizens from the outskirts were skeptical and demanded proof, declaring that without pictures, there was no evidence, and if they wanted them to believe, they should post a photo!

Scrolling through the forums excited Zheng Yichen, and he thought posting a picture was no big deal. Glancing at the time, he realized more than an hour had passed. He returned his tablet to its normal position and stretched his shoulders before pulling back the curtains.

The weather forecast was incredibly punctual indeed, as what had been a light mist before was now thick, rolling fog outside. The fog lamps along the road had been turned on, yet visibility remained low.

With a click, Zheng Yichen snapped a photo of the dense fog outside and promptly uploaded it to the forum—an up-to-the-minute "[Photo]".

Dense fog was a prominent feature of Hazy City, so after uploading the photo, Zheng Yichen began to appreciate the weather. In the distance, the fog seemed to be torn apart, surging and swirling as if something unknown was siphoning it away.

"??" Looking at the video on his phone and then back at the fog's changes in the distance... huh, what a coincidence?

"Hurry, hurry, we've actually encountered a phenomenon, we're going to make a fortune this time!" The shout from someone who had just opened the door reached Zheng Yichen, prompting him to stick his head out.

The neighbor also spotted Zheng Yichen, appearing somewhat awkward, but upon seeing the bag hanging from Zheng Yichen's shoulder, he quickly realized, "Dude, are you also planning to... "

As he spoke, the man gestured as if about to sneak out.

This was the third floor, but he was well-prepared with ropes, making exit quite easy.

"Split up?" suggested Zheng Yichen.

"That's for the best."

Traveling together breeds discord; the Fog Travelers of Hazy City might operate in teams, but these teams wouldn't cluster together. More than one person could capture the phenomenon, and footage from a distance was indistinguishable and held little research value, but close-up footage was a different story.

They couldn't cover every angle, and Zheng Yichen's suggestion was spot-on – splitting up was the best way to go about it. There was more than one research institute looking to buy such footage.

While they used ropes to make their escape, Zheng Yichen chose to scale the wall.

To be honest, if the anomaly had been too far from his location, he likely wouldn't have been too interested, but the issue was that the anomaly was too close, probably within two hundred meters.