Chapter 556: Two Iron God Events

Chapter 556: The Iron God's Duathlon

On the eighth day of his hundred-kilometer challenge, Meng Fan’s route began at Jinji Lake in Suzhou. After circling the lake once, he headed north and soon entered the Yangcheng Lake area, running along the lakeside road.

Sometimes he could see the lake, sometimes not.

As for hairy crabs, of course, he couldn’t see any—it’s not like every part of Yangcheng Lake had crabs... or did it?

“Iron God!”

“It’s really you!”

“I’m your die-hard fan! My whole family loves you!”

“I knew you were running this way from Jinji Lake, so I came here to wait for you the moment I heard—and I actually caught you!”

A big brother with a booming voice called out to Meng Fan.

Along the way, many people had spotted and hailed him, but this one left a deep impression because he was waiting by the shore in a small boat. On the boat was a large basket, packed full of hairy crabs!

“My family’s on Lotus Island—our clear-water crabs are the best!”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t find them!”

“I brought them for you! Where’s your finish line? I’ll sail over and wait for you!”

“There’s also whitefish, silver carp, and clear-water shrimp—delicious!”

The warmth of it all truly moved Meng Fan.

He thought for a moment, muted the livestream’s audio, and said to the brother, “I actually planned to finish at the dock and head to Lotus Island for some food.”

“That’s perfect! I’ll wait for you at the dock! You have to come—I’ll wait no matter what!”

The brother chuckled heartily, waved goodbye to Meng Fan, and once he was out of sight, sailed his little boat toward Lotus Island. Meng Fan still had a long run ahead, so the brother would go prepare first, then wait for him at the dock.

Wait—should I dress up in a suit to look formal?

Should I buy a bouquet to welcome the Iron God?

Damn, I’m going the wrong way!

Meng Fan kept running, still not fast, maintaining a pace between five and four and a half minutes per kilometer. As he ran, he showed the livestream viewers the scenery, chatting normally at this pace, and even recited an ad for BaiX instant noodles every hour—quite dedicated.

Along the way, Meng Fan encountered plenty of offerings—water, bananas, and such.

That was fine; he couldn’t rely solely on energy gels for the whole run.

After about three hours and fifteen minutes, Meng Fan completed a full marathon, but he didn’t stop—he kept going.

After another five or six kilometers, the livestream viewers noticed something different. Before, after a full marathon, he would shower, eat, and rest. But this time was different.

Even after reaching fifty kilometers, he still didn’t stop.

Then Meng Fan announced that he planned to try running the full hundred kilometers in one go, to see if he could make it.

After fifty kilometers, he slowed down a bit, his pace dropping to about five and a half minutes per kilometer. For professional marathoners, a fifty-kilometer ultra-marathon would be faster, but for ordinary people, this was already superhuman.

He kept the pace and continued.

Around the sixty-fifth kilometer, an accident occurred.

At a lakeside spot, about seven or eight people were shouting and screaming. Meng Fan’s hearing was sharp, and he caught the gist from afar—someone had fallen into the water!

Someone else had jumped in to help, but the drowning person clung to the rescuer like a lifeline, thrashing wildly in panic, causing the rescuer to swallow several mouthfuls of water and panic as well!

The two bobbed up and down in the water, while the people on shore scrambled in chaos. A few more had gone in, but they were far away, and the scene was heart-wrenching.

Seeing this, Meng Fan didn’t hesitate. He sprinted forward, unstrapping his backpack and tossing it to the ground as he ran. Reaching the shore, he dove in with a powerful plunge, shooting five meters out. The splash from his massive frame was like a depth charge exploding, startling everyone on shore, those about to jump in, and those already in the water.

They stared, but saw nothing.

What the hell—something dove in and vanished?

Then, suddenly, a figure emerged right next to the two drowning people.

Another shock.

The figure was huge—could it be some kind of water monster?

Oh no, it was definitely a person, and a very familiar-looking one at that... Wasn’t that Olympic champion Meng Fan?

Meng Fan surfaced after a quick underwater swim and said to the two, “Don’t be afraid!”

His voice was low, his words few, but they carried a strange power. The first to fall in—a man in his forties—instantly calmed down. The other rescuer, a man in his thirties who was nearly exhausted from being clung to, let out a long sigh. Seeing Meng Fan’s unfamiliar yet familiar face, he burst into loud sobs.

Meng Fan supported both with one arm each and backstroked to shore.

Neither was seriously hurt—one had swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, the other several.

Once ashore, he handed them up one by one to the people on land, then climbed out himself.

Someone took off clean clothes to wipe them down or wrap them, and another offered a shirt to Meng Fan. He thanked them but waved it off.

An ambulance had already been called; its siren could be heard in the distance. Meng Fan picked up his backpack and left.

Everyone there recognized him. They wanted a photo, but it felt inappropriate given the situation. By the time they made up their minds to go for it, Meng Fan was already far away.

He continued on his way, still running.

The livestream exploded.

From the moment someone fell in to the rescue, the entire process was captured on camera, including the underwater footage of Meng Fan’s dive—the high-tech lens clearly showed the lake bottom. It was just too fast; in a flash, he was from the shore to the two people.

“So awesome!”

“Small stuff—after all, our Iron God is the man who rode whales in the South China Sea!”

“Ran over fifty kilometers, swam that fast, saved two people—this stamina is truly the world’s number one tough guy!”

“This man is just too strong!”

“Thrilling! This livestream gets my blood pumping—time for a bowl of BaiX instant noodles!”

“Is he going to keep running?”

Of course, Meng Fan would keep running. The rescue hadn’t drained much energy, and he had used his high-tech sportswear to wick away sweat before diving. Even his running shoes and underwear had a bit of tech—after getting out, a few strides and he was dry again.

Four hours later, Meng Fan finally completed a hundred kilometers, then ran a bit more to reach the destination dock, taking a total of 8 hours and 11 minutes.

At the dock, he asked about the distance from the dock to Lotus Island. Instead of taking the brother’s boat, he decided to swim there—it had been a long time since he last swam, and the earlier dip had rekindled the urge.

Without turning off the livestream, he said to the viewers, “The Iron God’s duathlon—check it out.”

With that, he plunged into the water with a splash.

The water was really nice!

(End of chapter)