I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 472: Epic Level Task

Song Jian stared at the elderly beastman in front of him. It looked about seventy or eighty years old, its face wrinkled, adorned with a kind smile. From him, Song Jian could sense no air of a strong warrior, yet he knew that this elderly beastman might be the most powerful person in the entire circus troupe.

“To manage such a large circus troupe, more than half of which are professionals, some even having grade-one combat power, this old beastman is certainly not as simple as he appears,” thought Song Jian.

“My Lord, do you know, our journey has been extremely difficult, with the wilderness teeming with monsters and plagued by bandits. I recall one time when we were passing through the Desolate Mountain Range, we encountered over a dozen bandits, they were vicious,…” The old beastman started prattling on about the troupe’s experiences on the road while casually scrutinizing Song Jian.

After listening for a few minutes, Song Jian noticed Hacus showing no signs of ending his ramblings, which prompted him to furrow his brows; he didn’t have time for the old beastman’s idle chatter.

Besides, Song Jian noticed that while the other man was speaking, he kept subtly sizing him up as though he had something to say.

“By fog grass, is this guy trying to give me a task?” Song Jian thought, watching Hacus appear to struggle to articulate his words.

“Hacus, is there anything I can help you with?” Song Jian raised the question using standard task-undertaking parlance.

Hacus felt he was running out of things to say. He’d even recounted his childhood story about nearly drowning while catching fish in the pond, and yet, the other man seemed not to be catching on at all.

Right when Hacus was thinking about how to subtly pass the task onto Song Jian, Song Jian finally asked the question signaling readiness to undertake a task. For Hacus, these words were a godsend.

“Hahaha, Lord, I do have an epic task that I wish for you to undertake!” Hacus laughed out loud, speaking in the quietest voice possible.

“What, an epic task?” Song Jian was taken aback. He knew the rewards for epic tasks were usually epic items. A player being assigned an epic task wasn’t short of divine favor.

Given the tier of this task, Song Jian naturally couldn’t resist and quickly asked, “Troupe Leader Hacus, could you please elaborate on the task?”

“Lord, do you know why we decided to stay in your domain?” Hacus asked.

“Didn’t you say yesterday that you wanted to rest a while before moving on? Was that not the case?” Song Jian asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course, haha, of course it is. You know, journeying is a particularly strenuous task, and it’s an honor to rest in your domain for a while!” Hacus hastily said. “However, on our journey, a large Demonized Ant Group blocked our way, and I hope, my Lord, that you could help us kill all those Demonized Ants!”

“I see, but why don’t you make this a public task? The more people undertake the task, the higher the chances of success, right?” Song Jian asked curiously.

“Sorry, my Lord, as you know, the perimeter of the city has the protection of the divine. One or two people can use artifacts to navigate through the fog, but if there are too many, they will undoubtedly encounter misfortune in the mist…” Hacus shook his head. “At present, with our capabilities, we can only allow one person to pass through the fog surrounding the city!”

“What, you’re capable of enabling people to pass through the outer fog?” Song Jian exclaimed in surprise: “Are you sure that you can traverse through the fog rather than opening a teleportation gate?”

“Lord, opening a teleportation gate requires specific coordinates. Our entrance into the city also involved sending one person in first, then opening the teleportation device to allow others to enter!” Hacus explained.

“Could I ask how many members the Demonized Ant Group has, and what’s their maximum combat power?” Song Jian hesitated for a moment before asking.

Song Jian knew that there were many in the circus troupe who were higher in level and stronger than him, and yet Hacus was offering the task to him. He wasn’t sure what Hacus was playing at.

If he couldn’t figure it out, even if it was an epic task, Song Jian wouldn’t accept it. After all, no treasure was worth more than his own life.

“My Lord, there are many ants in the Demonized Ant Group, at least a thousand, each one above level twenty-five, and among them, there is a level-thirty elite boss. Their Ant King possesses grade-one combat power!” Hacus said seriously.

Hacus had a clear understanding of the strength of this Ant Group. In fact, within this ant colony’s cave, two level-thirty bandit NPCs had met their untimely end.

“Only one grade-one combatant boss? Why are you afraid, then? With the strength of your circus troupe, you should be able to easily wipe out such a group. Isn’t that right?” Song Jian asked in surprise. He had seen more than one professional in the circus troupe with grade-one combat power. How could such a group fear a Demonized Ant Group? Was Hacus joking?

“Well… I’m sorry, the people in our troupe can’t make a move. They… um… they have other tasks to fulfill…” Hacus looked uncomfortable, as if there was some secret he wasn’t sharing.

Just as Song Jian was about to press on, the system issued a sudden warning;

System: Beware, your questioning has probed into the core secret of the Shadow Circus Troupe. Continuing to question may cause Troupe Leader Hacus of the Shadow Circus Troupe to become hostile!

“Hostile?” Song Jian was taken aback. Suddenly, he remembered the Shadow Crystal Qi Yun had mentioned the night before. Could the high combat power individuals in the circus troupe be protecting the Shadow Crystal, hence they can’t fight the Demonized Ant Group?

But isn’t there only one grade-one combat power Ant King in that group? With so many grade-one combat power individuals in the circus troupe, it would be a walkover to kill the group and it wouldn’t conflict with protecting the Shadow Crystal, would it?

Song Jian was at a loss, but seeing Hacus’s troubled expression, he knew he couldn’t pursue it further, so he quickly said, “Hacus, I’m willing to take this task, to eliminate the Demonized Ant Group!”

Upon hearing Song Jian’s words, Hacus’s eyes lit up, and immediate joy washed over him. He patted Song Jian’s shoulder and said, “Haha, I knew you would take this task. You will forever be a friend to the Shadow Circus Troupe!”

…