Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Releasing Tasks

Translator: 549690339

The guard muttered to himself, covering his stomach with one hand and pushing through the bushes with the other;

He wore a duckbill cap on his head and a gray leather jacket with worn cuffs on his body. His originally brown trousers had turned dark with filth, and his canvas shoes looked like they had just been picked up from a garbage dump, with a hole the size of a finger on the upper part;

After crawling into the bushes, he found a place near the wire fence where the grass was sparser, undid his pants, and squatted down. Song Jian slowly made his way towards him along the wire fence.

The guard, who had come out to use the toilet, didn’t bring his gun. He suddenly felt irritable as he heard the “rustling” noise of the fence behind him;

At that moment, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck, and his first thought was of danger. It was as if a ferocious beast was standing behind him, staring at him eagerly, with its hot breath blowing on the back of his head;

Without even pulling his pants up, he stood straight up, wanting to shout loudly, but a big hand covered his mouth. Before he could struggle, a cool sensation, followed by a sharp pain, hit the back of his head, and his vision blackened as he lost consciousness;

Song Jian pulled out his dagger and, seeing that the guard’s corpse hadn’t turned into black ash, viciously stabbed his throat again;

System: You killed a| LV3-101 Gathering Area Militiaman |with a dagger and received 190 experience points; your reputation in the 101 Gathering Area decreases by 5 points, leaving you indifferent to them;

Song Jian glanced at the system’s combat tips, not caring about the 101 Gathering Area. His only concern now was to confirm whether the old man in the room was the Dr. Ebsiting he was looking for;

The corpse of the militiaman still hadn’t disappeared, so Song Jian decided to strip him of his clothes.

The night was quiet, and the sounds of revelry from another room made Ali, who had been exposed to the cold wind, envious. He yawmed, feeling exhausted. He had been searching the area all day, and now his body felt rusted and reluctant to move;

After a while, he glanced at the rifle leaning against the door frame and suddenly realized, “Why hasn’t Cook come back yet?”

Alert, Ali grabbed the rifle, turned on the safety, and looked towards the tall grass, preparing to call out. He saw a figure, swaying as it stood up;

“Damn, Cook! 1 thought you fell asleep on a pile of shit!’1 Ali muttered quietly;

Cook waved his hand casually, mumbling something in his throat while tying his pants and slowly walking towards him, his duckbill cap covering most of his face;

Ali snorted in discontent, continuing to lean against the wall with the rifle, his head tilted to one side. Half-squinting his eyes and watching Cook pass by, he suddenly felt something was off;

“Why does Cook look shorter?” Ali opened his eyes wide, just in time to catch a flash of white light before losing consciousness. He tried to call out, but only managed a weak gasp;

Suddenly, a sharp pain in his chest made him lose all his strength. His body slumped down, and he sank into darkness;

System: You killed a[LV4-ioi Gathering Area Militiaman]with a dagger and received 280 experience points; your reputation in the 101 Gathering Area decreases by 5 points, leaving you indifferent to them;

Song Jian propped up the corpse of the militiaman, slowly sitting down and leaning against the wall, pretending to be asleep. He opened the door, slipped into the room, and looked at the old man on the bed;

Whispering, Song Jian called out, “Dr. Ebsiting, are you Dr. Ebsiting?”

The old man was clearly Caucasian, probably in his sixties with deep wrinkles on his cheeks, thin lips, and tightly furrowed brows even in his sleep.

Upon hearing someone call his name, the old man suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and glanced at Song Jian, snorting coldly, “What are you robbers up to now?”

“Dr. Ebsiting, I m here to rescue you,” Song Jian whispered.

“Rescue me?” Dr. Ebsiting obviously didn’t believe Song Jian, responding coldly, “I’m just a dying old man, worthless, not worth saving!”

Seeing Dr. Ebsiting”s standoffish demeanor, Song Jian directly took our rhe grenade fragment, held it out, and asked, “Doctor, do you know what this is?”

Dr. Ebsiting glanced at it and immediately turned his head away, snorting disinterestedly; however, his suddenly clenched fist betrayed his thoughts.

Song Jian smirked, “Doctor, this is a grenade fragment I found by chance. I think you might know the story behind it. Would you mind telling me?”

“Boy, do you really think this would make me talk? You’re insulting my intelligence. There’s no such word as “submission” in my dictionary! ” Dr. Ebsiting snorted coldly, visibly irritated, “Aren’t you trying to sell me for a good price? If I die from sleep deprivation, you’ll lose out. So, you robber, get out of my room.11

“Dr. Ebsiting, I think you’re mistaken. I just killed two of the “robbers’ you mentioned – the guards keeping watch over you. You just need to take a look outside to see!” Song Jian shrugged, thinking how the mission prompt had mentioned that Dr. Ebsiting was a stubborn and vigilant man – it was indeed true.

Hearing that Song Jian had killed two guards, Dr. Ebsiting’s expression softened a bit, but he still looked somewhat incredulous, staring into Song Jian’s eyes and asking, “Is everything you said true? You’re not with them? You really killed those two guys outside?”

“Of course. I think we should leave before we alert anyone else. What do you think?” Song Jian said.

Dr. Ebsiting suddenly stood up, hesitated for a moment, and then sat back down again.

“Kid, I recognize the fragment in your hand, but if you want to hear the story behind it, you must kill all the robbers in this garbage dump. Otherwise, I will not come with you, nor will I tell you the story behind this fragment.”

System: Dr. Ebsiting has issued a task to you Annihilation; Task description: You must kill all the militia members in the Urban Waste Collection Center’s 101 Gathering Area; Task reward: Increase Dr. Ebsiting’s favorability by 50. “Sheesh, your demand is suffocating!” Song Jian gasped, thinking, “The NPCs in this game sure know how to play – it s like getting something for nothing! And it’s a chain of tasks, one after the other.”

If he didn’t complete Dr. Ebsiting’s task, it would be impossible to finish the previous side quest.

Additionally, Dr. Ebsiting hadn’t yet found the item he was looking for in the dump, so he wanted Song Jian to eliminate those who occupied it to make it easier to search later.

Song Jian felt like he was being forced to eat a green fly and reluctantly nodded, taking the task.

Seeing Song Jian accept the task, Dr. Ebsiting seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, grew impatient after a moment, and waved at Song Jian, “Go finish the task first. After you’re done, come find me.”

With that, Dr. Ebsiting rolled over and went back to bed.