Chapter 2407: Chance Encounter

In the dilapidated wooden house, Su Xiao stepped out from the black crack in the wall. He had arrived at the area near the Town of Misfortune for the second time.

There were no changes in the wooden house; the pile of bones that had turned into dust remained untouched. Unlike his previous visit, the stinging pain caused by the erosion of the Old God's power over his entire body had vanished.

【You have arrived at the area near the 'Town of Misfortune'.】

【The Light and Dark Amulet has been activated. It is estimated that its energy will be depleted in 24 hours. If recharging the Light and Dark Amulet is required, it will cost 10 Soul Coins per charge.】

【Main Quest: Fifth Ring has been activated.】

【Main Quest: Visitor to the Town (Fifth Ring).】

Difficulty Level: Lv. 64

Quest Information: Explore more than 20% of the Town of Misfortune.

Quest Duration: 7 natural days.

Quest Reward: Complete Map of the Town of Misfortune (Holy Spirit-grade item, tradable).

Quest Penalty: Forced execution.

The Fifth Ring quest was actually an exploration-type quest. Su Xiao had never received such a quest before, but the reward, the 【Complete Map of the Town of Misfortune】, was quite satisfactory.

If Su Xiao guessed correctly, the subsequent main quests and the assessment for the 150-point attribute barrier would all take place within the Town of Misfortune. With the map of this place, the risks of operating here would be significantly reduced.

The most critical issue now was entering the Town of Misfortune; without dealing with the gatekeeper, everything else was just empty talk.

"Woof."

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang let out a low bark, meaning it heard sounds in the distance.

Su Xiao attempted to release his perception, but beyond a range of a few meters, everything around him was a blur. The Old God's power near the Town of Misfortune was too dense, having already formed a thin, mist-like layer that severely hindered perception.

There was no such mist inside the Town of Misfortune, but once inside, his perception range would only be even smaller. Compared to the outside of the town, everything within the Town of Misfortune had been heavily eroded by the Old God's power.

Footsteps approached, accompanied by faint conversation.

"We must succeed this time. White Bull, don't be a coward."

The conversation drifted out from the thin mist. Judging by the footsteps, it was a four-person team.

"Captain, the Immortal One is like a mad dog after being injured. If I don't retreat, I'll die. This isn't a dungeon raid; I can't restrain the Immortal One, and Killer Bee's long-range support is too weak."

A somewhat dull, grumbling voice came through, clearly showing dissatisfaction.

"If I weren't covering you, the Immortal One would have cut you into four pieces."

A cold female voice appeared; this should be Killer Bee, while the dull, sturdy man called White Bull snorted coldly.

"In short, we must take down the Immortal One. The key is on him. Without opening that place, there's no way to explore the Town of Misfortune."

The man called Captain spoke. He wore a pair of metal gauntlets, and the muscles beneath his coat were like granite.

This four-person team consisted of a tank (White Bull), a middle-aged male melee fighter (Captain), a female long-range contractor (Killer Bee), and finally, a female healer. This big sister had a larger build than the tank White Bull, and Killer Bee, who walked alongside her, didn't even reach her shoulder.

It was easy to determine the class of these four. Detailed data was unavailable, but contractors above the third tier basically had fixed combat systems.

These four were no exception. Tank, melee, etc., were just broad categories. Under each broad category were dozens of small branches. The tank category alone had 57 types of branches, and the sub-classifications beyond that were too numerous, existing in several tiered layers.

The four-person team did not come from the same Paradise. White Bull and the Captain were from Apocalypse Paradise, Killer Bee was from Death Paradise, and the sturdy healer was from Watcher Paradise.

From the few words of the four, Su Xiao gathered that they had been near the Town of Misfortune for some time and had failed multiple times in their attempts to deal with the Immortal One.

Inside the wooden house, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang merged with the environment. After activating the ability attached to 【Sacred Traveler】, it passed through the wooden wall to track the four-person team.

Su Xiao had originally intended to deal with the Immortal One himself, but now that there was a four-person team to scout the path, it was naturally for the best.

Before long, the footsteps faded into the distance. Su Xiao pushed open the door and walked out of the small wooden house. The thin mist drifted, and everywhere he looked was black withered grass, with a winding gravel road leading to the Town of Misfortune.

On the gravel road, the four-person team was at the very front, followed by Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, and finally Su Xiao, Amu, and Baha.

Su Xiao hadn't gone far when he saw a corpse twisted by impact on the side of the road. It was the Penitent. The person who had turned him into this state didn't need guessing; it was the four-person team.

The Penitent had obvious slash wounds on his body, with one hand and one leg severed. At this moment, he was lying face down on the ground, his rear end sticking up.

"What a pity. The Penitent must have known many secrets."

Baha stepped forward to examine the Penitent, and after confirming he was dead, shook its head at Su Xiao.

Su Xiao stepped forward to continue. The Penitent was quite important. According to the information he already had, there were three major events in the Town of Misfortune. First was the descent of the Old God, followed by Emperor Okaz's arrival at the Town of Misfortune, which was a crucial turning point, and the final major event was the origin of the Secret Runes.

The death of the Penitent meant it would be very difficult to learn what Emperor Okaz had done back then, making it even harder to obtain benefits from it.

There were losses as well as gains. Just now, Su Xiao had heard the Captain of the four-person team mention that the Immortal One had a key on him. That key was crucial; without obtaining it, there was no way to explore the Town of Misfortune.

Soon, Su Xiao arrived beneath the high wall of the Town of Misfortune. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was hiding beside the gate tunnel of the high wall, from which roars were emanating.

Su Xiao came to the side of the gate tunnel and looked inside. The four-person team was already engaged in battle with the Immortal One.

White Bull and the Captain were surrounding and attacking the Immortal One from front and back. Killer Bee was crouching half-bent a few dozen meters away, holding a hunting rifle with both hands. A red laser beam from the muzzle shone on the Immortal One, slowly concentrating.

Bang!

A crisp gunshot rang out. A bullet covered in carvings flew from the muzzle. There was no possibility of dodging; it pierced through the Immortal One's shoulder, and dried blood and flesh fragments splattered.

The Immortal One stepped back, as did White Bull and the Captain, both of whom were covered in bloodstains from being slashed by the Immortal One.

Killer Bee, crouching on the ground, broke the rifle's breech; a shell casing had just flown up and dissipated. This hunting rifle looked backward, but it was actually a weapon with supernatural properties, not a gunpowder firearm.

A bullet was pushed into the chamber by Killer Bee. She broke the breech again and re-aimed, her movements clean and efficient. The red laser beam focused on the Immortal One once more, slowly converging.

The four of them dared to break into the Town of Misfortune; naturally, their strength was not weak. White Bull appeared to have no shield, but after the battle, his entire body was covered in exoskeleton, while the Captain beside him struck out with waves of air pressure with every punch.

The sturdy healer inserted a totem pole into the ground, and layers of pale green ripples spread out. She was standing on top of the totem pole with her arms crossed. There were traces of impact strikes on the ground nearby; this was definitely not a healer without self-preservation capabilities.

Killer Bee went without saying; she gave Su Xiao the most dangerous feeling. Taking more than three shots from her would be very bad.

The coordination of the four was quite good, but the Immortal One was even more formidable, slashing White Bull and the Captain until they were baring their teeth in pain. Wood chips flew everywhere on the main street, and the ground was covered in craters.

Su Xiao would naturally not miss such an interesting event. Letting those two sides fight it out was fine for now; it was not yet time to reveal himself.