Chapter 40 Wipe The Poop off Your Face

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Jason's fist descended upon the Zombie General's head like a tempest, the forceful impact rendering it completely immobile.

After all, Jason was not a bald-headed fighter, and his completion of the Garp template was still in its early stages. The Zombie General possessed high defenses and considerable health, making it impossible to eliminate it with a single blow like a common monster.

Nonetheless, the Zombie General's health bar steadily decreased at a noticeable rate, its grotesque face becoming increasingly bloodied under the assault of Jason's fists.

Ultimately, Jason raised his fist high once more and brought it crashing down again.

This time, with a thunderous sound, the Zombie General's head exploded, leaving a deep imprint in the ground.

"Ding! Task 2 completed. Reward: 4% completion of the Garp template."

"Ding! Task 3 completed. Reward: 6% completion of the Garp template."

"Ding! Congratulations on reaching 27% completion of the Garp template."

At the instant the Zombie General perished, three successive notifications echoed in Jason's mind.

Simultaneously, he felt the strength within his body surge dramatically, even as his muscles appeared to swell, as if they might rip through his armor.

Only when he reached a critical point did the muscles of his entire body begin to contract, and Jason's figure returned to its original form.

However, he could clearly sense that his muscles had grown stronger, each fiber now seemingly as tough as steel.

Looking at his attributes, he noted a significant increase:

[Jason]: Human.

[LV]: Level 31

[HP]: 2610 → 3610

[SP]: 675 → 1005

[Power]: 95 → 145 (+15)

[Agility]: 125 → 175 (+23)

[Defense]: 305 → 455 (+60)

[Spirit]: 90 → 140 (+10)

[Lucky]: XX

The sudden 10% boost in Garp template completion was overwhelming, and Jason once again experienced a disconcerting disconnect between his body and mind.

"Sure enough, the rapid increase in power is too much for my brain to adjust immediately."

Jason had encountered this sensation before and didn't worry about it; he simply needed to spend some time in combat to allow his mind to readjust to his enhanced form.

What thrilled Jason the most wasn't just the newfound strength but rather the confirmation of a crucial point: multiple tasks could indeed be completed concurrently.

"This means that next time a selection task arises, I could potentially complete 2, or even 3 tasks at once? No...it's not that straightforward."

A moment later, Jason shook his head as he recalled an important detail.

Generally speaking, when one choice is fulfilled, it indicated the task was considered completed with an immediate reward, leaving no time to fulfill a second option.

However, this current wave of disaster selection task was slightly different.

Among the optional tasks, the second one: rescue Lute Village from the disaster wave, stated that if the death toll remained under 10, success would yield a reward of 4% of Garp's template.

How could this optional task be deemed complete?

Clearly, it would only count as a success once the waves of disaster had receded and the death toll in Lute Village was confirmed to be below 10.

As for how the disaster wave would recede, it depended on defeating the Zombie General, the source of this calamity.

The third optional task required him to eliminate the BOSS associated with the disaster wave personally, rewarding him with an additional 6% of Garp's template.

This meant that there were no time conflicts between the two tasks, allowing for simultaneous completion.

In light of this conclusion, Jason felt a pang of disappointment.

Still, looking on the bright side, he had at least witnessed the possibility of completing more than 2 tasks at once. This revelation was positive and well worth celebrating.

After sorting through his thoughts, Jason disregarded the stunned Motoyasu and others, and began to tear materials from the Zombie General, placing them before the gemstone of the shield, enabling the shield to absorb its essence.

The conditions of the Zombie General's Shield have been unlocked!

[Zombie General Shield]: Ability not released; equipment bonus effect: Defend; special skill: Suppression.

This is a massive triangular shield, featuring a lifelike armor design, with a long knife embedded in the armor.

When wielding this shield, the user, in most cases, will not retreat when attacked and is capable of effectively defending everything behind them.

Skill: Suppression: Temporarily enhances the user's muscle power and endurance to suppress the enemy.

For a tank, this skill is exceptionally valuable. Even for Jason, the Suppression skill is quite beneficial, especially when hunting larger monsters.

The spoils of this disaster wave can be deemed quite fruitful; Jason felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

As Jason slowly stood up from the remains of the Zombie General and prepared to depart, Kitamura Motoyasu and the others began to snap out of their shock.

"Master Motoyasu, are you alright?"

As the adventurers following Kitamura Motoyasu, they rushed to check on him immediately, especially Myne, who was the most caring among them.

At that moment, Kitamura Motoyasu was covered in mud, looking embarrassed and far less energetic than before, especially with a very noticeable footprint on his face, left by Jason.

Myne approached Kitamura Motoyasu, rolled up his sleeves, and gently began wiping his face without a word. "Master Motoyasu, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Motoyasu replied, shaking his head. Having such a "gentle" beauty attending to him definitely lifted his spirits.

However, Myne's expression suddenly shifted: "Master Motoyasu, do you smell something foul?"

"Corpse stench," Motoyasu said, glancing at the decaying body of the Zombie General. Despite being a general, it was still a zombie, and the pungent odor it emitted filled the air unpleasantly.

Yet, Myne continued to frown. "It's not just the smell of corpses, Mr. Motoyasu. If you take a closer whiff, it seems to be the smell of excrement."

"Now that you mention it, there's a hint of something else. But where is it coming from?"

Motoyasu and Myne began to sniff around, trying to locate the source, but to no avail.

Then Myne lifted his sleeve to his nose, and the stench quickly assaulted his senses: "What is that?"

Suddenly recalling their earlier encounter, Myne remembered that he had brushed Motoyasu's face with his own sleeve, which led him to an alarming realization...

Upon closer inspection of Kitamura Motoyasu's face, they noticed the footprint wasn't just muddy; it had a mix of red, white, and yellow hues.

"Moto... Motoyasu-sama, the smell seems to be coming from the footprints on your face."

"How can that be?!"

In disbelief, Kitamura Motoyasu touched his face and then brought his hand to his nose.

"Ugh~~~"

The foul odor nearly made him gag.

It was clear who had left this footprint—the answer was obvious.

"Jason, what on earth did you step in before you came back?"

Kitamura Motoyasu growled almost hysterically.

"I didn't step on anything! At most, it was the monsters that looked like wasps and the corpses of zombies. Oh... maybe it's because after I crushed those monsters, I stepped on their intestines and got some blood or excrement on me. Thanks for the reminder!"

As Jason spoke, he rubbed the soles of his feet on the grass to perform a quick cleanup. After all, he had obliterated a substantial number of monsters, scattering their remains across the ground. It was inevitable that he had stepped in something unpleasant.

Upon hearing Jason's explanation, Motoyasu stood frozen in place. The white on his face was now a mix of minced flesh, the red was blood, and the yellow was clearly from monster droppings.

Just the thought of those substances sticking to his face made Motoyasu's eyes roll back, and he promptly fainted.

Myne glanced at his own sleeve and immediately began to retch.

"Ren, Itsuki, it's all yours," Jason said with a hint of a smile, not lingering any longer as he turned to sprint towards Root Village—after all, Raphtalia was still waiting there for him.

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