Chapter 404: Chapter 20: Clearance Sale
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, several temporary contract requests came in.
[Contractor *** invites you to sign a temporary contract. Contents: Detailed mission information from Contractor ***, access requires a payment of 3000 Paradise coins.]
Confirming there were no issues with the temporary contract, Su Xiao paid 3000 Paradise coins.
[You have paid 3000 Paradise coins, temporary contract is now effective.]
[The temporary contract is notarized by Reincarnation Paradise, neither party can breach it.]
[You received the detailed information of the main storyline mission from Contractor ***.]
[Main mission: Destroy Node]
Difficulty Level: Lv.12
Mission Brief: Destroy any one of the subordinate nodes of the Nationwide Transmutation Circle.
Mission Information: There are 63 subordinate nodes in total, with (21/63) already destroyed.
Mission Deadline: 20 days.
Mission Reward: 3 attribute points, 14000 Paradise coins.
Mission Penalty: All attributes -2.
...
Seeing the Contractor’s main mission, Su Xiao was astounded.
This main mission is too simple, is this the main mission for a Second Tier contractor?
Su Xiao glanced at his own promotion mission and then at the Second Tier contractor’s main mission. No matter how he looked at it, the promotion mission seemed much harder.
Su Xiao’s task was inexplicably difficult. For now, he didn’t dwell on it; the contractor’s mission didn’t conflict with his, or rather, their targets were largely aligned.
The contractor’s mission was to destroy the nodes of the Nationwide Transmutation Circle. This was undoubtedly disrupting the plans of the Little Man in the Bottle.
In the Steel Refinement World, there was no division of factions, and the Little Man in the Bottle’s plan was too anti-human. No contractor would join that side later on unless they wanted to become a Philosopher’s Stone.
Lack of an obvious division of factions also meant that conflicts between contractors were not significant.
"Everyone, don’t you have any interest in buying healing items?"
Upon hearing Su Xiao’s words, several contractors scowled.
The healing items sold in Derivative Worlds are generally overpriced; healing items valued at 800 Paradise coins within Reincarnation Paradise could sell for 8000 points in the Derivative World.
"Not interested."
Just as one contractor was about to walk away, he stopped upon seeing the potion in Su Xiao’s hand.
[Low-Level Alchemy Secret Medicine]
Origin: Fullmetal Alchemist
Quality: White
Type: Healing item
Effect: Restores 19% of Life Value upon consumption.
Rating: 9
Description: A product of alchemy, not notarized by Reincarnation Paradise.
...
"500 Paradise coins per bottle."
The price Su Xiao quoted made several contractors a bit tempted. The recovery amount of the [Low-Level Alchemy Secret Medicine] would sell for between 1000-1200 Paradise coins in Reincarnation Paradise.
Although the [Low-Level Alchemy Secret Medicine] couldn’t be taken out of the Steel Refinement World, it was quite good for use in the Steel Refinement World. Healing items were essential supplies. Why buy healing items from Reincarnation Paradise when you could purchase affordable recovery items usable only in this Derivative World?
Buying the [Low-Level Alchemy Secret Medicine] saved a substantial amount of money. If they only used it while in the Steel Refinement World, the healing items they previously purchased could be saved for the next Derivative World.
"The attribute of this potion is quite average, and the price should be lower."
As the saying goes, the heart is never satisfied. After seeing a cheap price, people always wonder why it can’t be cheaper.
"You have 3 minutes to purchase, then I’ll be leaving."
Su Xiao didn’t haggle with the contractors. Buy or not, up to them. If they kept chattering for a lower price, he’d cut them down.
"If it can’t be cheaper, forget it, we won’t buy. Right, everyone?"
The burly man glanced around, trying to act like a leader, though he wasn’t the leader.
Nobody supported the burly man’s idea. 500 Paradise coins was already a steal, much cheaper than in Reincarnation Paradise.
[Contractor *** requests a transaction. You exchange Basic Alchemy Elixir ×6 for 3000 Paradise coins.]
[Contractor *** requests a transaction. You exchange Basic Alchemy Elixir ×5 for 2500 Paradise coins.]
...
Some contractors bought 5 bottles, others 8 bottles. Su Xiao sold 48 bottles of Basic Alchemy Elixir in total, earning 24000 Paradise coins.
"Everyone, if you encounter other contractors, you can introduce them to me. For every bottle of elixir sold with your help, I’ll give you a tenth of the commission."
Finding contractors by himself was too difficult, so he might as well offer benefits—a tenth of the revenue for more buyers. Why not?
Such opportunities were rare. Only the promotion and war worlds had no hunting missions. If there were, he’d avoid contacting too many contractors.
After the transaction ended, Su Xiao was quite satisfied with his earnings. He promptly left the small town on the outskirts of Central City.
The next morning, Su Xiao found an inn in the neighboring town to rest. Killing Enwei meant he had completely torn relations with the homunculi.
Actually, that wasn’t entirely correct. He and the homunculi had never truly been allies.
It was too difficult to infiltrate the homunculi’s camp. Despite helping them twice, his faction affiliation was still (Apathetic: 0/200).
This shows that the homunculi had very little trust in humans.
With his chance to infiltrate gone, Su Xiao decisively killed Enwei.
Su Xiao spent the whole day sleeping in the inn. That night, he saw a wanted notice on the wall downstairs in the inn, and it was for him.
The notice stated whether dead or alive, with a high bounty, even providing leads could earn a small reward.
"Discovered already? Faster than I imagined."
Under the cover of night, Su Xiao left the town. He planned to operate at night from now on; the Dark Purple Quality windbreaker made it difficult to detect him at night.
Su Xiao headed straight for Central City, planning to pull one final big job there, targeting The Third Research Institute.
Su Xiao still needed a few Philosopher’s Stones to improve his Alchemical Potion Study skill level. Initially, he planned to obtain them from the homunculi, but found it unlikely since the homunculi were stingy, so he would have to take them by force.
After half an hour of Bubu Wang’s sprinting, Su Xiao arrived at Central City.
Central City was silent at night, and it was already midnight. There were no pedestrians on the streets.
Although Central City did not enforce a curfew, the government disapproved of civilians being active at night. If they found civilians out at night, patrolling soldiers would scold them.
Over time, Central City’s civilians got into the habit of not going out at night. It was a deliberate move by the homunculi since nighttime was their operation time.
Shadows occasionally darted on the street. Su Xiao crouched at the top of a high building, the night wind sweeping through his clothes, holding a map in his hand.
"The Third Research Institute... how could they build it in such a terrible place?"
The position of The Third Research Institute was extremely inconvenient, built right in the center of the army base, surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers.
Su Xiao didn’t want to battle an army of this scale. Although he had many alchemy bombs now and wasn’t afraid of the army, disturbing the other homunculi would be troublesome.
Three homunculi remained: Wrath, Pride, and Sloth.
Wrath and Pride were not easy to provoke. Sloth was an ideal target, but he was hiding underground and hard to find.
After memorizing the routes, Su Xiao slipped into the military camp. The security was tight, but with the Dark Purple Quality windbreaker, infiltration was not too difficult.
Bubu Wang’s whereabouts were unknown. When it came to hiding capabilities, Su Xiao had to admit his inferiority.