Chapter 20: Clearance Sale
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, several temporary contracts were sent his way.
[Contractor *** invites you to sign a temporary contract. Content: Detailed information on Contractor ***'s main mission. Viewing this content requires a payment of 3000 Paradise Coins.]
After confirming the temporary contract was fine, Su Xiao paid 3000 Paradise Coins.
[You have paid 3000 Paradise Coins. The temporary contract has taken effect.]
[The temporary contract is notarized by Reincarnation Paradise. Neither party may violate it.]
[You have obtained the detailed mission information for Contractor ***'s main mission.]
[Main Mission: Destroy the Nodes]
Difficulty Level: Lv.12
Mission Brief: Destroy any one of the secondary nodes of the National Transmutation Array.
Mission Info: There are 63 secondary nodes in total. Already destroyed (21/63)
Mission Time Limit: 20 days.
Mission Reward: 3 Attribute Points, 14000 Paradise Coins.
Mission Penalty: All Attributes -2.
...
Seeing the contractor's main mission, Su Xiao found it hard to believe.
Was this main mission too simple? Was this the main mission for a Second Rank contractor?
Su Xiao glanced at his own promotion mission, then back at the Second Rank contractor's main mission. No matter how he looked at it, the promotion mission was much harder.
Su Xiao's mission was mysteriously difficult. He set that aside for now. The contractor's mission didn't conflict with his own; in fact, their goals were largely aligned.
The contractor's mission was to destroy the nodes of the National Transmutation Array. This undoubtedly sabotaged the Homunculus' plan.
The Fullmetal Alchemist world had no clear faction divisions. The Homunculus' plan was too inhumane; no contractor would join that side in the later stages, unless that contractor wanted to become a Philosopher's Stone.
Without clear faction divisions, conflicts between contractors were also less pronounced.
"Everyone, any interest in buying some recovery items?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, several contractors' faces darkened.
Recovery items sold in derivative worlds were usually a rip-off. An item worth 800 Paradise Coins in Reincarnation Paradise would be sold for 8000 in a derivative world.
"No interest."
One contractor was about to walk away but stopped upon seeing the potion in Su Xiao's hand.
[Low-Grade Alchemy Secret Medicine]
Origin: Fullmetal Alchemist
Quality: White
Type: Recovery Item
Effect: Restores 19% Health Points after consumption.
Rating: 9
Introduction: A product of Alchemy, not notarized by Reincarnation Paradise.
...
"500 Paradise Coins per bottle."
The price Su Xiao stated made several contractors tempted. With the recovery amount of [Low-Grade Alchemy Secret Medicine], the price in Reincarnation Paradise ranged from 1000 to 1200 Paradise Coins.
Although [Low-Grade Alchemy Secret Medicine] couldn't be taken out of the Fullmetal Alchemist world, it was still good to use within it. Recovery items were essential supplies. Instead of using recovery items purchased in Reincarnation Paradise, why not buy cheaper ones that could only be used in this derivative world?
Buying [Low-Grade Alchemy Secret Medicine] would save a lot of money. If they only used [Low-Grade Alchemy Secret Medicine] in the Fullmetal Alchemist world, they could save the recovery items they had previously bought for the next derivative world.
"The attributes of this potion are pretty average, and the price needs to be lower."
As the saying goes, 'Man's insatiable greed knows no bounds.' Seeing the cheap price, people always wondered why it couldn't be even cheaper.
"You have 3 minutes to buy. After that, I'm leaving."
Su Xiao didn't haggle with these contractors. Take it or leave it. If they kept chattering about the price, he would cut them down.
"Since it can't be cheaper, forget it. None of us are buying, right, everyone?"
That burly man looked around at the group, acting like a leader, though he wasn't one.
No one supported the burly man's idea. 500 Paradise Coins was practically a clearance sale—more than half the price in Reincarnation Paradise.
[Contractor *** has sent a trade request. You give: Low-Grade Alchemy Potion × 6. You receive: 3000 Paradise Coins.]
[Contractor *** has sent a trade request. You give: Low-Grade Alchemy Potion × 5. You receive: 2500 Paradise Coins.]
...
Some contractors bought 5 bottles, some bought 8. Su Xiao sold a total of 48 bottles of Low-Grade Alchemy Potion, earning 24000 Paradise Coins.
"Everyone, if you meet other contractors, you can introduce them to me. For anyone who helps me sell a bottle of potion, I'll give you a ten percent commission."
Finding contractors on his own was too difficult. He simply offered a benefit. A ten percent fee for more buyers—why not?
Such good opportunities were rare. Only promotion worlds and war worlds didn't have hunting missions. If he had a hunting mission, he would try to avoid contact with too many contractors.
The transaction ended. Su Xiao had gained a lot. He immediately left this small town on the outskirts of Central City.
The next morning, Su Xiao found an inn in a neighboring town to rest. Killing Envy meant he had completely burned bridges with the Homunculi.
Actually, that wasn't entirely accurate. He had never truly cooperated with the Homunculi.
The Homunculi's faction was too difficult to infiltrate. Su Xiao had done things for them twice, but his faction favorability was still (Indifferent: 0/200).
This showed that the Homunculi deeply distrusted humans.
With no hope of infiltration, Su Xiao decisively killed Envy.
Su Xiao slept the entire day at the inn. That night, he saw a wanted poster on the wall downstairs from the inn. The person wanted was him.
The poster stated 'Dead or Alive' and offered a very high bounty. Even providing clues would earn a small reward.
"They've already found out. Faster than I expected."
Under the cover of night, Su Xiao left the town. He planned to operate at night for the time being. The Dark Purple quality trench coat made him difficult to detect in the darkness.
Su Xiao headed straight for Central City. He planned to do one last job there, targeting the Third Research Institute.
Su Xiao still needed a few more Philosopher's Stones to increase his Alchemy proficiency. He had originally planned to get them from the Homunculi, but later found that unlikely. The Homunculi were stingy. Now, he had to take them by force.
After Bubu Wang ran for half an hour, Su Xiao arrived at Central City.
Central City was eerily quiet at night. It was already midnight, and there were no pedestrians on the streets.
Although Central City didn't enforce a curfew, the government didn't support civilians being active at night. If a civilian was found out at night, patrolling soldiers would come and scold them.
Over time, the civilians of Central City developed the habit of not going out at night. This was intentional by the Homunculi—night was their time to act.
Shadows occasionally flickered across the streets. Su Xiao crouched on the roof of a tall building. The night wind made his clothes rustle loudly. He held a map in his hand.
"The Third Research Institute... How was this damn place built?"
The location of the Third Research Institute was incredibly inconvenient. It was built right in the center of the military camp, surrounded by tens of thousands of stationed troops.
Su Xiao didn't want to start a war with an army of that scale. Although he had many Alchemy Bombs now and wasn't afraid of these troops, alerting the other Homunculi would be troublesome.
There were three Homunculi left: Wrath, Pride, and Sloth.
Wrath and Pride were not to be trifled with. Sloth was a good target to kill, but unfortunately, he couldn't be found. That guy was underground.
After memorizing the detailed route, Su Xiao flashed into the military camp. The security was tight, but with the Dark Purple quality trench coat, the infiltration difficulty wasn't too high.
Bubu Wang had already disappeared to who knows where. When it came to hiding ability, Su Xiao had to admit he was inferior.