CHAPTER 389: CHAPTER 5: NODE

"Promises are not to be trusted, I need to see the benefits immediately."

"Okay."

Enwei took out a philosopher’s stone about the size of a fingernail from his bosom and tossed it to Su Xiao.

"This is just a deposit."

Su Xiao caught the philosopher’s stone, and a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.

[You have acquired Philosopher’s Stone (purple), energy 470/470, (not notarized).]

With this item, Su Xiao has a way to enhance his Alchemical Potion Study.

However, the energy is still too little; to fully level up Alchemical Potion Study, at least four philosopher’s stones of this size are required.

"In the future, every time you help us with something, we’ll provide you with philosopher’s stones."

Hearing Enwei’s words, Su Xiao smiled, but the negotiation couldn’t end just like that. He was now an alchemist suffering from war trauma, and if he behaved too rationally, he would arouse suspicion.

It was because of his war wounds that he attacked ordinary soldiers and ended up in prison.

"Enwei, I’ve always had a question for you."

Enwei was taken aback: "What?"

"If I’m not mistaken, the energy you consume is the philosopher’s stone, right? With your massive form, you must need a lot of energy every day."

Although Enwei looks like a frail teenager, his true form is not small.

"What do you want to say?"

Enwei already sensed something amiss.

"With such high energy consumption and a strong combat ability, I saw you recover from injuries quickly before; that’s quite fascinating."

Su Xiao looked Enwei up and down, as though Enwei were lying on an experiment table waiting for him to dissect.

Enwei’s expression turned cold, but then he thought of something, and a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes.

"If you want to die, you can try."

Su Xiao hesitated for a long time, then finally turned and left.

A few minutes after Su Xiao left, a voice came from the shadows in the basement.

"He just wanted to dissect you. Is it really okay to use someone like him?"

The voice came from the shadows, even though there was no one within them.

"Precisely because of that, I let him out. Do you think those upright alchemists would cooperate with us? He’s one, and that Kimberly in prison is another; these are the few alchemists we can work with. However, cooperation with this guy requires caution, as his mental state is unstable, sometimes very calm and other times not so normal."

Enwei appeared a bit troubled; they were indeed short on manpower.

"Makes sense; having weaknesses and flaws makes him easier to exploit, but he’s also a good candidate for a human pillar."

"Yes, that’s exactly why Father Emissary asked me to find him."

"Is it Father Emissary’s order? Understood."

The voice in the shadows faded away; it belonged to Pride, the homunculus, whose ability was to merge into shadows and attack with them.

...

After leaving the Fifth Research Institute, Su Xiao strolled through the streets of Central City.

According to memory, Su Xiao arrived at a two-story building, which was his residence.

He took out a key and unlocked the door, which opened with a click, indicating he hadn’t remembered wrong.

The room was filled with dust, clearly uninhabited for quite some time.

He tidied up the bed and went to the bathroom to wash the bloodstains off his hands. When he returned to the bedroom, he found Bubu Wang already lying on the bed fast asleep.

Bubu Wang had been lazy during the cleaning, but once the bed was clean, this goof fell asleep instantly.

Su Xiao lay on the bed, took out a tablet, and played a puzzle game, but his mind was preoccupied with something else.

He pondered how he could leave Central City without anyone knowing, as there should be many opportunities for such an act. Central City was homunculus territory, and incidents were rare there, though today was an exception.

If he was going to systematically eliminate the homunculi, he had to be meticulous; once discovered, he’d be pursued by the homunculi.

Su Xiao already had a preliminary idea, but it would require the right opportunity.

In the early hours of the next morning, after getting up and freshening up, Su Xiao began producing a [Primary Alchemy Secret Medicine.]

The [Primary Alchemy Secret Medicine] created with philosopher’s stones has a drawback: it cannot be taken out of the Steel Refinement World.

Understandably, if these potions could be taken out of the Steel Refinement World, it would be like receiving a windfall. Acquiring philosopher’s stones in the Steel Refinement World is not difficult, and such alchemical potions cannot gain notarization by Reincarnation Paradise.

This is true not only for the Alchemy Secret Medicine, but even the philosopher’s stones cannot be taken out of the Steel Refinement World.

Precisely speaking, philosopher’s stones acquired through trades with homunculi cannot be taken out of the Derivative World, but those obtained from treasure chests are different.

Philosopher’s stones notarized by Reincarnation Paradise are highly coveted, especially as they can replace casting materials, proving their significant value.

Light twinkled in his hand as bottles of [Primary Alchemy Secret Medicine] appeared before him.

bottles, 8 bottles, 10 bottles.

When his Mana Value was down to 400, Su Xiao stopped production, having made a total of 15 bottles.

Gazing at the [Primary Alchemy Secret Medicine] before him, Su Xiao nodded in satisfaction; at least he wouldn’t lack healing items in the Steel Refinement World.

Simultaneously, he formed an idea; there was no hunting mission in this Derivative World, so he wasn’t hostile to other contractors. He could sell the excess potions to those contractors.

But this was conditional; he had to ensure that the contractors’ tasks didn’t conflict with his own.

The possibility of main story missions conflicting with advancement missions was low. Su Xiao speculated that contractors’ main story missions would likely involve defeating the Little Man in the Bottle or the High President, or saving this country, etc.

Even though these alchemy secret medicines cannot be taken out of the Steel Refinement World, they can still be used within it. If the price were low enough, contractors would surely be interested.

Since Reincarnation Paradise does not notarize these alchemical potions, Su Xiao could figure out a way himself.

The number of contractors entering a Level 10 Derivative World like the Steel Refinement World would be high; there must be at least dozens of them.

If he could sell potions in large volumes, the profits would be significant.

However, during the sales, caution was necessary. He must not inadvertently aid his enemies, which would be an ironic twist.

"Ring, ring, ring~."

The phone in the room rang. As a state alchemist, especially one focused on combat, Su Xiao had a dedicated phone line at home, one that wouldn’t get disconnected even without paying the bill.

Answering the phone, Su Xiao didn’t say anything.

"There’s a task for you, a riot broke out in Lisembur Town; go suppress it."

It was Enwei’s voice.

"Lisembur? That small town near Ishbal?"

"Yes, exactly there. You must stop the riot within three days and avoid mass killings."

The phone hung up, and Su Xiao tapped his finger lightly on the table.

"They are actually sending me to suppress a riot; it seems Lisembur Town’s location lies outside the alchemy array. If people there die, it would reduce the number of philosopher’s stones."

If he were to take out a map of Amestris at this moment, he’d see that the country’s map is circular.

On the circular map, if all the locations where wars have erupted were connected, an alchemical array would be formed.

Wars lead to deaths, and the alchemy array is activated using the souls of these wronged spirits as energy.

The Little Man in the Bottle leading + a large number of philosopher’s stones + five human pillars + an underground tunnel encircling the entire country + numerous casualties at alchemy array nodes, this is everything needed for a super-large alchemy array.