Chapter 339: Chapter 339: Node
[Node]

Explanation: A node of Fate Space, only those who have thoroughly altered the main events of the plane, or killed the proprietor of a special zone of the plane, are eligible for the highest reward: [Node].

In the participant’s squad, the one who contributes the most will be granted node authority.

Authority capabilities:

①. Rental: You could rent the plane authority to Fate Space, and get XX points per year (according to the strength of the plane’s node).

②. Traverse: After stepping into Fate Space once again and completing the main event, one can move directly to the corresponding plane through a transference of authority, instead of returning to the real world (each stay should not exceed a month).

To conduct real combat exercises, recuperation, or any physiological interactions, but it is forbidden to bring any items from the plane’s node directly back to reality.

…

“Node!?”

This term shocked Abe, a member of the group, once more when he heard it.

After all, such a term should not be present at the apprentice knight stage.

Even formal knights rarely encounter the issue of nodes…this is a highly precious but extremely difficult situation.

“My grandfather once told me that the best way to clear Fate Space is to gain the authority of the plane node.

The annual fixed point rental income allows you to purchase a large amount of Fate materials.

Moreover, the effects might be better when practicing in solitude within a node plane than in the Holy City!

For instance, in the [Strange Tales] world we are currently in, the dark environment and various odd creatures could provide significant benefits for knights who primarily study Dead Spirit Skills.

Dead spirit mages could even transform [Paradise] into a kind of graveyard structure, secretly breeding, creating, and refining superior summoned creatures.”

“Indeed, the [Strange Tales] world is quite suitable for dead spirit mages…”

Han Dong couldn’t help but recall Lunze, the death spirit apprentice he had met in the large manor months ago. The way he wielded the skeleton summoning spell and the bone secret method was skilled and powerful.

Let out a small sigh, Han Dong said, “However, only one person can obtain node authority…and we need to seize the [Lighthouse].

This man called [The Eye] has controlled Paradise for hundreds of years.

Compared to Mr. Aha who has been imprisoned in the Regulatory Office for many years, he must have deeper roots. There are unexpected dangers in the lighthouse, some S-ranked Strange Tales may even be his subordinates.

For us outsiders who have just arrived from the outside world, it’s really hard to destroy someone’s century-old foundation.

The ‘high-order mainline event’ has pushed us system knights to our limits, reaching the difficulty level of a formal knight.

Our current resources at hand are hardly enough to shake the lighthouse.

As far as the observation of Little Demon Eye goes, judging from individual strength, [The Eye] is not much worse than [Mr. Aha]… So, let us end this Fate event here.

Let Mr. Aha bring us out through the secret passage, and leave Paradise. Does anyone have any objections?”

“Well!”

The risk is too high.

At this point, since we can conclude the Fate event with a third-tier benefit, it would be better to end here.

Just as the group was resting on small stools in the general store.

With a creak, the bathroom side door opens, and a shriveled arm slightly beckons, “Nicholas, come here for a moment…”

It’s a common occurrence for Han Dong to chat privately with Mr. Aha since they have high intimacy… but remember, Mr. Aha’s wife is also in the bathroom, which makes it awkward.

“Has your wife finished washing?”

“Not yet, I want you to help! Hurry up…”

Since Han Dong needed Mr. Aha to show the way out of Paradise, it’s isn’t ideal for him to reject Mr. Aha’s requests at this juncture.

So he entered the bathroom reluctantly, shielding his eyes.

However, the scene in the bathroom was quite peculiar, it seemed that only Mr. Aha was there.

Mr. Aha was hard at work scrubbing some kind of leather garment with a sponge full of foam, both inside and out, appearing quite diligent.

“Wait…what is this?”

“It’s my wife… I need you to hold one corner later, I’m about to start inflating her.”

Mr. Aha took a foot-powered air pump from the bathroom cabinet, connected it to the small hole on the leather garment, and began to pump air quickly while Han Dong held one corner steady.

Soon enough.

The kimono-clad old lady was fully inflated, and started to float.

“Hey! My dear, I washed you clean, didn’t I?” Mr. Aha said proudly.

“You old fool! We’ll set accounts later…”

The cleaned old lady seemed to grow younger, even her hair was a bit darker.

The floating old lady suddenly turned her hollow face and with a hand puppet said, “Young man, are you planning to leave Paradise?”

———-

Half an hour passed.

When Han Dong left the bathroom, he and Mr. Aha were arm in arm, appearing very friendly.

“Alright! Follow me… I was originally planning to use this secret passage to travel abroad with my wife.

Since you’re in a hurry, you leave first.”

Mr. Aha came back to the ‘shop’ sales clerks, directly pried up all the floor tiles, revealing a iron door at the very bottom.

“I’ve always controlled the drainage system of Paradise… Follow me.”

The sewer area was drastically different from the imagination.

The overwhelming stench, rampant fungal spots, and overflowing sewage.

In such a sewer, various kinds of huts have been tightly built… all sorts of ‘mutilated’ Strange Tales were having a rather tough time beneath.

When they saw Mr. Aha, they either bowed their heads to greet him, or pressed their whole body to the ground in respect.

“Mr. Aha! You’ve gathered all these weak, injured Strange Tales down here? Giving them the space to survive?”

“Aha! Don’t misunderstand, I’m not a good person… Due to the limited space of the [Living Thing Room], these ‘not-too-valuable commodities’ can only be temporarily placed in the sewer.

We will allocate them to the top when we have space… this can be regarded as my backup warehouse.

Come, get on the boat!”

In the sewage-filled sewer, a small boat is ready to whisk us quickly away from Paradise, with nothing standing in our way.

About two hours later, the boat docked at the exit of the gigantic sewer pipe, outside corresponding to a cliff somewhere in Dongying…

“We’ve left the boundary of [Paradise], Strange Tales points have reached the graduation standard, you can settle the Fate event.”

“Let’s all go back to the Bell Tower!”

Han Dong, with a smile on his face, patted Winry and Mia on the shoulders.

Winry thought her first fate event had ended here. Despite encountering many dangerous and horrifying events along the way, it was simpler relative to her anticipation. This was also largely due to Han Dong’s efforts in winning over Mr. Aha.

Winry left.

Mia, who was standing nearby, showed a strange smile before her figure disappeared.

But Han Dong stood on the boat, showing no intent to leave…