The perfect state

"Today is going to be full of energy!"

"Lu Zhan, give it your all!"

As he headed out for breakfast, Lu Zhan gave himself his usual pep talk.

For the past month, this had been his way of building his confidence.

Since Lu Zhan was always the first person in the entire dormitory building to head out for breakfast each day.

He never worried that anyone else would witness this embarrassing display.

Today, however, something unexpected happened. At the very moment Lu Zhan was cheering himself on, the door to Room 309 opened.

"Did you three sleep well last night?"

"Want to get breakfast together?"

Caught off guard, the four of them stared at one another.

In the end, the "magnanimous" Lu Zhan spoke first, breaking the awkward silence.

Calling Lu Zhan "magnanimous" was hardly empty self-praise.

After all, if Lu Zhan had really wanted to hold a grudge, he would have reported these three long ago.

"Go ahead without us, Lu Zhan. We've got other things to take care of!"

"Just a reminder: make sure you eat your fill at breakfast today, and don't miss the Gourmet Appreciation Class."

Looking at Lu Zhan, who seemed "peculiar" but wore a friendly expression.

Ajak ultimately maintained basic "courtesy" and offered a little goodwill.

"Thanks for the reminder!"

"See you in class!"

The "friendliness" Ajak showed surprised Lu Zhan a little.

But seeing that the other two still looked utterly unapproachable, Lu Zhan said nothing more.

"Ajak, why were you so polite to that jinx?"

"So what if he saw the three of us together?"

"Acting like that will only make him think we've got something to hide!"

After Lu Zhan had gone, Zhou Qi returned to Room 309 and confronted Ajak in displeasure.

The three of them had always stuck together. Ajak's behavior just now was clearly a "betrayal."

"Zhou Qi, we're here to study, not make enemies."

"Even if we want to keep our distance from Lu Zhan, there's no need to make things so hostile."

"Besides, I recently heard that Lu Zhan isn't even from District 13!"

"He's from District 9. Two senior students from the Wutu Gang have been asking about him lately."

Faced with Zhou Qi's accusations, Ajak calmly explained himself.

He knew Zhou Qi wasn't normally like this.

It was just that some recent events had left him unsettled.

"I'm sorry, Ajak. I lost my composure."

"Vikem, you can't keep doing this!"

"Even if nothing unusual has happened so far, dripping blood on it still isn't a good idea."

"Let's stop secretly listening to the Underground Radio, all right?"

Having gotten his emotions under control, Zhou Qi first apologized to Ajak, then resumed his earnest efforts to dissuade Vikem.

Over the past several days, the signal had remained poor, so Vikem had kept dripping blood onto the Ore Radio to improve its reception.

The trick had always worked, its effects kept improving, and there had been no adverse consequences.

Yet Zhou Qi still couldn't put his mind at ease.

"Zhou Qi, you're just too cautious. You're practically panicking and jumping at shadows."

"When Lu Zhan moved into Room 305, you spent every day looking miserable."

"Even after Old Lu taught us that lesson, you were still on edge for days."

"I'm just using my own blood to boost the signal. How dangerous could a trick openly circulated in the Black Market possibly be?"

"If there really were a problem, it would've shown up long ago among the ordinary people who frequent the Black Market."

Vikem impatiently rejected Zhou Qi's "concern."

That coward Zhou Qi had been nagging him about this for over ten days.

If this went on, even if dripping blood caused no problems, Zhou Qi would probably nag him into a nervous breakdown.

"Zhou Qi, if you're my brother, stop nagging."

"I understand that you and Ajak don't want to use your blood. We share the benefits, so if you don't want to do it, I will!"

"Actually, Zhou Qi, you should put more effort into your combat training."

"The nosebleed you got when that punch sent you flying during our last sparring session cost you more blood than I've used in a whole month."

"If you don't get better at fighting, it'll cost you your life someday!"

With his resolute attitude, Vikem brought the matter to a close.

Zhou Qi wanted to point out that ordinary people's blood was different from theirs. They had the aptitude to become Armored Warriors.

But seeing Vikem's determined gaze, he could only shut his mouth.

After all, Vikem wasn't wrong. Over the past month, Zhou Qi himself had lost the most blood.

"Eat your fill at breakfast!"

"Don't miss the Gourmet Appreciation Class."

"Is there some necessary connection between the two?"

In Cafeteria C, Lu Zhan chewed mouthfuls of roast meat while pondering Ajak's well-intentioned reminder.

After a month at the Training Center, Lu Zhan had already figured out why they had to eat their fill every day.

At its root, the matter came down to poverty.

According to Life Alchemy, the most perfect state of life for an ordinary person was one in which every cell in the body emitted life fluctuations of equal intensity.

This was an infant's initial state. Before leaving the womb, regardless of how developed they were, the life fluctuations of every cell remained equal in intensity.

After leaving the womb, however, this state of perfect uniformity was very difficult to maintain.

Most of the time, nutrients taken in from the outside world were not distributed evenly to every cell in the body.

This was an inherent limitation in the transfer of matter and energy from the outside world.

Generally speaking, after an infant was born, as their body grew and developed.

The entire

body's cells would begin to exhibit life fluctuations of "uneven quality," causing the body's organs to develop out of sync.

But this was normal, a choice life made to adapt to its external environment.

Although "uneven" cellular fluctuations were inevitable in reality.

Keeping an infant "well-fed" from birth could preserve the "perfect state" of those fluctuations to the greatest extent possible.

Or rather, it would minimize the differences in fluctuation intensity between cells.

According to Old Lu, one essential condition for becoming a true Armored Warrior was restoring the fluctuations of every cell in the body to a state of perfect uniformity.

But accomplishing this was absurdly difficult.

The vast majority of Armored Warrior Apprentices would never manage it in their lifetimes.

The Training Center could only train Armored Warrior Apprentices.

The enormous amounts Lu Zhan and the other students ate at the Training Center were a form of "intensive replenishment."

They were making up for the "deficits" caused by past hunger as much as possible, bringing every cell in their bodies to its current "limit."

Ultimately, they were paying the price for their past "poverty."

How could they know their cells were satisfied unless they ate until they threw up!