Fear

"[Life was born of fear. Fear drove the various elements of life to band together, ultimately giving rise to basic life.]"

It differed from the [second law] Lu Guanhong had openly explained in class.

Another version of the "second law" was churning through the minds of Ajak and his two friends.

Naturally, Ajak and the others had not dreamed up this version of the "second law," which so thoroughly rejected mainstream thought that it bordered on heresy.

It had come from an accident the night before.

The previous night, just after Zhou Qi and Ajak had also dripped their blood into the Ore Radio, a deep, hoarse voice had suddenly come from inside it.

Then the "rebellious" version of the [second law] had reached their ears.

The instant they heard this version of the "second law," Zhou Qi and the others were utterly stunned.

Their brains crashed on the spot, their minds blank with shock.

Once they recovered, their instinct was to "kill the radio to silence it."

Living in the Training Center, they knew better than anyone how tightly the authorities controlled "life alchemy."

Even orthodox alchemy knowledge was subject to such strict taboos, let alone this unorthodox version.

Unfortunately, it was already too late. Before they could act, the Ore Radio fell apart on its own.

"What the fuck was that?"

"It broke! The magnet at the very heart of the Ore Radio actually cracked!"

"That scared me to death. Thank goodness it fell apart on its own."

"That crazy line just now didn't get out, did it?"

"Probably not. The voice was a little grating, but it wasn't very loud."

After that false alarm, Ajak and his two friends inspected the Ore Radio's "corpse" with shaking hands, their legs still trembling.

During the inspection, Zhou Qi repeatedly suggested pulverizing the parts, but Ajak and Vikem stopped him.

Unlike Zhou Qi, who felt nothing but fear, the other two felt a trace of excitement mixed in with their terror.

"Vikem, Ajak, didn't you say those secret radio stations shared hidden secrets about Yero City?"

"Was that heretical statement really something we were allowed to hear?"

"Even orthodox life alchemy knowledge shouldn't be broadcast over the radio, should it?"

Still shaken, Zhou Qi looked at Ajak and Vikem with a hint of anger.

They might have been close friends, but not close enough to live and die together or jump into a fire pit together.

If they had been caught hiding a radio before, they would have spent a few days in confinement at most.

But now, listening to life alchemy knowledge from an unknown source would probably get them expelled outright.

"An accident. This must have been an accident!"

"I'd only heard rumors before. I had no idea what those secret stations actually broadcast."

"If I'd known they broadcast something this deadly, I'd have had to be out of my mind to listen."

Seeing that Zhou Qi was getting upset, Vikem immediately offered an explanation, feeling somewhat in the wrong.

After all, Zhou Qi and Ajak had only dripped blood into the Ore Radio under his "coercion."

Zhou Qi, in particular, had been reluctant from beginning to end, but had felt too awkward to refuse a friend.

With Vikem's gentle persuasion, Zhou Qi finally calmed down.

"No, something's completely wrong!"

"From what I've learned, most secret radio stations were established by rebel forces."

"They use those stations to spread dirt on Yero City's authorities."

"Even they wouldn't dare openly broadcast life alchemy knowledge like this."

"Most rebel forces originated in the beast disaster twenty years ago. They just don't want to be completely absorbed by Yero City. They aren't actually looking to die."

"Openly broadcasting life alchemy knowledge is no different from putting your head under Yero City's executioner's blade. No one would even protest your innocence after you died."

As Ajak stared at the dismantled Ore Radio, his eyes were filled with confusion and doubt.

Like the other students, he had signed a contract with the faction backing him.

But he already had a foothold within his own faction.

Because of that, he knew more about Yero City's balance of power and certain taboos than an ordinary student did.

Every student knew that the Training Center, and indeed all of Yero City, kept life alchemy under strict control.

But few students knew that this suppression was not limited to Yero City.

Twenty years ago, before the many surrounding cities had been destroyed, they had followed the same policy toward life alchemy.

Any faction with even a little history knew this, and they all tacitly observed that policy.

Even the rebel forces did the same.

They might have been called rebels, but they only dared carry out petty schemes behind the scenes.

Anyone who openly courted death like this would be condemned by everyone.

"Ajak, maybe your understanding is out of date?"

"The rebel forces holed up in the outer city might honor that tacit agreement, but those rebels struggling to survive in the wilderness probably wish they could take Yero City down with them."

"It's not impossible that they'd do something this insane."

Perhaps because he felt uncomfortable with Ajak revealing his connections, Zhou Qi instinctively pushed back.

Of course, he was also showing that he was not completely ignorant of Yero City's situation.

"No. For one thing, those rebels exiled to the wilderness don't have the resources or technology to build radio stations capable of transmitting over long distances."

"Even if they did, they couldn't do something like what we've just seen."

"You don't seriously think the magnet breaking was just an accident or a coincidence, do you?"

Ajak stood by his judgment. The Ore Radio falling apart absolutely had something to do with that passage of the "second law."

What normal radio station would cause a radio to break beyond repair?

Was it trying to boost radio sales?

"Ajak, are you saying that the message just now

didn't come from the secret radio stations we were trying to find?"

"We accidentally received something incredible?"

"And contact with that thing was what destroyed the Ore Radio!"

Vikem voiced that conclusion with disbelief, and even a trace of fear.

It was precisely the conclusion he instinctively wanted to avoid.

On the surface, Yero City seemed peaceful and stable. Ordinary people never encountered anything abnormal.

But students like Vikem knew very well that beneath the surface, Yero City was far more complicated, with things that defied imagination.

There were, for instance, the monsters roaming the wilderness with unimaginably powerful bodies, and the foods with all manner of miraculous effects that appeared in their classrooms.

If monsters and miraculous foods could exist, then the existence of even more extraordinary things was hardly impossible.

Once they realized this, Ajak and his two friends could no longer sleep, and spent the entire night worrying.

But what truly obsessed all three of them was the new version of the [second law].

Otherwise, it would not have lingered in their minds until they finally turned up in Lu Guanhong's class.