Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhan woke rested for the first time in a month and linked the change to the Blood-Red Antenna’s deeper integration with his body. As he resumed classes and training, Ajak, Vikem, and Zhou Qi tried to hide a disturbing secret from the previous night, and Lu Guanhong’s lesson on the origin of life left them frightened.

• Lu Zhan found that he had slept through the night without nightmares or singing and decided he no longer needed to keep a diary before bed.
• Lu Zhan hurried past Vikem, Ajak, and Zhou Qi on his way to breakfast, then used the Blood-Red Antenna to learn which foods his cells preferred.
• Trainees admired Lu Zhan’s improved combat skills as he ate, while he overheard gossip about a cat doing flips at the Training Center.
• Ajak and Vikem warned Zhou Qi not to discuss what had happened the previous night, and the three ate and entered class in silence.
• Lu Guanhong asked his students what gave rise to life, and Ajak, Vikem, and Zhou Qi were frightened by the lesson.

Lu Guanhong taught the Second Law of Life Alchemy, which said life arose from the movement of matter and had been formulated by Matter Alchemist Vortex Hand. Ajak and his companions, unsettled by the Ore Radio incident, hoped to hear Lu Guanhong’s usual skeptical commentary, but he stuck to the textbook and left them questioning whether life could have another origin.

• After Vikem poured blood onto the Ore Radio, Zhou Qi and Ajak added their own blood under his coercion, but the device only picked up more underground stations.
• Lu Guanhong wrote the Second Law on the blackboard and explained that Vortex Hand had recreated life by manipulating microscopic particles.
• Lu Zhan eagerly studied the law and marveled that a steam-powered world had managed to create artificial life.
• Ajak and his companions realized Lu Guanhong was teaching differently than before and regretted ignoring his earlier personal commentary.
• As Lu Guanhong continued his textbook lesson, Ajak and his companions wondered whether life might originate from something other than matter, such as fear.

After an Ore Radio transmitted a heretical version of the second law, Ajak, Zhou Qi, and Vikem debated who could have sent it and why the radio had broken. The three arrived at Lu Guanhong’s class still preoccupied by the message and its mysterious source.

• The previous night, after Zhou Qi and Ajak dripped blood into the Ore Radio, it broadcast a version of the second law claiming that life arose from fear.
• The Ore Radio broke apart, and Zhou Qi urged Ajak and Vikem to destroy its remains while they inspected them.
• Zhou Qi grew angry that Vikem had drawn him into listening to forbidden life alchemy knowledge, but Vikem persuaded him that the broadcast had been an accident.
• Ajak argued that neither the rebels nor ordinary secret stations could have sent the message, and that the broadcast had caused the radio to break.
• Vikem concluded that they had accidentally contacted something extraordinary, leaving all three unable to sleep and obsessed with the new second law when they reached Lu Guanhong’s class.

Lu Guanhong lectured orthodox doctrine at the Training Center to prove he had repented and secure his return to the Eighth Research Institute, while relying on project data in his memory as leverage. Lu Zhan briefly received two fragments from Lu Guanhong’s thoughts and unknowingly reminded him that the library incident could jeopardize his review.

• Lu Guanhong denounced heretics and taught the [Second Law] by the textbook, despite his students recognizing his sudden change in position.
• Lu Guanhong privately resolved to endure the humiliating lectures until his assessment ended, trusting that the Eighth Research Institute would recall him because it needed the project data he retained.
• Lu Zhan met Lu Guanhong’s eyes and briefly caught the thoughts “[Great Review]” and “[holiness],” but could not decipher them or repeat the feat.
• Lu Guanhong mistook Lu Zhan’s repeated glances for provocation and considered punishing him, then remembered that the library incident could expose his lack of repentance.
• Lu Guanhong realized he needed to win Lu Zhan over and regretted lecturing on the [Second Law] after giving him potential leverage.

Lu Guanhong publicly praised Lu Zhan and offered him private instruction, drawing attention and resentment from the other students. Lu Zhan accepted his new patronage while suspecting Lu Guanhong had an ulterior motive, but left with only a book on material fundamentals.

• Lu Guanhong praised Lu Zhan's diligence and aptitude in class, then invited him to consult him about life alchemy.
• Lu Zhan credited Lu Guanhong's teaching and encouraged the other students to seek his help, while the students later accused them of putting on a show.
• Ajak, Zhou Qi, and Vikem decided to lie low and stop secretly listening to the Underground Radio because Ajak suspected something was happening at the Training Center.
• Lu Guanhong told Lu Zhan that his earlier criticism had been a test of Lu Zhan's dedication to studying.
• Lu Zhan chose to maintain Lu Guanhong's patronage despite suspecting his change in attitude had a hidden cause, but Lu Guanhong gave him only Introduction to Material Fundamentals to study.

Lu Zhan reflected on what he had learned from Lu Guanhong about detecting leaked thoughts, then headed to Basic Combat training and recognized the kung fu cat that had angered him. Meanwhile, Xin Ya refused the Wutu Gang’s attempts to bargain for their detained members, bringing the gang to the brink of open conflict.

• Lu Zhan examined Lu Guanhong’s annotated Introduction to Material Fundamentals and concluded he needed to guard his thoughts around others.
• Lu Zhan suspected the Mutant Beast could conceal its life information and doubted Xin Ya’s investigation would find it.
• Lu Zhan postponed studying the book so he could train in Basic Combat before trying to impress Liu Chenghu the next day.
• Lu Zhan spotted the yellow-bag-wearing cat performing flips and recognized it as the cat that had angered him.
• The Wutu Gang leaders learned that Xin Ya had rejected their offers and insisted on enforcing the law impartially, which they treated as a declaration of war.

The Wutu Gang's leaders suspected Xin Ya's Special Task Force might use them as scapegoats for the massacre, though Wei Tong thought it was only a fallback plan. After dismissing the meeting, Chen Wansen privately worried that Wang Yang could expose the gang's deepest secret and bring about its destruction in Yero City.

• Chen Wansen questioned Wei Tong about why Xin Ya had isolated Wang Yang and another man for questioning.
• Wei Tong described Xin Ya's insistence that she was investigating the men impartially, prompting an old hall master to suspect the Inspection Office wanted the Wutu Gang to take the fall for the massacre.
• The Wutu Gang's leaders protested that they could not bear the blame, while Chen Wansen weighed the gang's weakened position and Ma Yancheng regretted getting involved with Lu Zhan.
• Wei Tong argued that blaming the Wutu Gang was only a backup plan, and the other hall masters welcomed the chance to avoid confronting the Inspection Office.
• Chen Wansen ended the meeting, then privately asked Wei Tong whether Wang Yang might expose the secret that could get the Wutu Gang wiped out of Yero City.

Chen Wansen ordered the Wutu Gang to reassure Wang Yang while preparing to kill him if he showed signs of betrayal. Xin Ya and Ouyang Hao struggled to recruit help for the Mutant Beast search as Lu Zhan returned to his dorm, where three terrified screams suddenly rang out.

• Wei Tong warned Chen Wansen that Wang Yang's month under investigation could push him to betray the Wutu Gang and expose its erased records.
• Chen Wansen decided to tell Wang Yang the gang would not abandon him, while ordering a backup plan to eliminate him if necessary.
• Xin Ya dismissed the Wutu Gang's belief that she was acting for Lu Zhan, and Ouyang Hao planned to expand the Special Task Force despite the difficulty of recruiting agents.
• Unrest across Yero City's thirty-six outer districts kept Inspection Office agents busy and left Xin Ya and her team with little hope of finding recruits.
• Lu Zhan finished training after midnight, returned to his dormitory, and heard three screams as he crossed the doorway.

Lu Zhan was startled by screams from Room 309, where Ajak, Vikem, and Zhou Qi discovered their broken Magnet had regained its magnetism after they mysteriously fell asleep and woke screaming in terror. Ajak refused to discard the fragments and urged the others to keep observing them.

• Lu Zhan heard Ajak and the others scream in Room 309, and their cries awakened and angered residents throughout the dormitory.
• After the dormitory quieted, Ajak, Vikem, and Zhou Qi gathered to inspect the Ore Radio and its shattered Magnet fragments.
• The three realized they had fallen asleep while examining the fragments, then woken screaming without remembering a dream.
• Ajak, Vikem, and Zhou Qi found the Magnet fragments wet, free of their bloody smell, and magnetized again.
• Zhou Qi worried the fragments had absorbed something from their bodies and suggested throwing them away, but Ajak refused and called their strange change a possible opportunity.

Ajak and the other two agreed to set aside the Magnet Fragment until they could examine their bodies, while Lu Zhan monitored them and prepared for Basic Combat class. Liu Chenghu praised Lu Zhan’s progress and selected him and nineteen other students for an off-site Combat Class.

• Ajak and the other two agreed not to carry or add blood to the Magnet Fragment until their physical examinations, and to destroy it if their bodies showed abnormalities.
• Lu Zhan used the Blood-Red Antenna while speaking with Ajak and the others, found no evil signals, and noticed their cellular activity was extremely low.
• Lu Zhan arrived at Basic Combat class determined to prove himself, and Liu Chenghu praised his stronger steps and improved energy.
• Liu Chenghu chose Lu Zhan, Graham, Liu Shuang, and seventeen other students to help move things before taking them out for Combat Class.