Chapter 96

Su Zhong, as usual, finished his morning exercise, returned to his room to rest for a moment, and then had breakfast with everyone.

A few days passed, and although his body was still weak, it was no longer frail.

"Kolong, what are you planning to do today?" Bina Ke asked, looking at Su Zhong.

After taking care of Su Zhong for half a month and interacting with him for some time, Bina Ke had initially accepted his existence.

Although it was astonishing to create another living person through alchemy, over time, apart from Su Zhong's relatively mature demeanor, there didn't seem to be any issues.

Putting down the milk bottle, Su Zhong raised his head and answered honestly, "There's really nothing to do; I don't know enough about this world yet."

Su Zhong decided not to pretend to be young anymore. If he had taken over someone else's body, he might have considered the age limit of the original body. However, his current identity was peculiar, so he didn't need to deliberately hide his maturity.

"Call me if there's anything you need. You can't just eat and not work," Su Zhong said.

Bina Ke smiled slightly upon hearing this, "Alright, follow me to the ranch later and take a look around."

Su Zhong nodded in agreement and turned to look at the listless Edward.

"Is Edward's injury better? Your injuries were partly my fault, so let me know if there's anything I can do."

Edward kept his head down and didn't speak, unsure how to face Su Zhong.

Alphonse, however, said happily, "Brother's body is much better. Besides, it's not your fault. Even though the alchemy failed, we still gained something."

Su Zhong smiled warmly at the large, grotesque armor. Unlike Edward's strong and stubborn personality, Alphonse had always been gentle and easy to get along with.

"Alright, let's go," Bina Ke said, tidying up the table and leading Su Zhong away.

Following Bina Ke, Su Zhong didn't do much. His body was too weak, and he was too young to do heavy work.

Bina Ke wasn't asking him to work; she was mainly introducing him to the customs and culture of this world. She knew Su Zhong's background was strange and that he must not know much about this world. As she introduced him, Su Zhong's various surprised reactions confirmed her suspicions.

However, Bina Ke didn't know that Su Zhong's unfamiliarity with this world wasn't because he was a homunculus without common knowledge from growing up. It was because he came from another world and didn't know enough about this one.

As Bina Ke introduced him to the world of alchemy, Su Zhong learned more. What surprised him the most was Bina Ke's high level of expertise in mechanics.

At this moment, he recalled something: in the Fullmetal Alchemist world, Edward had a mechanical arm and a mechanical leg.

This kind of technology seemed too futuristic, which amazed Su Zhong and sparked his great interest. Whenever he had time, he followed Bina Ke to learn.

In the following days, Su Zhong helped Bina Ke with tasks he could manage while gradually integrating into this world through daily life. He also persisted in practicing a small amount of exercises daily to gradually recover his strength.

...

Two months later

Su Zhong, as usual, got up early to practice, but he wasn't alone. A large armored figure and a wheelchair were with him, and even the little girl Wendy was there to join in the fun.

After finishing his Tai Chi, Su Zhong wiped the sweat from his face with a towel.

Edward, sitting in the wheelchair, although his wounds hadn't fully healed, looked much better and had shaken off his depression.

Seeing Su Zhong finish his practice, Edward pursed his lips and said disdainfully, "I don't know where you got this soft, mushy stuff. What's the point?"

Alphonse, dissatisfied, called out to his brother and hurriedly apologized to Su Zhong, "I'm sorry, Kolong, that's not what he meant."

Su Zhong waved his hand to indicate it was fine, "It's indeed not very useful."

After saying this, he suddenly stomped his foot. The relatively solid ground turned into a swamp, and Su Zhong's foot sank into the ground up to his ankles. Then he twisted his waist and swung his arm, forming a palm and chopping the air.

*Slap!*

Su Zhong's right hand, as if hitting a wooden board, produced a loud crack.

"Amazing!" Wendy couldn't help but exclaim.

Edward's eyes widened instantly. The ability to produce a crack in the air with a palm strike was incredibly powerful.

Regaining his composure, hearing his brother and Wendy's exclamations, Edward immediately put on a dismissive air, "What's so impressive? It's not that great."

Su Zhong nodded, "It's indeed not that great."

He wasn't being modest; he genuinely felt that way. In his previous world, he could easily crush his current self with a single finger. The worlds were different, and the power gap was too large.

Edward's face turned even uglier, thinking Su Zhong was showing off.

"It's already impressive. An adult might not have such strength. How did you train, Kolong?" Alphonse genuinely praised.

"My current strength is just that of an adult. The reason for this effect is that I know how to apply force," Su Zhong answered truthfully.

"Where did you learn these techniques?" Edward suddenly thought of a question.

Su Zhong didn't hesitate, "They were already in my head."

Edward fell into deep thought, muttering to himself, "You were born from our blood. If you have memories, they should be related to us. But your memories are a mess, like a combination of many people's memories. What's going on?"

Alphonse, not wanting his brother to dwell on the human transmutation, patted his shoulder, "Brother, don't think about it. It's already over."

Edward came to his senses, looking a bit unhappy but nodding without further thought.

Su Zhong's expression changed, thinking about the magical alchemy of this world. Perhaps his path in this world was related to alchemy.

So, he feigned curiosity and asked, "What is alchemy? Can you teach me?"

"You don't know alchemy?" Edward asked, surprised, "You have no memories at all?"

Su Zhong shook his head. He wasn't from this world, so he naturally didn't know about alchemy.

"Where does your soul come from, then?" Edward couldn't help but get caught up in the question again.

Alphonse sighed, shaking Edward.

Edward suddenly came to his senses, "Oh, right, I can teach you. But..."

He hesitated, looking at his missing arm.

"It seems I can't teach you. I lost an arm and can't perform alchemy. Let Alphonse teach you," he said, looking somewhat dejected.

"Even without your arm, it doesn't mean you can't recover. According to your theory, isn't alchemy very powerful?" Su Zhong encouraged.

Although Edward would regain his motivation years later, thanks to Roy Mustang, the years of depression were not easy to endure. Since the Elric brothers had given him this body, Su Zhong felt he should do something to repay them.

Edward suddenly looked up, his eyes fixed on Su Zhong.

Su Zhong, however, looked at Alphonse's large armor, "You just lost your limbs, but Alphonse lost more, didn't he?"

Edward turned to look at the large armor, his eyes gleaming.

"Alright, I'll teach you! The materials are at home. Go get the books and bring them here, and I'll teach you."

He still didn't dare to go home, where he had terrifying memories.

Su Zhong smiled in satisfaction. Although it wasn't perfect, it was good that Edward had regained his motivation.

...

"Alchemy is a technique for using natural forces. The fundamental principle is equivalent exchange. The key points are decomposition, reconstruction, and combination. Alchemists study decomposition and reconstruction..." Edward explained.

Alphonse occasionally added to the explanation.

Besides daily exercise, Su Zhong now had the task of learning.

The language in this world was a mix of Japanese and English. With his background from the previous world, he quickly passed the initial stage of learning to read and could read freely.

Su Zhong had strong mental power, a robust body, and a highly developed brain. His memory and comprehension were exceptional.

He quickly grasped and understood the explanations of Edward and Alphonse, absorbing the knowledge as his own.

"Drawing the alchemy array is very important. Your hand must be steady to ensure the circle is standard, or the alchemy won't work. Kolong, give it a try," Edward said.

Su Zhong smiled, picked up the chalk, and casually waved his arm, drawing a full and precise circle on the ground.

Having trained in two worlds, he had excellent control over his body, ensuring the standard of the circle.

"Very good. Now, draw the alchemy array I taught you," Edward said, looking at Su Zhong in surprise.

Su Zhong followed the instructions. With his strong memory and excellent practical skills, he used both hands and quickly completed a simple alchemy array.

"Amazing," Alphonse couldn't help but praise.

This ability to quickly draw alchemy arrays made him envious.

Su Zhong threw away the chalk and, following Edward's instructions, placed his hands together and slapped the ground.

However, the alchemy array on the ground showed no reaction. Su Zhong frowned and released his mental power, covering the alchemy array.

*Buzz...*

Su Zhong felt a jolt in his head, a warm current flowing from his forehead, down his cheeks, to his shoulders, and into his hands, finally entering the alchemy array.

The alchemy array flashed with red light. The ground began to sink visibly, and a gray-black liquid emerged from the center of the array, bubbling like a boiling pot.

The red light disappeared, leaving a sunken pit with an ugly iron lump in the center.

Edward, with one arm, slapped the wheelchair and laughed.

"I asked you to create a square iron ingot, but you made an iron lump. Ha ha..."

Su Zhong's face showed frustration, knowing his first attempt at alchemy had failed.

"Brother, stop laughing," Alphonse said, being considerate.

"Why is Kolong's alchemy light red?" he changed the topic.

Edward was taken aback, "It might be due to Kolong's special identity."

Su Zhong nodded as if he understood. However, he knew it was because his alchemy was different from ordinary alchemy.

Just then, he clearly felt the vibration of the Boundary Pearl. His energy came from the Boundary Pearl, which absorbed power from the previous world.

Su Zhong suddenly realized that the Boundary Pearl, after absorbing the Ten Tails, had become a super battery!

It was perfect for activating alchemy.

Thinking about the mental power covering the array, Su Zhong had an epiphany: "The key to activating alchemy is indeed mental power! Each activation uses mental power to activate the alchemy array!"

In the original story, those who had seen the Gate of Truth didn't need to draw alchemy arrays. Su Zhong guessed that this was because their mental power had increased after passing through the Gate, allowing them to construct alchemy arrays in their minds.

Su Zhong's mental power was already strong, and he had a strange expression on his face: "Isn't this the activation mode of the Black Moon?"

He suddenly found alchemy very interesting.

A familiar activation method, combined with a nearly inexhaustible super battery, was like giving Su Zhong a gun and plenty of ammunition.

What he needed to do now was learn how to use the gun. Alchemy was the method of use.

"Knowledge is power!"