CHAPTER 386: CHAPTER 2: FLOOD AND BEAST

The ’Little Man in the Bottle’ is the BOSS and plot mastermind of this world; it is not human.

Four hundred years ago, the royal family of the ancient kingdom of ’Serkesis’ created the Little Man in the Bottle in their quest for eternal life, synthesized from the blood of the father of the story’s protagonist, Von Hohenheim.

Out of gratitude for Von Hohenheim’s ’gift of life,’ the Little Man in the Bottle taught him alchemy.

The royal family of the ancient kingdom ’Serkesis’ desired the method of eternal life, so they ordered the Little Man in the Bottle to create it.

The Little Man in the Bottle agreed but had its own scheme. It deceived the royal family of the ancient kingdom ’Serkesis’ by setting up a Large Transmutation Circle, turning all the subjects into Philosopher’s Stones.

With a giant Philosopher’s Stone, the Little Man in the Bottle became powerful. It transformed itself into a homunculus, resembling Von Hohenheim.

Von Hohenheim was originally a slave of the ancient kingdom ’Serkesis,’ named Number 23. However, the Little Man in the Bottle gave Von Hohenheim a name and helped him reshape his body, granting him eternal life and everlasting youth.

As long as the Little Man in the Bottle doesn’t die, Von Hohenheim can live forever.

Von Hohenheim began wandering like a lost Spirit without a place to call home. He had become immortal with nothing left to pursue.

After 380 years of wandering, Von Hohenheim met a woman. Feeling his life had become too dull, he decided to start a family.

After forming a family, although Von Hohenheim was immortal, he was still a normal human. Thus, after joining with the woman, they had two sons named Edward Von Hohenheim and Alphonse Von Hohenheim.

During the brothers’ youth, Von Hohenheim, tired of his current life, went wandering again.

The brothers’ mother passed away shortly afterward, and Edward Von Hohenheim developed a hatred toward his father for abandoning his wife. He changed his name to Edward Elric, taking his mother’s surname, and his younger brother did the same, becoming Alphonse Elric.

The two brothers left home in their youth to study alchemy, which has one taboo: human transmutation is forbidden.

The young brothers disregarded this because they wanted to resurrect their mother, so they performed human transmutation.

The materials needed for human transmutation are simple and can be bought with a child’s pocket money. However, they didn’t realize that the most crucial component is a human Soul; without a Soul, even if a body is formed, it is useless.

The brothers failed to transmute their mother. Worse yet, older brother Edward Elric lost a leg, and his younger brother lost his entire body.

In fact, their human transmutation was successful, but what they transmuted was not their mother but younger brother Alphonse Elric.

Alphonse Elric suffered more tragically than his brother, losing his entire body; his Soul was extracted and forcibly placed into the transmuted body.

The Soul and body must be compatible; otherwise, they would reject each other. Just as Alphonse was about to die, his older brother Edward Elric sacrificed an arm to fix his Soul into a suit of Full Body Armor.

The brothers grew up, with Edward becoming the Fullmetal Alchemist, replacing his lost arm and leg with mechanical limbs. To find their bodies, Edward willingly became a State’s hound and a State Alchemist. The brothers began their journey to reclaim their bodies.

The taboo must not be broken; everyone who touches the taboo meets a bad end.

Body, Soul, and Spirit are indispensable, and more importantly, the dead cannot be brought back to life. This is the iron law of the Steel Refinement World, the Will of the world.

Opposing the Will of the world is tantamount to seeking death.

"Human transmutation—what’s the point even if it succeeds?"

Su Xiao lay on the bed. He once asked Reincarnation Paradise if the dead could be revived, and the answer was: as Su Xiao is a Hunter, they cannot.

In other words, Reincarnation Paradise can ’revive’ his parents, but they would be replicas, not his real parents. What would the point be?

The dead are gone, and the living may cherish them but should not seek spiritual solace by desecrating the dead.

"All misfortunes are due to insufficient ability."

The cell was in complete silence, until the sound of digging through the wall came from next door—it was Bubu Wang.

"Woof."

Bubu Wang woofed softly, eyes full of anger, seemingly saying, ’I’m hungry; when’s meal time?’

"Bubu, quiet."

Su Xiao was waiting. The mission deadline was long; his wait limit was two days. If he couldn’t get out in two days, he would break out of prison.

The sound of hurried footsteps approached, and a group of guards rushed to the cell door.

Su Xiao looked up to see a military officer standing at the cell door.

"This Aura..."

Su Xiao stared at the officer; the officer was not human. He was sure of it, feeling as if numerous wronged Souls were wailing within the officer’s body.

"Open the door."

The officer commanded, and the guards reluctantly opened the door, as if releasing a beast.

"Flame Alchemist, here’s a chance to get out. Are you willing to serve the military again?"

Su Xiao squinted slightly; it came sooner than expected. It seemed the task was of high difficulty, so his status received preferential treatment.

Without the State Alchemist status, a month’s mission deadline wouldn’t be enough.

"Looks like they’re releasing me. Will they provide the ’Stone’?"

He could help the Amestris military fight but wouldn’t use his Alchemy Bombs unless provided with a Philosopher’s Stone.

"Of course."

The officer replied, seemingly contemplating something.

"That’s good, then."

Su Xiao sat up, and a guard approached, holding a Key but not unlocking the cuffs on his hands.

"You bastard..."

The guard glared at Su Xiao, teeth gritted, hands trembling.

"Execute the order!"

The officer coldly barked, staring coldly at the guard.

Click. The cuffs were unlocked, and the guard suddenly felt guilty, unsure of how many people this Alchemist had killed.

"And my dog."

Bubu Wang was in the neighboring cell, pressing close to the bars, eyes filled with anticipation. If Bubu Wang could speak, he would surely say, ’Master, please bring me along; they aren’t serving meals.’

Bubu Wang was soon released, and the guards couldn’t help but glance toward him, tempted to pat his head. A Charm Attribute of 43 isn’t just for show.

The release procedures went smoothly. Su Xiao changed out of the gray-white outfit into his usual clothes, putting on the Lan Kai Windcoat.

It was nighttime, and the Lan Kai Windcoat boosted his Attributes and stealth.

...

An old jeep rumbled down the road, with Su Xiao and Bubu Wang in the back seat, the officer driving up front.

"This time you’ve been released to deal with someone. Our manpower is lacking, and although it wouldn’t matter if this country’s military were wiped out, it’s not yet time. So, lately, don’t kill government forces."

The officer’s words hadn’t finished when his appearance rapidly changed, turning into a black-haired youth.

The youth’s hair was black, peculiarly sleek as if just washed, strands clinging together.