Last Gun Alchemist

”To sustain life, and to prolong it from death, we must preserve.”

Professor Nine spoke while standing in front of the holographic screen, his voice carrying clearly across the meeting room.

The first-years remained seated, with their attention fixed on him as he continued the lesson. Some wrote key points of his explanation in their opened notebook, while others simply continued to watch, waiting to see where Professor Nine was going with his explanation.

”In order for us to remain alive as Alchemists, let’s assume we are in a war...”

Professor Nine suddenly bent down.

His posture changed as he acted as if he were standing in the middle of a battlefield.

One hand moved slightly in front of him as he looked around the room, his eyes scanning the students as though he were actually checking the surroundings of a dangerous battlefield.

”We must all be aware of our surroundings, take precautions, and carefully manage our strength in case a more dangerous moment arrives.”

He raised his index finger while making his point.

”All of this means preservation.”

His finger remained raised for a moment before he slowly lowered it.

The room was quiet.

Professor Nine’s explanation was simple enough to understand, but the way he demonstrated it made several of the first-years pay closer attention.

He then changed the direction of the lesson, with a sudden shift in his presence.

”And if you don’t want a material, or even a human, to live anymore...”

Professor Nine’s expression and voice slowly became serious.

The relaxed look he usually carried disappeared almost completely.

At that moment, his dark-yellow eyes looked almost empty of emotion.

”It’s not just by physically killing a person that you can cause death.”

He paused.

The silence in the room grew heavier as the students waited for him to continue.

Professor Nine allowed his words to settle before speaking again.

”You could slowly kill a life as long as you tune the system which preserves that life.”

The moment he said those words, several first-years felt a chill run through their bodies.

A few of them shifted slightly in their seats.

Others stared at Professor Nine without saying anything.

Even some of the second-years and third-years felt the same chill.

They had already heard Professor Nine explain concepts like this during their one first-year time, yet there were still certain parts of his research that were difficult to get used to.

Luke let out a quiet sigh.

”I can never get used to this part.”

His words carried a small amount of helplessness, as he muttered to himself.

Professor Nine didn’t seem bothered by the student’s reaction.

”And it’s the opposite for Life.”

His strange seriousness suddenly disappeared.

His expression returned to the calm look he usually wore.

But the weird chill feeling the students felt didn’t leave.

It only increased.

”Life is very precious, as well as death.”

Professor Nine placed one hand against the area where his heart was located.

”If someone suddenly grabs your heart and squeezes it...”

His fingers curled against his chest as he demonstrated what he meant.

”You will feel life draining out from your body.”

He maintained the gesture for a moment.

Then he released his chest.

”But once he lets go...”

His hand dropped.

”Life comes back to your body instantly.”

Several first-years instinctively grabbed their own chests.

One student even looked down at his hand as if checking whether his heart was still beating normally.

A few upperclassmen who weren’t affected by his words noticed the reaction and quietly smiled.

Professor Nine continued as though nothing strange had happened.

”What I expect from every one of you in this club is to work on every craft work and research work with the sensation that you are working with Life.”

He stretched one hand forward.

”Preserve it to avoid Death.”

His hand slowly tightened.

”And if you don’t want to preserve it, kill it without batting an eye.”

The room became quiet again.

Professor Nine’s fist remained clenched for several seconds before he slowly relaxed it.

”No matter how simple the concept may seem in its explanation, to us Alchemists, these two concepts of Life and Death will help build how we move through our paths, whether it is in craftsmanship, researching, or combat.”

He finally concluded his explanation.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke.

The first-years looked at the holographic screen while thinking about everything Professor Nine had just explained.

Then a hand was raised.

”Professor Nine.”

Cyrus Burnwick’s voice broke the silence.

Professor Nine turned toward him.

”Go ahead, Mr. Burnwick.”

He waved his hand lazily before looking toward Latisha.

”Bring me a chair.”

Latisha immediately nodded.

”Of course.”

She walked toward the side of the room and brought over a chair.

Professor Nine sat down, adjusting his long lab coat before pushing his glasses higher on his nose.

Cyrus waited until Professor Nine had settled before asking his question.

”I wanted to know if Life and Death has already been formalized.”

His expression was serious.

”Because from the way you have explained this study, it means the concept itself isn’t that hard to understand. So, does that mean Alchemists were able to break down the formula behind the two concepts?”

Professor Nine looked at him for a moment.

Then he answered calmly.

”No.”

He leaned back slightly in the chair.

”I mean, how can you formulate what you cannot perceive or touch?”

Several students became more attentive.

Professor Nine continued.

”But since we understand the Concepts...”

He raised one finger.

”Yes, a set of formulas was created relating to preservation over the control of Life and Death.”

Cyrus nodded slowly.

His question had been answered, but the answer seemed to create another question in his mind.

Ezra, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke with a sense of realization hitting his mind.

”So, is that the philosophy behind the Bio Alchemy path?”

Many eyes immediately turned toward Ezra.

The sudden question caught the attention of several students who had been writing down notes.

Professor Nine looked toward Ezra.

His expression changed slightly.

”Why do you think Bio Alchemy became abolished?”

He asked.

”If you thought it was only because of its mutation of body philosophy, then you are wrong.”

The room became quiet.

Several first-years widened their eyes slightly.

The strange realization that Ezra had slowly settled into their minds too.

This study is more dangerous than we thought.

Ezra remained silent.

He continued watching Professor Nine.

The professor didn’t explain further.

Instead, he simply turned his attention toward the holographic screen.

”Okay, that’s all for today.”

He spoke casually, as though he hadn’t just made several students question an entire branch of Alchemy.

”I will continue with the Research Unit on my beautiful small organism’s ecosystem next time.”

Professor Nine turned his chair toward the holographic screen.

The moment he finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed.

”The big release is about to start.”

His voice became excited.

Several students blinked.

”The Silver Wheels big release.”

A second-year club member suddenly spoke loudly.

It seemed he had only just remembered that the event was happening today.

”Oh, I forgot about that.”

Another student shook her head.

”I also forgot because of today’s activities.”

A few students began talking among themselves.

”I feel like it’s our club that does the most amongst all the clubs in this Academy, that’s why we all almost forgot an event this important.”

”Yeah.”

”I’m so excited to see the vehicle.”

”My parents already told me they will buy me one if I do well with my Academy studies.”

Another student immediately looked toward him.

”You don’t want the Phantom Rolls?”

The student laughed awkwardly.

”We can’t afford that one, hahah...”

Someone else immediately joined the conversation.

”What if this is more expensive than the Phantom Rolls?”

The student looked at him as if he had said something outrageous.

”Blasphemy!”

Several students laughed.

”I really don’t think there will be another vehicle like the Phantom Rolls unless it’s a straight-up copy.”

”You realize it’s Louis Evergrey we’re talking about.”

The discussion grew louder.

Professor Nine’s eyebrows twitched.

”QUIET DOWN!”

His voice suddenly exploded through the meeting room.

Everyone stopped talking.

Professor Nine pointed toward the holographic screen.

”The show is starting.”

The screen changed.

The previous research information disappeared, replaced by a live broadcast.

The students immediately turned their attention toward it.

The large holographic display showed the venue where the Silver Wheels release event was taking place.

The area was filled with people.

A stage stood in the center, surrounded by lights, banners, and large Silver Wheels symbols.

The atmosphere of the event was completely different from the quiet Academy classroom.

The students watched with growing interest.

Then the host appeared.

”Welcome, viewers and distinguished guests from all the high places of Britannia, and welcome to the big reveal event of Silver Wheels!!!”

The male host spoke with bright energy, his voice carrying across the live broadcast.

”This event is proudly broadcast by the Jaden Sunshine Broadcasting Group!”

The students stared at the holographic screen.

Cyrus suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly.

”The Jaden Sunshine Group?”

He sounded confused.

It wasn’t only him.

Many of the other students watching the broadcast also looked surprised.

Kane Casper spoke from his seat.

”I did hear that Silver Wheels were annoyed because the BNC Group didn’t accept their request to have their best reporter, also the best news broadcaster, to host their event.”

He watched the broadcast with a noticeable amount of interest.

”They wanted only Lara.”

An upperclassman replied.

”Yeah... and because of that, it seems they picked their close rivals and got their best reporter to spite the BNC Group.”

Kane finished his explanation.

Latisha nodded slightly.

”I think I saw the news on Linsta too.”

Lucy listened quietly from where she stood with the other attendants of other non-nobles.

Miss Lara isn’t even available, and yet those Silver Wheels people are acting petty because of something like that.

She thought to herself, feeling unhappy about the news she had just heard from Kane.

A female first-year looked toward Kane.

”Isn’t that going to lead to a big loss for BNC?”

Her question was filled with curiosity.

”No way.”

Kane answered immediately.

There was complete confidence in his voice.

”It’s Silver Wheels that is on the losing side.”

Vera finally spoke in her usual tone.

Her arms were folded across her chest, and one leg was crossed over the other as she sat comfortably in her seat.

Her plain black eyes remained fixed on the live event playing across the holographic screen.

”It doesn’t matter who is hosting.”

Her voice was calm.

”What matters is whether Silver Wheels can actually deliver a vehicle worth all this attention.”

Several students turned toward her.

Vera didn’t look at them.

She continued watching the broadcast.

The host was still speaking with excitement, introducing the event and welcoming the High-status noble and the Royal guests gathered around the stage.

The Silver Wheels logo remained displayed behind him.

The students watched closely.

Some were excited about the vehicle itself.

Others were more interested in comparing it to the Phantom Rolls.

After all, the Phantom Rolls had already become one of the most talked-about vehicles in Britannia.

A new vehicle entering the market was one thing.

But a new vehicle entering the market while being compared to the Phantom Rolls was another.

And now, with the Silver Wheels big release beginning in front of the entire kingdom, everyone in the meeting room wanted to see exactly what Silver Wheels had prepared.

Vera’s expression remained unchanged.

She simply watched.

Ezra also kept his eyes on the screen, he was actually curious if the Silver Wheels were actually capable of creating something that good.

The broadcast continued.

The big reveal was finally beginning.