Chapter 524: The President's First Order of Business
"We will reconvene three days later for our first order of business," declared Edward. He made this decision for multiple reasons. Firstly, he wanted to give these prideful people some time to accept the result.
Secondly, he wanted to see whether some people would cause trouble. If they did, he would not hesitate to annihilate them as a display of power and show his majesty. Lastly, Edward had some things to do and check before the assembly.
Everyone dispersed, returning to their quarters and planning for the future.
C-137's room:
"Lord, what should we do?" asked one of his two followers, a female elf with tattoos running down from her face to her body. Oddly, the tattoos did not ruin her beauty but gave her a wild and dangerous charm.
"The situation is not ideal," said a man dressed in all-black armor. He was human but stood 3.5 meters tall.
"This is far from over," said C-137, gritting his teeth as his eyes were full of anger, shame, resentment, and humiliation.
"Any idea?" asked the elf.
"I know my variants, most of them will refuse to accept this result–despite G–003 displayed."
C-137 had to admit that if someone were qualified to be the president, it would be G–003. The man had a natural charm and knowledge beyond all of them, not to mention his strange ability to fight above his tier.
"Do you want to ally with the others to riot?" asked the armored man.
"Directly rioting will ruin my reputation and cause unnecessary trouble. So, the best option is to decentralize the power of the president," said C-137. "The others will agree with me out of their jealousy and unwillingness."
"This idea might work," said the elf. "However, G-003 does not seem like someone that was easy to deal with."
"I'm aware, so I will need as many supporters as possible," replied C-137, his eyes full of cunningness.
"Unfortunately, you won't have that opportunity."
"Who is there?" roared C-137, standing up from his seat. "G-003?"
"It's me."
"Why are you here?"
"What do you think?"
"You want to kill me," said C-137 with great confidence.
"You're smarter than this," replied Edward. "Think deeper."
"You see me as a source of instability to your reign, so you want to eliminate me. Furthermore, you must be very interested in my knowledge."
"Good job. However, I cannot give you a full score since you haven't found the core issue yet. Well, I can't blame you since you don't know as much as I do."
"Do you think things will go as easily as our battle?"
"C-137," replied Edward calmly. "You have no idea the vast difference between our knowledge base. To me, all your knowledge and technology are simply backward. Although some ideas are marvelous and ingenious, it does not change the fact that all of you are backward and outdated."
C-137's face became ugly, but Edward ignored him.
"The greatest asset of the council is the collective mind of all the variants. Working together, I believe there is nothing in this universe we cannot achieve.
"Alas, we are so arrogant and prideful that it's almost impossible to work singlehandedly for one goal or purpose."
Edward sighed while shaking his head. If all his variants could get along, they could achieve wondrous things. Unfortunately, this was not possible. However, he can still make great use of the council until it eventually crumbles apart.
"Your arrogance is the greatest of all of us," sneered C-137.
"True, but I have the means to back it," replied Edward. A few minutes later, C-137's two followers passed out on the floor. Meanwhile, he had C-137's soul in his hand, reviewing the latter's memories.
"As expected of me, the security to the Soul Dimension is a nightmare," commented Edward before going through the tedious task of deciphering C-137's soul dimension.
A few hours later, he finally succeeded and got the latter's memories and knowledge.
"I'm relieved he has no knowledge about Tier 11," uttered Edward. The greatest crisis to the council is the knowledge that Tier 11 requires all variants to become one, becoming one [Self] while all the others become clones.
Once the news is revealed, they will all turn on each other, and the council will crumble apart. According to Edward's calculations, C-137 was the person most likely to know this news. He theorized the latter created the council as a way to pave the way to Tier 11.
Luckily, things were not as bad as he anticipated.
"What are you going to do to him?" asked Morgana.
"He cannot disappear yet; otherwise, some people might suspect something."
Edward placed his mark on the soul before putting it back on C-137's body. He modified his memories along with the other two. Finally, he disappeared as if he was never here.
Three days later, another meeting occurred at the previous stadium. The only difference was Edward (G--003) sat at the center where C-137 once occupied.
However, as soon as he arrived, the crowd became hostile with many murmurs.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked variant U-456. "Why can't we leave the citadel? Is this your doing?" His voice was loud, echoing in the room.
"It is," replied Edward calmly, who placed a barrier around the citadel to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
"Explain yourself."
"The universe is a dangerous place," said Edward. "Many people sought after knowledge to travel the multiverse, and it's even more so in other planes."
He knew many of these variants would focus on developing the technology to travel to other planes. With their foundation as Multiverse Traverser, it won't take long before they develop the technology.
"So?" asked someone else.
"So, we need to take precautions to protect the council," replied Edward, who waved his hand to manifest a scroll.
"This is a contract of the highest order, guaranteed by our Plane Will. Everyone needs to sign it, and it will protect you."
"Protect us from what?"
"Protect you from powerful entities directly searching your soul and learning about the existence of the council," replied Edward. "There will also be rules to prevent council members from directly killing other variants."
The crowds quieted down, leaving only a few murmurs.
"How do we know you did not tamper with the contract?"
"You are more than happy to check it yourself. However, don't complain to me when you cannot understand how it works," replied Edward casually.
"Damn arrogant guy," murmured a few people.
"What if we don't sign it?" asked someone out loud.
"You must sign it."
"If I don't?"
"Two things will happen. I will either annihilate all of you or temper with your memory," replied Edward calmly. "Anyway, I will not let the risks of exposing that I mastered Multiversal Travel leave from the citadel."
The variants' faces changed as they felt G–003's arrogance had reached another level.
"Don't believe me?" said Edward with a smile. "Then, let me show you."
He tapped on his desk, and the brightness of the stadium drastically changed. These variants were on guard, but they did not expect what happened.
"My Mana, it's sealed," yelled someone.
"It's the same for me."
"Anti-Magic? Has he developed Anti-Magic?"
"L-123, there is no point in trying. I've taken special care of you and all the other Gods' circumstances," said Edward with a smile.
"G-003, is it necessary to go this far?" said A-001 with a sigh.
"None of you seem to understand how valuable the technology we hold is or the lengths these Tier 10 Gods will go to get their hands on it. I must protect myself and my family–no matter the cost."
A-001 sighed again but did not utter another word; he understood G-003's sentiment.
'Maybe, if I were as careful as him, I would not have suffered such a terrible fate.'
"Sign the contract or be annihilated," said Edward coldly. The scroll before him was divided into thousands, floating before every variant. In the end, they resigned themselves and read the contract.
The general gist is to protect the council's existence and its secret. Then, it also involved a peace pact that prevented variants from killing each other or invading the timelines of the council members.
However, some intelligent people detected the loophole Edward left in the contract. They can invade timelines whose members have yet to join the council.
Finally, everyone signed the contract. As for the people who still refused, Edward raised his hand, and a black flame enveloped them, annihilating them from existence.
He even used his Curse Rules and its power of Cause and Effect to prevent whatever backhands of revival these people had were rendered ineffective.
"From now on, all new members of the council will sign the contract. That's non-negotiable," said Edward. "Now, let's discuss our second order of business."
Chapter 525: [Self] Database
Edward tapped his finger on his desk, removing the Anti-Magic or Sealing Domain he released. The variants sighed in relief, but their eyes conveyed that they wanted nothing more than to kill him. He ignored them and continued:
"What is the most valuable aspect of the Council?" asked Edward, but he did not give anyone time to answer. "Is it sharing our knowledge or information? Or the exchange of resources? No, it's our individual mind."
His voice could reach everyone in the assembly despite speaking softly.
"As long as we can work together, there is absolutely nothing in this universe we cannot achieve."
He paused and gave them a few seconds to marinate his words.
"Unfortunately, our ego, pride, arrogance, and mistrust will never allow for complete cooperation without reservation. Knowing this problem, I have come up with a solution."
Edward waved his hand to materialize six helmets. One had a white stripe on the head, while the remaining five had blue stripes.
"You," said Edward, pointing at a random person in the audience. A halo appeared above the person he chose, bringing all the attention to that person.
"Y…Yes?"
"Do you have a super important project you've been working on? However, the project is extremely difficult even for you and requires a long time to accomplish?" asked Edward.
"There is," replied U-765.
Edward waved the white helmet to him. "I need five more volunteers."
No one volunteered, plunging the meeting into an awkward quiet.
"Common guys, I need you to meet me halfway. Otherwise, this council will be useless. I have signed the contract and cannot hurt any of you."
The variants rolled their eyes. They would never trust the person who created the contract, believing they must have left a backhand.
"I will trust you," said A-001, who raised his hand, and one of the red helmets floated before him. Without hesitation, he placed it in his head. The quiet lasted for a moment before a few adventurous variants who were curious chose to test things out to find the truth.
Edward secretly smiled. He chose the helmet on purpose, despite knowing one of his variants' taboo was anything related to their brain and soul. Once it is proven that nothing was wrong with the helmet, even though it involved the soul, he can garner more trust and make his time as president easier.
'I'm glad I did not have to force that puppet C-137 to come forward,' thought Edward.
With all the volunteers present, the experiment began. U-765 and the other five closed their eyes. The stadium became quiet to the point someone could hear a pin drop. These people did not need to breathe, so even this sound was gone as they focused on the six of them.
Ten minutes later, U-765 was the first to open his eyes. His facial expression displayed joy, longing, and regret; it was obvious he wanted more of whatever he experienced.
"Why don't you tell everyone what you experienced?" said Edward with a smile.
"I was in a white room with the other five," said U-765. "I presented them with my project, and in the next ten minutes, we discussed, planned, and theorized how to accomplish my project. Everybody had unique insights and ideas, accelerating the project completion rate to an astonishing level," explained U-765 with a look of longing.
"How much time do you think you saved?" continued Edward.
"More than a hundred years, at the minimum."
"Ten minutes to save a hundred years, not a bad trade off," said Edward with a smile. "What about the other five?"
"I was in a white room, alone, seeming to be in a meditative state," replied B-890.
"It was the same for me."
"Same experience," nodded A-001.
"In other words, you guys help U-765 while also keeping his secrets?" said Edward with a smile, and everyone's eyes dilated. Then, everyone looked at him with intense focus.
"It's as you guessed. The machine will create a projection of you with similar memories and experiences. Then, the person with the main headset can ask his fellow variants to help them with their magical theories and technology while also keeping their biggest secrets. The others helping will have no memories of the experience since they are only helpers.
"In the future, if you want help with something and don't want anyone to know what you are working on, you only need to ask the right people to volunteer after coming to an agreement on the reward and use this machine to accelerate your research."
A normal exchange between their variants is fine. After discussing the appropriate price, they can easily exchange knowledge, information, and technology. However, there are certain projects these variants refuse to allow others to know, so they cannot ask for help.
However, with this technology, they can use the knowledge, unique experience, and out-of-box thinking of their variants to help them. Just like the president said, their greatest asset is each other. However, total cooperation is impossible because of their personality.
"Pre…President, your idea is good and all, but how do we guarantee you cannot peek at our secrets? After all, this technology is yours and yours alone."
This variant did not ask to inspect the technology as he already had an inkling it was beyond his capability. Although it hurt to admit, it was a fact their president, G-003, was miles ahead of them for some reason. Many people wanted to know the reason, but now was not the time to search for an answer.
"I know someone will say these words," replied Edward. "To gain your trust, you guys can work together to create the most restrictive contract or oath to prevent me from peeping at your secrets, and I will sign it."
"Are you serious?"
"I am," replied with a smile while secretly sneering. He did not care what contract these people came up with since it was useless. If it restrained his soul, he would be fine if he prevented it from affecting his Soul Flame.
If it affects his bloodline, he can modify his Life Code and render it useless. If it involves his mana, he can still abandon this body and swiftly return to Tier 8 in another body. If the contract involves the Plane Will, he has a good relationship with Cronai and could find a loophole with her aid.
The only problem that could arise from this contract was if these people used a higher being as the witness to this contract. However, even then, it won't be much of a problem.
His variants do not trust higher beings, especially the ones they do not understand or are more powerful than them. Furthermore, unless that higher being is Tier 11 or above, it won't have an effect on Edward, as he could still hunt them down.
And even if they were Tier 11, he could still leave the universe where the being could not influence him.
Everyone discussed the contract to restrain the president in the next few hours. Edward only intervened when someone demanded he release the technology behind the headsets. He humiliated the guy by saying he couldn't even understand it, so what would be the point of releasing it? Furthermore, it was his property.
The final result was a contract restricting his soul and bloodline and a terrifying curse on his body.
"You guys are ruthless," said Edward, shaking his head. He checked the contract over and over, making a face as he hesitated to sign it before gritting his teeth and doing it.
Everyone exhaled in relief; they felt this was the best outcome, especially since they could make this arrogant president suffer a small loss.
'This is hard to wash,' said Morgana.
'Why do you say that?'
'It's like watching an adult bullying children.'
'Anyway, we have now taken another step toward Tier 11,' said Edward with a secret smile. The core technology of this helmet is the [Self Primordial Runes] he studied.
Every time his variants used the helmet, Edward would record their [Self], creating a database of all his variants. Then, when he is trying to become Tier 11, he will use himself as the [Main Self] and assimilate everybody else [Self].
The first step to this plan is to have enough data on his other [Selves] or [Variants].
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