After signing the contract, the council's atmosphere drastically changed. The president showed his willingness to compromise and ensure things proceeded smoothly, so these arrogant people were more willing to cooperate and compromise.
"Our next course of action is to set up the departments that govern the council, starting with Law Enforcement."
Edward did not believe these people would follow the rules if they did not have to. Furthermore, he also knew the contract did not completely restrain them, so there needed to be a department that reinforced the rules.
"The leader of the Law Enforcement Department needs to have enough strength, so let's use the previous system to choose the leaders and other members."
Using Virtual Reality, the interested variants started fighting to choose their Department Leader, along with other members of the department. In the end, C-137 was the final winner, becoming the department head, allowing Edward to have more control over the council.
"Now, let's deal with the basic rules and regulations of the council."
The variants discussed for the next hours create basic rules and guides everybody needs to follow. There were few rules; the general idea was to be respectful, not create trouble or chaos, and a few others. Most of the rules were protocols for people who chose to keep a lab in the citadel.
Edward created these rules and was adamant that everyone followed them. He knew how crazy these variants were, so if something went wrong with their experiment, it wouldn't be long before the citadel was destroyed. Luckily, there were many variants who shared his paranoia and cautious nature, so they supported his stringent rules regarding experiment protocols.
"Next on our list is establishing a Fair Exchange Program," continued Edward. "The main use of the council is to exchange knowledge, information, and research. However, it's possible to disagree on the value of certain objects or trades. So, we need an AI that will act as a tiebreaker in this kind of situation. Let's develop it together to ensure fairness."
For the next ten hours, the variants argued while creating and fine-tuning a new artificial intelligence that would facilitate fair trade between each other. In the end, after countless hours, efforts, and Edward having to forcefully intervene a few times, the final product was created.
"What's the name of this AI?" asked variant I-312.
"I think we should just call it Siri and get it over with."
"I prefer Alexa."
"Everyone knows Cortana is the best."
"What stupid name are you guys using when Jarvis is there."
"No, the Red Queen is the name to go; it's a classic."
"I actually like Griot from Black Panther."
"Karen from Spider-Man is also a good name."
"Jesus Christ," said Edward, not hiding the embarrassment he felt hearing these people arguing, and he was not the only one. "Let's put it to a vote."
In the end, Red Queen was the final winner, followed by Jarvis and Cortana, who tied for second place.
The next step of setting up the council was the tedious work of ensuring other systems of the citadel were functioning properly. Departments like IT, Engineering, Communication, and even Data Keeping needed to be established.
Edward took care of everything perfectly and smoothly, astonishing many people. Most variants came to the council to win the position of president as a way to show off to their other self and because of their ego to be known as the Primed Edward Bones. As such, few of them prepare in such detail for the establishment of the council.
Seeing how Edward worked made these people realize that G-003 came prepared, knowing he would be the president. Furthermore, he seemed to take his job seriously and prepared everything.
[Is G–003 the Primed?] was a question that many people asked themselves. In the end, they denied it or refused to accept such a thing. They all believe their current weakness and lack of knowledge was only temporary; it's only a matter of time before they caught up and surpassed G–003.
The meeting took three days before everything was settled. Then, before dismissing everybody, Edward said one last thing: "Now that I've done such a great job, it should not be a problem to use this opportunity for my personal gain."
Everyone rolled their eyes, cursing how shameless their president was.
"I'm looking for knowledge, technology, or even the slight news or rumors about two races: the Savant and Magus Race. As long as you have anything related to them, you can contact me to trade.
"You should know my ability. As long as there is something you want to know or a piece of technology you want, there is a 95% chance that I have it. So, don't hesitate to contact me."
Everyone looked at the president, wondering what he was scheming. Based on his tone, information about these two races seems extremely valuable. So, everyone decided to pay more attention while traveling the Multiverse.
G-003's magical knowledge and technology seemed very advanced, so they might get something extraordinary from him.
After the meeting ended, Edward had another brief meeting with the other Council Members. The variants wanted to decentralize his power, so they established the rules that the governing department of the citadel was composed of nine members, including the president. They chose the eight Tier 8 Variants that C-137 once chose.
According to the rules, the Council Members' terms are only 50 years, then there will be re-election, and the president's term limit is 100 years. However, most people rejected the idea of a specific number of re-elections, meaning everybody can run as many times as needed during their infinite lifespan.
The idea of these variants is that whoever is the best should be the leader, and a true prime would be the one who can suppress everyone, sitting in the president position for the longest.
Edward sneered at these people's psychology. Anyway, he only needs to stay president until he reaches Tier 11. Then, this council will become useless.
After discussing it with someone, he waited to see if someone would bring him any news from his last announcement, especially knowledge about the Savant Race. Edward did not have much hope until Morgana contacted him that someone wanted to make a deal with him.
Soon, a hologram appeared before Edward.
"President," said a variant who looked exactly like Edward, dressed in a purple robe similar to Dumbledore; however, he had countless white on the side of his black hair, and his eyes looked tired.
"Hello, you are?"
"I'm variant G-334."
"G? Then, it seems we are fated."
Maybe," muttered G-334. "President, can you remove curses?"
"It depends on the curse, but I'm indeed accomplished in this field."
"I need you to remove a potent curse from a soul for me. In return, I will give you this," said G-334 as he took out a black cube with red markings. "I got this from a ruin; it's an inheritance from the Magus Race and should be high-level since I haven't been able to open it so far."
"Deal," replied Edward. "Where do you want to meet for the exchange?"
"Let's meet at the Exchange Department." G-334 worried something would happen, so he chose to use the official route for this exchange. If something goes wrong, the credibility the president established would be ruined, making his terms extremely difficult to proceed.
Edward soon arrived at the destination.
"Let me see the item."
G-334 showed him the cube, and Edward nodded in satisfaction after inspecting it. Then, G-334 gave him an orb containing a black soul.
"It's indeed a cursed soul," said Edward as he analyzed things. With G-334's Tier 6 Level, removing this unique curse is difficult. Even after reaching Tier 8, it might not be easy. Edward also understood why he was willing to exchange with him–the soul in the orb won't last long. If not dealt with swiftly, the curse will annihilate it.
"Can you deal with it?" asked G-334, trying to hide the trembling in his voice.
"No problem, just give me a few hours."
Edward could effortlessly deal with the curse; after all, he had mastered the Rule of Curse. However, he did not want to reveal all his capabilities to the council easily. Furthermore, G-334 seemed to be one of his variants who inherited great luck, so he wanted to make friends with the latter.
If he easily solved his problem, the latter might not feel as indebted to him. So, he needed to put on a show that he exerted great effort before solving his problem.
Edward told him to wait and disappeared. A few hours later, he returned with a slightly pale complexion while holding a potion bottle with a dream or ethereal-like white substance.
"Give me the soul," he said before taking the orb from G-334's hand. He swirled the bottle before the orb; black lights rushed out from the orb into the potion. In a few seconds, the soul became clearer while the white liquid became darker.
"This inheritance is better worth it. I had to use my secret stash for this potion," muttered Edward under his breath, thinking only "he" could hear what he was saying.
Half an hour later, the potion battle became the embodiment of darkness, while the soul in the orb was white than snow in winter in northern countries.
'This curse is indeed interesting.' He could tell the curse had reached the limit of Soul Curses, almost reaching the level of affecting the Soul Flame. So, he shamelessly put it inside his dimension space. Poor G-334 was too excited even to notice such a thing.
He looked at the clear and bright soul with a large grin on his face. He would have made a scene to show his joy if he were not in public.
"You have my most sincere gratitude," said G-334 with utmost sincerity.
"No need to be so exaggerated; it's only an exchange."
"To you, this may be so. But to me, you saved the love of my life," replied G-334 before handing the cube to Edward.
"In that case, why don't we have another exchange," said Edward.
"Oh, what do you have in mind?"
"Tell me where you got that cube, and I will instantly revive the soul."
"Instantly?"
"Yes, with one spell."
G-334 was tempted. If he wanted to revive her, he would have to nourish her soul for a while before using the genetic information he already stored to clone her body. Then, he has to place the soul back into the body, ensuring nothing happens in the process.
The entire resurrection process will take a lot of time, effort, and resources. If he could shorten the time, the chances that something goes wrong will also decrease. Furthermore, it has been so long since he last saw her, so he did not want to wait.
However, the information the president asked for was also very important. G-334 did not hesitate to give the cube because he knew he could go to other timelines to search for another version. But now…
"I can promise not to reveal the information and even sign a contract."
"In that case, I agree. But does your spell have any negative consequences?"
"Nope."
G-334 hesitated momentarily before handing him the orb. The soul separated from the orb before a very complicated magic circle appeared around it.
The fading white soul became luminous in a matter of seconds like it was a mini sun. Then, flesh, bones, organs, and skin materialized around as a new body appeared, along with a wizard robe.
A beautiful woman in a black robe appeared before them. A few seconds later, her eyelashes trembled before opening her eyes. She looked around, confused, before glancing at G-334.
"Edward? Is that you?"
"Hermione," said G-334 before rushing to embrace her; he did not care his variant was next to him as tears began to fall from his eyes.
"I'm not dead?" she asked in confusion.
"No, you're not, and I promise you will never be."
Hermione was still confused but did not get to the bottom of it. What truly matters now is that she reunited with him.
"Excuse me," coughed Edward slightly.
"Oh, sorry, president," said G-334 before giving Edward a star chart.
"Another you? What's going on?" asked Hermione.
"I'll explain later," said G-334. Edward took the map and did a brief divination to determine whether it was true. After receiving a positive answer, he nodded in satisfaction.
"G-334, don't forget to have her sign the contract," reminded Edward.
"I will." He knew the council's rules and did not dare break them.
"Our exchange was pleasant. If you want to do it again, you can contact me."
Edward left and returned to his room. His original plan was to upgrade the citadel's magical defenses since he felt C-137 did a subpar job. However, his attention was now drawn to this cube.
His eyes turned purple as he tried to peep into the essence of this magical artifact. For a brief moment, he saw a rune before disappearing. Then, no matter what he did–even using his Law–he could not see anything anymore. Even his memory of the rune he briefly saw seemed to be gone.
"Anti-theft technology? And it seems very advanced," muttered Edward as he remembered encountering a similar situation when trying to reverse engineer the artifact he borrowed from the Akashic Record.
So, he took the necessary safety protocol before instilling his mana into the cube. Nothing unexpected occurred. Edward saw a projection of a rune, along with a message in his mind.
"I only need to master this rune to unlock the first level of this inheritance?" he muttered. "No wonder G-334 could not open it."
The rune before him was a Primordial Rune. Upon closer observation, he analyzed this rune as more basic than the ones he learned from Guzznad's artifact, but it was still a Primordial Rune.
"It will take me some time to master this rune, so let's wait until I return home," said Edward as he controlled his excitement. He continued his presidential duties while also renovating the citadel's systems–including defense. In the process, he also waited to see if some people would trade with him.
A few did, but what they wanted to exchange did not catch his attention, or they asked for too much. Finally, on the seventh day after the meeting ended, Edward prepared to leave.
His last task was to leave a way for the council to contact him in case of an emergency. Edward wanted to leave a clone to supervise things but felt it was not the right time to do so.
"Done," said Edward, stretching his upper body.
"Master, we have news," said Morgana, who suddenly appeared.
"What news?" His eyes lit up, "The Savant Race?"
"Yes."
"Contact the individual."
A screen appeared before him, and Edward frowned; the person who wanted to exchange was none other than L-123.
"You have something related to the Savant Race?" asked Edward directly.
"That's correct," replied L-123 as he took out a token. "I went to check, but one of my followers once sacrificed this token to me. According to him, it involved something called the Astral Library and the Savant Race."
After receiving the token, L-123 searched for this library since it could contain knowledge. However, his attempt failed, so he gave up, even forgetting he had this thing.
"What do you want to exchange?"
"Your research on Divinity."
"That's too much just for a token related to a rumor."
L-123 frowned as he knew G-003 was correct. There is no guarantee that this token is valuable.
"If it's true, I'm sure you would benefit immensely."
Edward ignored this bastard's poor attempt at bargaining. "My offer is an enchantment that can purify faith. As long as you use it in accord with your Divine Flame, the problem of Faith Corruption should be alleviated."
L-123 frowned. This was far from the result he wanted.
"Take it or leave it," said Edward, appearing extremely calm.
"Fine," relented L-123. He recently realized how much faith had influenced his soul. For example, none of his variants would so easily give up finding a library that was full of knowledge. Yet, he would have forgotten he had this token if not for the council's meeting. So, he wanted to deal with this problem as soon as possible.
"Glad to do business with you," said Edward before handing the communication.
"Which version do you want to give him?"
"The prototype. Plus, convert it into Wandcraft Magic." He still did not want his Arcane Rune System to leak.
"As you wish."
Morgana sent the information, and L-123 did not dare keep his promise. So, in a few minutes, Edward held a bronze token in his hand with a smile.
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