บท 152: Closer to the Truth
[If you are interested in reading 10 chapters ahead, go check out my Pa.tr.eon with the link https://www.patréon.com/LazySageDao, or just type in my writer's name in the website. The plot is getting exciting there and you guys can support me in any way you can.
Additionally, go read my other novel [Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor] and [The Otsutsuki Clan: A Legacy of Blood and Destruction], it's a Naruto Fanfic with an evil MC born in the Otsutsuki clan.
Join the discord: https://discord.gg/bnsezTApeY]
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After chatting with Olivier, Edward returned to his dimension while having Morgana keep watch on the development of things through divination. He headed straight to a room where a flask stood in a chair with something inside.
It was a floating mass-like object with one eye. This thing looked exactly like Father when he was the Dwarf in the Flask, with the expectation that this one was the color white.
After Edward approached the flask, the creature inside looked at him and said with someone of a grin: "So, Alchemist, have you thought about our deal? As long as you help me create a body, I will offer you countless knowledge."
Edward looked at the homunculus that he created using the same method that the Dwarf in the Flask was created. He ignored the latter's words as he immediately used Legilimency to read the homunculus' memories from the moment he was born.
This homunculus was born in the world beyond the Gate of Truth. And that world is essentially a dimension that houses vast alchemy knowledge. As a creature born from that world, he innately possesses a large amount of knowledge about alchemy.
After reading the homunculus' memories, he closed his eyes to digest all the information. A few hours later, he woke up and immediately teleported away. Soon, he found himself in a desert.
Two things were floating in front of him: uranium and plutonium. Edward clapped his hands together like prayer then touched the two substances, and immediately afterward, he teleported a few hundred miles away.
In the place he was, a massive explosion occurred, creating a mushroom cloud that could be seen from miles on. The people of Amestris and Xing who were close to the desert saw that cloud of dust.
A few minutes later, Edward appeared near the explosion with a shield surrounding him. As he watched the devastation that he created, he was quite calm.
As a person born in modern society and who has created a very advanced civilization, he understood how to use nuclear fission and fusion to make a thermonuclear bomb; he even created a spell that had the same effect.
However, just now, he used Alchemy to accomplish this feat. Before he had tried to do the same, unfortunately, despite knowing the scientific process behind it, he could not control energy with sufficient accuracy to make it happen.
Fortunately, he learned many things from that Dwarf.
As Edward watched the sand that had turned into glass because of the heat, he said out loud: "Morgana sent the appropriate Golem to clean the radiation in the surrounding...Forget it, I have a faster way."
He waved his hand to create a small vortex that immediately swallowed the radiation in the surroundings and sent it to a designated area of his dimension. After that, he teleported back to his laboratory.
This time, he was going to review every single detail of that homunculus' life instead of just a brief understanding. After lying in a comfortable position, he began.
A few days later, he opened his eyes and a slight smile could be seen on his face. This time, he learned a few important pieces of information.
One, this homunculus is a part of "God" itself, a part of its essence. This is the reason that it was born with so much knowledge.
The second thing that he learned is that this "God" is the source of Alchemy; it is the place that it originated from. At least, in this world, that's true.
Thirdly, Truth and "God" are probably one and the same, or they are connected. The reason he is not sure is because of the events that happened later in the story.
The homunculus known as Father managed to forcefully open the Gate of Truth and swallowed this "God" and used millions of souls to contain it inside his body.
Logically speaking, this should not be possible based on how powerful Truth is. The only reason that Father succeeded is either Truth allowed it to happen, or like Herpo, he cannot intervene in the world as he pleased.
Edward believed that the former is more likely. However, here comes another problem: why do all of this? Could it be it just wanted to teach humanity a lesson about hubris? Maybe It was bored and wanted to use the world as a game? Or, it could be something that Edward could not understand at the moment.
Edward shook his head to remove these distracting thoughts; things related to Truth were not something that his current self could get involved with. Maybe in the future, once he is more knowledgeable and powerful, he might try to get the answer.
After reigning in his thoughts, he focused on a specific memory that he received from the homunculus' mind. It was the memory of a floating Gate. However, this Gate was not the Gate of Truth: it was something else.
According to the brief information he received, this Gate was known as the Origin Gate. The Homunculus did not know anything about this gate. In fact, he only saw it for a passing moment.
Nevertheless, he instinctively knew its name, and held it in very high regard; it was like meeting a very noble person and instinctively having respect for it. Even as Edward reviewed the memory, he too instinctively felt respect and adoration for it.
Unfortunately, besides the name of this Gate, there was no other information. So, Edward started to ponder:
'What if that Gate is the connection to the Akashic Record. Truth seemed obsessed with maintaining the Law of Equivalent Exchange. If gaining knowledge from the Akashic Record requires the same principle, this could explain why he is so bent on executing it and maintaining it.
'After all, he obviously copied the idea of Gate from them.'
After thinking about this, Edward frowned as he realized that there were many flaws in his logic, or at least, many unanswered questions.
For example, what is the connection between the Gate of Truth and Truth himself? The logical answer is that it created it, but since all humans have a Gate of Truth, does that mean that Truth is powerful enough to give all humans a soul with said Gate.
After all, Edward once tested that even people from other worlds like him have their Gate. He suddenly paused as he realized that he may have made a mistake.
When he tried to find the Gate of Truth from the prisoner he brought from the Empire, he assumed that since the experiment took place inside his World Gate and was isolated from the rules of this world that his experiment was valid and proved that people from other worlds could have their own Gate.
However, that may not be true. The rules of this world might be the reason that individuals have a Gate--including him. If that's the case, many things now make sense.
Truth was most likely a powerful individual who created the power system known as Alchemy used in this world. Somehow, it managed to gain access to the Akashic Record and traded knowledge with it.
Edward paused for a moment as he suddenly remembered the fact that this world did not have an afterlife. After an individual died, his soul would turn to energy and return to the natural flow of this world.
'What if Truth uses soul energy as a currency to trade with the Akashic Record. After all, if the record follows the Law of Equivalent Exchange, then it will require a price to gain knowledge from it.
'And this might not be just that. If I was the person who created the Akashic Record, I would trade knowledge with knowledge. By that logic, what if Truth created the Gate of Truth and granted it to humans so that they can help him study alchemy and create new knowledge to trade with the record; it would be similar to how I created the Empire to develop more magical knowledge.'
After thinking there, Edward stopped as he knew that all of these were simply theorems and conjectures with no basis to back them.
Nevertheless, if he is right, he will have to face a major problem: the people of the Empire would not be able to have access to a Gate of Truth and perform Alchemy--unless he received approval from Truth.
His mind quickly calculated as he pondered what to do next. Soon after, he came up with a method. Dealing with Truth has many risk factors, however, since he was not powerful enough to deal with these risks, he would just find someone that could.
And Edward knew the right person for the job.
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Next Chapter Title: Open Plot
บท 153: Open Plot
[If you are interested in reading 10 chapters ahead, go check out my Pa.tr.eon with the link https://www.patréon.com/LazySageDao, or just type in my writer's name in the website. The plot is getting exciting there and you guys can support me in any way you can.
Additionally, go read my other novel [Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor] and [The Otsutsuki Clan: A Legacy of Blood and Destruction], it's a Naruto Fanfic with an evil MC born in the Otsutsuki clan.
Join the discord: https://discord.gg/bnsezTApeY]
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After waking up from his thinking and calculation, Edward asked: "Morgana, how are things developing?"
The little purple elf appeared out of nowhere and said: "Master, Olivier is really awesome. She killed General Raven without hesitation. I finally understand why you like her so much."
"Of course, you have to trust in your master's vision," replied Edward with a smile on his face.
'By now, the main characters along with Olivier have already learned of the purpose of the nation-wide transmutation circle. This also means that the conclusion of the story is nearing its end.'
"Tell Hughes about this information."
"No problem."
"Also, how is Nina doing?"
"She's fine mentally, however, she seemed a little lonely. Probably miss her parents."
Edward was silent after hearing this. If it was back in his world, he could revive the little's mother so that she could have a family once again. However, in this world, reviving the dead was impossible--unless a terrible price was made.
And even then, there is a chance that it would not succeed. After all, unlike the Elric brothers, Nina's mother has been dead for countless years.
"After everything is over, I'll ask Hughes to adopt her so that she can have a new loving family," muttered Edward, then he left his dimension.
After entering an office, he saw the beautiful Olivier looking at a map of Amestris. After entering, she did not turn her back, but asked: "Did you already know?"
"Know what?"
"About Amestris' transmutation circle."
"So what if I did? Would that change anything?"
She turned her body to look at him. "It would change a lot if you knew about it and did not do anything, or even say anything."
"Well, I did know."
Olivier continued staring at him.
"Are you wondering why I never interfered?"
She just stared at him. Edward sighed before saying: "To you, what is happening is or is about to happen is a calamity that will affect the lives of millions of people. However, to some people or things, this may be nothing but a game.
"As I said before, your world is too dangerous. Unless absolutely necessary, I will not be drawn in this vortex."
Oliver frowned after hearing this, then she remembered how Edward said that there was a God in this world.
'Could it be that what was happening was part of its plan?' Olivier quickly shook her head and did not think about this kind of thing. After all, it was useless and could not help her in this situation.
"If I were to ask you to intervene and stop all of this from happening for my sake, would you do it?" asked Olivier.
"No," replied Edward directly.
"Why is that?"
"Just like you previously said, there is not much emotion between us. Although I was attracted by your beauty, that's not enough. If you were one of my wives, I would not hesitate to fight Gods, Devil, and Demons for you. I would not hesitate to destroy worlds for you. However, you're not."
Olivier was silent after hearing this; she did not mind Edward's answer. In fact, one of the reasons she liked interacting with him was his candidness; he rarely lied or hid anything from her.
As long as she asked him something, he would answer. And if he could not, he would simply say that he could not answer.
"Furthermore, you do not seem like a person who likes to rely on others when you can deal with the problem yourself," continued Edward.
Oliver agreed with him. She only asked because she was curious about his answer. After that, the two spoke for a few hours about the situation of Amestris before Edward left.
He teleported to a specific place in the northern area. He placed his hand on the ground creating a transmutation circle that soon disappeared. After that, he apparated again to another specific area in the north and did the same.
For the next few hours, Edward apparated to different places in the eastern, southern, western, and central areas. And in those places, he placed the same transmutation circle.
If anyone could map out the places that Edward placed these circles, they would also find a nationwide transmutation circle that was completely different from the ones Father was building.
Edward's purpose was essentially an open plot. Father managed to absorb the Eye of God that was located in the world beyond the Gate of Truth and used millions of souls to contain that entity inside his body.
As a result of this, he also learned all the knowledge of that entity and became the God of Alchemy.
Edward wanted all that knowledge, but he also did not want to offend Truth. So, he designed this transmutation circle with the sole purpose of taking that knowledge directly from Father himself after he swallows God.
This is where Edward's plot comes in. Whether Truth allowed Father to succeed for some plan or he could not intervene and prevent it, it was beneficial to Edward.
Either way, he will still get access to all that Alchemy knowledge without taking any of the risks that Father took. Of course, there is also the possibility that Truth will intervene and directly make Edward's transmutation circle useless and prevent him from succeeding.
Despite this, he decided to try and wait. Even if he failed, he did not lose much anyway.
After making his preparation, he returned to his dimension. Inside one of the many living rooms, he saw Hughes with a frown on his face; the latter seemed to be pondering about something very deeply.
"Now that the truth is out, you can leave if you want," said Edward.
Unexpectedly, Hughes shook his head. "That would be committing death."
Over the past few weeks, he also observed the behaviors of the homunculi and knew how they operated. As such, he knew that if they learned that he was alive, they would do everything to kill him and his family.
"Do you have a way to mask my identity?" asked Hughes.
"Yes," replied Edward who gave him a magic item that could change his appearance at will. As he watched Hughes leave, he was wondering whether this guy's action would change anything, or whether his actions would have little effect.
After that, Edward continued to observe things behind the scene.
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Next Chapter Title: The Promised Day
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