章節 151: The Plot Continues

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After making a decision, Olivier felt relieved; she was truly looking forward to her new life in another world. She imagined that many unknown adventures and new wonders were waiting for her to experience.

Of course, she has to finish things in this world first.

"There is something that I've been wondering for some time now after seeing your small fleet," said Olivier.

"If you want to know something, just ask. I'm a person who rarely lies--unless it truly benefits me."

Olivier did not believe his words, nevertheless, she still asked: "Why didn't you conquer this world? With your power, it should be quite easy."

"What kind of person do you take me for?" replied Edward with an exaggerated look on his face. However, after seeing that Olivier was not buying his act, he smiled before replying:

"There are three main reasons: first, this world does not have anything of value that's worth so much trouble. Alchemy could be argued for, but since I already got all the knowledge I need regarding it, when I return home, with a population of 50 billion people, the Empire can bring the field of Alchemy to heights that people in this world could never fathom.

"Secondly, the Empire is not ready to start conquering other worlds. Maybe in the future, but for now, it is not part of the agenda."

"You seem very cautious," said Olivier. "That's a good thing. However, I guess that the last reason is not the main one."

"Correct."

"So, what is it?"

"Well, your world is protected."

"Protected? By whom?" Olivier could not imagine someone that could protect this world from these terrible weapons of mass destruction.

"God? Or maybe, the universe," replied Edward.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. There is a powerful individual or God in this world that could probably wipe me and my entire fleet out in just a blink of an eye."

As he said that, Edward sighed. Of all the worlds he could go to, he ended up in this one where there happens to be an entity powerful beyond his understanding, making him a little helpless.

Of course, although he is currently safe, he did not stop preparing for the worse. In case of a confrontation with Truth, he has prepared a few methods that could buy him enough time to escape.

The first one is to detonate all five Void Cores that his queen gave him before he left.

The second one also involves void energy. He developed a spell to open a hole in this world's Source Wall and allow massive amounts of Void Energy to enter this world. And with how destructive this kind of energy is, it should be enough to play a role.

According to studies done in the Empire, void energy--just like Obscurus--can also destroy the power of [Authority] or the fundamental rules/concepts that exist in a universe. Unfortunately, Void Energy is very difficult to control, so using them as weapons is currently labeled as forbidden by Edward.

In one of their experiments, he and Rowena almost destroyed planet Earth while studying it. Luckily for them, he reacted in time and sent the massive void energy that was out of control outside of the universe, returning it to its place of origin.

The third plan that Edward made to fight Truth involves the people in this world. Based on when Truth told Edward Elric "I am All, and I am one," he theorized that Truth might be the embodiment of the consciousness of all the living beings in this world.

And even if it is not the embodiment, it might be connected.

So, what would happen if all the consciousness of the people of this world rejected or denied his existence? Most likely, he will either cease to exist, or he will be drastically weakened.

Based on this idea, he created a spell to link the consciousness of all the people of this world, then forcibly have them reject and deny the existence or even the idea of Truth.

Of course, the population of this world is still a few hundred million, and with his current measly mana, he can't cast a spell of that level. However, with the help of the Philosopher's Stone that is serving as the energy core of his Gate, and with Morgana's powerful consciousness, he should be able to execute this plan.

Nevertheless, Edward is also aware that these plans might possibly be useless; in fact, all his thoughts might have already been read by the "opponent". Still, he did not stop planning for the worse.

Truth be told, Edward is just being paranoid. Although he did not know it yet, Merlin's sponsor for him also protected his mind and prevented these powerful beings from reading it.

Of course, this protection is only for beings that way too powerful for him. If he met someone that was on his level, everything would be based on his skill and abilities.

…

After hearing Edward's answer, Olivier was somewhat relieved. Although she promised to maybe leave with him, she did not want her world to be conquered. Additionally, although she was not religious and did not believe in any god, she was glad that her world was protected.

At the same time, she was slightly worried that such a powerful existence also existed without anyone knowing about it. However, she quickly placed all these thoughts on the back of her head; these kinds of things were not things that she should concern herself with.

Just like that, a few days passed by. Events proceeded as they were supposed to. The homunculus, Sloth--who was in charge of slowly digging the nation-wide transmutation circle--appeared in Briggs and fought with the soldiers there.

Under Olivier's command, they used some tactic to freeze the creature, thus rendering his regenerative abilities useless. Soon after that, General Raven soon appeared at Briggs bringing with him a doctor that could heal the Alchemist known as Kimblee--who was released from prison under the order of Fuhrer Bradley and tasked to capture the Ishvalan, Scar.

After a meeting with General Raven, Olivier used her charm to get some information from the latter about immortality and the Philosopher's Stone. Immediately after the conversation, she went to see Edward who was lazing around while so many things were happening.

"Did you achieve your immortality by using the Philosopher's Stone?" asked Olivier.

"Yes," replied Edward honestly. "Do you have a problem with using other people's lives to become immortal?"

She frowned and answered: "Yes. As a ruler, if you cannot even protect your people, then you do not deserve such power."

"Well, you do not need to worry about that as the people's lives are not used in making the stone--at least not anymore."

"Then, what do you use?"

"Mostly clones and other species."

Olivier remembered what a clone was from the information that was placed in her mind. She remembered thinking about how such a technology could be used to mass-produce soldiers for war.

"If you have a problem with using the stone, there are many other ways to increase your lifespan," added Edward. "Just genetic engineering can allow you to live for 1000 years. And with more discovery, the amount will surely increase."

"Wait, I thought genetic engineering could only allow people to live up to 200 years?" She remembered how shocked she was when she learned that every person in the Arcane Empire could live for 200 years.

"That's only the information that is released to ordinary people. High-level members of the Empire have access to better technology and methods," replied Edward.

"That seems unfair."

"It is not. If an ordinary citizen makes the necessary contribution, he or she can slowly rise through the ranks until they reach the level of gaining access to such technology.

"However, if they cannot offer anything substantial to society and the development of the Empire, they can live for 200 years without worrying about food, shelter, and diseases."

Olivier sighed after hearing this, but she did not mention the subject anymore.

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Next Chapter Title: Closer to the Truth

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章節 152: Closer to the Truth

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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

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