After exiting the meat shop, Edward smiled in satisfaction as his plan was going smoothly. The reason that he went to meet Izumi Curtis was for two reasons: one, when he was stealing knowledge from alchemists' minds, he did not do so for her and the protagonists of this world: the Elric Brothers.
The reason for that was that these people had opened the Gate truth, so he was worried that his actions would alert Truth. So, he decided to be careful.
So, his meeting with Izumi was a way to exchange knowledge.
The second reason was that he needed a reasonable and upright identity when he interacted with the Elric Brothers and the people around them.
While walking away, Edwards thought to himself:
'This Sig was quite strong, even beyond the limit of ordinary humans. Now that I think about it, certain individuals of this world like Izumi, Sig, Riza Hawkeye, Scar have abnormal physiques compared to ordinary humans. Plus, they did not achieve this level of strength through genetic engineering, but through pure training."
Just now, Edward just checked both Sig and Izumi's Life Code and determined that they were ordinary people.
'This should have something to do with Qi. In this world, according to the eastern country of Xing, Qi is the life energy flowing through all things: from mountains to rivers, to flowers, and even humans. They called this flow the Dragon Pulse.
'The people of Xing use this life energy in their Alkahestry instead of earthen energy, thus making their Alchemy more suitable for medical purposes.
'If the people of this world can passively absorb life energy from the Dragon Pulse while training to increase their Qi or life force, then their strength, speed, and endurance would increase beyond the normal level.
'From what I remember, Ling Yao and Mei Chang could sense Qi inside a person's body and even use it to track and identify enemies. As a result of this, they could also sense the countless souls inside the Homunculi.
'Well, it seems that I have to visit Xing during my time in this world.'
After returning home, Edward again began to study alchemy. This time, he was focused on Chimera.
In just a few days, he managed to create a regular chimera by combining different animals, then he went a step further, taking out the basic chemical compounds of these animals to create the chimera from nothing.
Following this, he studied Human Chimera.
A holographic image of DNA was displayed in front of Edward and Morgana.
"The DNA of these Human Chimera has been completely rewritten to include animal DNA. In some way, this could be considered a form of human evolution," said Edward.
"Yes. The effect is similar to Tower Masters Narcissa and Soleil's experiment of placing magical animals' souls in a human body. Except the human Chimera can transform into half-human, half-animal, while the ones in their experiment only acquire certain characteristics or abilities of animals while still retaining their human form," said Morgana.
"Strictly speaking, their experiment is way better. Nevertheless, studying these Human Chimera should greatly increase the Genetic Technology of the Empire."
The little elf quickly did some calculation, then said: "With enough chemical materials, we could basically mass produce these Human Chimera. However, the ones made strictly from chemicals instead of combining an animal with a human do not have a soul, they're just an empty vessel."
"We do not need a soul to control them," replied Edward. "We could plant chips inside their brain, then have you control them. With your computing ability, it's easy to control a few quadrillions. Essentially, this technology will allow the Empire to have a massive army of cannon fodder."
"Master, do not forget to take into account the resources needed for such a thing."
"I know this, I'm just stating a possibility."
Edward then continued to review the data he gathered, then, he seemed to think of something.
"Morgana, what date is it?"
"September 4, 1914." After saying this, Morgana paused as if she just remembered something, then a look of horror and confusion appeared on her face.
"Didn't I ask you to warn me a few days before this date arrived?"
"Master, I seem to have forgotten."
Both of them became silent after hearing this. As an A.I. and a super-computer, there is no way that she could forget something like a regular person. Even Edward with his perfect memory can be distracted and forget things, hence the reason he had Morgana.
However, she should not be able to forget--unless someone interfered and hacked her program. However, Morgan is both a technological invention and a magical way, making it virtually impossible for ordinary means to do so.
And given the low technological tree of this world, this was even more impossible.
Immediately, both of them thought of a person capable of doing this. They looked at each other but did not say anything. Edward left his house and headed somewhere.
--Scene Break--
Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse, were standing in a dark room looking at a dog. Sadness, despair, and confusion could be seen on their faces or surrounding them.
Shou Tucker lay on the floor with blood flowing on his face, laughing hysterically. Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye held a gun pointed at him. Meanwhile, Colonel Mustang was also looking at the dog. Although he had a calm look on his face, his clenched hands showed his true mood.
Suddenly, a voice ringed into the room:
"Am I too late?"
All of them turned around looking at the sudden intruder. Riza pointed her gun at the handsome man that just appeared in the room, Mustang and the Elric brothers were on guard, preparing to perform alchemy at any moment's notice.
Edward--who just apparated in the room--ignored these people as he looked at the dog. He remembered how terrible he felt when he first watched the anime and witnessed Nina Tucker.
Immediately after knowing that he came to this world, he decided to save this little girl, along with Maes Hughes.
Edward raised his head to look at the symbol of Alphonse's left shoulder.
"The Flamel Symbol? Are you guys related to Izumi Curtis? She had the same symbol tattooed on her body."
"You know our teacher?" asked Alphonse.
"So, you're her student. I met her and had a pleasant exchange. She's quite the extraordinary Alchemist. Unfortunately, she declined my invitation to be my wife."
The Elric brothers immediately thought this strange man was insane. Knowing how crazy and powerful their teacher is, they wondered how he managed to survive after asking such a question.
"Who are you? And how did you get past the soldiers outside?" asked Riza. She was not as gullible as these children and was on alert.
"How did I get here? I just appeared here, of course." Then, Edward started walking towards the dog. Taking his action as a threat, Riza immediately shot her gun. However, once the bullet reached a meter from Edward, they evaporated on sight.
"What's going on?" asked the Lieutenant.
"Decomposition," said Edward Elric. "The bullet was decomposed into its basic element."
"Brother, he did not even use a transmutation circle, do you think…"
"Maybe."
Edward ignored those people and came close to Nina to examine her. With a frown on his face, he said:
"A shoddy method of making a Human Chimera. The human body was mostly decomposed to make a bunch of messed up and unnecessary organs inside the animal body. The most terrible thing is that the animal soul was mixed with the human soul. Although the situation is grave, it's not irreversible."
He then took a piece of chalk to draw a circle on the ground, followed by a bunch of complex runes.
Meanwhile, the Elric brothers who were quietly observing the transmutation circle quickly understood something. Edward Elric then yelled: "Are you crazy, performing Human Transmutation?"
"Boy, stay out of things that you do not understand," said Edward Bones as he glared at him, making the older Elric brother frightened; those eyes were truly scary.
In one spot of the circle, he then placed 35 liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia, 1.5 kg of lime, 800g of phosphorus, 250 g of salt, and a bunch of other materials.
After doing this, he placed his hand on the circle to activate.
Then, a miracle happened in front of everybody present. The chimera dog decomposed before separating into two: one girl and one dog. The little girl was Nina Tucker.
"How is that possible?" screamed Shou Tucker.
Not long after he said those words, the little girl opened her eyes. She looked around in confusion. After seeing Edward Elric, she muttered: Big brother Edward?"
She then looked at her father. A look of fear appeared on her face as he looked on the floor, not wanting to look at him.
Meanwhile, our protagonist nodded in satisfaction after seeing this.
"Although separating the soul was a little trouble, everything turned out fine in the end."
"You-You-You just successfully performed human transmutation," said Edward Elric, with both shock and happiness.
Title: Introduction
