Underneath Central, Fuhrer Bradley stood along with all the other homunculi, waiting respectively while looking at his father.
"You're saying that there is an alchemist that performed a perfect Human Transmutation to separate a Human Chimera?" asked Father with a calm look in his voice.
"According to the report made by Mustang, it seems so."
"Did that Alchemist have a Philosopher's Stone?" asked Envy.
"According to the report, no."
"Then the report must be a lie. There is no way a human is powerful enough to accomplish such a task without a stone."
All the other homunculi agreed with her, even Father. He knew how difficult it is to perfectly create a human body--especially without a Philosopher's Stone.
The body he currently has was made using some of the souls from the people of Xerxes.
Since he could not achieve such a task on his own, he did not believe a mere human would be able to.
"Nevertheless, even with a stone, this alchemist is quite talented. And from the information summarized, he likely opened the Gate," said Lust. "So, he can be considered a sacrifice. Wrath, have you located him?"
"Unfortunately, no. In the past few days, I've sent people to find him but there was no result."
"Since he said that he was traveling east, could he have already headed for Xing?" asked Pride.
"Not likely," responded Fuhrer Bradly. "I received a report yesterday that someone with his exact description was seen not long ago in Central. So, I'm guessing that he is here, but very good at hiding."
"Why is he hiding? Does he know something about us?" asked Pride.
"Unlikely. If I had to guess, I would say it was because of his identity as a citizen of Creta. Maybe, he does not like to draw attention to himself in a foreign land."
"None of that truly matters," said Lust. "What matters is to find this alchemist as soon as possible and control him."
"It's quite easy to accomplish both," said Envy with a grin full of malice. "Since this alchemist went his way to save Nina Tucker, all we have to do is kidnap her and lure him. Based on his reaction, we might even use her to control him."
"That's a good idea," said Lust. Then, all the homunculi looked at Father for him to make a final decision.
"In that case, Lust and Gluttony, you two go capture that small human."
--Scene Break--
East City:
Lust was standing in front of a small house with Gluttony next to her; the latter had drools coming out of his mouth.
"This place should be where Mustang placed the little girl Nina Tucker. How nice of him."
"Can I eat her?" asked Gluttony.
"You can eat the old lady taking care of the little girl, but you cannot eat her. Also, you cannot eat the alchemist as well."
After saying that, Lust entered the house calmly. However, she soon felt that something was wrong: it was too quiet.
'Could it be that Nina and the caretaker were not home today?'
With the utmost confidence in herself and her power, Lust entered the small manor with Gluttony following. However, when they reached the living room, they saw a man with black hair and blue eyes waiting for them; a smirking smile that made Lust angry for some reason was plastered on his face.
"You must be Edward Bones, correct?" asked Lust.
"That's correct."
"And what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you, of course," replied Edward.
Lust frowned after hearing this.
"Are wondering how I knew you guys would be coming?" continued Edward. "Well, let's just say, you people are quite predictable. Let me guess, this was Envy's plan, wasn't it?"
A slight surprise flash across her eyes.
"It seems that I was right. Well, her personality is truly twisted, so only he would have no problem using a little girl for her plan."
"You seem to know us pretty well," commented Lust.
"More than you can imagine."
Then, Edward ignored her as he focused on the idiot known as Gluttony; his eyes contained endless greed.
Inside this idiot was an entire dimension that lies between reality and the Soul Space where the Gate of Truth exists. Gluttony is the result of a failed experiment by Father trying to recreate the Gate of Truth so that he can gain all the alchemy knowledge in existence.
However, after failing, he only used Gluttony as a disposable expert--an act which Edward considered truly wasteful.
By studying Gluttony, Edward believed that he would be able to create an entire large dimension by himself as right now, he could only use magic to create a small one the size of a bucket.
After creating that large dimension, all he has to do is connect it to his Soul Space, place countless mana inside the dimension, then use that mana to cast magic and remove his limitation on his body.
Of course, Edward knew that there were a few problems with his plan. For Example, he still does not know how to use energy from different dimensions to cast spells. Maybe, he will have to wait one day when he goes to the Marvel World.
Nevertheless, the first step of being able to create his own dimension will start by studying the homunculi, Gluttony.
While Edward was staring at Gluttony, Lust immediately took action and attacked. Her fingernails grew longer and rushed towards him, trying to piece his arms and legs. She was probably trying to immobilize him.
However, a weird blue shield appeared to surround Edward, protecting him. This was a force field that he created by using Alchemy to control electromagnetic fields in the surrounding.
Ever since he came to this world, he tried his best not to use magic to the best of his ability.
After being attacked, Edward turned his head and looked at Lust.
"Although you're not as important as him, you still have value. After dissecting you, I should find a way to turn the Philosopher's Stone into my magic core."
Lust was confused by the words "magic core". However, she did not have time to respond. Edward snapped his finger, then both Lust and Gluttony fell to the ground and started seizing.
Immediately after that, they found themselves unable to move.
"What did you do to us?"
With a smile on his face, Edward said: "Did you know that certain sound frequencies can affect the human brain and make it shut down the entire body?
"If it was a normal person, they would have passed out long ago. However, you, homunculi, are more resistant, so you can keep some form of consciousness.
"Alright, let's get down to business."
Edward then walked to both Lust and Gluttony to take a few samples of blood. Then, he turned on the light in the dark house, displaying a strange transmutation circle that was already drawn.
He placed the blood in the middle of the circle before activating it. Then, to Lust's horror, two bodies that looked exactly like her and Gluttony appeared inside the room.
Meanwhile, Edward nodded in satisfaction after seeing this, he then took out two stones from his pocket: two Philosopher's Stone to be exact. He placed the stones inside their bodies.
"Morgana, can you take control of these bodies?"
"As you wish, master." replied the little purple-hair elf that suddenly appeared. Then she said:
"I have already scanned these people's memories and developed a behavior model based on their personality and ideologies. However, there are a few problems."
"What is it?"
"Although I can replicate the woman's ability, I cannot do the same for the fat one."
"Well, it does not matter; their replacement is only temporary. So, just try not to use his ability until I'm finished."
"As you wish."
After that, Edward took the real Lust and Envy to go back to his laboratory, while the fake one returned to see Father.
Title: The Key Ingredient
