Central City deep underground.
The intricate pipes are intertwined like the veins of a giant beast, and the roar of steam echoes in the empty darkness.
This is the "heart" of this country and the source of all evil.
President Kim Bradley stood under the throne, surrounded by other "Homunculus". At this moment, they all restrained their usual arrogance and looked respectfully at the being called "Father" on the throne.
"You mean, there was a Alchemy master who completed a perfect Human Transmutation without Philosopher's Stone and separated Chimera?"
"Father, according to Mustang's report, it is indeed the case." Bradley replied.
"Does Master Alchemy own Philosopher's Stone?" Envy interjected and asked, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"The report shows that it did not."
"The report must be lying!"
Envy sneered disdainfully, "How could a mere human being accomplish such a miracle without the assistance of stones? That is absolutely impossible."
In this underground space, all Homunculus - including "Father" himself - have acquiesced in this view.
"However, even if he has the stone, the talent of this Alchemy master is quite amazing." Lust curled his hair with his fingers, with a hint of murderous intent in his charming voice, "And judging from the intelligence, he has probably opened 'Gate of Truth'."
"In other words, he is a qualified 'Sacrifice'." She turned to Bradley, "Wrath, have you found his whereabouts?"
"Unfortunately, no." Bradley shook his head.
"Since he said he wanted to travel east, has he already gone to Xing?" An arrogant voice came from the shadows.
"Unlikely." Bradley objected. "Yesterday, there was information that someone with exactly the same physical features as him was seen in Central City. I speculate that he is still here, but he is very good at hiding his aura."
"Why is he hiding? Does he know our secret?"
"Not necessarily. My guess is that as a citizen of Creta, he just doesn't want to attract attention in a foreign country."
"The reason is not important." Lust interrupted the speculation, "The important thing is to find him as soon as possible and control him."
"That's very simple."
A vicious smile filled with malice appeared on Envy's face, "Since that Alchemy master specially rescued Nina·Tucker, then this is his weakness. We only need to kidnap the girl to lure him out. Or even... use the girl to control him."
Everyone's eyes turned to the throne.
"That's it." Father gave the final order, "Lust, Gluttony, you go and capture that tiny human being."
East City, a hidden safe house.
In the night, Lust and Gluttony stood in front of the house. Gluttony looked at the door, greedy saliva flowing from the corner of his mouth.
"Mustang is really gentle. He found a nice place for that little girl." Lust mocked.
"Can I eat her?" Gluttony asked stupidly.
"You can eat the old woman who takes care of her, but you can't eat the girl. Also, you can't eat the Alchemy master."
After the explanation was completed, Lust pushed the door open and entered.
However, the moment she stepped into the house, she was keenly aware of something strange - it was too quiet.
But this does not affect her self-confidence. As Homunculus with "Ultimate Spear", she is fearless.
The two walked into the living room and stopped immediately.
Under the dim light, a young man with black hair and blue eyes was sitting on the sofa, watching them quietly.
There was a playful smile on his face, and that expression that seemed to see through everything made Lust feel inexplicably irritated.
"You are Ian·Alvin·Bones, right?" Lust asked.
"Exactly."
"What are you doing here?"
"Of course... I'm waiting for you." Ian leaned back and relaxed his posture.
Lust frowned slightly. "Are you waiting for us?"
"Want to know how I predicted it?"
Ian spread his hands, "It's actually very simple. The behavior pattern of you people is too easy to predict. Let me guess, this must be Envy's idea, right?"
Lust A flash of surprise flashed in his eyes.
"It seems that I guessed it right. After all, only he can think of such a twisted character and the despicable method of using a little girl as bait."
"You seem to know us very well." Lust's voice became colder, and his fingertips began to stretch.
"Know more than you think."
Ian no longer paid attention to Lust, but turned his inquiring eyes to the fat man with a dull face - Gluttony.
In his "Arcane Sight", Gluttony is not a simple creature, but a collection of various spatial coordinates that walk.
In this fool's body, there is a pseudo-dimension sealed between reality and Soul Space (where Gate of Truth is located).
This is the product of "Father's" failed attempt to artificially create Gate of Truth.
Ian has always been trapped by the contradiction between his own magic power reserve and the upper limit of his physical body.
His plan is grand: by analyzing the physiological structure of Gluttony and deducing the construction principle of "False Gate of Truth", he will create a huge independent Subspace for himself.
Once successful, he is equivalent to carrying a nuclear reactor with him. No matter what kind of forbidden spell is cast, the magic power can be extracted directly from Subspace, thus completely removing the Limiter from the body's energy output.
Studying Gluttony is the first step towards "Infinite Magic".
"Die!"
Lust suddenly launched an attack.
Her fingers instantly turned into sharp black shadows, stabbing Ian's limbs like spears, obviously intending to destroy his mobility first.
Zhi--!
There was no sound of flesh and blood being penetrated.
A light blue light curtain emerged out of thin air, which was a high-intensity electromagnetic deflection force field. Lust, the "Ultimate Spear" that claimed to be able to cut off all matter, was bounced away by a huge repulsive force the moment it came into contact with the force field.
"This is..." Lust's pupils shrank.
"Use Alchemy to control the surrounding electromagnetic field to form a defensive layer."
Ian explained calmly, as if taking notes on an experiment, "After coming to this world, I have always tried my best to use local rules to solve problems, so as not to cause the rejection of World Will."
He turned his head and looked at Lust like a white mouse.
"Although you are not as valuable as that fat man, you are still better than nothing. After dissecting you, maybe I can find a way to transform Philosopher's Stone into 'Magic Core'."
"Magic Core?" Lust is unfamiliar with this word.
But this was the last complete sentence she heard.
Ian raised his hand and gave the Snap a gentle blow.
Buzz--
A kind of ultra-high-frequency sound wave that cannot be detected by human hearing instantly filled the entire room.
This sound wave has been precisely debugged by Ian, specifically targeting the frequency resonance point where the Philosopher's Stone core of Homunculus combines with the body.
Plop. Plop.
Lust and Gluttony collapsed to the ground almost at the same time, their bodies twitching violently, and they were conscious but unable to move.
"You... did... what?" Lust struggled to squeeze out a few words.
"Sound wave resonance at a specific frequency can directly block the transmission of nerve signals."
Ian walked up to her and said condescendingly:
"If it were an ordinary human being, he would have been brain-dead as soon as the sound wave started. In other words, you Homunculus are thick-skinned and thick-skinned, but you can still retain a little consciousness."
"Okay, the experiment begins."
Ian skillfully took blood samples from the two people.
Then, he waved his hand to light up the room, and a complex Transmutation Circle had already been drawn on the floor.
Drop the blood into the formation eye, and the blue alchemical reaction light bursts out instantly.
After the light dissipated, two bodies appeared on the floor - bodies identical to Lust and Gluttony.
This is the high-end Human Transmutation technology of Ian - Flesh Puppet.
Looking at the "artifact" on the ground, Ian nodded with satisfaction. Then, he took out two stones as red as blood from his pocket.
Philosopher's Stone.
If Elric Brothers were here, he would be shocked and speechless. This man swore that he did not have such a thing just a few hours ago.
But in the adult world, especially on the road to pursuing Truth, honesty is often the cheapest virtue.
Ian did not hesitate to implant the two stones into the two puppets.
"Morgana, take over these two bodies."
There were ripples in the air, and a petite elf with purple hair appeared out of thin air. She was Tower Spirit manufactured by Ian, and she was also the intelligent core that assisted him in multi-threaded calculations.
"As you wish, Master."
After a few seconds, the two puppets on the ground slowly opened their eyes, and their dull eyes gradually became vivid.
"I have scanned the target's memory area and built a behavioral model based on their personality and ideology."
Morgana hui reported that the sound echoed simultaneously between the two bodies.
"However, there are some compatibility issues."
"What's the problem?"
"I can perfectly reproduce the ability of this female individual, but I cannot simulate the special devouring ability of this fat man. That is based on some kind of Space Law mutation, which exceeds the hardware support of the current body."
"It doesn't matter."
Ian waved his hand, "This replacement is only temporary. Before the end of our 'research', just try not to let the fat man use his abilities."
"As commanded."
After a while, the two "Homunculus" got up, arranged their clothes, left the house with perfect disguises, and headed back to "Father" deep underground.
Ian waved his magic wand and sealed the real Lust and Gluttony into special containment containers.
He turned around and returned to his secret laboratory through the portal.
For Ian, tonight's hunt has just begun.
The pseudo-dimension in Gluttony's body will be his stepping stone to a higher level of power.