Hidden mansion for rent by Central City, Ian.
The firelight in the fireplace not only dissipated the chill of late autumn, but also cast dancing shadows on the pages of the book in Ian's hand. He was concentrating on studying a professional book on mechanical armor engineering.
A few minutes later, Ian closed the book, picked up the black tea at hand and took a sip, with a thoughtful light in his eyes.
"Master, what is the result of the assessment?"
The voice of Morgana sounded in the air.
"Quite an interesting technical path."
Ian tapped the book cover with his fingertips and calmly analyzed:
"Although Limb Regeneration magic has become widespread in our empire, this kind of mechanical prosthetic limb has no market in the medical field. However, if it is regarded as a research model for 'cybernetic enhancement', its value is immeasurable."
In the Arcane Empire established by Ian, there has always been a very small research group dedicated to studying how to transform ordinary humans into "cyborg biological weapons" through the combination of Alchemy and mechanical engineering.
Due to the power of magic and genetic engineering, this field has always been marginalized.
But Ian has never stopped supporting them financially.
His long-term plan is not to create cheap mechanical soldiers, but to conquer a core technology - biological brain-computer interface chips.
If this kind of biochip could be implanted into the brains of wizards, it would give them logical computing capabilities comparable to supercomputers.
For Tower Spirit Morgana, who already has Ian and is bound to his soul, this technology may be a bit useless. But for his family and the empire's future mage army, this will be a qualitative leap.
That means a geometric improvement in spell casting accuracy and the ability to instantaneously construct multiple magic arrays.
"About that fat man...Gluttony, how is the progress of the reverse engineering of the pseudo-dimension inside Gluttony's body?" Ian put down the teacup and changed the topic.
"It will take a few more days, Master."
Morgana in the form of House-elf showed his figure, with frustration written all over his delicate little face, "The spatial structure there is a bit confusing, and it is more troublesome to analyze than expected."
"Don't blame yourself, after all, your current computing power is limited and you are not at its peak."
Ian said a word of relief, and then fell into a deeper silence.
The only sound left in the house was the faint sound of wood popping in the fireplace.
After a long time, Ian suddenly asked, "Morgana, do you think I should contact my family now?"
Hearing this question, Morgana frowned in a rare way.
She knew very well that the master was actually fully capable of contacting the empire. Before he left, he left a piece of his soul fragment in the empire's Soul Space. As long as someone there touches the fragment, or Morgana forcibly sends a cross-dimensional quantum signal through the "Skynet" protocol, it is not difficult to establish communication.
Even if you only convey a few words, the success rate is extremely high.
But there is a huge variable here that cannot be ignored-Truth.
The existence sitting in the white Void is almost synonymous with omniscience and omnipotence in this world.
"Although we speculate that the omniscience and omnipotence of 'Truth' is limited to the physical laws of this dimension, once it leaves this universe, its power will be greatly reduced..."
Morgana worded it carefully, "But this is just speculation after all. It lacks sufficient data support."
This is also the reason why Ian dare not use it.
He has deep persecution paranoia - or, as an interdimensional mage, he must maintain this level of caution.
If "Truth" follows the clues to lock the coordinates of the Arcane Empire due to a communication, or even intercepts information about another world, the consequences will be disastrous.
Ian even wondered whether the white guy was trying to read his mind at this moment.
"Master, although you may be a little overly cautious, I recommend not taking risks for the time being." Morgana gave the final advice.
Ian nodded, with a flash of coldness in his eyes. "You are right. We must remain silent until we thoroughly analyze the underlying logic of this world... huh?"
He suddenly raised his head and looked at the closed door.
"It seems that we have guests arriving."
Outside the door, Edward and Alphonse were standing on the street with strange expressions.
They held the business card left by Ian in their hands and compared it with the address on it.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Edward pointed at an exquisite small building in front of him and couldn't help shouting loudly, "Why are only the two of us able to see this house? Lieutenant Hawkeye was standing at the door just now, but he walked over as if he was blind?!"
Just a few minutes ago, Lieutenant Hawkeye, who was responsible for monitoring them, insisted that this was an open space even though he was standing in front of the house number.
Just when Edward was doubting his life, the door opened automatically.
Ian sat on the sofa in the living room and said without looking back, "Kid, it's not polite to yell in other people's homes."
"I'm so sorry!"
The two brothers stood at attention and apologized almost as if they were conditional Reflection. The tone was very similar to that of their terrifying teacher.
Ian waved his hand and motioned for the door to close.
"As for your question, the answer is very simple. I have put a little 'Fidelius Charm'-style magic defense around the house. Only those who hold my token can observe and enter this space. As for other people, even if they put their noses against the wall, they will only think it is air."
"Magic?"
Edward immediately retorted, his golden eyes filled with the stubbornness of a materialist, "There is no magic in this world! Alchemy is based on scientific principles and physical laws, and is a rigorous discipline of Equivalent Exchange!"
"Your thinking is too narrow-minded, Edward."
Ian turned around and looked at this stubborn young man, with a hint of the majesty of a mentor in his tone.
"In the eyes of some backward civilizations, the Alchemy division's Creation method out of thin air is no different from a miracle. They will call you a god, why? Because of ignorance."
"This..." Edward was speechless.
"Similarly. You have never seen magic and don't understand how it works, so you deny its existence. How is this different from the stupid people you despise?"
Edward frowned, obviously suffering a cognitive shock.
Alphonse on the side was much more modest. He asked curiously, "Sir, if that's the case, what exactly is magic?"
"Essentially, magic and Alchemy arrive at the same destination through different paths."
Ian explained patiently, as if giving an advanced theory class:
"The biggest difference is the use of energy. Alchemy engineers use the tectonic energy generated by the movement of the earth's crust to reorganize matter through Transmutation Circle. This is more like 'borrowing' the laws of physics."
"Magic, on the other hand, uses a more free and higher-dimensional energy - we call it 'Magic' (Mana). It is a combination of will and energy, and can interfere with reality more directly."
Looking at the two brothers who seemed to understand, Ian waved his hand. "That's all, these theories are too advanced for you. In this world where magic power is exhausted, there is a high probability that you will never come into contact with True Magic in this life."
Ian invited the two of them to sit down and poured tea for them personally.
The two brothers also wisely did not continue to argue on the topic of "magic". After all, Ian's attitude was very obvious - this is super content.
"So, what brings you to this old man like me?" Ian asked knowingly.
Seeing the young man in front of them who looked like he was in his early twenties calling himself "Old Man", both Edward and Alphonse felt speechless.
Edward took a deep breath and decided to go straight to the topic.
"We came here to ask you a question."
"Please speak."
"We want to know... why are you so powerful?"
Edward's eyes became extremely sharp, staring at Ian, as if he wanted to see flowers on his face.
"Why can you easily complete Human Transmutation and rescue Nina without using Philosopher's Stone? And we... face the same tragedy, but we are helpless and can only watch helplessly?"
"What is the difference between you and us?"
Edward didn't believe that this was the result of "magic". When he rescued Nina that day, Ian clearly used the same method as Alchemy.
There must be some deeper mystery that they don't know about.
Ian's hand holding the tea cup stopped in mid-air. He looked at the two teenagers with some surprise, as if he didn't expect that they would ask such a direct question.
After a while, he put down the tea cup, and the porcelain made a crisp sound when it collided with the table.
"The answer to this question is both simple and cruel."
Ian leaned back on the chair, his eyes became deep and indifferent, and he slowly uttered one word:
"Human nature."
"Human nature? What does this have to do with power?" Edward gritted his teeth, obviously not satisfied with this mysterious answer.
"Brother, calm down and listen to what you have to say." Alphonse held down the irritable brother.
Ian looked at Edward with a meaningful smile on his lips. There was both appreciation for the young man's passion and helpless ridicule of reality in that smile.
Then, the smile faded.
"I'm not lying to you. The fact is that although you two brothers have been pursuing ways to restore your body, deep down in your hearts, you have slowly accepted the fact that you are 'human' and have acquiesced that humans have 'limits'."
Ian stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to them.
"After experiencing the failure of Human Transmutation, witnessing the tragedy of Nina, and learning the cruel truth that Philosopher's Stone was made from living people... you are scared."
"You realize that when Master Alchemy tries to play God, the price he has to pay is the loss of humanity."
"So, you subconsciously chose to retreat. You chose to retain your sense of morality and your bottom line as a 'human being'. You accepted your limitations."
Having said this, Ian turned around suddenly, the blue light in his eyes was breathtaking:
"But I'm different."
"On the road to pursuing Truth and knowledge, I have long since peeled off the so-called 'human nature' bit by bit. In order to cross the barriers of dimensions and understand the nature of energy, I have done many things that you cannot imagine, and can even be said to be 'cruel'."
"As Equivalent Exchange, I gave up the moral shackles of a mortal in exchange for power beyond human limits."
"This is why I can save Nina, but you can't."
Ian's voice echoed in the living room, like a heavy hammer hitting the hearts of the two brothers.
To a certain extent, Ian and "Father" are the same type of person.
They all abandoned ordinary human emotions in order to evolve.
The only difference is that "Father" regards human origin as a stain and weakness, and tries to cut it off completely.
And Ian, although he behaves like a cold god, has never truly forgotten his human origins. He regards the remaining bit of "humanity" as an anchor to prevent himself from being completely lost in endless knowledge.
"Sir..."
Alphonse's voice was trembling, "Have you... regretted it?"
"No."
Ian answered decisively, "From the moment I made the choice, I knew exactly what kind of path I would embark on."
He paused and his eyes softened a little.
"However, although I don't regret the path I chose, I occasionally... regret the sacrifices I had to make when I was forced to get involved."
The conversation ended in a heavy atmosphere.
Edward and Alphonse left the mansion. On the way back, their backs looked particularly lonely.
Ian's words are like a seed, planted in their hearts. Should they continue to stick to their bottom line as human beings, or should they do whatever it takes to achieve the goal?
This is the trial that every Alchemy master will eventually face.