Pulling away from the complicated calculations and contemplation, Ian rubbed the center of his eyebrows, and his consciousness reconnected to the control center of Tower Spirit.
"Morgana, how has the situation evolved?"
Purple ripples appeared in the air, and Morgana in the form of House-elf appeared out of thin air, with a blush of excitement on his face:
"Master, Olivia is so cool! She killed that Lieutenant General Raven neatly and without even blinking. Now I finally understand why you admire her so much."
"Of course, never question your master's vision." A faint smile appeared on Ian's lips.
That was to be expected. How could Northern Queen tolerate a traitor who betrayed the country and dictated what to do in front of her? Raven's death was destined.
"Now that Olivia has taken action, it means that the protagonist team and she already know the truth about Nationwide Land Transmutation Circle." Ian's fingers tapped the armrest lightly, blue light Blink in his eyes, "The final chapter of the story is coming."
"Synchronize this information to Hughes."
"No problem."
"And... how is Nina?" Ian suddenly asked.
Morgana's expression dimmed slightly. "The mental state is quite stable. However, she is very lonely. She often stares into the air alone, probably because she misses her parents."
Ian fell into a brief silence.
If it is the world of Harry Potter, as long as the soul has not completely dissipated, using Resurrection Stone or high-level undead magic, Resurrection is not difficult. But in the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, the rules are extremely strict.
Death here means the cycle of the soul disintegrating into energy and returning to the world. It is a one-way street of entropy increase, the cost of reversal is unimaginable, and the success rate is extremely low.
"When everything is settled, I will let Hughes adopt her."
Ian whispered, as if making a promise, "That nagging slave girl will give her a warm new home."
Briggs Fortress, Major General's Office.
The figure of Ian stepped out of Void.
Olivia was facing away from him, standing in front of the huge Amestris military map, and his fingers drew shocking red lines on the map.
When she heard the movement behind her, she didn't look back and her voice was as cold as ice:
"You already knew that, didn't you?"
"You know what?" Ian asked knowingly and sat on the sofa casually.
"About Nationwide Land Transmutation Circle. About this country... is a giant altar."
"So what if you know? So what if you don't know?"
Olivia turned around suddenly and stared into Ian's eyes. "If you knew earlier, why didn't you tell me? If you had that kind of power, why didn't you stop it? Even if you just give a warning in advance, you can change a lot of things!"
"I did already know that."
Faced with the questioning, Ian's expression remained calm, even with an irritating detachment.
"Olivia, do you think I am standing by and watching? No, you are wrong."
"To you, this is a catastrophe involving the lives of tens of millions of people, and a crisis that threatens the destruction of the country and the family. But in the eyes of higher-dimensional beings, this is just a chess game, or even... a boring game."
Ian stood up, walked to her, and looked down at the Wrath female general.
"I said, your world is very dangerous. There are 'gods' hanging above your head and 'devils' stepping on your feet. Unless absolutely necessary, as an observer, I will not be easily involved in this vortex. Because once I overturn the chessboard, the consequences may be more serious than you imagine."
Olivia frowned. She remembered "World Protector" that Ian once mentioned. Could it be that all these disasters are part of that "god" plan?
This feeling of powerlessness made her feel suffocated.
She took a deep breath, looked directly at Ian, and asked an extremely pointed question:
"If... I mean if. I ask you, for my sake, to step in and stop this. Will you do it?"
"No."
Ian's answer was crisp and clear, without any hesitation.
"Why?"
"As you said when you rejected me before - the relationship between us is not that deep yet."
Ian stretched out his hand and gently lifted Olivia's chin, with absolute rationality and frankness in his eyes:
"I appreciate your beauty and ambition, but it's not enough. If you were my wife and my partner, I would not hesitate to fight the gods for you, kill Demons, or even destroy the world. But now... you are not."
After hearing this cold but true answer, Olivia calmed down.
She was not angry. On the contrary, she admired Ian's frankness. This man never bothered to use lies to please her. Yes means it, and no means no. This kind of arrogance of the strong is exactly what she is familiar with.
"And, as far as I know, you are not the kind of weak woman who relies on men when encountering difficulties." Ian took back his hand and smiled, "Even without me, you plan to fight in your own way, don't you?"
"Hmph, that's natural." Olivia snorted coldly, the fighting spirit in his eyes rekindled.
After leaving Citadel, Ian was not idle.
Now that "Promised Day" is coming, as the player behind this drama, it's time for him to put down his pieces.
Whoosh!
Ian teleported to the northernmost point of Amestris.
He squatted down in the snow and pressed his palms on the cold permafrost. Huge alchemical energy was instantly injected into the ground, and an extremely complex and hidden Transmutation Circle took shape deep in the ground and then disappeared.
Next, there are East, South, West, and Central City.
In the next few hours, Ian was like a hard-working engineer, burying special spells at five key nodes in the country.
If you look down from a high altitude and connect these five points, you will find that they form a huge five-pointed star - that is, a new Nationwide Land Transmutation Circle.
But this is not for refining Philosopher's Stone.
This is Ian's conspiracy.
According to the original plot, "Father" plans to use the souls of fifty million citizens as an energy source on the day of the total solar eclipse to forcibly open Gate of Truth on the planet, pull the "god" (Eye of God) into the mortal world and devour it, thereby making himself a god.
This is a crazy plan.
And Ian's plan is "the oriole behind".
He didn't want to go directly to devour God, because that would directly confront "Truth", and the risk factor would be off the charts.
So, he designed this special Transmutation Circle.
It has only one function--Parasite and stealing.
The moment "Father" successfully swallows "God" and merges with it, Transmutation Circle of Ian will start simultaneously. It will be absorbed into "Father"'s energy circuit just like Leech, using the other party as a transfer station to directly download and steal all the ultimate knowledge of Alchemy from "God".
Since "Father" wants to become a god, let him bear the risk of blasphemy.
Ian Just stay behind and quietly take away the knowledge.
This does not even require Ian to personally fight. Regardless of whether Truth allows "Father" to succeed, as long as the moment when the connection is established exists, Ian's purpose will be achieved.
Even if Truth intervenes in the end, the unlucky one will be Dwarf in the Flask, not Ian.
"The perfect plan."
Ian stood on the high tower of Central City, feeling the pulse flowing in the earth under his feet, with a hint of hunter's cold light flashing in his eyes.
"No matter what the outcome is, the banker will never lose money."
Dimensional Space, living room.
Hughes is sitting on the sofa, frowning, playing with the pocket watch with a photo of his wife in his hand.
Seeing Ian coming back, Hughes raised his head with complicated eyes.
"The truth has been revealed." Ian poured himself a glass of water, "If you want to leave, now is the best opportunity. I can send you to a place far away from right and wrong."
Unexpectedly, Hughes shook his head.
"Leaving at this time is tantamount to committing suicide."
As a top intelligence officer, Hughes was not idle in Dimensional Space during this time. He analyzed all the intelligence about Homunculus and was deeply aware of the terror of that organization.
"If they know I'm still alive, they will hunt down me and my family at all costs. I can't take this risk."
"And..." Hughes clenched his pocket watch, a trace of determination flashed in his eyes, "As a soldier, I cannot just watch my country go to destruction and remain indifferent."
"You want to join the war?" Ian raised his eyebrows.
"Even if it's just a small amount of power."
"Very good."
Ian took out an alchemy tool from his pocket and threw it to Hughes. It was a device that looked like glasses.
"This is Optical Camouflage Mask. Wearing it, you can change your appearance and voice at will, and even your own mother will not be able to recognize you. With the physical strength Strengthening Solution you drank before, you should be able to protect yourself."
Hughes took the mask and looked at Ian deeply.
"Thank you. Although you say you won't interfere, I feel... you care about the outcome of this 'game' more than anyone else."
Ian shrugged noncommittally.
Looking at Hughes's leaving figure, Ian murmured to himself:
"Go ahead, the more variables there are, the more exciting the scene will be."
Next, it's all about waiting.
Waiting for the so-called "Promised Day", waiting for the moment that swallows the gods.