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After pondering about it for a while, he decided not to do so. After all, if he succeeded, Morgana would form some kind of connection with the Eye of God, and this kind of thing might be dangerous.
Furthermore, he would rather wait for him to discover the Akashic Record and maybe find a way to connect Morgana to it so that she can get more magical knowledge--instead of focusing on Alchemy.
Nevertheless, Edward still decided to make a new homunculus just like the Dwarf in the Flask so that he can get access to the latter's alchemy knowledge.
After making a decision, he spent the next few days watching the interaction of the Dwarf with Slave Number 23, which would later become Hohenheim--the father of Ed and Al.
With the time magic, he watched as Hohenheim grew from a lowly slave to a noble in the Xerxes country through being an intellectual. He learned all the things that the dwarf taught him in the process.
Finally came the day of Xerxes's destruction.
Edward suddenly appeared in front of Hughes and the Ishvalans--who were surprised at how they suddenly disappeared from their locations to appear here.
'I'm sure that you have learned plenty of things in the past few days?" asked Edward. Just like, he granted these Ishvalans the ability to witness a person's life from beginning to end so that they can learn many things rather quickly.
"Sir, thank you for your kindness. Our people will never forget," said the old Ishvalan. "We do not have anything to offer as repayment, so all I can do is pray that Ishvala protects you in your life."
Edward nodded as he accepted their blessing. Although he was not religious, he can still accept people's kindness. He snapped his finger, then the Ishvalans discovered that everything had returned to normal; the lively capital of Xerxes was gone, replaced by the desolate desert.
Meanwhile, Edward flew away in the sky with Hughes being dragged along with him. Unlike the Ishvalans, the two of them could still see the Time Record of Xerxes.
"Why did you prevent them from continuing seeing your illusion thingy?" asked Hughes as he marveled at the fact that he was currently floating in the air. Although he was afraid at first, he quickly calmed down to enjoy the process.
"Because what's about to happen next is not something that they need to know," replied Edward calmly.
"What's about to happen? You mean the destruction of Xerxes?"
However, no one answered him, so Hughes quickly looked down, and what he saw shocked him to the core.
"That's the nationwide transmutation that I discovered in Amestris!"
"That's correct. The same person who destroyed Xerxes wants to re-enact the same process to Amestris."
"How is that possible? Xerxes was destroyed more than 400 years ago."
However, Edward ignored him. He just finished scanning the entire transmutation circle, so he waved his hand before the two of them disappeared.
Soon, the two appeared in the palace of the king of Xerxes where they first noticed another transmutation circle. Edward went to study the circle, while Hughes started to listen to the conversation of the people inside.
That's when he learned that this so-called Dwarf in the Flask tricked the Xerxes King into creating this nationwide transmutation circle in an attempt to use the lives of all the people of the country to turn himself into a human Philosopher's Stone and attain immortality.
However, the dwarf lied to the king about where exactly the center of the circle was, thus killing him along with all the citizens of Xerxes and attaining immortality instead--along with Hohenheim.
"How could he do this? That's more than 1 million lives!" said Hughes. He paused for a moment, then said with a horrified look:
"Amestris currently has a population of about 50 million; if that person succeeds, then so many people will lose their lives."
Instantly, Hughes became agitated as he wanted to quickly return home to warn his friends and family. Also, to find a way to stop this catastrophe from even happening.
Edward raised his head and looked at him: I" can tell you that if you return home right now, you and your family will be immediately killed--without any suspense."
"Why is that?"
"You see that guy over there that looked exactly like Hoheihem?"
Hughes nodded as he knew that this was a fleshly body that the dwarf made for himself after attaining immortality.
"He is the one who created the country of Amestris for the sole purpose of killing all its citizens one day and becoming a God. As such, the entire country's military is under his control. Even your Fuhrer is a homunculus created by him to accomplish his goal.
"So, tell me, if you return home, what can you do to stop him?"
Hughes clenched both his teeth and hands after hearing this; he could imagine that there were only a few people in the military he could trust, but these people do not have any power to change the situation.
Edward shook his head after seeing him like this. He was not telling lies. After the Elric brothers discovered the truth about the nationwide transmutation circle, the only reason that they were not killed was that the homunculi needed them as a sacrifice for their plans to work.
Even then, their loved ones were captured as hostages. A person like Hughes that the homunculi viewed as not important will immediately be killed along with his family if they ever discovered that he was not dead.
After realizing his weakness and incompetence, Hughes calmed down and decided to trust Edward's words. After all, the latter told him that some people will eventually stop this dwarf.
He looked at Edward and asked: "So, what exactly are you doing?"
"Learning."
"What would you want to learn such taboo knowledge?" asked Hughes with vigilance.
"It's only taboo if used in the wrong way," replied Edward calmly as he continued to analyze the circle. Right now, a crazy idea on how to reach the Akashic Record was slowly brewing in his mind.
He knew that for his plan to succeed, he would need to mobilize the strength of the entire Empire and use a lot of resources. And in the end, he might fail, leading to catastrophe.
After figuring this out, he did not extinguish his idea but decided to be more cautious and take his time.
"Alright, I'm done. We can now leave."
He waved his staff and the Time Record Spell was lifted, thus returning things to their natural state. Following this, he immediately apparated with Hughes to the Xing Empire, instantly crossing the entire desert.
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Next Chapter Title: Alkahestry