"We will reconvene three days later for our first order of business," declared Edward. He made this decision for multiple reasons. Firstly, he wanted to give these prideful people some time to accept the result.
Secondly, he wanted to see whether some people would cause trouble. If they did, he would not hesitate to annihilate them as a display of power and show his majesty. Lastly, Edward had some things to do and check before the assembly.
Everyone dispersed, returning to their quarters and planning for the future.
C-137's room:
"Lord, what should we do?" asked one of his two followers, a female elf with tattoos running down from her face to her body. Oddly, the tattoos did not ruin her beauty but gave her a wild and dangerous charm.
"The situation is not ideal," said a man dressed in all-black armor. He was human but stood 3.5 meters tall.
"This is far from over," said C-137, gritting his teeth as his eyes were full of anger, shame, resentment, and humiliation.
"Any idea?" asked the elf.
"I know my variants, most of them will refuse to accept this result–despite G–003 displayed."
C-137 had to admit that if someone were qualified to be the president, it would be G–003. The man had a natural charm and knowledge beyond all of them, not to mention his strange ability to fight above his tier.
"Do you want to ally with the others to riot?" asked the armored man.
"Directly rioting will ruin my reputation and cause unnecessary trouble. So, the best option is to decentralize the power of the president," said C-137. "The others will agree with me out of their jealousy and unwillingness."
"This idea might work," said the elf. "However, G-003 does not seem like someone that was easy to deal with."
"I'm aware, so I will need as many supporters as possible," replied C-137, his eyes full of cunningness.
"Unfortunately, you won't have that opportunity."
"Who is there?" roared C-137, standing up from his seat. "G-003?"
"It's me."
"Why are you here?"
"What do you think?"
"You want to kill me," said C-137 with great confidence.
"You're smarter than this," replied Edward. "Think deeper."
"You see me as a source of instability to your reign, so you want to eliminate me. Furthermore, you must be very interested in my knowledge."
"Good job. However, I cannot give you a full score since you haven't found the core issue yet. Well, I can't blame you since you don't know as much as I do."
"Do you think things will go as easily as our battle?"
"C-137," replied Edward calmly. "You have no idea the vast difference between our knowledge base. To me, all your knowledge and technology are simply backward. Although some ideas are marvelous and ingenious, it does not change the fact that all of you are backward and outdated."
C-137's face became ugly, but Edward ignored him.
"The greatest asset of the council is the collective mind of all the variants. Working together, I believe there is nothing in this universe we cannot achieve.
"Alas, we are so arrogant and prideful that it's almost impossible to work singlehandedly for one goal or purpose."
Edward sighed while shaking his head. If all his variants could get along, they could achieve wondrous things. Unfortunately, this was not possible. However, he can still make great use of the council until it eventually crumbles apart.
"Your arrogance is the greatest of all of us," sneered C-137.
"True, but I have the means to back it," replied Edward. A few minutes later, C-137's two followers passed out on the floor. Meanwhile, he had C-137's soul in his hand, reviewing the latter's memories.
"As expected of me, the security to the Soul Dimension is a nightmare," commented Edward before going through the tedious task of deciphering C-137's soul dimension.
A few hours later, he finally succeeded and got the latter's memories and knowledge.
"I'm relieved he has no knowledge about Tier 11," uttered Edward. The greatest crisis to the council is the knowledge that Tier 11 requires all variants to become one, becoming one [Self] while all the others become clones.
Once the news is revealed, they will all turn on each other, and the council will crumble apart. According to Edward's calculations, C-137 was the person most likely to know this news. He theorized the latter created the council as a way to pave the way to Tier 11.
Luckily, things were not as bad as he anticipated.
"What are you going to do to him?" asked Morgana.
"He cannot disappear yet; otherwise, some people might suspect something."
Edward placed his mark on the soul before putting it back on C-137's body. He modified his memories along with the other two. Finally, he disappeared as if he was never here.
Three days later, another meeting occurred at the previous stadium. The only difference was Edward (G--003) sat at the center where C-137 once occupied.
However, as soon as he arrived, the crowd became hostile with many murmurs.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked variant U-456. "Why can't we leave the citadel? Is this your doing?" His voice was loud, echoing in the room.
"It is," replied Edward calmly, who placed a barrier around the citadel to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.
"Explain yourself."
"The universe is a dangerous place," said Edward. "Many people sought after knowledge to travel the multiverse, and it's even more so in other planes."
He knew many of these variants would focus on developing the technology to travel to other planes. With their foundation as Multiverse Traverser, it won't take long before they develop the technology.
"So?" asked someone else.
"So, we need to take precautions to protect the council," replied Edward, who waved his hand to manifest a scroll.
"This is a contract of the highest order, guaranteed by our Plane Will. Everyone needs to sign it, and it will protect you."
"Protect us from what?"
"Protect you from powerful entities directly searching your soul and learning about the existence of the council," replied Edward. "There will also be rules to prevent council members from directly killing other variants."
The crowds quieted down, leaving only a few murmurs.
"How do we know you did not tamper with the contract?"
"You are more than happy to check it yourself. However, don't complain to me when you cannot understand how it works," replied Edward casually.
"Damn arrogant guy," murmured a few people.
"What if we don't sign it?" asked someone out loud.
"You must sign it."
"If I don't?"
"Two things will happen. I will either annihilate all of you or temper with your memory," replied Edward calmly. "Anyway, I will not let the risks of exposing that I mastered Multiversal Travel leave from the citadel."
The variants' faces changed as they felt G–003's arrogance had reached another level.
"Don't believe me?" said Edward with a smile. "Then, let me show you."
He tapped on his desk, and the brightness of the stadium drastically changed. These variants were on guard, but they did not expect what happened.
"My Mana, it's sealed," yelled someone.
"It's the same for me."
"Anti-Magic? Has he developed Anti-Magic?"
"L-123, there is no point in trying. I've taken special care of you and all the other Gods' circumstances," said Edward with a smile.
"G-003, is it necessary to go this far?" said A-001 with a sigh.
"None of you seem to understand how valuable the technology we hold is or the lengths these Tier 10 Gods will go to get their hands on it. I must protect myself and my family–no matter the cost."
A-001 sighed again but did not utter another word; he understood G-003's sentiment.
'Maybe, if I were as careful as him, I would not have suffered such a terrible fate.'
"Sign the contract or be annihilated," said Edward coldly. The scroll before him was divided into thousands, floating before every variant. In the end, they resigned themselves and read the contract.
The general gist is to protect the council's existence and its secret. Then, it also involved a peace pact that prevented variants from killing each other or invading the timelines of the council members.
However, some intelligent people detected the loophole Edward left in the contract. They can invade timelines whose members have yet to join the council.
Finally, everyone signed the contract. As for the people who still refused, Edward raised his hand, and a black flame enveloped them, annihilating them from existence.
He even used his Curse Rules and its power of Cause and Effect to prevent whatever backhands of revival these people had were rendered ineffective.
"From now on, all new members of the council will sign the contract. That's non-negotiable," said Edward. "Now, let's discuss our second order of business."