Chapter 142: National Transmutation Array (Conclusion)

"It should be starting soon. Time to leave." Daniel looked at the fallen Wrath, glanced back at Central City, then grabbed Wrath and boarded his Quinjet, heading towards the Amestrian border.

In Mustang's plan, Daniel's role was to create chaos. Mustang's subordinates were spread out to disrupt and engage the Central forces, while Major General Armstrong led a portion of the Northern troops infiltrating Central to seize the military headquarters and hold it.

Mustang, the Elric brothers, Isaac, Izumi, and Scar headed to the underground lair of the so-called "Father."

Despite having drawn away a significant portion of the Central forces and sealing off the headquarters' entrances with alchemy, Armstrong and the Northern troops faced fierce resistance. The remaining generals unleashed the artificial soldiers, also known as the Immortal Legion.

The allure of immortality and an invincible army was too great for the aging generals. Immortality for personal enjoyment and an undead army to crush any opposition.

However, reality was harsh. The Immortal Legion turned on the generals first, attacking them like zombies from a biohazard outbreak. Many generals and soldiers were killed in the process.

The only ones capable of controlling the Immortal Legion were the homunculi, who had deceived the generals, much like they had done with the King of Xerxes.

Upon learning of the plan, Daniel's first thought was that Mustang and his group were walking into a trap, delivering all five human sacrifices to the Dwarf in the Flask, simplifying his work considerably.

Daniel, of course, did not intend to stop this plan, as it aligned with his own goals.

"We need to get further away." Reaching the border, near Sloth's tunnel encircling the country, Daniel retreated a bit further, considering that staying too close might be dangerous. He then released sixteen Iron Man suits from a container, sending them flying in different directions.

The Iron Man suits were operational in this world. Though there was no network, Red Queen had standalone programs. It's like using a computer without internet access; it loses many functions but can still operate.

Daniel hadn't used them before because they were cumbersome to wear and he hadn't encountered enemies necessitating their use.

The National Transmutation Array targeted living beings, so it wouldn't affect the lifeless Iron Man suits.

Just as Daniel completed his preparations, the entire nation of Amestris underwent a dramatic change. A sinister red glow appeared on the ground, forming a massive transmutation circle, signaling the activation of the National Transmutation Array.

As the array activated, countless eerie black shadows emerged from the earth, causing every person in Amestris to lose consciousness and collapse.

Simultaneously, crimson liquid seeped from the ground, turning into an ominous black substance—these were Philosopher's Stones, created and buried by the Dwarf in the Flask over the centuries.

The entire nation was bathed in red, with crimson lightning crackling in the sky.

The sight of the crimson lightning, black shadows, red mist, and a massive red transmutation array was overwhelming. A black, transparent gate appeared in the sky, and a gigantic black figure began to emerge from it, accompanied by countless black tendrils.

At this moment, the entire land was plunged into darkness, the sun above turned pitch black, resembling a total solar eclipse.

"Is this the pressure of a god?" Daniel felt an immense pressure, even from a distance, as if the air around him had thickened, making it hard to breathe.

As a mysterious voice echoed across the land, a black gate appeared on the surface of the darkened sun. When it opened, a cold, emotionless eye appeared inside, with numerous black tendrils reaching out—The Eye of God.

The tendrils intertwined, and the gigantic black figure climbed upwards, gripping the tendrils to ascend.

"Is this the real Gate of Truth?" To enter the Gate's world, one needed a toll. The greater the toll, the more knowledge one could gain from the Gate of Truth.

Using the lives of all current Amestrian citizens and the Philosopher's Stones buried underground as toll, the real Gate of Truth was opened, and the Dwarf in the Flask aimed to pull down God.

"Fifty million souls," Daniel thought, feeling the gravity of the situation. Suddenly, a blinding light erupted from the sky, turning everything white and causing Daniel to lose sight.

After a while, the light faded, the giant black figure and gate disappeared, leaving only the solitary black sun in the sky.

"The Eye of God, the Gate of the Earth," Daniel murmured, then pulled out the Space Stone, ready to act.

He had a clear purpose in not disrupting the Dwarf in the Flask's plan, not preventing the activation of the National Transmutation Array, and not saving the fifty million souls of Amestris.

Disrupting the plan would have been easy—destroying the circular tunnel surrounding Amestris would have sufficed. Without this circle, the National Transmutation Array couldn't be activated.

Even without breaking the circle, if Daniel were to bring large-scale weapons or even small nuclear bombs from the Marvel universe and use them recklessly, he might deplete the Dwarf in the Flask's Philosopher's Stones, making the underground Stones his.

However, he didn't want to cause excessive collateral damage. The primary reason was the National Transmutation Array. Daniel wanted to witness it. He considered the possibility of taking the Dwarf's place, but without assurance, he decided against it.

Becoming a god by sacrificing fifty million lives was tempting. Most people would be swayed by such an offer.

HYDRA was willing to sacrifice billions for the Insight Plan; fifty million was a smaller number in comparison.

In the vast universe, countless lives had been taken by Thanos, with billions killed over the years. If he snapped his fingers, the death toll would be incalculable.

Unable to replace the Dwarf, Daniel devised another plan, one unique to him due to possessing the Space Stone and knowledge of Kamar-Taj magic.

He aimed to enter the dimension of the Gate of Truth while the Dwarf pulled down God. In the Fullmetal Alchemist world, this would be impossible for others, but not for him with the Space Stone.

Whether he would gain any benefit was uncertain, but it didn't hurt to try.

"No white figure, so it's been pulled down. This must be the true Gate of Truth." The space within the Gate was as blindingly white as ever, but this time, the white figure was absent. Instead, there was a giant, already open white door, its frame adorned with strange symbols and images.

"Gate of Truth, World Tree, Knowledge," Daniel thought. Given the urgency, he quickly glanced at the symbols on the Gate and stepped inside.

As he entered, vast amounts of knowledge flooded his mind. Feeling this knowledge, Daniel smiled, confirming his previous suspicions.

The reason why alchemists who had seen the Gate were stronger than others and could serve as sacrifices was simple: knowledge.

For an alchemist, knowledge was power. An alchemist's strength depended on their knowledge. Learning through traditional means was slow and challenging, but the Gate provided knowledge in exchange for tolls.

In the modern world, knowledge is power too. Without it, inventions like electricity, nuclear bombs, or satellites wouldn't exist.

Even a genius like Einstein would struggle in a primitive society without prior knowledge.

Similarly, for sorcerers, knowledge was crucial. The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj were weak partly due to slow training and limited knowledge. The Book of Cagliostro was reserved for Strange because others like Mordo wouldn't understand it.

It's like handing relativity, the Goldbach conjecture, and nuclear technology to a layman—they wouldn't grasp it.

Some argue that making a nuclear bomb is easy with materials, but it's not. Obadiah Stane had experts with doctorates working on miniaturizing the Arc Reactor, yet made no progress despite having a large reactor to study.

"Hurry up," Daniel urged himself, feeling the knowledge entering his mind. The urgency was due to his "tax evasion"—he hadn't paid the toll. If the Gate detected this, it would spell trouble far worse than tax evasion.

"I hope they don't defeat the Dwarf too quickly." Daniel hoped Edward and the others would take their time.

"Hang in there. No, it's time to leave. Being too greedy isn't good. Better leave now, but this is a rare opportunity," Daniel's thoughts conflicted, with his angelic and devilish sides debating.

Ordinarily, gaining knowledge from the Gate required tolls. The more tolls, the more knowledge. Alphonse, for instance, could have been the best alchemist due to losing his whole body, while Edward only lost limbs.

Mustang lost his sight, and Izumi lost her organs.

Now, Daniel was gaining knowledge potentially worth fifty million souls, an immense amount.

His "tax evasion" meant slower knowledge transfer. The Dwarf, having paid, received knowledge quickly.

Hohenheim could counter the Dwarf's plans because they shared the Gate's knowledge.

"Damn it," Daniel's hand trembled, torn between leaving and staying. 

"I must leave." Finally, Daniel activated the Space Stone, exiting the Gate. Despite the missed opportunity, it was safer to leave than risk being trapped in the Gate.

Such greed-driven deaths were common, and he didn't want to be one of them. Carefully surviving in the Marvel universe, only to die here due to greed, would be foolish.

"It seems to be ending. Good thing I didn't stay," Daniel noted as the eclipse disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief, though a part of him regretted leaving behind the vast knowledge.

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