Chapter 139: The Nationwide Transmutation Circle (Part 1)

"So, they've been transferred to Central." In Eastern Amestris, Daniel, who initially came to find Mustang, immediately set out for Central City upon hearing this news.

"Hughes is still alive. It seems his fate has changed." Upon arriving in Central, Daniel didn't immediately seek out Mustang and Hughes. Instead, he first observed from the shadows.

Hughes' fate had indeed changed, but the arrangements he had made at the Fifth Laboratory were wasted. Previously, he had installed several cameras in the Fifth Laboratory to observe covertly, but now the laboratory had disappeared.

"It seems you've been doing well recently." Returning home and feeling relaxed, Mustang let out a deep sigh. Suddenly hearing a voice in the room, he quickly grabbed his flame alchemy gloves from the nearby coat rack.

Home used to be the place where Mustang felt most at ease, but the current situation forced him to place flame alchemy gloves in several spots around his house as a precaution against unexpected events.

"It's you." Upon seeing that it was Daniel in the room, Mustang's tense body immediately relaxed. However, he didn't put the flame alchemy gloves back in their original place.

"Haven't heard from you in a while." Mustang sat opposite Daniel and asked.

"I went to Xing. How are things now?" Daniel asked about the current situation, wanting to see how far the Dwarf in the Flask's plan had progressed.

"We've been discovered." Mustang quickly recounted the events that had transpired during Daniel's absence.

Having discovered the homunculi's conspiracy, Mustang and Hughes had immediately begun to act. With continuous investigation, they uncovered more and more information.

However, the homunculi were not fools. Although they looked down on humans, they were powerful. Mustang and Hughes' actions were eventually noticed.

Hughes had survived thanks to a deal Mustang made with the homunculi president. Compared to the other homunculi, the president was undoubtedly smarter. He used the people around Mustang and the Fullmetal brothers to threaten him.

The brothers pursuing the Philosopher's Stone had eventually discovered its dark secret. With Winry and others being threatened, they had no choice but to comply.

To ensure Mustang stayed compliant, all his subordinates were transferred to different commands. Hawkeye, his close aide, was assigned as an aide to the president.

Under these circumstances, Mustang had no choice but to appear helpless and obedient in Central City. This was the arrogance of the homunculi.

If Daniel were in charge, he would not have allowed Mustang such freedom, even if he was needed as a human pillar. He would have at least imprisoned him.

The homunculi had no such considerations, allowing Mustang and the Elric brothers to move freely. After discovering the truth about the Philosopher's Stone, the brothers vowed not to use it to restore their bodies and continued seeking alternative methods.

While the homunculi were lenient with Mustang and the Elric brothers, they were relentless towards others. Scar was constantly hunted, and to deal with him, they even released the Crimson Alchemist Kimblee from prison.

The homunculi numbered only seven. The president couldn't move freely, Pride had to maintain his facade as a child, and his powers were best utilized in Central City, limiting his movements. Sloth was digging tunnels, leaving only Gluttony, Envy, and Greed free to act. With additional threats like Isaac the Ice Alchemist, they had no choice but to release Kimblee.

Due to Daniel's intervention, Isaac had not died at the hands of the president. It seemed that Mustang had contacted him, and they might be collaborating.

In combat, none of the homunculi, except the president, could defeat Scar one-on-one. Even Greed, with his ultimate shield, couldn't withstand him. If not for their immortality, the homunculi might have been killed long ago.

Lust had died, killed by Mustang and Scar working together. Mustang, having learned the truth about the Ishvalan conflict, managed to communicate with Scar during an attack, convincing him to join forces by proving his words with Lust as evidence.

The homunculi's arrogance, refusing to lie to humans or conceal their weaknesses, led to Lust's downfall.

Since Mustang had cleverly orchestrated this and pinned the blame on Scar, the homunculi didn't suspect his involvement in Lust's death.

Ishvalan monks had exceptional physical and combat abilities. During the Ishvalan conflict, if not for the state alchemists, military casualties would have been much higher.

Though Lust had the ultimate spear as her title, her speed was only slightly better than an average person. In the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, alchemists had powerful offensive abilities but only average physical strength.

With Lust dead, Gluttony, Envy, and Greed were busy pursuing Scar and Isaac. Central City now only had the so-called Father, the president, and Pride.

Hawkeye discovered Pride's traces and conveyed this through codes to Mustang.

While Daniel had informed Mustang about the homunculi, he hadn't revealed their entire identities. Knowing too much would be suspicious.

With Gluttony, Envy, and Greed, along with Kimblee, away from Central, this was part of Hughes' plan—a strategic diversion.

During this time, Mustang also connected with several key figures: Lieutenant General Grumman of the Eastern Command and Major General Olivia Mira Armstrong of the Northern Command.

Mustang sharing all this information with Daniel suggested he trusted Daniel as an ally, given that Isaac was also saved by him.

"So, Lust is dead. What a pity." Hearing about Lust's death, Daniel felt it was unfortunate. He had returned to deal with the homunculi.

Homunculi contained a significant amount of Philosopher's Stones. Capturing a few could yield stones equivalent to the lives of hundreds or even thousands.

"I investigated some things in Xing, related to the energy sources of alkahestry and alchemy." Daniel explained his findings.

Amestrian alchemy used tectonic energy, similar to Xing's dragon veins and atmospheric flow. The problem was that the Father could block the tectonic energy using the underground pipes filled with Philosopher's Stones, thereby preventing alchemists from using their power.

This was part of the Father's plan to target Amestrian alchemists. Without energy, alchemy was just a pattern, and alchemists were just ordinary people.

Without Scar's brother's reverse transmutation circle, even if the Father's plan failed, Edward and the others couldn't have defeated him without alchemy.

Hohenheim had scattered most of the Philosopher's Stone energy within him across the country's land.

"I already know about this. People from Xing and Scar are here." Mustang had some knowledge of these things.

Though Mustang hadn't met the Father yet, the Elric brothers and Scar had. They knew Edward had moments where he couldn't use alchemy. Combined with Scar's brother's words about Amestrian alchemy having problems, Mustang was already addressing these issues.

"I'll head to the Northern Command."

"So cold. It's not even winter." Daniel left Central and quickly arrived in North City. Initially, the weather was normal, but as he approached the Briggs Mountains, the temperature dropped sharply.

The Northern Command was bustling. The Elric brothers were there, as were Scar and his companions. The homunculi and Central Command had also sent people.

The tragedy in Reole had occurred, making the Briggs Fortress the final battleground.

Scar and his allies came seeking a book left by his brother. Though Scar couldn't read it, he knew it was his brother's life's work and very important. Thus, he hid it near the Briggs Fortress while targeting state alchemists.

Due to the harsh environment, outsiders rarely stayed long in the fortress, the only place without state alchemists. Even regular alchemists seldom came due to the extreme cold.

This highlighted the strength of a certain housewife who wore slippers. Despite the cold, she survived outside the fortress for a month, fighting northern bears and stealing supplies without being caught, becoming a legend in the fortress.

The Elric brothers' survival and teachings owed much to this housewife.

"The battle has begun." Flying in the air, Daniel observed the siege below as Drachma launched a major assault on the fortress.

The Briggs soldiers were exceptionally united, which posed no real challenge to the homunculi. They only needed enough lives for the sacrifice, regardless of nationality.

The removal of Major General Armstrong made the Drachma king think it was the perfect time to attack the fortress and invade Amestris. Spurred by certain individuals, Drachma mobilized a large force.

For Drachma's military leaders, especially the high-ranking ones, the glory of conquering the impregnable Briggs Fortress was too great to pass up, even at the cost of many lives.

For the Briggs soldiers, knowing this was the homunculi's plot, they could only continue to fight, to protect the fortress, their country, and themselves.

"So this is Sloth." In the lowest level of the fortress, Daniel found a burly figure sleeping by the underground tunnel. He raised his right hand.

"Room." With the power of the Ope Ope no Mi activated, Sloth didn't react. In a flash, Sloth was divided into eight pieces.

The seven deadly sins' Sloth was the most diligent worker, digging tunnels for centuries. From the connected tunnels, it seemed the starting point was under the Briggs Fortress.

This indicated that the country's land area had been predetermined. After achieving the goal, Amestris stopped expanding, even withdrawing after winning wars to give enemies time to rebuild before waging war again.

Among the seven homunculi, Sloth had the second-best defense after Greed and the fastest speed. His physical strength and speed made him difficult to handle. In the original story, even with Edward's master couple and the Armstrong siblings' help, Sloth was a

 tough opponent.

But for Daniel, Sloth was no match against the power of the Ope Ope no Mi.

"Kimblee should be here too. His explosive alchemy is quite interesting." Daniel was curious about Kimblee's alchemy. He had forgotten about him when Kimblee was in prison; otherwise, he would have sought him out earlier.

"The Philosopher's Stone is indeed powerful, but it's too soft-hearted." After storing Sloth in a shrunken box with Pym Particles, Daniel searched from the air for the homunculi or Scar and his allies using binoculars.

Capturing the homunculi, finding Kimblee to examine his transmutation circles, and finding Scar to study his brother's notes were Daniel's three goals.

Soon, Daniel found one of them: Kimblee. At that moment, Alphonse was fighting him. Normally, Alphonse wouldn't stand a chance, but he had a Philosopher's Stone.

Kimblee also had one, so their alchemical battle was evenly matched. Though the Elric brothers vowed not to use the Philosopher's Stone to restore their bodies, they would use it to protect others.

Reluctantly, Alphonse used the Philosopher's Stone.

"So Kimblee's transmutation circle is like this. The so-called explosion just triggers energy." Seeing the transmutation circles on Kimblee's palms, Daniel immediately understood how his alchemy worked.

Though the principles of alchemy and transmutation circles were similar, the specific patterns varied greatly, reflecting different knowledge bases.

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