[AN: For the next two weeks, I will release the P*** chapters, along with subsequent summaries of what would have happened to the story.]
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"Let's begin the weapon test," Edward said as he looked at his watch. He pressed a button, and the Doom Armor slowly materialized around him. "How long did it take?"
"3.2 seconds."
"That's a bit too long," Edward commented. "Can it be optimized?"
"No, but I have the ability to sense energy signature and can deploy the force field instantly."
"You haven't gained a soul yet, and you're already sassing me."
"You designed me this way, sir, so that says more about your taste."
"True," Edward chuckled. "Alright, let's continue."
Two Doom Bots appeared in the testing room, and Edward raised his hand to release a long laser beam and cut them in half. During the mission to retrieve the spaceship, he instructed his Doom Bots to secretly scan Qon's lightsaber while the latter was distracted. A Jedi's lightsaber operated because of a rare material called kyber crystal, which is a Force-sensitive material. While Edward did not have access to the force, he could still replicate the laser aspects.
During that mission, Edward acquired a few benefits. He also instructed the bots to ensure that all the reincarnators were accidentally injured so that they could take their DNA samples for study. After testing the lasers, Edward tested another improvement to the Doom Armor 2.0: Chameleon Mode. He can now use the Force-Field to bend the light around him and achieve a state similar to invisibility.
Once all the tests ended, Edward exited the armor before walking out of the lab. This was not the final update, as he was already preparing to create Silver Doom 3.0, which he aptly named the armor; however, he still needed to make some preparations for the next round of updates.
"Morgana, show me the Alkahestry Circles for the virus."
A hologram materialized before him, and he nodded. The hologram appeared in an empty place on the floor. A Doom Bot brought the material and placed it at the center. Edward then activated the circle, and a human body slowly formed. The human body, while extremely complex, was also very cheap when viewed from an alchemical point of view. So, without trying to recreate a soul, Edward was able to achieve cloning using Alchemy. However, this was not his primary objective.
He changed the alchemical circle before activating it. The body in front of him suddenly twisted into a grotesque form before Edward had to deconstruct it. He repeated the experiment a few times before stopping. His attempt was a failure, but that was to be expected. He was attempting to utilize Alkahestry to create the T-Virus, directly altering the clone's genetic composition.
Edward had long expected failure. This experiment, along with many others, was designed to provide a credible test of his growth for the Purple-Robe Daoist and reduce his suspicions. Edward summoned a bot, which brought him a few prisoners secretly stolen from Earth-2022, and Edward continued his experiment. Once he had enough data, he stopped.
The third room in this large and expensive lab contained a pre-created T-Virus vial. He even optimized the thing after studying Gwen's Spider-Genes, Wolf's Werewolf blood, and Qon's midi-chlorian. Sadly, his analysis was that it was impossible to acquire the power of the Force, but he was more than happy with Spider-Man's Danger Sense.
Edward did not hesitate to inject himself with the T-Virus. An intense pain flashed deep into his bone, but he only grunted. A few drops of blood dripped from his nose, but soon after, the pain ended. A doom bot handed Edward another serum, and he injected it into his body. A feeling of power and refreshment swept through his body as the cells received the necessary nutrients following this transformation.
The subsequent physical test took half an hour, and as expected, Edward's physical prowess had surpassed the limits of humanity by miles. However, this was not a priority. Unless Alice, who had the power of Telekinesis, Edward tweaked the formula to ensure he had Telepathy instead. Then, he spent the next few days mastering and understanding his power.
Finally, he was ready for the creation of Silver Doom 3.0. The armor stood at the center of a transmutation circle that resembled a pentagon, with each end containing five tied-up prisoners. Upon activation, the twenty-five prisoners turned into dust as their souls were drawn out and fused with the armor. Edward then activated three more transmutation circles already engraved on the armor itself.
"Well?"
"The process was a success, sir." A small elf with purple hair, dressed like a secretary, slowly flew out of the armor. "I now have a soul." Edward nodded. The interesting aspect of Alchemy is that it considered the soul a form of matter that can be controlled, just like any piece of metal. That's why a child like Edward Elric was able to summon his brother's soul and bind it to a piece of armor.
"Then, let's test it out."
The armor flew into his body, and Edward tested out the new update. At least, that's what it looks like. His real intention was to use his Telepathy to find his soul dimension. However, he did not immediately enter. He feared that the Samsara Hall had left hidden means to detect when a reincarnator had made great strides in soul magic.
And that's how Morgana comes into the picture. After weaving the information she needed into her mind, she was the one who entered the soul dimension. The idea is that if the Samsara Hall detects something, it will treat her as a foreign invader trying to control a reincarnator. That's why he didn't bind her to his soul and used all those transmutation circles as a means to kill her in case she revolted. Morgana would be wiped out, but Edward would be safe, and he would know how strict the Samsara Hall's monitoring system was.
However, Edward was just being paranoid. Morgana faced no issue, even after she reached the third level of the soul dimension and found the mark that the Samsara Hall left. So, Edward was finally confident to visit himself.
'It's different from the one from Hernandez and the others,' he remarked. 'It's stronger, meaning the Purple-Robe Daoist is close to fully controlling the artifact.' Once he has complete control, Edward's mission will come to an abrupt end. Even if he could remove the soul mark in the four layers of the soul, he would not be able to bypass the detection method of such a potent artifact.
'I need to hurry,' Edward thought before leaving this place. He then proceeded to bond Morgana to his soul to ensure safety. Finally, he synchronized this new Morgana with the one in the Marvel Universe.
"Boss, it's good to see you again."
"I'm pretty sure it has been only a few seconds since you are," he rolled his eyes.
"Less than that, but that's an eternity when I'm not with you."
"I would believe you if every time you sweet-talked me, you didn't want something in return. Anyway, we have plenty of time to catch up. Let's finish the work first."
The rebuilding of Earth-2051 was smooth. With Edward's doom bots, the civil engineering repairs were as easy as they could be. They also took charge of automating most industries. In a capitalist society, the existence of robots and artificial intelligence is a nightmare for the people. They replaced most jobs and forced the ordinary people to work for extremely low wages.
However, the new world that was being built in Earth-2051 was a democratic socialist society, which meant universal income, free healthcare, free education at all levels, and guaranteed housing as a human right. Without people having to worry about feeding themselves and their families, it's perfectly fine for many industries to be automated for efficiency and to create more resources.
It took approximately three months for Earth-2051 to recruit enough people for the migration, and the final number exceeded 100 million individuals. The following month, the people held an election, and as expected, Commander Muri was elected the new president of the Terran Federation.
Edward helped the people of this timeline reverse-engineer all the technology from the spaceships that crashed and brought the whitespikes. He also completed Dr. Azeeem's vision for the Jumplink, turning this timeline into a space-faring civilization. Finally, on his sixth month since arriving on this timeline, he finally completed the perfect mission and returned to the Samsara Hall.