Even the core members of the force will suffer some damage if they are not defended in time, only the degree will vary depending on their profession and race.

"Your Highness, I can already imagine it. With just one gun and ample ammunition, a dozen of our soldiers could easily hold off dozens, even hundreds, of the enemy."

"That's good, but in my opinion it's still not good enough. Don't forget, our enemy is the whole world."

Karen, there are more spies around lately. It seems the last purge made them suspicious of us.

Previously, in order to obtain the materials needed for the Philosopher's Stone and to prepare for experiments on perfect life, the El Empire arrested all the spies that had been discovered but not dealt with.

Furthermore, after Edward became a perfect being, he discovered several of the absorbed beings' strongholds by reading their memories.

These people were the eyes and ears of those nations. Their annihilation in a short period of time left them with a serious intelligence gap regarding the El Empire.

"They suspect that we alchemists are planning something."

They were afraid, afraid that the things that happened years ago would repeat themselves.

"A pointless fear, because they have no idea what they are facing."

Karen responded to Edward, and during this time two more perfect lives were added.

One is Alice, Edward's former maid, and the other is the former assassin, the perfect life unit, Unit-01.

As the head of the Empire's new intelligence department, his daily work now involves searching for valuable intelligence in the minds of captured spies.

"Now is the time to test our acting skills. They don't know our purpose, but we have to figure them out."

Let's continue to play these people's game, give them the wrong information, lull them into a false sense of security, and buy time for our scientific research.

Edward pondered that their bullets were becoming increasingly deadly, and their cannons, without the need for alchemists, could raze hilltops to the ground.

However, these things are still allocated to low-end combat power. These perfect beings have to deal with beings called the Emperor of Law, God of War, Beast King, or Dwarf Lord.

The armor that belongs to a perfect life form still feels a little lacking.

"We need an absolute, devastating, and decisive secret weapon."

We need more research, not just on these steels, but also on the previously delayed life-forging process.

I believe that there is much more potential to be explored in the process of creating life than just a perfect life.

You are almost 1000% vigilant and cautious about the upcoming war.

Others might think you have a fear of being under-fired, but to you, it's just necessary caution.

If we can't completely overwhelm the enemy, what kind of battle is this? It's far too risky.

The ranks of those with perfect life continue to grow, with more alchemists joining the project of creating a territorial transmutation.

[You discovered the laws of electromagnetism, and the steam engine and internal combustion engine were successfully invented.]

[You have delved into the power of the life realm, and through the assistance of the Philosopher's Stone, created a special kind of homunculus.]

On the surface, the El Empire is simply maintaining its normal operations, but its hidden power is evolving towards a force capable of destroying the world.

On this day, you gather the other alchemists to announce yet another masterpiece of yours.

In a secret testing ground in the capital, if the technological level outside the El Empire is overwhelmingly superior to that of other countries, then the technological level here is overwhelmingly superior to that of any other place in the El Empire.

It's not just a generational gap of one or two generations, but a gap that theoretically cannot be closed even in decades.

"Everyone, behold this creation that I call the Supreme Masterpiece..."

Following Edward's guidance, a metal structure even larger than the castle appeared before the alchemists who had transformed into perfect beings.