For the Fourth Phase of the plan, Edward could have used the virus, but decided to be more cautious and used another method. He took out a small orb from his interdimensional ring; this orb contained a small pocket dimension inside.

And inside that pocket dimension were many clones sleeping in a pod that looked like a coffin. They were at least a hundred of them. On the forehead of these clones was a small red crystal.

The clone entered the pocket dimension to look at the clones. After pressing a button, the red crystal in their foreheads activated and the clones opened their eyes.

After they stood up, they lined up like they were a well-trained army. However, their eyes were cold and indifferent as if they were machines instead of people.

Well, they were indeed machines. The red crystal in their forehead allowed the clone to remotely control these people if necessary.

"Do you all know your missions?"

"Yes," replied all the clones in unison, their voices echoing in the large room.

"Then, let's begin."

More than a hundred cloaks suddenly appeared in the hands of these droid clones; the cloak looked exactly like the Invisible Cloak. The main clone that was in charge of this operation took out the real cloak and activate it.

A black light flew from the Deathly Hallow before entering the cloak of these droid clones, blessing them with the [Death Authority]. Once the droid clones put on the cloak, they also became invisible.

Edward then ordered two of them to secretly exit the manor and go kill a few prisoners to test the water. Three days later, the two droid clones returned intact, without suffering any repercussions.

However, Edward realized that the power in their cloak could not last long. According to his calculation, every seven days, they need to receive the blessing again to continue functioning. And after three months, the cloak will become waste and destroy itself.

Edward did not care about this. Although the material for these cloaks is very precious, he was rich so it did not matter to him. He was prepared to pay more to accomplish his plan.

After checking the power of the Substitute Cloak, Edward released all these clones into the world. While continuing to monitor the spread of the virus, he begin to enchant the manor he was.

This manor will play a great role in the future.

…

Amestris, eastern area, in a small town.

A middle-aged man was slowly walking with a sack on his back. His eyes were listless, full of sadness. As he was heading home, he met a passing old man.

The old man paused and said, "Thomas, I'm sorry about your wife. You have to be strong and live your life to the fullest. This is the only way for the living to honor the dead."

Thomas nodded his head in thanks before continuing home; the sorrow enveloping him did not diminish the slightest. When the old man saw this, he shook his head.

On his way home, Thomas encountered a few villagers, and they all said some words of encouragement.

After entering his house, Thomas placed the sack on the floor before heading to his study. Inside the room were rows of alchemy books, but Thomas ignored all of them.

He walked straight to a picture frame showing him and his wife. He caressed her beautiful face while reminiscing about all the happy memories they had together.

She always wanted children, but he was always busy with his work, so he always delay, thinking that he would always have time later on.

While Thomas was lost in his memory, an idea suddenly entered his mind:

'Why don't I try using Human Transmutation to revive my wife?'

Thomas quickly shook his head as he knew that Human Transmutation was impossible. He once attended am Alchemy Conference held by the Elric Brothers. They publicly explained to all the alchemists there their experience with messing with human lives, then provided evidence as to why Human Transmutation was impossible to bring the dead back to life.

Despite knowing this, Thomas could not remove that idea from his head. According to him, just because the Elric brothers did not succeed does not mean he could not.

That night, Thomas did not sleep at all; he dedicated all his time thinking about possible ways to accomplish Human Transmutation.

Countless formulas appeared in his mind; his brain has never been more clear in his entire life. Thomas felt like he was a true genius the more he complete the formula inside his mind.

Once everything was done, he begin to prepare to try.

What Thomas did not see or realize was that one of the droid clones was next to him, feeding him the idea of Human Transmutation and the formulas to succeed.

Three days later, Thomas stood in front of a transmutation circle. He activated it. Unfortunately, he did not succeed as he expected, instead, he experienced backlash.

The Gate of Truth was opened and he was captured inside and received some knowledge after paying a price.

Inside the Knowledge Dimension, Truth was immediately aware of Thomas opening the Gate of Truth, and he was a little surprised.

After the Elric brother's tour, it has become a known fact that Human Transmutation was impossible by the majority if not all alchemists. Additionally, not just anyone could perform Human Transmutation.

It requires both talent and the right formula.

Right now, Truth was busy studying the vast knowledge he exchanged from the Akashic Record, so he did not have the time or mind to pay attention to this kind of thing.

So, he created another clone to punish Thomas for breaking the Law of Equivalent Exchange.

Three months later, another alchemist from the Southern Area who lost his loved one also performed Human Transmutation under the guidance of the droid clones.

Truth once again punished this guy, however, they became annoyed and decided to just leave a clone to deal with this kind of situation and not interrupt it.

This clone was a mindless one, similar to a programmed robot. All it did was punish people who broke the taboo of Alchemy.

This was another manifestation of Edward's plot armor. Once again, fate was in his favor.

Just like, Alchemists all over the world would perform Human Transmutation after a certain time interval. These people were from Amestris, Drachma, Creta, Aerugo, Xing, and even the newly created Ishvalan Empire located in the Desert.

This Empire was the result of Edward. The Ishvalans that accompanied him to learn from the Xerxes Empire put what they learned to use and created their own Empire in the desert.

After more than 20 years, their population has reached a certain number, so they began to prosper.