"Full Metal, you need to calm down," said Mustang, which was his first words ever since Edward showed up.

"Calm down? How can I calm down?" yelled Edward Elric. "This man just recreated a perfect human body through Human Transmutation. No, to be precise, he recreated Nina's body matter by matter. Not to mention how perfectly he separated her soul."

"So?" responded Mustang.

"That means that his method could help get our bodies back," added Alphonse.

"Can you guys quiet down," said Edward Bones. Then, he looked at Nina and asked: "How do you feel?"

"Big brother, I'm fine."

"Does it hurt anywhere?"

"No."

Although she said she was fine, Edward could tell that she was not--at least psychologically. Well, it was understandable as she was just fused with a dog by her father. So, he secretly used a Mind Soothing Spell to reduce the impact that this event would have on her.

Once he was done, he used a sleeping spell on her so that she could rest. Finally, he stood up, looked at the Elric brothers, and said: "Unfortunately, you're wrong."

"What do you mean?" hurriedly asked Alphonse.

"Well, your body was used as a toll for opening the Gate of Truth. Logically speaking, it should have been gone, returning to the flow of the universe. Since the Law of Equivalent Exchange is absolute, you can't recreate your body."

"Are you saying that it's impossible to get our bodies back?" asked Edward Elric with gritted teeth.

"I'm not saying that. However, the method I just used will not succeed for you guys."

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hawkeye--who still had her guns raised--suddenly said: "Have any of you noticed how easy this man was able to gain our trust and lead the conversation, and yet, we do not even know his name.

"On top of that, he seemed to know a lot about the conditions of you two."

Everyone then noticed that she was right, so they once again became on guard. As for Edward, he just smiled before saying: "My name is Edward Bones, a traveler from distant lands. I'm currently in the process of traveling the world to learn about different countries' alchemy.

"My first step is Amestris, soon, I'll be heading to Xing."

"Do you have a passport and a visa?" asked Colonel Mustang.

"Of course," responded Edward as he took it out. The Lieutenant slowly walked to him to check it.

"He's from Creta, the passport and visa are real," commented Lieutenant Hawkeye. She then looked at Edward and asked: "Last question, how did you suddenly appear here? And how did you know that something bad would happen ?"

She remembered how this person asked if he was too late after appearing here. This was one of the reasons she was suspicious.

"I cannot explain how I knew that something would happen here: I just knew. Think of it as intuition. As for how I suddenly appear, well, I just teleported here."

"That's preposterous," said Edward Elric. "Alchemy is based on scientific principles, meanwhile, teleportation is nothing but science fiction. It's impossible to use Alchemy to teleport."

"No, it's possible. All you have to do is decompose the body into atoms, then reconstruct it in another place. Of course, you would need some other dimension as a link to connect the two places."

"Like the Gate of Truth," muttered the older Elric brother.

"Exactly," responded Edward Bones.

"Even so, if even a single atom was missing, the process would fail. Controlling trillions upon trillions of molecules seemed an impossible task."

"You are thinking about this too deeply," added Edward. "Alchemy is not 100% based on science. At a deeper level, it overlaps with spiritualism, the occult, and pseudoscience.

"For example, the soul is linked to the body through the mind. In the process of teleportation, once the soul passes through the Gate and arrives at the desired destination, using the mind, all the atoms in the body will follow.

"And when it comes to the process of reconstruction, if we consider the atoms in the body as living entities with instinct, an alchemist just has to allow these atoms to follow this instinct and the body will reconstruct itself on its own.

"There is no need to rebuild it atom by atom."

Edward was not just spewing nonsense. In the anime, Edward Elric did achieve something similar to teleportation when he was swallowed by the Homunculi, Gluttony.

And the process he used was similar to the one that Edward mentioned.

The Elric brothers seemed to be enlightened after hearing his words, so they stopped to ponder Edward's words. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Hawkeye was thinking to herself:

'This way this man behaved, he seemed like he was a teacher. More importantly, he seemed to enjoy teaching.'

"Wait," suddenly said Alphonse. "There is still the issue of toll: to open the Gate, a toll must be paid. So, what did you pay?"

"Good question, unfortunately, I cannot answer that question."

Edward Elric frowned after hearing this, then he said: "By chance…"

"If you want to ask me if I have a Philosopher's Stone, the answer is no. However, I can warn you guys. Your search for this stone will bring you a lot of pain and misery."

After saying that, Edward paused for a moment, looked at the Lieutenant: "Could you please stop pointing a gun at me? It is very uncomfortable and useless. Quite frankly, if I wanted to do something to any of you, there is nothing you could do about it."

"Oh, how so?" asked Colonel Mustang with a smirk on his face, obviously displeased by the insinuation.

"Like this," said Edward who proceeded to snap his finger. Then, flame surrounded him, then he snapped his finger again, controlling the atoms and electrons in the surrounding area. Then, a massive surge of electricity surrounded him.

"Flame Alchemy!" said Colonel Mustang.

"How is that possible?" muttered Lieutenant Hawkeye. Her father was the creator of Flame Alchemy, and she only passed it on to one person.

"I can be considered one of the greatest Alchemists in modern time," boasted Edward. "So, it was quite easy to recreate it after seeing the basic principle."

He paused for a moment, turn to look at the sleeping Nina, and thought to himself: 't's good that I was able to save you'

He then finally looked at Shou Tucker who was trembling on the floor. Ever since Edward entered the room, he felt a horrendous dread overcoming his soul. This was the reason that he did not say anything.

After taking a quick glance at this guy, he raised his head and said:

"Well, now that I've accomplished the task I came here for and fed my vanity in the process, my job here is done; it was nice meeting all of you, folks." He then clapped his hand together, a transmutation light flashed from his body and he disappeared.

This was not magic, he just bent the lights surrounding him to appear invisible.

While everyone was still shocked by what just happened, Edward did not immediately leave the compound. Instead, he waited for the night; he waited until Scar found Shou Tucker and killed him.

Edward did not know whether his action would prevent that guy's death, so he waited to see. Since he could not do anything himself, he was prepared to use magic to influence Scar to do his bidding for him.

Luckily, he did not have to do anything as the Ishvalan Avenger did not have any mercy for an alchemist like Shou Tucker.

Of course, another reason he waited for Scar was to see the Transmutation Array tattooed on his body, and use Legilimency to acquire information about where he placed his brother's research on combining Alchemy and Alkahestry.

After getting the information he wanted, he left.