77 Prewar Plan (1/2)

Ed and Gunther returned to Reef city. Ed decided to leave the mech in Gunther's care, and then he returned to his lab. He entered a private room and sat down in meditation. 'I don't have much time left before the war, so I'll need to manage it appropriately. It'd probably make more of an impact on the war if I worked on the condensed mana-batteries, but I have a feeling my limbs can't handle that kind of power yet. The steel barrel of the manullium rifle was made with crocodile bone, but it was still completely trashed after a single shot. I'll need much stronger flesh to handle that kind of power.'

With those thoughts in mind, he decided to work on his next meridian breakthrough instead. The mana within his body had already filled his currently open meridians when he concentrated on meditating at Horn Island. The crocodile flesh had further expanded his storage capacity in those meridians, but it was possible for him to fill that new capacity and make a breakthrough within the remaining month.

He sat still in the lotus position, his mind completely empty of thoughts. His mana-core drew in more mana than usual and sent it along his mana-paths. The open meridians greedily absorbed a portion of any mana that passed through them. Nearly a month passed before he filled his three open meridians to full capacity. By now, his body was covered in a layer of dust. He hadn't taken a single break the entire time. Only an esper with a particularly strong body would be capable of such a feat. 'Finally.' He sighed to himself. 'It's time. The new capacity was much larger than I expected. Now, which meridian should I break through?'

Ed thought for a moment and then decided on opening the lungs meridian. 'According to the book, the lungs help control mana. The increased control will help decrease my training time for other meridians in the future.' He had also considered opening the stomach meridian, for it would provide benefits in digesting flesh that contained mana. Additionally, the book claimed that opening the stomach meridian would reduce stress and anxiety. This would be beneficial considering his newly heightened emotions from the crocodile flesh. However, Ed was the type that preferred putting power first, and therefore he chose the lungs which would offer quicker long-term gains.

The mana in Ed's body began to flow towards the lungs. It slammed into an invisible barrier near the throat, causing him to release a series of coughs and wake up from his meditation. 'Mm.' He nodded in understanding. 'So that's the real challenge in breaking through this meridian. Breaking through will interfere with my breathing. According to the cultivation technique, I need to break through it quickly. Otherwise, I'll pass out from lack of breath. Unfortunately, this often leads to severe injuries, as rushing the process leads to mistakes and wild destruction. Fortunately for me, I have a cheat.'

He grinned as he began using his powers. Some flesh and muscle within his chest melted and formed a new pair of lungs. A hole appeared on his chest and connected to the new lungs. He slowly breathed through them, causing the new lungs to expand and compress repeatedly. The inhaled oxygen was carried to his bloodstream.

'An interesting feeling.' He reflected on the new sensation. This was his first time creating an entirely new organ while leaving the old organ in place as well. He closed his eyes and reentered meditation. He focused on his mana-paths and found that they were not affected by the new pair of lungs. The spiritual paths completely ignored the new lungs, neither avoiding them nor creating a new meridian within them. 'I figured as much.' He sighed in disappointment. He had vaguely hoped that he could cheat the meridian system by creating a bunch of spare organs, which would then allow mass storage of mana. Unfortunately, the mana-paths were spiritual in nature and it was often difficult to determine what did and didn't affect them. For example, he had retained his meridians in his limbs even after losing them. However, mixing his human flesh with mutant flesh had caused the storage capacity of his meridians to expand. It was yet another mystery of the workings of mana, as well as the human body.

'Oh well.' He quickly recovered his thoughts and concentrated once again. The mana flowed towards his original lungs. He was no longer able to breathe through them, but his new lungs on his chest took up the job, allowing him to stay focused on the task at hand.

Ed didn't rush the breakthrough like he had done in the past for the heart meridians. Instead, he slowly ground down the barrier, like he had done for the triple burner meridian. This barrier was unique in that it was particularly long. It stretched through the entire throat before branching into the two lungs. His mana slowly whittled away at the barrier, like raindrops wearing down stone over time.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. A cracking sound rang out as the long barrier shattered. The mana quickly entered his lungs, swelling them with power. Large amounts of dopamine filled his brain, resulting in an extreme sense of pleasure. Ed slowly breathed out from his lungs, causing a black air to exit his body. The cultivation technique called this turbid qi, or turbid mana. It represented the impurities within his lungs.

”Mm.” Ed moaned as he stood up and stretched. He cracked his neck while swinging an arm. 'I wonder if this is why ancient monks sit in meditation all the time. Just to chase after the momentary pleasure of ecstasy that comes with a breakthrough. I guess the long-term feeling of having a chain lifted from your body would make it worth it too.'

Ed exited his lab and headed for his office. He sat behind the chair and checked documents which had piled up over the last month. Most of it was just status updates on various projects, training, and other preparations. 'Good.' He nodded. 'Everything is on track. Nexus should think the war is starting tomorrow, which means it's time to put my first plan into action. I'll find out whether Dupe is secretly working for Nexus soon.'

Ed began to call for meetings with his various officers and some others. He had a private meeting with Ray, Husky, Rupert, Flair, Ochre, Ash, and a few others. Each meeting discussed rather trivial things. However, he gave each of them one particularly interesting order. ”For the next two weeks, you're to follow Dupe's orders without question. No matter what he tells you, you are not to show even the slightest hint of confusion, doubt, or questioning. You'll follow his orders as if you had already expected them, no matter how unexpected they are. Additionally, you're not to tell Dupe that I informed you to do this.” These orders naturally led to much confusion, but each of them agreed to it.

Next, Ed called Dupe in for a meeting. This would be the final meeting before the war began.

”Hey!” Dupe waved as he entered the office. ”I figured I'd be next since you've been calling everyone for private meetings today.”

”Mm.” Ed nodded. ”I wanted to discuss some specifics with them for each of their departments. More importantly, I've given them all the same order. Now I'm giving that order to you as well.”

”Oh?” Dupe raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

”Starting tomorrow, we're delaying the war for two weeks.” Ed said with a deadly serious face. ”The soldiers will be confused, but you are not to explain the finer details to them nor how long we are delaying the war. Just have them carry on training as usual and give them some extra vacation time during this period.”

Dupe's eyes widened in surprise. ”Why would we do that?!” He questioned. ”We've already prepared, and everything is set to begin tomorrow. This will throw all of our plans out of order!”