Winry takes a bath at Rosé's house, who also mentions to her that she is leaving Winry with a change of clothes. The two women talk at this moment and Rosé mentions how great a automail mechanic that Winry is at her age. Rosé learns that Winry is Ed's childhood friend and the one who created Ed's automail limbs, which in a way she also has Winry to thank because of Ed convincing Rosé to stand up again. After Winry is dressed, Rosé tells Winry how she fell into Letoism after her boyfriend died, but Ed and Al saved her back then and inspired her to get her life back on track as well how they helped convince the town to rebuild without miracles. Underneath Central Command, Bido is lost after hitching a ride to Central and while hoping to find Greed, he comes across the room with the Mannequin Soldiers and is scared at seeing so many. Bido is forced to hide during the moment that the door opens when Lt. General Gardner and Major General Armstrong were entering. Gardner admits to Armstrong this army is to serve as their immortal legion since the human souls bonded to them will make the soldiers invincible and loyal only to them. Armstrong asks where they would get the souls, and Gardner responds to her that it will be from the lands they destroy or eventually will destroy since the battlefield is a great place to find human souls.

A scared Bido slips out of the room and as he is running away runs into Ling/Greed. Back at Reole, when Al mentions the tunnel, Hohenheim suggests they need to move to a place more private. Once there Al reveals why they are in Reole, and about the man they encountered beneath Central who resembles him, which Hohenheim responds if he really wants to know, he might leak everything to them. Hohenheim then assumes a happy smile and thanks Alphonse for trusting him and thinks to himself that he should trust his sons. Hohenheim states it will take a long time to explain and wishes Edward to be present as well, but Al states that Ed has gone missing. At North City, Darius stops at a bank with Ed's pocketwatch to withdraw money from Ed's research funds. He mentions that he is Ed's representative to the bank teller and has a signed letter from an attorney. After Darius leaves, the bank manager makes a call to the military to mention this and gives Darius's description. Darius brings the money to a doctor to pay for Ed's medical expenses, though he is unhappy at having to keep the doctor and his wife silent by paying extra. Heinkel quickly notices the Military is on the prowl and alerts Darius.

Three soldiers show up and with Heinkel pretending he is the patient, the soldier in charge asks the doctor if anyone else has been admitted recently, which he states only one. Heading into the other room, Darius attempts to pretend to also be a patient, but the soldier realizes he was the man at the bank and holds him at gunpoint. Outside Ed is returning with food and an officer named Harris doesn't recognize him as Ed is not wearing his usual red coat or has his hair in a braid. Calling him short, Ed takes down Harris, and then the second soldier Cohen who came to check on Harris. The leader wonders what happened, and then Ed punches through the wall and strangles him to render him unconscious. Despite Darius's concerns, Ed reveals he is all better now. As they are leaving, Ed picks up the slip of paper Harris had and decides to remain with his current white jacket for now. As more soldiers show up, Darius and Heinkel pretend they are kidnapping Ed to prevent them from recognizing him.

They escape and hijack a car with the military in pursuit. To keep the military from catching up, Ed has Darius turn sharply to the right, so at the right moment Ed can use a transmutation to disguise their car which works, though the two Chimeras are disturbed by Ed's choice in appearance. Once out of town, Darius and Heinkel ask where they should go next as Ed is pondering if Al made it to Winry and the others since he got held up for days because of what Kimblee did. Ed wonders where Al would go in this situation. In Reole, Al is pondering as he just learned that his father was once a slave and is a living Philosopher's Stone stone, with Al admitting he was stunned by this news even if it sounds like a farfetched story. After admitting it is not surprising due to his hallow body, Al asks his father what it is like with his immortal body. Hohenheim admits despite the benefits, he hates it because of people he knew dying ahead of him such as Trisha and that he is still who he is despite not being a regular person. Hohenheim reveals that Father is like a leatherbag modeled after him and they must destroy that to defeat him.

Despite Al showing the diagrams of their plan, Hohenheim states it won't work because Pride is guarding the tunnel. However, Hohenheim reveals that there is still time because The Promised Day hasn't arrived yet. An injured Bido beneath Central is running through the underground and is cornered by Ling/Greed. He realizes this is Greed due to his "Ultimate Shield" as well as his behavior. As Greed tries to state who he is, Bido is surprised by his new appearance and tries to make Greed remember that he is his friend from Dublith. At first he seems to remember, but then he cuts through Bido's chest stating that person was the previous Greed. Bido dies and Ling/Greed states that it is his job to guard against intruders. However, this causes a memory reaction as Greed recalls the other Chimeras that served under him in Dublith and within his mind Ling admits he sunk to a new low for killing his friend and demands what are these memories. Ling tells Greed how important these memories are and seeing him suffering points out that Greed needs to get a hold of himself. Threatening to take control of his body, Ling points out that friends are still connected by their souls and that he can't abandon his friends even if he does represent Avarice.

Shortly afterwards, at the Führer's mansion, Mrs. Bradley is suggesting what book Selim is going to read next when they hear a noise. The intruder is Ling/Greed who had killed a guard and then charges at King Bradley who guards the attack with his sword.