"Are you the one riding Kaido?"
Garp laughed heartily. He had only called out to Eddie with a casual inquiry in mind.
He didn't expect to hit the jackpot, it seemed.
"This old man's luck is good. Let me rephrase the question."
"Who are you? Where is Kaido? What is your purpose in East Blue?"
Within a few questions, the Marines had swiftly cleared the area, surrounding Eddie and his companion.
The pedestrians on the street quickly scattered and ran away.
"Kaido is, of course, in Wano, having just become the Shogun and busy handling state affairs. As for me… my name is Eddie, and I am a scientist who loves peace."
Eddie lightly rotated the Ability Ring on his left pinky finger.
Time Fruit, activate!
"Don't give me that nonsense. Many people witnessed Kaido flying through the sky last night." Garp handed his senbei to someone else and blew on his fist: "If you don't tell the truth, this old man's fist won't hold back."
"Heh heh heh… There's no point in having a conflict with you here."
Eddie chuckled twice:
"Goodbye, Hero Garp."
"Goodbye, all you Marines."
"I look forward to our next meeting…"
His voice gradually faded, as if moving further and further away from the crowd.
Garp was stunned, only to see the two surrounded figures seemingly become somewhat transparent.
"Wait…!"
He moved his feet and immediately charged forward.
Whoosh!
Eddie and Kuzo thus abruptly vanished before everyone's eyes. Garp passed through the illusions they left behind, hitting nothing but air.
"What? They disappeared!" Deputy Officer Bogard was utterly shocked.
The Marines exchanged bewildered glances.
Garp was also dumbfounded.
He scratched his head in confusion, wondering if it was some kind of Space-type Devil Fruit ability.
"Vice Admiral Garp, what do we do now?" Bogard asked, his head aching.
"This is really a headache, hahahaha." Garp laughed, almost crying, "I completely didn't expect it."
"Vice Admiral, this is no time for laughter. What should we do next?" Bogard was helpless.
"No need to rush. Didn't that person say it? 'I look forward to our next meeting.'"
Garp took back his senbei and continued eating: "Sengoku went to Jaya Island and certainly found nothing. At least I know a name, hahahaha, I won!"
…
The Deputy Officer was speechless.
Late at night.
A drunken man passed by the area, and suddenly a light flashed ahead.
The man rubbed his eyes and looked carefully, but found nothing.
He let out a drunken burp, "My… my eyes are playing tricks on me… Time to go home and sleep…"
He stumbled a few steps, then fell to the ground with a thud, and soon snoring could be heard.
On the rooftop of a building behind the drunkard, Eddie and Kuzo stood prominently.
Eddie looked down at the drunkard, rotating the Ability Ring on his left ring finger.
Time Fruit, deactivate.
Pteranodon, activate.
"Lord Father, why didn't you order me to defeat Garp? His Lineage Factor is also very outstanding."
"Suppressing Garp one-on-one isn't easy. When there's an opportunity, we can try with two or more Zodiac members."
Eddie's expression was calm. He took a step and jumped down from the rooftop.
The next moment, he transformed into a jet-black Pteranodon, flapping its wings, and swiftly flew away from Loguetown.
Behind him, Kuzo spread his dark wings, also flying through the night sky.
…
While it was late night in East Blue, it was still evening at Marineford.
"Eddie… a scientist?"
After a moment of contemplation, Fleet Admiral Kong ordered the intelligence department to fully investigate a scientist named Eddie.
However, after several days of investigation, they found nothing.
Even with the Marine's intelligence capabilities, they couldn't find any useful clues.
…Several days later, in the New World, Punk Hazard.
This island houses a World Government Research Institute, where hundreds of scientists work for the government.
Caesar Clown was one of them.
More than ten years ago, the MADS Research Organization unraveled the mystery of the Lineage Factor, a great discovery that could be said to have infringed upon the power of gods and stepped into their domain.
It was also known as the "Blueprint of Life."
Then… the World Government found out and forcibly disbanded the organization, citing a threat to world peace.
At that time, he and Vegapunk were arrested together.
Fortunately, as a scientist, even when arrested, his life safety was guaranteed.
They were assigned to Punk Hazard, working for the World Government every day.
"It's a success! Dr. Vegapunk succeeded!"
In a life laboratory somewhere in Building B of the Research Institute.
More than a dozen scientists cheered excitedly around a giant glass chamber in the center.
Inside the glass chamber was a miniature natural forest, and in the forest, a small red dragon, over a meter long, awoke.
"Boring, so boring!"
Caesar Clown muttered unhappily, looking out of place among the cheering scientists around him.
He was also one of the scientists involved in this experiment.
Regarding Vegapunk's artificial dragon experiment…
He was very unhappy!
It was just creating a dragon using Lineage Factor theory, what was there to be happy about?
Why were they all scientists from MADS and arrested together?
In the end, he was just a scientist, while Vegapunk became the director.
Caesar was very unhappy.
"Hmph."
With a light snort, Caesar turned and left.
He didn't want to research these things; he wanted more spectacular research, to be recognized by the whole world.
He wanted "the whole world to look up to me"!
And not some artificial dragon, which he didn't even know the purpose of!
Walking out of the life laboratory, Caesar ignored the busy staff in the corridor and went straight back to his resting room.
He opened the door, entered, and closed it.
Caesar took off his white coat and walked over to pour himself a glass of water.
Halfway through drinking, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of two people sitting on the sofa in the room.
"Pfft…! Cough, cough, cough…"
He almost choked on the water; Caesar coughed a few times and said in surprise, "Who are you? How did you get into my room?"
"Shh."
Edie placed his index finger to his lips, crossed his legs, and said with a smile, "Caesar Clown, my name is Edie, you can call me Eddie. This person next to me is my personal bodyguard, code-named Kuzo."
"You're not from the Research Institute?" Caesar immediately understood, widening his eyes in astonishment, "Impossible, to get in here there are at least a dozen checkpoints, how did you infiltrate…"
"Infiltrate? I walked in openly."
With a slight smile, Edie raised his left hand and stroked his cheek.
The next moment, his face changed; it changed every time he touched it.
Caesar watched, dumbfounded.
Ability User?!
He recognized those faces; they were all scientists from the Research Institute.
"Copy-Copy Fruit?"
"You know?" Edie was surprised, changing back to himself.
"I've seen the Devil Fruit encyclopedia and memorized the abilities of some fruits," Caesar snorted.
He paused, then asked with slight interest, "You infiltrated to find me? What's the matter?"
Edie rose from the sofa and walked towards him.
"I want to establish a true Island of Science, and I'm recruiting some talented scientists."
"Caesar Clown, you are one of them."
"I'm here to invite you to join my team."
Being praised as a talented scientist by a stranger, Caesar's face flushed, and he shyly touched his head.
"Oh, you have some insight. Shurorororo… And then? At least introduce where your so-called Island of Science is?"
Edie smiled but said nothing.
Caesar froze, then after a moment said, "You're not going to tell me this is just your plan, are you?"
Edie shook his head and said, "Do you know about Lineage Factor?"
Caesar: "?"
Who doesn't know about Lineage Factor theory!
Edie continued:
"It exists within all life in this world. It records all information about life's birth, growth, and demise."
"When a person eats a Devil Fruit, their Lineage Factor undergoes a huge change, allowing them to use the corresponding ability."
"Conversely, if the corresponding Lineage Factor is extracted and, through certain techniques, introduced into the life evolution process of certain fruits, artificial Devil Fruits can be created."
Caesar was stunned to suddenly hear this statement.
He had known about Lineage Factor for over a decade, and his most recent work was helping Vegapunk create a small red dragon.
Of course, he understood Lineage Factor.
Compared to creating some small red dragon…
"Artificial Devil Fruits!"
Caesar's eyes sparkled.
In fact, during the MADS period, he had already begun research on artificial Devil Fruits.
However, ever since MADS was disbanded by the World Government and he arrived here, his research had stagnated.
"I have a collaboration with Kaido, one of the Three Emperors; he's willing to provide research funding, hoping I can help him research artificial Devil Fruits."
Edie knew Caesar's pain point and prescribed the right medicine: "Your joining will make this plan succeed very quickly. By then, you will have endless research funding; you can research whatever you want."
Of course, this was just to fool him.
Caesar, as his tool, would have to work honestly for him in the future.
After hearing the plan, Caesar was completely moved.
He had long been fed up with Vegapunk!
As long as he developed artificial Devil Fruits, he would surely surpass Vegapunk and become the world's greatest scientist!
And Kaido was willing to provide research funding… this was truly amazing!
"Shurorororo… I agree! As long as you can give me ample funding and let me freely choose my research direction, I'd be delighted to join your research team!"
He paused, then asked, "But how do we leave here? On this island…"
Edie looked at the wall clock, its hands ticking.
"5…"
"4…"
Edie counted softly: "3… 2… 1…"
Boom!
Suddenly, an explosion sounded from outside the room, followed by the wailing of an alarm.
The staff in the corridor quickly sprang into action.
"Explosion in Data Room 3!"
"It's on fire! Quick! Put out the fire! A large amount of research data is stored there!"
"My research report…"
A hint of despair was mixed with the tense conversations.
Caesar's face was blank.
"Did you plant the bomb?"
"The timing is just right." Edie opened the door and said calmly, "Let's go, now no one is paying attention to us."
"Shurorororo… Goodbye, cage!"
Caesar grinned and excitedly followed him out.
Soon after, the three took advantage of the chaos and left Building B of the Research Institute.