Eddie smiled faintly, took out a blood collection needle, and forcibly drew a tube of blood from Shinobu's arm.
Facing the unknown, Shinobu shook her head in panic, twisting and turning very excitedly.
"It's just drawing a tube of blood, what are you afraid of? Just think of it as a blood donation."
Eddie rolled his eyes at her and put away the blood collection needle filled with blood.
He removed the cotton cloth from Shinobu's mouth.
"You… you… what do you want to do?" Shinobu said in terror.
"Ability User of the Shuku Shuku no Mi? I invited you here simply because I wanted you to help me with something."
Eddie pointed to the breakfast nearby, a gentle smile on his face: "This is your breakfast. Oh, sorry… Kuzo, unlock her chains."
You want me to help you??
Is that how you ask for help?!
Shinobu opened her mouth, truly at a loss for words.
Kuzo took out the key and unlocked the chains on her body.
Regaining her freedom, Shinobu fearfully glanced at Kuzo; this person was too terrifying. Even if she could move freely, she wouldn't be able to escape.
Moreover…
This person was merely a subordinate of the Eddie before her.
Eddie himself was an unknown quantity.
She dared not resist.
"I don't know anything about the Shuku Shuku no Mi, I can't help you."
Eddie raised an eyebrow: "Can't you mature people?"
"Are you talking about 'Mature Woman Allure Art'?"
"That's why people from Wano are so troublesome."
Eddie said helplessly: "Did you gain your Mature Woman Allure Art because you ate a particularly unpalatable fruit?"
"Yes… how did you know?" Shinobu was a little surprised.
"That thing is called a Devil Fruit in the outside world. People who eat it become an ability user, gaining special abilities, just like you."
Eddie explained it to her for free, then pointed to Kuzo: "Use your ability on him, help him mature… by 10 years."
Upon hearing this, Shinobu bit her lip:
"If I do as you say, will you let me leave?"
"I will let you leave this Research Institute, don't worry."
Eddie readily agreed.
He always exchanged sincerity for sincerity, and he never broke his promises.
"Okay!"
Shinobu took a deep breath, nodded, and said: "…Let me warn you beforehand, this process is irreversible. Only the body grows, while lifespan is reduced!"
Eddie waved his hand, signaling her to begin.
Seeing this, Shinobu immediately got up, walked in front of Kuzo, and extended a hand to touch his arm.
"Ripe-Ripe!"
An invisible force emanated from her palm, enveloping Kuzo.
His body visibly showed a slight increase in size.
However,
Shinobu's expression gradually turned pale, her breathing became rapid, and she was covered in sweat:
"…Something's wrong! This guy!"
Suddenly, Shinobu stumbled back a few steps, breathing heavily.
"What's wrong?"
"I… I don't know, it's my first time encountering this situation too, this person is not right!"
Shinobu looked flustered.
She had a feeling that if she continued, she would die from weakness.
Eddie turned and asked: "Kuzo, how do you feel? Has your strength changed?"
Kuzo tried to move his body; he had grown much taller. Before, he was only close to three meters, but now he had exceeded that.
"I've gotten a little stronger, but it's not particularly obvious."
Eddie pondered.
Could it be because Kuzo's Haki was too strong?
Kuzo's prototype was Kaido; his main body was extremely powerful, and the clone was naturally very strong too.
Or perhaps, Shinobu, as an ability user, was too weak…
The power gap between the two was too great, and Devil Fruit abilities were not omnipotent.
Powerful Haki could even negate the effects of Devil Fruit abilities.
"He probably grew about 2 years…"
Eddie looked at Shinobu.
In the original story, Shinobu used her ability on an 8-year-old Momonosuke, making him 28 years old.
But when used on Kuzo, it only made Kuzo 2 years older.
However, this didn't matter; a few more times would suffice.
There are always more solutions than problems.
"I… I did my best!" Shinobu said with a pale face: "Can you let me go?"
"Go, I keep my word."
Eddie nodded.
Shinobu felt as if she had been granted a great pardon, cautiously left the room, and then quickly fled towards the outside of the Research Institute.
Eddie stood up and said: "Once she leaves the Research Institute, bring her back."
"Yes, Heavenly Father."
One minute later.
Shinobu appeared before Eddie again, saying angrily:
"Bastard! You don't keep your word!"
"Didn't I let you leave the Research Institute?" Eddie said with a smile: "Eat well, and once you recover, continue to help him grow bigger."
With that, he took out a Sea Stone handcuff, identical to Lady Toki's, and with a click, put it on Shinobu.
After doing all this, he put his hands in his pockets and leisurely left the room.
Behind him, Shinobu's angry curses could be heard:
"Demon! Devil! Evil Eddie!"
Chapter Thirteen: Among the world's heroes, only I and Vegapunk are.
Evil Eddie, or whatever…
Eddie was speechless internally; how was he evil?
He didn't have such a lofty ideal as destroying the entire world.
Seeing Oden Clone 1 walking towards him in the second-floor corridor.
"Heavenly Father, breakfast has been delivered."
"You stay at the Research Institute and watch these people."
"Yes." Oden Clone 1 nodded, a hint of doubt: "Are you leaving?"
"Going to Sky Island for a bit, to pick up some money."
Currently, he owed the system money for three simulations.
The first, cloning Kuzo, 105.5 billion.
The second, cloning Oden Clone 1, 150.8 billion.
The third, the Ability Ring, 35.2 billion.
Of the 150.8 billion for cloning Oden Clone 1, Eddie did not intend to pay, as that simulation primarily involved two types of knowledge.
Namely, cloning technology and Green Blood manufacturing.
And both of these types of knowledge were present in the first and third simulations, so there was no need to purchase them repeatedly.
"The gold on Sky Island is more than enough."
Thinking this, Eddie went downstairs and happened to see someone visiting.
The visitor was Queen.
This fat man was already a sphere, with a bald head on top and a golden ponytail behind his head.
"Good morning, Queen." Eddie greeted with a smile: "You need to control your diet; extreme obesity can easily lead to various diseases."
"I'll die if I don't drink red bean soup! Don't meddle in a fat man's business!"
Queen obviously didn't listen, then remembered something, quickly took the cigar out of his mouth, threw it on the ground, and stomped it out.
"Sorry, I forgot your Research Institute is smoke-free."
"What brings you here today?" Eddie didn't mind, asking directly.
This fat Queen never came without a reason; every visit was to inquire about research progress.
Progress? What progress could there be?
He hadn't seriously researched Artificial Devil Fruits for more than a few days.
He had been fooling Kaido for two years with just his words and some dubious research reports.
Aside from being annoying at work, Queen himself was also a Eddie. Although their research directions differed, their relationship was still decent.
"Kaido-sama is very concerned about your health and hopes you don't indulge in women. Once you achieve results in your research, he will send you a hundred beautiful women."
Eddie: "?"
When I type a question mark, it's not that I have a problem, it's that you have a problem.
What indulging in women?
"The message has been delivered." Queen shrugged, adopting a perfunctory attitude, "What's the current research progress?"
"…."
"Didn't you say before that there was new progress in the research?" Queen took off his small sunglasses, revealing his small eyes, and tried hard to widen them: "Hey, hey, you wouldn't be tricking us, would you?"
"How could I be? You have to believe me."
Eddie smiled.
At times like this, maintaining a confident smile was enough.
There were only a few Eddies in the whole world who could research Artificial Devil Fruits.
If you don't believe me, who can you believe?
Do you understand what a Lineage Factor theory expert is? Hands on hips, leaning back.
Although this stuff was discovered by Vegapunk more than a decade ago, now, he was the one who understood Lineage Factor the most.
No one, understands Lineage Factor, more than I do!
Well, to be modest…
Among all the heroes in the world, only I and Benn are worthy!
Besides, it's only been two years, and Eddie is prepared to take twenty years to deal with Kaido.
Queen narrowed his eyes:
"Do you still want next year's research funding? Two years, I've given you at least four billion, enough to cook a meal even if it's all burned."
"It's precisely because I'm given so little that it's difficult to produce results. If you gave me forty billion, the first artificial Devil Fruit might have already been produced."
Eddie sighed, and Kuma spread his hands.
"Tell me honestly, what's the current progress, and when can we see the first prototype? At least give Kaido a little hope."
Queen was also helpless.
Kaido couldn't understand research reports at all; only he could understand them in the entire pirate crew.
He had truly been deceived by Eddie's wickedness back then.
Those reports were incredibly exciting!
It was as if with a little more money, just a bit more, an artificial Devil Fruit could be produced tomorrow.
The theories were like a sow wearing a bra—one after another, endless.
But two years passed, and there was nothing.
"How about this…"
Eddie pondered for a moment and then suddenly thought of a good idea to scam more funds: "It just so happens that I'm preparing to leave Wano for a trip to find a helper. With him joining, the research progress will definitely greatly accelerate!"
"What do you mean? Besides you and Vegapunk, who else in the world can research this?" Queen was surprised.
"Caesar Clown."
"Him?"
Queen was stunned for a moment, immediately remembering his former colleague.
More than ten years ago, there was a very powerful scientific research organization in the world called MADS.
It gathered a group of the world's most talented Eddie.
Queen himself was one of them.
Besides him, there were also Vegapunk, Caesar Clown, Vinsmoke Judge, and others.
The Lineage Factor theory was jointly discovered by the research team led by Vegapunk and Judge.
Eddie was a latecomer.
He merely obtained some of the research data from him at that time, and in just a few days, his theoretical level surpassed him.
At that time, Queen was amazed, which is why he approved the artificial Devil Fruit plan.
If MADS had not been forcibly disbanded by the World Government, the artificial Devil Fruit would probably have been developed long ago.
"Wait, if you're looking for a helper, shouldn't you look for Judge?" Queen was puzzled.
"Vinsmoke Judge, he is now in North Blue, wanting to make Germa Empire great again."
Eddie shook his head.
He's busy with his own plan to restore his country.
In the original work, Kaido's army of artificial Animal Type Ability User? was completed with the help of Caesar.
"But do you know where Caesar is? At that time, the World Government forcibly disbanded MADS on the grounds of threatening world peace, and Caesar was arrested then."
"I probably know, you don't have to worry."
"Do you need help?"
"Just prepare another sum of money."
"I will report to Kaido, so I won't disturb you anymore."
Queen nodded and immediately went back to report.
"Wait a moment, pick up the cigar on the ground. Don't litter in my Research Institute." Eddie called him back.
"This cigar isn't cheap!"
Queen grumbled, picked up the cigar, and lit it again.
"..."
He's really frugal.
Eddie was speechless.
Soon after, he left Flower Capital with Roux.
...
A green dragon soared in the clouds.
On the dragon's head, Eddie stood against the wind, his white coat constantly flapping in the strong gusts.
This is the Grand Line!
It intersects with the Red Line, which encircles the planet, collectively dividing the world's oceans into the East, South, West, and North Blue.
At the same time, the Grand Line is divided by the Red Line, with the first half called "Paradise Sea" and the latter half called the "New World."
Wano is located in the New World sea area.
To navigate the Grand Line, one needs to rely on a tool called the [Log Pose].
Because the islands here have magnetism, which causes the magnetic field to be chaotic, people can only navigate through the magnetic routes between islands.
In the Grand Line, losing the Log Pose means losing direction.
When the ship's supplies run out, death will approach.
However, this is only for ordinary people.
Eddie naturally doesn't need it.
He opened the Grand Line's sea chart, which marked the main islands in this sea area.
Although the coordinates on it were not precise, the general direction was correct.
Looking up at the sun in the sky, Eddie made a quick estimation and then pointed in a certain direction, giving the command:
"Go to Paradise Sea, Jaya Island."
"Yes!"
Roux was extremely fast, but at this moment, he deliberately slowed down considerably to avoid strong winds and disturbing the Heavenly Father.
Three days later.
Jaya Island appeared in sight.
And Sky Island, the Land of God, is located ten thousand meters above Jaya Island.
Eddie looked up, gazing at the sky, vaguely seeing a sea of clouds.