Kozuki Oden stared at Edie, his expression flat and unyielding.
"Edie? You're one of Kaido's allies, aren't you?"
"I've heard about you. You're the one responsible for building all those steelmaking factories and weapons facilities in this country."
He paused, his voice tinged with quiet anger. "During yesterday's battle, the advanced guns those pirates were using—those were your creation, weren't they?"
Edie didn't flinch, his smile unwavering. "That's right."
He met Oden's gaze with a calm, almost unsettling cheerfulness. "But there's no need for such hostility. Weapons themselves aren't inherently evil. Soldiers use them to protect their homes and their countries, while pirates use them to invade and plunder. It doesn't make sense to hold me accountable for how others choose to use what I've developed."
Edie's words hung in the air, his demeanor reminiscent of Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, who once lamented, "I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds." But unlike Oppenheimer, Edie had no interest in grappling with moral dilemmas.
Kozuki Oden, however, was unfazed. His voice was steady, almost resigned, as he asked, "What are you here for?"
He had spent the night contemplating his defeat, and by now, he had fully accepted the bitter reality of his situation.
Edie's smile remained unwavering as he looked at the defeated samurai. "You lost, Kozuki Oden. Do you regret it now?"
Oden's face hardened, a mix of anger and sorrow flashing across his features. "If I hadn't listened to Kurozumi's lies five years ago... If I had accepted help from Roger and the others when I returned to Wano..."
Lies may be deceitful, but the truth cuts deeper, sharper than any sword.
As Edie's words sank in, veins bulged on Oden's forehead, and his fists clenched tightly. The samurai's regret and frustration were palpable, but Edie, sensing the tension, chose not to press further. Instead, he shifted the conversation.
"Yesterday, your wife asked me to let her see you before she died."
Oden's expression changed instantly, concern flooding his eyes. "Toki?! What did you do to Toki?"
"As a prisoner on death row for treason, you're not allowed visitors—least of all your wife," Edie replied coolly, pulling a syringe from the pocket of his white coat. "But I can grant you a final meeting with Toki and your children. On one condition..."
The sound of iron clattering filled the air as Kozuki Oden suddenly stood, gripping the bars of his cell with both hands. His voice was filled with desperation. "No matter what the condition is, I agree!"
Edie's eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "The condition is simple. I need your blood."
Oden paused, the request catching him off guard. He didn't understand why his blood was needed or what Edie planned to do with it, but right now, those questions didn't matter.
"Fine," Oden agreed without hesitation.
Edie swiftly drew a vial of blood from Oden's arm, his movements precise and efficient.
"Where is Toki?" Oden demanded, his voice urgent.
"Don't be impatient," Edie responded with a calm smile. "I'll give you ten minutes with her."
With those words, Edie turned and left the cell, holding the tube of blood, leaving Kozuki Oden to anxiously await the reunion with his family.
After a short while, Toki appeared at the cell, draped in a gray cloak. The couple finally reunited, their gazes filled with unspoken emotions. Edie, however, showed no interest in their exchange, his focus elsewhere. He allowed them the privacy of their final moments together.
Ten minutes later, the jailer escorted Toki out of the cell. As she emerged, Toki was clutching Oden's two prized swords, Ame no Habakiri and Enma.
"Dr. Edie, you've taken the prisoner's swords. I'll have to report this to Lord Orochi," the jailer said seriously, his voice laced with unease. He didn't dare to stop Toki from taking the katana, yet he couldn't afford not to report the incident. The jailer found himself caught between the authority of Edie and the wrath of Orochi, opting to cover his bases by simply including it in his report.
Toki clutched the swords tightly, her eyes pleading as she looked at Edie, silently begging for mercy or perhaps assistance. But before anything could be said, a cold, mocking voice cut through the tension.
"Who allowed you to take those away?"
Kurozumi Orochi arrived at the prison, seated in Wanokuni's distinct open-top sedan, a twisted smile playing on his lips.
"What's this, Orochi? Tired of drinking with Kaido and decided to come here to flaunt your power?" Edie quipped, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Edie!" Orochi spat, his teeth clenched in fury. It wasn't about the swords; it was the blatant disrespect that irked him. Despite being the Shogun of Wanokuni, this arrogant scientist treated him with disdain, and it grated on every nerve.
Orochi's gaze shifted to Toki, and his eyes narrowed with predatory interest. Her beauty captivated him, and the lecherous greed in his expression was unmistakable.
"Heh heh heh... Oden's woman," Orochi sneered, his voice dripping with malice. "Why don't you kneel and beg me, lick my shoes, and maybe I'll consider letting Kozuki Oden live a few more days!"
His offer was a cruel lie, designed to humiliate. Orochi had no intention of sparing Oden; in fact, he wanted to kill him as soon as possible. But before that, he sought a more twisted form of revenge—degrading Toki in front of her husband, making Oden watch as his wife was toyed with by the very man who sought his downfall.
Kurozumi Orochi's demeanor shifted abruptly as he turned to Edie, a sly smile creeping across his face. "Doctor, there's no need for us to be at odds. Why not lend me this woman for a few days?"
His voice dripped with false camaraderie as he continued, "You're just using her for research, right? As long as she's kept alive, what's the harm? I'll even sweeten the deal—I'll personally support your research with 10,000 gold!"
In Wanokuni, where platinum, gold, and silver were the currencies of choice, 10,000 gold was a staggering sum, nearly equivalent to one hundred million beli. Orochi clearly thought he could buy his way into indulging his twisted desires, but Edie's expression turned to one of disbelief.
"Spending 100 million just to play with a woman? Even for revenge on Kozuki Oden, that's an absurd waste," Edie thought, his face betraying his exasperation.
Toki's face had gone pale, her panic evident as she realized the precariousness of her situation. Powerless to resist, she knew that if Edie agreed, she would be at the mercy of Orochi's sadistic whims. The thought of such a dark future filled her with dread, but she couldn't give in to despair—her children still needed her.
With a glance at Toki, Edie simply shook his head, refusing to even dignify Orochi's request with a response. "Let's go, ma'am," he said calmly.
Relief flooded Toki, and she breathed a long sigh, suddenly feeling a surge of gratitude towards Edie. She understood clearly now that she and her children were under his protection, for better or worse.
"Edie, you bastard...!" Orochi's face twisted into an ugly scowl as he watched them leave. He had lowered himself, forsaking his dignity as the Shogun, to try and broker a deal with Edie. He was even willing to throw a fortune into funding Edie's research.
"Damn it..." Orochi muttered through clenched teeth, slumping angrily into his seat. His dark eyes burned with fury as he glared at Edie's retreating figure.
With Kozuki Oden's execution set for just two days away, Orochi's twisted plans were unraveling. What was the point of tormenting Oden's wife if Oden himself couldn't witness the suffering? The satisfaction of revenge had been greatly diminished.
"I'll have to find another way," Orochi vowed to himself, his mind already scheming for his next move.
Edie mulled over the situation, his thoughts racing. "Looks like we need to find a way," he mused silently. Kurozumi Orochi was becoming a significant problem, his delusions of grandeur making him a threat that Edie couldn't afford to ignore.
For the past two years, Edie had maintained a careful balance, staying on good terms with Orochi and avoiding direct conflict. But recent events had shifted Orochi's focus onto him, and Edie was not the type to sit back and let someone else make the first move. He knew that if he felt threatened, it was better to eliminate the threat before it could act.
Although Edie was far from being a saint, he found Orochi particularly repulsive. Orochi's future actions would bring immense suffering to the people of Wano. While Kaido was a brutal pirate, he didn't meddle much in the lives of ordinary citizens, unlike Orochi, who harbored a deep-seated grudge against them.
"Well... let me think about it," Edie contemplated. Then, an idea struck him. "I have it. Let Kurozumi and Kozuki Oden die together. We'll let Orochi meet his end in two days."
His mind quickly mapped out several potential strategies, and he settled on the most efficient one, beginning to plot Orochi's demise with cold precision.
A quiet voice interrupted his thoughts. "Thanks," Toki whispered beside him.
Edie snapped back to reality, his expression unchanging as he responded calmly, "I'm not a good person. Don't thank me. I just don't want Kurozumi Orochi messing with you. If you were to commit suicide, it would cause me some trouble."
Toki's Time-Time Fruit abilities were crucial to his research. Edie had yet to discover a method to steal another's abilities, and cloning Toki felt like a waste of resources.
In the original story, when a Devil Fruit user died, their power was said to transfer to the nearest fruit, but the mechanics of this process were shrouded in mystery. There was no guarantee it would work, or even if it was true.
Until Edie could unlock that secret, keeping Toki alive was his best option. Protecting her, for now, was a necessary precaution in his grander plans.
Late that night, as midnight settled over the Flower Capital, a heavy silence blanketed the city. The medical center, usually bustling with activity, was eerily quiet. Inside one of its dimly lit wards, Kurozumi Higurashi lay on a bed, clinging to the last threads of life.
The events of the previous day had left her battered and broken. A war had erupted between the Beasts Pirates and the samurai of Wano, led by Kozuki Oden. During the fierce battle between Kaido and Oden, Higurashi had used her Clone-Clone Fruit abilities to impersonate Momonosuke, Oden's son. The deception was flawless, and it momentarily distracted Oden—a fatal error in a fight between masters.
Kaido's victory had been assured thanks to Higurashi's cunning, but the Yonko was not pleased with such underhanded tactics. Disgusted by the dishonorable means, Kaido had struck her down immediately, his overwhelming strength leaving her at death's door. Now, with only a single breath left, Kurozumi Higurashi was on the verge of death.
Despite her condition, there was no trace of regret in her heart. "Ehehehehe..." She chuckled, her voice rasping like the death rattle of an old witch. Her dark, jagged teeth bared in a twisted grin, she looked every bit the monster she had been in life.
But her laughter quickly turned into a violent cough, shaking her frail body. As the coughing fit subsided, the room was filled with the soft sound of footsteps.
Click, click, click...
The door creaked open, and a gentle yet commanding male voice broke the silence. "Chenlong, guard outside the door."
Kurozumi Higurashi, with great effort, turned her head towards the sound. The moonlight streamed through the window, casting a faint glow across the room. From the shadows emerged a young man, his features slowly coming into focus as he approached the bed.
"It's...you..." she rasped, her voice weak and strained. Another fit of coughing overtook her.
"Stop talking, you're going to die," Edie said calmly, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his coat. He stood at the foot of her bed, his gaze cold and detached as he looked down at the old woman.
For a moment, a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "But don't worry," he continued, his tone laced with a chilling reassurance. "You will be "alive" and kicking real soon."
The words hung in the air, their meaning clear only to him. Whatever fate awaited Kurozumi Higurashi, Edie was in control, and her story was far from over.