After more than twenty days of tireless work in the laboratory, Edie had finally completed the bee detection and queen bee monitoring system. With the setup in place, all that remained was for Shenhou to deliver 1,000 Bee Scouts to Mariejois. From then on, Edie could sit back and monitor the Holy Land's happenings in real-time from the comfort of his lab.
"Maybe I'll even get to witness a meeting of the Five Elders," Edie mused with a smirk. However, his primary goal was far more focused—he needed to locate the Love-Love Fruit. The first step was determining whether the fruit had already been eaten. If not, where was it stored? If someone had consumed it, Edie needed to know who, and if that person had possibly been a slave. In the chaos caused by Fisher Tiger's raid on the Holy Land three months ago, many slaves had escaped. If the fruit's bearer was among them, finding them would be challenging.
Edie wasn't concerned, though. With the queen bee monitoring system in place, he was confident that the fruit would be found eventually. "Other islands can be monitored, too," he thought. "I've cloned 100,000 bees, and they only live for six months. If I don't use them now, they'll all die soon."
"Chenlong! Weiyang!" Edie activated his Conqueror's Haki, red electric-like sparks crackling in the air as his voice reached the duo, who were currently at Rocky Port collecting indulgences. Within minutes, the two clones arrived at the research institute and knelt on one knee before their creator.
"My Lord Heavenly Father, what are your instructions?"
"There are 99 bee spy cages in the cloning laboratory on the second underground floor. You two are to deliver them to specific locations," Edie commanded, pulling out a sheet of paper and writing down a list of key targets from memory.
East Blue: Goa Kingdom, Shimotsuki Village, Cocoyashi Village.
North Blue: Germa Kingdom, the white town of Flevance, Minon Island, Rubek Island.
South Blue: Kingdom of Sorbet.
Sea of Paradise: Whiskey Peak, Little Garden, Drum Kingdom, Alabasta, Water 7, Sabaody Archipelago, Marineford, Amazon Lily, Impel Down.
New World: Dressrosa, Whole Cake Island, Wano, Zou, Elbaf, Future Island Egghead (crossed out).
He paused momentarily before crossing out Egghead Island from the list. "Egghead island is too close to Beehive Island, and it's Vegapunk's territory. Its defense systems are too strong. If the bees are detected and captured, the World Government might reverse-engineer them."
Edie handed the list to Chenlong. "Make sure to confirm the survival of the Bee Scouts, especially at the highlighted locations. As for the others, distribute the extra bee cages wherever you deem necessary."
"As you command!" Chenlong replied, committing the instructions to memory. With their mission clear, Chenlong and Weiyang headed to the laboratory to collect the remaining 99 bee cages. They would soon embark on a journey to deploy the Bee Scouts across the world.
Edie watched them depart, satisfied with the progress. "In this way, I'll have eyes on almost every important location around the world," he mused. It wasn't literal world-wide surveillance, but with key locations covered, he'd be well-informed about significant events. Every six months, the bees would need replenishing, but that was a small price to pay.
Particularly critical were the islands in North Blue: Flevance, Minon Island, and Rubek Island. These islands were at the center of Edie's grander plans. In just over a year, in 1509, the Op-Op Fruit would appear briefly in North Blue, coinciding with the appearance of Law and the Donquixote Pirates. Edie intended to intercept the fruit. If he couldn't, his backup plan was to collect the blood of whoever consumed it and create a ability ring of the Fruit. This would be the key to his ultimate goal—eternal life.
Nothing mattered more than that.
"All set," Edie stretched comfortably. After more than twenty days of intense work, he could finally enjoy some well-deserved rest. For now, at least, everything was under control.
"I almost forgot about Whitebeard and the cultivation of grain seeds..." Edie muttered as he glanced at the coastline, where a mountain of Sea King corpses had piled up. A hundred Sea Kings had been hunted by Chenlong and Chou, and their massive bodies now littered the shore near Rocky Port. The smallest was over a hundred meters, while the largest stretched a staggering four hundred meters in length.
"Forget it," Edie sighed, "I'll deal with this in a couple of days."
Switching his focus, Edie extended his Observation Haki, quickly locating Hancock's aura. He decided to check on her, and what he found made him smile.
On the northern coast of Beehive Island, Hancock was in the midst of smashing a massive boulder several times her size into dust with a powerful kick. Her sisters, Boa Marigold and Boa Sandersonia, clapped in awe while Yamato joined in with cheerful applause.
"Wow, Hancock! Your Armament Haki is way better than mine!" Yamato praised.
Hancock, with a hand on her waist, flipped her hair proudly. "Of course. When I get serious, my Conqueror's Haki will awaken in an instant. You won't be bragging for long, Yamato."
Yamato, grinning like a fool, replied, "But you said that over two weeks ago! Conqueror's Haki is easy, you just do it like this!" She waved her hands in a bizarre motion, as if mimicking something only she could understand.
A vein throbbed on Hancock's forehead. She pointed an elegant finger at Yamato, glaring. "I swear, I'm going to kick off those horns of yours today!"
"Ah? You want to spar with me?" Yamato's excitement was obvious, and she was already bracing herself.
"Please, Sister-sama, spare her this time!" Marigold and Sandersonia quickly intervened, trying to calm their sister. "Don't fight with her. She doesn't know better!"
From the shadow of a large tree nearby, Haizhu, a clone of Big Mom, watched the farce unfold. As Hancock's protector, Haizhu had grown accustomed to the daily squabbles between Hancock and Yamato. At this point, she was tired of seeing it.
Suddenly, Haizhu sensed a presence and jumped down from the tree, kneeling immediately. "Lord Heavenly Father," she said reverently.
"Thank you for your hard work. You may rest," Edie said as he appeared, stepping on a branch that snapped under his weight.
Haizhu quickly disappeared into the woods. As soon as Edie stepped into the clearing, the girls stopped their bickering. Hancock's angry face softened instantly, her eyes becoming tender as she dashed toward him.
"Master Edie!" she cried, flinging herself into his arms like a delicate bird returning to its nest. She wanted to complain about how Yamato had bullied her again, but Edie's calm smile kept her quiet.
Edie couldn't help but smile back, knowing full well that Hancock and Yamato had been arguing like this since they were kids. Despite years of seeing each other, their rivalry remained unchanged.
"Uncle Edie!" Yamato shouted happily, rushing over as well. However, with Hancock already occupying Edie's arms, Yamato pouted. "Hancock can't learn Conqueror's Haki, even though I've been trying to teach her."
"I don't need your help," Hancock huffed, her nose in the air. "Anyone can learn from the Earthly Branches. Haizhu can teach me better than you!"
"You're just too slow to get it," Yamato teased, grinning as she made a move to grab Hancock's hair.
Before the bickering could escalate again, Edie sighed. "Can't you two get along for once?"
"Yes~!" Hancock responded instantly, nodding obediently, her demeanor sweetening in an instant.
Yamato, however, looked confused. "We get along great, Uncle Edie."
"Come with me. I'll take you to the lab," Edie said, steering the conversation back on track. As he led them to the research institute, he explained, "The awakening of Conqueror's Haki requires the right opportunity. While I haven't fully understood the process yet, I believe if I help you push your Haki to its limit, it might increase the chances."
"Yes, yes, Master Edie, I'll do whatever you say!" Hancock replied eagerly, a radiant smile on her face as she clung to Edie's arm.
"I want that too!" Yamato chimed in, grabbing Edie's other hand and blinking up at him.
Edie couldn't help but think to himself, What do you want? To hold hands or to improve your Haki?
Meanwhile, Marigold and Sandersonia exchanged exasperated glances behind them. They could only wonder when their elder sister and Yamato would stop bickering over even the simplest things—like who got to hold Edie's hand.
Moments later, Edie led the group down to the second underground floor of the research institute, where three tall cloning chambers stood before them. The girls gasped in amazement.
"What are these for?" Yamato asked, her eyes wide.
"They're to help you improve your Haki," Edie explained. "You just need to rest inside for a while, and the process will begin."