Once Edie was prepared, he made his way to the control room to verify the situation on Minon Island personally. Ginny's report was accurate; a pirate crew had indeed arrived on the island, holding a rowdy banquet in a local tavern. Among them, a large man—evidently the captain—held a Devil Fruit in his hand. The fruit was heart-shaped, with a blood-red hue that resembled an actual beating heart.
This was it—the Paramecia Op-Op Fruit.
A triumphant smile spread across Edie's face. The fruit he'd been waiting for had finally appeared. To avoid any disturbances or potential shifts in the fruit's location, he had avoided deploying any agents to North Blue, not even the most basic Bee Soldiers or any of his powerful Earthly Branch clones. He couldn't risk altering the fruit's course through even the smallest of actions. Now, after seven years of anticipation and meticulous planning, the fruit was within reach.
"You did a great job, Ginny. I'm not disappointed."
Ginny, feeling a surge of pride, replied, "Just doing my job, Doctor. But…why do you want this fruit so badly?"
To her, Edie's influence and power seemed so vast that the acquisition of a single Devil Fruit was almost trivial.
"Do you know how much the government would pay for this fruit?" Edie asked with a knowing smile.
Ginny shook her head as he continued, "Five billion berries. But even that figure undersells its true worth. This fruit has the potential to fulfill humanity's most ancient dream, which is why some call it the 'ultimate Devil Fruit.'"
Ginny had never heard of the Immortality Surgery; the new Devil Fruit books only mentioned that this fruit could make one an elite doctor and gain fame. The details of its legendary surgery were omitted—an intentional erasure by those who knew its secrets.
"Ginny," Edie said, turning his gaze to her, "your job is complete. You're free now. You may leave whenever you wish."
He left her standing there, and without another word, headed to the upper level of his institute. Once there, he summoned Chenlong, his most trusted clone, and together they took flight, leaving the Hive behind as they soared into the night.
They were bound for North Blue—to immortality itself.
The cold, snow-covered land of Minon Island awaited them. It was only August, yet heavy snow had already begun to blanket the island, turning it into a shimmering, frozen landscape. The temperature hovered around minus ten degrees Celsius, but even the biting cold couldn't dampen the spirits of the pirate crew celebrating atop the mountain.
Minon Island's terrain was a smooth, gently sloping mountain, rising no more than three to four hundred meters. Perched on its summit was a large hotel, now cloaked in snow, where the pirates were hosting their revelry. By seven or eight in the evening, the sky was darkening, yet the boisterous festivities continued. The pirates, intoxicated and uninhibited, had been feasting and carousing all day, unaware of the shadows moving toward them through the cold night.
"The World Government is actually willing to pay 5 billion beli for such a small Devil Fruit. Ha! They're truly insane," laughed Diez Barrels, the towering, muscular captain of the pirate crew, who appeared to be in his thirties or forties. He turned the Op-Op Fruit over in his hand, marveling at its value.
"Captain, the deal is set for three days from now. Do you think the Marines will try to pull something? I've never seen so much money in my life—5 billion beli!" one of his crew voiced, wary of any surprises.
"Relax, everyone! Our captain was once a Marine Commander," another pirate reassured. "There's no way this will go sideways."
"5 billion! With that kind of haul, we'll all get a share. Who'd keep pirating after that?" someone joked, the entire room bursting into laughter as their dreams of wealth and retirement bloomed.
Around the room, pirates imagined a life beyond their treacherous careers—buying mansions on quiet islands, purchasing beautiful female slaves, and finally enjoying a peaceful life far from the bloodshed. Barrels raised his voice above the din. "Drink up, everyone! Tonight, we celebrate!"
Suddenly, one of the guards burst through the door, his face etched with panic. "Captain, there's a fire near the annex where we stored the weapons and ammunition!"
"What? An explosion?" Barrels asked, his expression shifting to irritation.
The guard shook his head. "No, I didn't hear any explosion. It just… happened out of nowhere."
As he spoke, the oil lamps above flickered and went out, plunging the tavern into pitch darkness. Minon Island had no electricity; instead, it relied on oil lamps made from fish and other animal fats, which barely illuminated the area. Without them, the hall was pitch black, and the pirates' merriment turned to confusion and panic.
"What's going on here?" Barrels demanded, squinting into the darkness. In the confusion, a muffled scream pierced the air but quickly fell silent. One by one, the cries repeated, each abruptly cut off, sending waves of unease through the remaining pirates.
In the darkness, Barrels' eyes adjusted, and he caught the vague silhouette of a figure rushing toward him. He swung a punch, but his target slipped past him and delivered a solid hit to his face. Barrels staggered back, losing his grip on the Op-Op Fruit, which was immediately snatched up by the figure, who then darted toward the window and disappeared into the night.
"After him! That's 5 billion beli! Bring it back!" Barrels roared, rallying the pirates inside and outside the tavern.
In the shadows beyond, Don Quixote Rosinante clutched the Op-Op Fruit to his chest, his voice a murmur filled with triumph. "Finally… the Op-Op Fruit. Your illness will be cured, Law." Wearing his signature black feather coat, red hood, and painted clown smile, Rosinante—Lieutenant Colonel of the Naval Headquarters and Paramecia Silence Fruit user—had used his ability to eliminate sound within a certain range and slip in undetected.
But his exhilaration was short-lived. Slipping on the snow-covered ground, he lost his footing and tumbled down the hillside, finally coming to rest in a snowdrift. His heart sank as he heard the hurried footsteps of the pirates drawing closer.
The events that followed were tragically similar to what had unfolded in the original plot. Severely injured, Rosinante managed to crawl back to Law's hideout, forcing the precious fruit into the boy's hands. Despite his weakened state, Rosinante comforted Law with a lie, showing him a "confidential intelligence document" that he claimed would save Dressrosa if delivered to the Marines. He urged Law to bring it to a Marine officer on the island, assuring him it could mean salvation for both of them.
Yet fate would soon deal another cruel blow. The Marine Law first encountered was Vergo, who betrayed Rosinante's identity to Doflamingo after a brutal beating. As Vergo contacted Doflamingo, Rosinante used his Silence ability to carry Law and escape, even while bearing the weight of his injuries. Not long after, Doflamingo and his family arrived on Minon Island, unleashing a terrifying rain of razor-thin threads that fell from the sky, piercing deep into the ground, trapping Rosinante and Law like birds in a cage.
The Op-Op Fruit had slipped into Law's hands as intended. But now, Edie's influence loomed—a new variable that would soon ripple through their lives, poised to alter destiny's course.
As if fate itself had aligned with his purpose, Edie arrived at Minion Island just as Doflamingo's Birdcage unfolded. Standing in the air above the island, he gazed at the chaos below with a satisfied smile.
"Late? No… just in time," he murmured, feeling the thrill of perfect timing.
Beside him, Chenlong, his formidable clone, awaited orders. "Heavenly Father, the target is inside the Birdcage."
Edie's gaze locked onto the Birdcage—a confined, deadly radius of about 1,500 meters. In the future, this terrifying technique would be unleashed on all of Dressrosa, even trapping a Marine Admiral. Edie wondered if Fujitora had been holding back, despite the impossibility of it. Spreading his Observation Haki over the island, he sensed several powerful auras congregated together, likely Doflamingo's elite cadre.
Moving forward, he gave a simple command. "Tear it open."
Without hesitation, Chenlong gripped two of the thick, white threads and pulled, creating a narrow entryway through the Birdcage. Edie stepped in, striding purposefully toward his quarry.
Meanwhile, deep within the snow-dusted ruins on the island, Rosinante—a Marine in disguise and Doflamingo's own estranged brother—sat before a treasure chest, his hand trembling as he pointed a gun at Doflamingo.
"…Law's in the Marines' protection, Doffy. The Op-Op Fruit has been consumed by him. You've lost," Rosinante asserted, voice shaking. His gun aimed unwaveringly at Doflamingo, but Doflamingo only sneered, his twisted smile an unsettling mixture of fury and amusement.
"Why force me to kill my own family, Rosinante?" he hissed, leveling his own gun at his brother. "You'll always be a fool."
Rosinante responded with a sad smile. "Because I'm Lieutenant Colonel Rosinante, Marine code 01746. I returned to stop your madness."
Saying this, Rosinante bumped the treasure chest behind him with the back of his head and said with a smile, "Sorry, I lied to you."
Now, Doflamingo finally understood.
The only family he has are these loyal subordinates around him, and his blood family is just a bunch of idiots who get in the way and makes his life miserable.
Rosinante was like that, and so was his father Homing.
There are people in the world who would give up their status as Celestial Dragons and choose to live in the Human world.
As a result, without the protection of the Celestial Dragons name, their entire family was immediately met with violent retaliation.
His mother died from a illness that could have been treated in Mariejois and he killed his father with his own hands.
Doflamingo Returned to Mariejois with his father's head in an desperate attempt to return to the Celestial Dragons and become a "god" again
But was not accepted and instead heavily mocked!
From that moment on, Doflamingo had only one goal.
Pull those high-flying fools off their pedestal and completely destroy the world dominated by Celestial Dragons!
For this, he needs the power of eternal life!
Realizing the depths of his brother's betrayal, Doflamingo's rage morphed into cold fury. "Fine," he sneered, "goodbye, Rosinante." He squeezed the trigger.
But as he prepared to pull the trigger, Doflamingo's wrist was suddenly gripped by an unknown hand. The Donquixote officers around them gasped as Edie materialized at Doflamingo's side, his presence radiating a chilling calm.
The Donquixote officers immediately raised their guns, but Doflamingo, recognizing the powerful figure before him, barked, "Stand down!" Cold sweat dripped from his brow as he realized who he was dealing with: the Hive Emperor, one of the New World's most formidable figures.
Murmurs rippled through the group. "It's the Hive Emperor," one whispered.
Edie cast a critical eye over Doflamingo's men, who quickly lowered their weapons. They knew the Hive Emperor's reputation and dared not cross him. Then, he noticed the rifles in their hands—AK-47s, weapons he himself had crafted and disseminated through Kaido's expanding black-market empire. Kaido had clearly been busy, and North Blue had become a profitable hunting ground for his arms trade.
Edie's expression remained calm as he looked at Doflamingo. "Brotherly bloodshed? I can't accept such needless tragedy."
The Donquixote Family cadres put their weapons away as Edie's gaze turned to the treasure chest behind Rosinante. Chenlong, standing tall beside Edie, looked like a formidable shadow of Kaido.
"Fufufu... To what do we owe the honor of your presence?" Doflamingo asked, masking his fear with laughter.
Edie replied smoothly, "Scientific pursuits demand a long life, and sometimes that requires securing the necessary resources." He gestured toward the treasure chest, where Rosinante remained slumped, blood seeping from his wounds.
Rosinante stared blankly at the scene.
He was ready to face death, but he didn't expect anyone to come out to stop Doflamingo.
No, that's not the problem.
Why would a big shot from the New World come to the North Blue?
Is the purpose the Op-Op Fruit?!
"..."
"You'd better stop talking. Your Injuries are serious. If the bleeding is not stopped as soon as possible, you will die.
Edie stood in front of Rosinante. Although his tone was gentle, his actions showed no intention of reaching out to help the other person.
The reason for saving the other party was just a whim and a whim.
It's easy to save him so why not just save him?
"Can you please step aside? There is something I am looking for in the treasure box behind you." Edie stated
He knows!
Why?
The power of the Silence Fruit can eliminate all sounds, and even Observation Haki shouldn't ignore the effect... How did he find Law in it!
Rosinante was a little panicked.
Rosinante, weak but determined, raised his gun shakily. "There's…nothing in there that you want. Leave us!" But Chenlong, acting on Edie's unspoken command, gripped Rosinante's head, pressing it firmly into the snow.
"You're in the way, kid." Chenlong said, his voice as cold as ice.
Edie moved past Rosinante, motioning for Chenlong to open the chest. Inside, cowering beneath a cloak, was a young boy with ghostly pale skin—Trafalgar Law, a victim of the lethal platinum-lead poisoning. His small body trembled as he crawled to Rosinante's side, calling, "Mr. Corazon! Please, wake up!"
Edie's attention fell on the boy, his eyes narrowing. "Trafalgar D. Water Law," he said, recognizing the full name at once. Law looked up in shock as Edie continued, his voice soft but assured. "Your condition—platinum-lead disease—it's treatable. There are places, like Drum Kingdom or even Punk Hazard's Vegapunk Institute, that could develop a cure. And I too have the means at my Hive Institute."
Law's eyes widened, hope mingling with disbelief. Edie pulled a syringe from his pocket, tossing it to the snow at Law's feet. "Young man, if you want Rosinante to live, you'll need to act quickly. Take some of your blood and I will help him out."
Law hesitated only a moment before reaching for the syringe, the resolve in his small but determined hands showing through his fear.