Cain and Uta had no idea that Aokiji and Iceburg had both received important calls.
At that moment, the two of them were still carefully inspecting the newly restored Going Merry.
Uta had already rushed into the bedroom to look around, while Cain remained in the meeting room.
Calling it a meeting room was somewhat generous, since it also doubled as the kitchen.
The moment Cain stepped inside, he immediately noticed something strange.
Why were the lights still on?
The Going Merry did have a manual generator that drew seawater through the bottom of the ship.
Once the vessel was sailing, the movement of the water could be used to generate electricity automatically.
But the Merry was not in the water right now.
Luffy and the others had also been gone for months.
How could there possibly still be electricity?!
(Stussy: Obviously, I generated it by pedaling, dumbass.)
Although Cain found it strange, his attention was soon drawn toward the refrigerator.
The chain Sanji had specially installed to stop Luffy from stealing food had been torn apart and was now lying quietly on the floor.
Even if the crew had left, they would have cleaned everything up properly.
There was no way they would have abandoned the kitchen in this state.
In other words, someone had entered the ship after they left.
There was no need to think hard about who it had been.
Stussy.
Cain opened the refrigerator and found a box inside.
He lifted it out and removed the lid. The box was packed with ice, and nestled among it was a vial of softly glowing green liquid.
Beside the box lay a strange glove-shaped device, while an encrypted letter had been tucked underneath everything.
Cain recognized the cipher format at a glance.
It was the same ridiculous style of coded puzzle Lilith had used to torment him before.
So this was what she had asked Stussy to deliver.
Looking at the green liquid in the vial, Cain already had a good idea of what it was.
Most likely, it was Green Blood containing the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit.
That was not especially surprising.
Based on the current timeline, the Seraphim designed to carry such blood should already be under development.
Cain scratched his head, pinched the letter between his fingers, and began carefully decoding its contents.
Thanks to his previous experience being tortured by Lilith's similar puzzles, the process went remarkably smoothly.
It took him only a short while to fully understand everything she had written.
According to the letter, Green Blood had originally been developed by Vegapunk's main body as a core component for living weapons—the Seraphim.
Unfortunately, they could not create a compatible living weapon capable of using this particular batch of Green Blood within such a short time.
That was why Lilith had prepared the glove as a temporary substitute.
However, Green Blood technology was meant to be integrated into specially designed living weapons.
If it was removed from that kind of biological carrier and activated through a crude external device instead, it had to be stored at a consistently low temperature to preserve its activity.
Worse, its consumption rate would increase exponentially.
In other words, this vial of Green Blood was essentially a single-use item.
The key to activating the device was Haki.
Haki was an extension of a living being's will.
As long as the user evenly coated the glove with their Haki and secured the vial of Green Blood inside the matching slot, their Haki could drive the device and perfectly release the Devil Fruit ability stored within the blood.
"So it really is only usable once!"
Cain carefully fitted the Green Blood into the glove device while keeping it surrounded by ice. He examined it with a deep frown.
"And this is still technically biological blood or something, right? Putting it in the refrigerator is going to make it impossible to store food in there afterward."
"Maybe I should hurry up and make a Homie."
With that thought, Cain slipped the glove onto his hand and began considering the possibilities.
What kind of Homie should he create?
Then something strange happened.
The Green Blood made from Big Mom's Lineage Factor suddenly resonated with Cain.
His Haki surged uncontrollably into the device.
Cain's heart jumped. He hurriedly tried to remove the glove, only for a wave of intense pain to tear through his body.
More precisely, something was forcefully pulling at his soul.
The next second, a sphere of light emerged above his palm.
"Is this… my soul?"
Cain stared at the glowing orb.
His body did not feel weakened or uncomfortable, but he had no idea what had just happened.
There was no time to think about it now.
Only one drop of Green Blood remained inside the container. He needed to find a vessel for the soul immediately.
Before Cain could make another move, however, the glowing orb shot straight into the box of ice beside him.
Cain's expression changed dramatically.
He immediately plunged his hands into the ice, trying to shake the soul back out.
At that exact moment, Uta hurriedly pushed open the door.
She had just come out of the bedroom when she saw frost covering the area around the warehouse.
Freezing air was spreading everywhere, while Aokiji stood in the corner.
Uta had no idea what had happened.
Had the Admiral decided to attack them?
With that thought, she immediately ran to find Cain.
The instant the door opened, the freezing air outside poured into the room.
The soul orb seemed to sense the cold. It lifted the entire box of ice into the air and began greedily absorbing the frigid energy rushing inside.
The powerful suction instantly created a violent gale.
Uta instinctively raised an arm to shield her eyes.
"Cain, what's happening in here? Wait—look at that Admiral outside! Something seems wrong!"
As soon as Uta finished speaking, the final drop of Green Blood was completely exhausted.
Then, right before Cain's eyes, the entire mass of ice carrying the soul orb shot out of the room and began continuously absorbing all the cold energy outside.
In only an instant, it swallowed every trace of freezing air released by Aokiji—the extreme cold created by the Ice-Ice Fruit.
As it devoured the energy, a delighted voice repeatedly rang out.
"Tasty! Tasty!"
The empty box that had once held the ice dropped to the floor.
Above it, the glowing mass radiated pale blue light.
Aokiji, whose emotions had been somewhat unstable moments earlier, also noticed what was happening.
The pale-blue sphere seemed to notice him as well.
It smacked its lips repeatedly and cried, "DESSERT! TASTY!"
It had already decided that Aokiji was a delicious dessert!
Aokiji sensed its hostility and had no intention of indulging it.
"Ice Block: Partisan."
Several ice spears formed and shot toward the glowing mass.
What happened next left him completely stunned.
The creature opened its mouth, bit down on the ice spears, and swallowed them whole.
Cain and Uta hurried outside and looked up.
The glowing orb wrapped in ice had transformed into a cloud radiating bone-chilling cold.
Before long, it condensed into a clear shape and grew a face of its own.
The Homie created from Cain's soul had fully taken form.
It was an icy cloud with the power to freeze.
"Mama! Mama!"
That cry made Cain uncomfortable all over.
'Do all Homies created with Big Mom's Devil Fruit power act like this?'
Just then, the pale-blue cloud shot downward and flew straight to Uta's side, pressing close to her.
Its soft, fluffy voice asked,
"Are you my mama?"
Because of the influence of Big Mom's Lineage Factor, the cloud had begun searching for its mother from the moment it was born.
And Uta was the only woman present.
Uta quietly studied the cloud before her.
Its entire body was icy blue, with faint white edges. Judging from its fluffy, soft appearance, it even seemed to be a little girl.
Looking at the adorable creature, Uta instinctively reached out and gently stroked it.
Her fingertips felt only a cool, refreshing softness without the slightest trace of biting cold.
This Homie had been created from the glowing orb Cain had just produced with his own hands.
Remembering their earlier agreement that she would be allowed to name his Homie, Uta spoke gently.
"Yes. I'm your mama."
Cain's mouth twitched violently!
Although he and Uta had yet to do anything truly intimate, from a certain point of view…
The great-grandchild his old man had been dreaming about had somehow just been born!