After leaving Elbaf, Rayleigh and Gaban, who were acting together with the giants, sped along.
They didn't even stay long at Fish-Man Island, only briefly replenishing their supplies of fresh water and food before immediately setting sail for Impel Down.
The three fortresses belonging to the World Government: Marine Headquarters Marineford, the Underwater Prison Impel Down, and Enies Lobby… are all separated by a powerful current and the passage was blocked with Gates of Justice.
It's generally impossible for ordinary ships to pass through here.
Unless you can do what Lafitte, the navigator of the later Blackbeard Pirates, did: fly into the command room first, then open the door for your teammates.
Or, like Boa Hancock, first obtain the World Government's permission, then bring people inside.
The second and third-in-command of the Roger Pirates, however, used a much more brutal method—
They simply swam.
They swam to the Gates of Justice, climbed up the Gates of Justice, broke into the command room, and opened the door for the giants' ship.
Thirty years later, Rayleigh, already over sixty, could still cross the Calm Belt, swimming from the Sabaody Archipelago to Amazon Lily to find Monkey D. Luffy.
Needless to say, his physical condition was still at its peak right now.
However, it's a bit strange… since you're so capable, why didn't you go save your captain's son during the Battle of Marineford?
Upon learning of this, the current Chief Warden and also Vice Chief Warden of Impel Down, Magellan, naturally resisted fiercely and reported the news to Marinford.
Thus, the incident of storming Impel Down, which was supposed to be caused by Luffy, played out thirty years early.
While Rayleigh, Gaban, and the others were causing havoc in the Underwater Prison, Makoto and his group leisurely arrived at Fish-Man Island.
The Otherworlder-Go slowly descended under the protection of Susanoo, passed through the dark deep sea again, and finally entered through the bottom entrance of the double-layered bubble film.
Neptune personally came to Fish-Man Island's harbor to welcome them.
He held his golden trident, standing at the very front of the port, with a row of neatly lined fish-man soldiers behind him.
"Makoto-sama, welcome back."
Neptune bowed slightly.
Makoto walked down from the ship, looked around, and was a little surprised.
"Why don't I see Beam?"
"He is training," Neptune replied.
"Furthermore, whenever he has free time, aside from sleeping, he spends the rest of his time searching for that large lantern fish for you."
Makoto nodded and asked no further.
Neptune then said, "Makoto-sama, the banquet is ready. Please move to Ryugu Palace with the ladies."
Makoto raised his hand to interrupt him.
"You don't need to beat around the bush with me. You should know what I'm most interested in."
Neptune understood and quickly fetched a treasure chest from his subordinate.
Makoto took the chest. The moment it opened, everyone's eyes focused on it.
A Devil Fruit lay quietly on a velvet cushion.
Its body was a light brown color, with jet-black spiral patterns on its surface.
And on both sides of the fruit grew a pair of semicircular, canine-like ears.
"This is..."
Seeing the shape of this Devil Fruit, Makoto vaguely guessed its ability.
Zoan-type Devil Fruits often have characteristics of that animal.
For example, the Leopard Fruit eaten by Rob Lucci had a peel pattern very similar to a leopard's spots.
The Azure Dragon Fruit eaten by Kaido, and the Nidhöggr Fruit eaten by Airi, had patterns similar to dragon scales.
The pattern on this fruit in front of him, and the shape of those 'ears'—
"It's definitely a Zoan-type."
Utaha stepped forward and carefully examined the fruit.
She had recently memorized the contents of the Devil Fruit's encyclopedia.
"It looks like some kind of canine ability."
"It should be a tanuki," Makoto said.
"Tanuki?"
Utaha tilted her head, recalling the contents of the encyclopedia.
"This form of fruit isn't recorded in the encyclopedia."
The Devil Fruit encyclopedia doesn't have records of all Devil Fruits. This one, for example, wasn't in it.
Neptune then invited Makoto and his group to Ryugu Palace for a banquet.
The feast was even more sumptuous than last time.
The remnants of the Rocks Pirates were also seated. Although they had no particular relationship with Fish-Man Island, Neptune naturally didn't dare to neglect them for Makoto's sake.
The female pirates of the Kuja Pirates sat on the other side as well.
But the girls' attention wasn't on the food.
Their gazes kept drifting towards the Devil Fruit on Makoto's table.
"Makoto-kun."
Utaha leaned close to Makoto and asked curiously:
"I haven't seen this fruit in the encyclopedia. Is it strong?"
"That depends on whether it's an ordinary Zoan or a Mythical Zoan," Makoto said, picking up a piece of Sea King barbecue.
"What's the difference?" Yotsuba asked curiously.
"Big difference," Makoto explained.
"An ordinary Zoan, Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Tanuki, would be useless. Other than being able to turn into a tanuki, it has no use whatsoever."
In the original work, the ordinary tanuki fruit was eaten by a tea kettle in Wano Country, and then kept as a pet by Tenguyama Hitetsu.
"What about the Mythical Zoan?" Hikigaya Komachi pressed.
Makoto smiled slightly.
"The Mythical Zoan, Dog-Dog Fruit Model: Bake-Danuki… is undoubtedly one of the top-tier Devil Fruits."
"The ability is… to create a unique item called [Transformation Leaf]. By writing the name of anyone you've seen on the Transformation Leaf, the leaf will use the user's memories to transform into that person and fight for you."
"And—" Makoto paused briefly, then continued, "It can perfectly replicate the target's combat abilities as they exist in the user's memory."
The expressions of everyone present changed drastically.
"That means..." Megumi blinked and speculated, "If the person who eats this fruit has seen Makoto-kun, they could create a clone of Makoto-kun to help fight?"
"Theoretically, yes," Makoto nodded.
"However, there are limitations. The fighter created by the Transformation Leaf, like a Shadow Clone, will revert to a leaf if it takes a certain amount of damage."
"Also, like the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, which is also a rules-based ability, if the user themselves is defeated, the strong fighters created by the Transformation Leaves will disappear automatically."
"But even so, it's terrifying enough, because there's no limit to the number of Transformation Leaves."
Ryugu Palace fell silent.
Everyone, including the Rocks Pirates' members and the Kuja Pirates who had come along, was silent.
"It's that strong?" Yotsuba asked with her big, watery eyes. "How strong would the person eating this Devil Fruit have to be to unleash its power?"
"That's not necessary," Makoto nodded.
"This fruit is purely support-oriented. It doesn't require the user to be strong. However, if the user is stronger, perhaps the dolls' durability might also increase."
In the original game, the one who ate this Devil Fruit was a pen. The pen naturally had no combat ability, but it still displayed incredibly powerful support capabilities.
This shows the value of this Devil Fruit.
At these words, the female players with relatively poor athletic abilities who hadn't yet achieved much, like Miku, Ichika, and Komachi, had their eyes light up.
According to Makoto's description, eating this Devil Fruit would instantly turn them into a top-tier support.
The temptation was too great.