Noah looked at Cat Claw Brian lying before him, then turned to Ari.
Ari focused, and soon a palm-sized wormhole appeared on Brian's forehead, revealing his brain behind it.
Noah, having already sterilized the scalpel, carefully made a cut, removing part of Brian's frontal lobe without hesitation.
"All done. Close the wormhole," Noah instructed.
"Got it," Ari replied.
As Ari withdrew his ability, Brian's forehead returned to its normal state, with no visible scars or signs of the surgery. This was the convenience of Devil Fruit powers.
If a regular surgeon had to perform this procedure, they'd need extensive preparations and face risks of infection. But with Ari's Hole-Hole Fruit ability, combined with Observation Haki, the process avoided the usual complications of brain surgery, making it safer and simpler.
Even though Noah had only performed surgical experiments on animals before, he successfully removed Brian's frontal lobe.
Once the surgery was complete, Noah removed the seawater-soaked iron barrel that had been suppressing Brian's Devil Fruit powers.
In no time, Brian's body—thanks to his Zoan-type Devil Fruit—began to recover quickly, aided by the IV drip providing nutrients. About an hour later, Brian woke up.
However, when he opened his eyes, they were vacant, and he seemed completely emotionless, as if he had lost all desire or drive.
"Brian?" Noah called.
"Yes," Brian responded in a flat, dull tone.
"How do you feel?"
"I don't know."
Noah asked him several more questions, confirming Brian's condition. To be thorough, he called Mary back and had her use her Observation Haki to check again.
Mary, after assessing Brian, was shocked. "Big Brother, what happened to him? Why is he so calm? It feels… unnatural."
"I performed a frontal lobotomy on him," Noah explained.
"A frontal lobotomy?" Mary asked, her eyes wide in surprise.
"This surgery has one purpose—to remove emotions."
Mary was stunned. She muttered softly, "I didn't know such a surgery existed. Isn't this a bit too cruel?"
"Mary, save your sympathy for the innocent people Brian killed. Don't feel sorry for pirates like him. Maybe he was forced into piracy at first, but that doesn't excuse his actions. If he had fought against the World Government or the Celestial Dragons, I'd respect him as someone with courage. But the moment he preyed on the weak and innocent, he became just another monster, no different from the Celestial Dragons."
Mary fell silent. She thought of the suffering citizens of Rum Kingdom, and any sympathy she had for Brian vanished. "I understand, Big Brother."
"To change this world, we must show no mercy to evil. Pirates like Brian won't hesitate to take advantage of your compassion. Your kindness should be reserved for those who deserve it, not scum like him."
"Yes, Brother Noah," Mary said, her voice steady.
Noah continued to examine Brian's body and ran a series of tests.
After finishing the tests, Noah confirmed that without his frontal lobe, Brian had completely lost his emotions. However, there were side effects—Brian could only act on basic instincts and struggled to follow orders perfectly. His Haki was also gone.
Noah had expected this outcome.
Emotions are the foundation of all behavior. Without them, a person is little more than an empty shell.
But that was exactly the result Noah wanted.
He pulled out a tarot card from his deck—the Page of Wands from the Minor Arcana.
"The source of the heart, the crystal of illusion."
"Page of Wands, I give you form."
Noah placed the card over Brian's chest, right above his heart. Instantly, golden flame-like patterns spread from the card, covering Brian's entire body in a glowing cocoon.
Brian didn't resist at all, and soon the golden cocoon began to fade. He still looked like Brian, but now his eyes sparkled with intelligence and life.
After a moment, Brian knelt on one knee. "Master! Your loyal servant, Brian, greets you."
"Do you remember everything from before?" Noah asked.
"Yes, Master," Brian replied.
"Can you still use Haki?"
"Yes, I can." Brian immediately activated both his Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
"And your Devil Fruit ability?"
"I can use that as well." Brian's body expanded as he transformed into his half-beast form, the Leopard-Cat Zoan form of his Cat-Cat Fruit.
With a thought, Noah commanded, "Return!"
Brian's body turned into a golden light and reformed into a card. The image on the card had changed—it now depicted Brian with a leopard-cat curled behind him.
The name on the card had also changed to Page of Wands: Brian.
Noah called these creations "Apostles."
The process involved removing a person's frontal lobe to strip them of their emotions. Then, Noah fused the spirit of a tarot card to replace their emotions, creating Apostles who were completely loyal to him.
Removing the frontal lobe was a crucial step.
The reason for this was that the card spirit, or "soul," within the tarot cards was linked to the power of the Card-Card Fruit. Since the card's soul was divided into 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana, each card's soul was too weak to control a person with normal emotions.
So, the emotions had to be removed for the card's soul to take full control and create an Apostle.
Noah also tested the effect of Conqueror's Haki on the Apostles.
The results showed that Conqueror's Haki had little effect. The Apostles were a fusion of a damaged human soul, the card spirit, and Devil Fruit powers. The combination of the card spirit and the Devil Fruit gave them increased resistance to Conqueror's Haki.
This was partly due to Noah's own willpower.
As the master of the cards, Noah's thoughts and willpower influenced the strength of his Apostles' resolve.
If Noah were weak-willed, his Apostles would also be weak.
Conqueror's Haki works best against those with weak wills.
With the creation of his first Apostle, Noah now had a clearer understanding of how to fully awaken the power of the Card-Card Fruit.
He needed to create Apostles for all 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana tarot cards. Once all the corresponding Apostles were created, the full potential of the Card-Card Fruit would awaken.
However, creating all the Apostles would be incredibly difficult.
Not just anyone could become an Apostle. Devil Fruit users made the best candidates, but Noah also needed to select the right Devil Fruit for each card, making the process even harder.
But if he succeeded in creating a full set of tarot-card Apostles, Noah's power would reach an unimaginable level.