Under the dark sky, with a faint breeze stirring, on the western side of Water 7 lay Shipwreck Island. Among piles of broken and abandoned ships that formed a patchwork of "land," stood Tom's humble shipbuilding workshop—a modest and unassuming place.
Inside, a young Fish-man sat hunched over a table, deeply focused on sketching ship designs. Suddenly, an invisible wave of energy swept through the room.
'Thud.' His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, unconscious.
In the stillness, a door appeared midair and opened silently. El, his wings dark and his back wreathed in flames, stepped through, his massive frame reduced to a manageable three meters in height. Beside him stood Uthan, the wielder of the Door-Door Fruit.
"So, this is Fish-man Tom?" Uthan murmured, surprised. "Hard to believe he's a master shipwright."
"People can be full of surprises," Ryan chuckled, nudging Uthan. "Take a look in the mirror sometime."
"Watch it, Ryan," Uthan grumbled, narrowing his eyes. "You asking for a fight?"
Ryan laughed, unfazed. "Before I got the Munch-Munch Fruit, you could've crushed me. But now? You might have to think twice."
With a confident smirk, Ryan approached Tom. He placed a hand on Tom's head, instantly scanning his memories and locating the plans for the ancient weapon, Pluton. He pulled an aged, yellowing blueprint from a hidden compartment.
"Should we take it with us?" Uthan asked.
"Tom's studied this design multiple times already," El replied, assessing. "He probably won't check it in detail again soon. Ryan, can you make a realistic replica that looks aged?"
"Easy. Leave it to me," Ryan said, eyes glinting with excitement as he took the blueprint. "Give me half an hour to go over it, and I'll make a copy that's a perfect match. I can even age it with the Munch-Munch Fruit. No one will know the difference."
As he scanned the designs, Ryan's eyes widened with astonishment, shifting from excitement to disbelief. "This… this weapon system is incredible! It's centuries ahead of its time… And the power source it requires—today's technology couldn't reproduce it!"
He looked at El, who gave a knowing nod. "The level of technology needed to create something like Pluton suggests there was once an ancient kingdom with extraordinary advancements, long before the World Government took power."
"Big words, but if we can't build it, does it even matter?" Uthan muttered, scratching his head, unsure of the plan.
"It matters," Ryan replied, clutching the blueprint tightly, his eyes shining. "We may not be able to recreate it exactly, but with time—and the Munch-Munch Fruit—I could develop new weapons based on this tech."
Ryan pointed to a section on the blueprint. "For example, Pluton's secondary weapons are powerful laser cannons. I might be able to reverse-engineer that technology… even if we can't reach the original power, it would still far exceed today's firepower."
El looked pleased. "Then keep the blueprint for study, and let's get out of here once you've left the replica."
Ryan, ecstatic, carefully stashed the original Pluton blueprint in his Munch Factory within. Shortly after, he replicated the design in exact detail, weathering it to appear aged, then returned the fake blueprint to its original compartment.
The mission was complete.
…
Soon—
The three quietly departed.
Inside Tom's Workshop, everything remained exactly as it was, untouched. Not a single footprint was left behind, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Looks like it all went smoothly!" Back in the hidden underground chamber, Sally glanced at the beaming Ryan, who couldn't suppress a grin.
"Yes, our guess was correct. The blueprint for Pluton was indeed with him…" El nodded with a smile.
"So, El, are we moving forward with the next part of the plan?" Gerd asked, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"That depends on Sally." El looked over at Sally, the "Shapeshifting Witch."
"Don't I always deliver?" Sally replied with a smile, producing a Vivre Card and handing it to El. "This will lead you to Impel Down, the great underwater prison."
To ensure El's plan could proceed, she had specifically infiltrated Enies Lobby, hiding a pre-prepared Vivre Card inside a tiny glass bead resistant to digestive acids. She had then placed the bead inside a rice ball and slipped it to a convict who had just been sentenced to life imprisonment and was set to be transported to Impel Down.
Even if the bead had been expelled, it would have happened inside Impel Down, likely during the "processing" phase when prisoners were searched and sanitized before confinement. The Vivre Card's location would lead them precisely to the prison in the Calm Belt.
"In that case, no reason to delay—let's set out under cover of night!" El said, glancing at the direction pointed to by the Vivre Card and then at the clock on the wall. It was exactly 9:30 p.m.
Looking around at his crew, El added, "To make sure we don't lose time tonight, hide out in the Mirror World for now. I'll personally fly you all over there."
"Once we're close to Impel Down, Uthan will use the Door-Door Fruit to help us infiltrate the prison."
"Understood, El-sama!"
~~~
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