Phantom Fruit

When Mosen heard Magellan say that, his heart jumped. Any prisoner Magellan called particularly unusual was bound to be something out of the ordinary.

Mosen quickly turned to look at the eight prisoners. Two of them wore Seastone Handcuffs, which meant only two were Devil Fruit users.

Among the eight, the bald man had the strongest life aura. With the hairstyle of a powerful fighter like that, he couldn't help taking a second look.

"Magellan, is he the particularly unusual prisoner you mentioned?" Mosen asked, pointing at the bald man.

"No." Magellan shook his head and continued, "Mosen, you can't judge a person's strength by their life aura alone. The man with the Seastone Handcuffs has the highest bounty here: 320 million Beli."

"320 million Beli! Is his Devil Fruit Ability particularly unusual, Magellan?" Mosen asked.

"Yes. It's very unusual. About a year ago, Marines stationed near Punk Hazard spotted a Green giant dragon."

"A green giant dragon? Was it Kaido?"

Magellan shook his head. "It wasn't Kaido. The Green giant dragon only existed for a few seconds before disappearing, but it breathed Heat breath just like Kaido and destroyed a warship.

"When Marshal Kong learned what had happened, he sent Admiral Zephyr to investigate Punk Hazard.

"On the very day Admiral Zephyr arrived at Punk Hazard, he saw the deceased Pirate King Roger.

"According to Admiral Zephyr's account, Roger's figure looked somewhat unreal, like a ghost, but the Kamikazi he unleashed against Zephyr's warship was the real thing.

"Like the Green giant dragon, Roger only existed for a few seconds.

"Admiral Zephyr was experienced enough to realize at once that this had to be some kind of Devil Fruit Ability. He ordered his men to call Marine Headquarters and request their help with the investigation.

"After checking the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, Marine Headquarters identified the man as a Paramecia Devil Fruit user who had eaten the Phantom Fruit.

"His Devil Fruit Ability let him create phantoms of objects he touched. If he touched a photograph or a drawing of a living creature, he could create a phantom of the creature depicted.

"The phantom's size had nothing to do with the size of the illustration; it always appeared at the size of the real thing.

"The phantoms could copy the abilities of their originals. If the original was a Devil Fruit user, they could even replicate that Devil Fruit's powers."

Hearing this, Mosen remembered the fruit Magellan had mentioned. It had appeared in the movie One Piece: Stampede.

Its owner was Ann, the singer with the lime-green hair who was in charge of singing and getting the crowd going.

At the end of the movie, Sabo gave Ann a photo of Ace. After touching it, she brought forth a phantom of Ace. Together with Sabo, Ace's phantom used Fire Fist to block Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama and clear a path for Luffy.

Fans joked that 4.9 billion of the movie's 5 billion box office came from that combined Fire Fist attack by Ace and Sabo.

Mosen had been deeply impressed by that scene too.

With that in mind, Mosen asked Magellan, "Does his Devil Fruit Ability let him bring anything into being as long as he has a picture or drawing of it?"

"Yes. That's how it appears so far. According to the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, the phantoms created by this fruit can even use hidden abilities known only to their originals.

"Admiral Sengoku speculated that since the phantoms could use abilities known only to their originals, they must have the originals' memories.

"Unfortunately, the phantoms exist for such a short time that they can't communicate. Getting information from them is impossible.

"Even so, it's still terrifying. What a flashy and powerful ability!" Magellan exclaimed.

"Magellan, I think this ability is like fireworks on a summer night. Beautiful, but fleeting and unreal. It's a sad ability."

Magellan paused, then burst out laughing. "Ha ha! That's a good way of looking at it, Mosen.

"Whether you call it flashy and powerful or fleeting and unreal, this Devil Fruit Ability is a real headache. The man kept touching wanted posters and bringing people to life. He's brought forth Kaido, Whitebeard, and Roger. Thanks to these legendary figures, he even escaped from Admiral Zephyr.

"Because of this fruit, his bounty went from 80 million Beli to 320 million Beli in just one year."

"So how was he finally captured?"

"He got drunk and wasn't thinking straight, then attacked Punk Hazard on his own. Borsalino happened to be there at the time, and after a bit of a struggle, they took him down."

"He attacked Punk Hazard on purpose? Why was he so fixated on Punk Hazard?" Mosen asked, puzzled.

"Admiral Sengoku thought that was strange too, so he interrogated him before he was sent to Impel Down. But the man just said he couldn't stand the sight of Punk Hazard.

"When it became clear the interrogation was getting nowhere, Admiral Sengoku decided not to waste any more time and had him sent here.

"Mosen, I'm leaving him in your hands. His Devil Fruit Ability is dangerous. The Seastone Handcuffs stop him from using it, but you can't let your guard down. Keep a close eye on him."

"Understood, Magellan. You can count on me."

Seeing how seriously Mosen took his warning, Magellan knew his words had gotten through. Satisfied, he turned and left.

Mosen then briefly explained the rules of Extreme Cold Hell to the eight prisoners and led them inside.

All along the way, Mosen kept sneaking glances at the unremarkable-looking middle-aged man.

From Magellan's description and the fruit's powers as shown by Ann in One Piece: Stampede, Mosen was sure the Phantom Fruit was incredibly useful.

Even its most basic ability could create a phantom with the original's strength by touching a photograph or image, and those phantoms could be controlled to attack. It really was a highly practical ability.

Its drawbacks were that the user had to touch a photograph or image to activate it, making it a little like a projector, and that the phantoms existed for only a few seconds—just long enough to use one skill. On top of that, he could only create one phantom at a time.

But what if the fruit could reach Awakening? Would the phantoms last much longer? Could he copy several at once?

At the thought, Mosen felt tempted. He silently resolved that this fruit had to end up in his hands.

The next chapter will cover my theory about how Devil Fruits can be transferred.