Following the same procedure, Noah soon turned Barton into a Tarot Card Apostle.
Barton did not belong to the Minor Arcana, however, but to the Major Arcana.
His card was [The Devil: Pan Barton].
The raw materials used to create Card Apostles and the Apostles created from them were not chosen at random. They shared an inherent affinity at their roots.
Brian had been used to create the Page of Wands because the Devil Fruit in his body was a leopard cat. The Page of Wands represented a little rascal and implied a changeable, passionate personality, giving it an affinity with the leopard cat.
Likewise, the Swap-Swap Fruit in Barton's body had an affinity with Pan the Devil. Gaining power through the Swap-Swap Fruit was like a bargain in which a devil deceived a mortal.
Looking at Barton before him, Noah's eyes showed a trace of satisfaction.
After several years of plotting, Barton had acquired an enormous amount of vitality. Of course, this vitality could not greatly extend his lifespan.
Human lifespans were determined by their genes. Barton had obtained the vitality of thousands of people, but his maximum lifespan had increased to only two hundred years before it stopped growing.
At the root of it, two hundred years was the lifespan limit of the human species.
It was like a bottle, with vitality as the water inside. No amount of water could change the bottle's capacity. Moreover, as the years took their toll, the bottle would crack, and the amount of water it could hold would grow smaller and smaller.
To raise the bottle's limit, one had to change one's genes, something only the Op-Op Fruit could do.
Even so, the vitality in Barton's body was a tremendous fortune.
During training, this vitality could be consumed in place of one's own, and it could also be used for rapid healing.
Otherwise, how could Barton have gone in about five years from a loser who could not withstand a single punch from Sakazuki to a fighter on the level of an elite Vice Admiral?
Barton was already forty-three years old, and he had obtained the Swap-Swap Fruit less than eight years ago.
The Swap-Swap Fruit had other uses, some of which even Ludan and the other subordinates did not know about.
For example, if a trading partner died, the user could choose to obtain not only some of that person's organs and vitality, but even their memories.
That was why Barton knew Hasshoken, the Six Powers, Haki, and Life Return. He had used the Swap-Swap Fruit's power to secretly kill an officer of the Happo Navy and two corrupt Marine officers, obtaining those training methods from them.
"Barton, sell me a portion of vitality."
"Yes, master. You need to pay me one silver coin."
Noah handed Barton a silver coin.
In an instant, a stream of vitality flowed out of Barton and surged into Noah's body.
The hidden injuries and fatigue throughout his body were like land parched by a long drought receiving sweet rain. His hidden injuries began to heal bit by bit, and his fatigue rapidly faded.
This portion of vitality was equivalent to about ten years of an ordinary person's lifespan.
Through his Observation Haki, Noah seemed to sense every cell in his body cheering for joy. All his previous arduous training had ultimately been no match for the teachings passed down by established powers. Without his noticing, quite a few hidden injuries had accumulated in his body.
In fact, this was a common problem among many upstart powers.
Why had the Marines and the World Government been able to keep the seas under their control for eight hundred years? It was because of their formidable foundations and inherited knowledge.
Whitebeard, for example, had indeed been terrifyingly strong in his youth. Yet when he grew old, the hidden injuries inflicted by the Tremor-Tremor Fruit caused his strength to plummet.
If Whitebeard had belonged to the Marines or the World Government, he surely could have taken better care of his body. Their systematic physical techniques, medicine, and secret treasures could at least have extended his prime by more than a decade.
Now that Noah and the others could use the vitality stored in Barton's body, they could finally train without restraint.
Training, however, was a matter for later.
There was still one important matter to attend to.
He summoned everyone.
Once everyone was seated, Noah laid out the entire plan for what came next.
Noah's plan was simple: continue Barton's scheme to usurp the kingdom. By changing a few details, Noah could take it over.
After all, Barton was now the Rum Kingdom's "guardian hero," they had leverage over the fake king, and the chief minister, Powell, had also become Noah's prisoner.
Barton had originally planned to have people pose as pirates and raid the fake king just as he was heading to a meeting in Mary Geoise, then take the throne himself.
Unfortunately, after Noah reviewed the plan, he spotted problems.
The first problem was that the East Blue Marines were responsible for escorting the fake king to Mary Geoise. If things went badly, they might run into Garp on his way home to visit his family.
The second problem was that, although the fake king was an impostor, no one else knew it. If he contacted the World Government by Den Den Mushi during the pirate raid, Barton's plan would inevitably fail, and he might even end up paving the way for someone else.
The third problem was that, although the fake king had a terrible reputation and Barton had his heroic name to support him, other nobles remained in the Rum Kingdom, and they would not want to see an outsider become the new king.
Killing the fake king was therefore a poor choice.
Noah's plan was very simple.
The group quickly sprang into action.
In the royal palace, although the fake king often indulged in wine and women, he kept a Den Den Mushi up his sleeve at all times, specifically so he could take his enemies down with him.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into Noah, who did not play by the usual rules.
With the help of Barton's secret agents inside the palace, Lilith took Ray and dug a tunnel, silently infiltrating the bathroom in the fake king's room.
The moment the fake king entered the bathroom, before he could react, Lilith drugged him unconscious.
The next moment, Ray brought the fake king to the laboratory in the underground cavern. Noah and Ray worked together to cut out his frontal lobe without hesitation, then woke him up.
"Uncle, are you ready?"
Uncle Joseph nodded. "Noah, I'm ready."
"Barton, let's begin. Make it quick."
Barton looked at the vacant-eyed fake king and said, "Give me your face, and I'll give you your original face."
"All right," the fake king agreed without thinking.
"Swap successful!"
In an instant, a balance scale appeared in Barton's hands. The fake king's face returned to its original appearance, while Barton gained the fake king's face.
Barton then swapped the fake king's face with Uncle Joseph's.
Uncle Joseph was about the same build as the fake king, but he was twenty-seven centimeters taller.
Before, Uncle Joseph truly would not have been able to disguise himself as the fake king. Now, however, he could, because Barton had not only swapped the fake king's face onto Uncle Joseph, but had also swapped his own mastery of Life Return to him.
This special exchange of memories did not cause Barton to lose his ability to use Life Return. Previously, however, Barton had been extremely wary of his subordinates, so he naturally had not used this ability on them.
Uncle Joseph used Life Return to adjust his body, and soon he looked exactly like the fake king.
Next, they would swap out the fake king's memories and then give them to Uncle Joseph.