For Kitano Makoto, the strength he was displaying right now was just for show.
If the Players hostile to him were only at this level, then not a single one of them would be able to survive even one of his spatial slashes.
Very soon, Makoto landed on top of the fortress wall. From his position, he could clearly see the entire layout of Marine Headquarters.
A full fifty warships surrounded the crescent-shaped headquarters, while countless heavy cannons had been deployed along the shoreline. The one hundred thousand Marines summoned from all over the world were packed densely across the coast, looking like endless swarms of white ants at a glance.
At that moment, Makoto suddenly understood why the battlefield mission had a cap of one hundred thousand Mission Points. It probably corresponded to the number of ordinary soldiers present here.
These men were already considered elite troops in this world, yet each of them still only had 1 point of Luck.
At the center of the crescent formation stood several strangely shaped figures. They were the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
The distance was too great, so Makoto couldn't clearly make out their faces or see their Luck values yet. Still, one thing was certain. None of them had low Luck.
Then three towering figures slowly entered beneath the execution platform and took their seats. The moment they appeared, their overwhelming presence shook the entire Marine Headquarters, drawing thunderous cheers from the surrounding Marines.
Seeing the atmosphere, Makoto temporarily gave up the idea of using Making Fake Become Real while surrounded by so many people.
If he remembered correctly, Ace was about to appear.
If he jumped out at a time like this, there was a good chance the three Admirals would gang up on him. He had no desire to become the first target.
Sure enough, a heavily wounded figure soon appeared, his arms bound in chains as executioners escorted him onto the top of the platform.
The scene was also being broadcast live to the entire world through Transponder Snails. Clearly, the Marines had defined today's execution as the beginning of a new order and a display of military supremacy.
Makoto was just about to find a less conspicuous place to stand when he sensed a dangerous aura.
He instinctively looked over and saw a white-haired figure standing behind Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
It was none other than the Hero of the Marines, Garp.
Garp frowned at Makoto, as if trying to recall exactly who he was. Makoto only paused for a fraction of a second before casually giving him a wave as a greeting.
The two were more than two hundred meters apart. At that distance, there was no need for a formal salute. Besides, Makoto's identity had been arranged by the Main God Space. He refused to believe Garp could see through it.
What Makoto didn't know was that Garp found his presence strange. Although Makoto was clearly a Marine Commodore, something about his aura felt off. However, Garp couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong, so he quickly attributed it to some bizarre Devil Fruit ability.
"Is this acceptable, Garp? I'm about to publicly reveal Ace's lineage."
Sengoku's words pulled Garp's attention back. Even now, Sengoku was still checking Garp's attitude to make sure he wouldn't do anything extreme.
To Sengoku, Garp was the Marine side's equivalent of Whitebeard. He couldn't afford to let a combatant of that level become unstable at a crucial moment.
Garp snorted coldly. "Do whatever you want. This old man is heading down."
With that, Garp walked off the platform, while Sengoku stepped forward onto the execution stage.
Makoto also sensed several other auras nearby. Clearly, standing alone on the wall made him look too conspicuous. But as a Commodore with no subordinates of his own, where exactly was he supposed to stand?
Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
He kicked off the air and quickly arrived beside a man with a cigar in his mouth. The man frowned at him and asked, "Who are you? Why did you come over here?"
This man was none other than Smoker, a Marine known for his absolute hatred of evil. At this time, he was still only a Commodore himself.
Makoto smiled calmly. "I was originally assigned to logistics, but I really couldn't stand hiding behind my brothers, so I came to the front lines instead."
"Well, Smoker? You're not going to chase me away, are you?"
Smoker immediately regarded Makoto more favorably. "We're the same rank. I don't have the authority to order you around. If you want to fight on the front line, then stay."
"Just don't get so scared later that you can't bring out even a fraction of your strength."
Clearly, Smoker had mistaken Makoto for some kind of Headquarters-connected relation hire.
Makoto was perfectly happy to let him think that and replied with a smile, "That's impossible. In fact, I was hoping to test out the Devil Fruit ability I just obtained. Ever heard of the Memory Fruit?"
Makoto's words also drew the attention of Tashigi and the other soldiers near Smoker.
Smoker couldn't help frowning as he warned him, "It's better not to reveal your Fruit ability. That's for your own safety."
Makoto simply slung an arm around his shoulder and said with a grin, "But aren't all the people here our own brothers? Surely no one would harm me."
Smoker could only laugh bitterly and stopped trying to stop him. Makoto, however, could clearly feel the change in the way the surrounding soldiers looked at him. Their gaze was no longer just respectful. There was also a trace of emotion there.
Makoto had called them brothers.
In the world of One Piece, where the strong and weak often lived as though they belonged to entirely different species, that was an unusually rare way for someone of rank to speak.
"Say what you want, then. I can't exactly shut your mouth. I just hope you're still this enthusiastic once the fighting starts." Smoker gave up trying to rein him in.
Makoto then took the opportunity to continue. "Have you heard of the Memory Fruit? To put it simply, it lets me extract or alter other people's memories. I can even directly change the way they perceive themselves. Pretty amazing, right?"
The moment those words came out, Smoker froze.
He immediately took a step back away from Makoto. Even the Marine soldiers who had just felt moved by him now swallowed nervously.
"Don't believe me? Then let this one help me demonstrate."
Tashigi pointed at herself, looking utterly dumbfounded. "Me?"
Smoker instantly refused. "No. When the fighting reaches its critical stage, how could I possibly let you use my subordinate for this?"
Makoto let out a sigh. "Smoker, you've misunderstood me. I can extract memories, yes, but I can also implant them."
"What do you think would happen if I gave her my experience with the Six Powers, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and even swordsmanship at the level of a swordsman?"
[Ding. Making Fake Become Real triggered...]
[Smoker, Luck 20, trust level 20%, manifestation points 8.]
[Tashigi, Luck 10, trust level 30%, manifestation points 3.]
[40 Marine soldiers, total manifestation points 15.]
[Total manifestation points: 26. Your mastery of Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and swordsman-level swordsmanship has reached 26%.]
Almost instantly, Makoto felt a certain kind of power flowing through his body. It was a force drawn out from both his spirit and flesh. If he wished, he could immediately coat his fists in black Armament Haki.
At the moment, however, it was only enough to cover his fists. He was still far from being able to cover his entire body or coat a weapon.
Not only that, but even while standing in front of Smoker and Tashigi, Makoto could clearly sense the life aura of everything within a radius of nearly a hundred meters centered on himself.
Even these people's breathing, their posture, and their slightest movements were all reflected within his perception. If any of them attacked him right now, he would be able to react without even needing to watch them move.
Makoto also vaguely understood what that look from Garp earlier had meant.
The reason was simple. Garp had most likely used his powerful Observation Haki to sense Makoto's life aura. Even though Makoto's base attributes already qualified him as a proper Commodore, perhaps even strong enough to be a Rear Admiral, the chakra mixed into his life energy meant he was fundamentally different from the ordinary people of this world.
Fortunately, there were too many bizarre Devil Fruits in this world. On top of that, with his grandson about to be executed, Garp simply didn't have the mind to come investigate Makoto.
As for the swordsman-level swordsmanship, that hadn't changed Makoto all that much. For quite some time now, he'd been training in swordsmanship with Yukinoshita Yukino. Although he still hadn't reached the level of a true swordsman, techniques at 26% of that level no longer represented a particularly huge leap for him.
Smoker's eyes widened sharply at Makoto's words, while Tashigi, whose face had just gone pale, now had excitement flashing in her eyes.
Tashigi had already begun to grasp the basics of Haki, but she was still far from truly mastering it. With a major battle about to begin, rapidly increasing her strength would be beneficial both for her personally and for the Marines as a whole.
Smoker was moved too. Once the battle started, he wouldn't have enough spare attention to protect Tashigi.
Even so, he still had great doubts about what Makoto claimed, so he asked, "You're a swordsman too? Then where's your sword? And can you use a flying slash?"
In the world of One Piece, if a swordsman claimed to have reached that level, the simplest and most direct way to verify it was to see whether they could use a flying slash.
Makoto indeed had no sword in hand, but that didn't stop him from continuing to act like a swordsman.
So, under the watchful eyes of Smoker and Tashigi, he raised one finger. Under the enhancement of Armament Haki, it rapidly turned black.
Then he slashed downward.
With chakra augmenting his finger, the swing instantly broke the sound barrier and drove out a streak of compressed air.
At the same time, Makoto used Spatial Slash to coordinate with that burst of air, leaving behind a thin three-meter cut in the ground.
Only then did he say, "Once one's swordsmanship reaches a certain level, a true swordsman is no longer bound to objects. Grass, wood, bamboo, stone, all can become a sword."
"I used to have a Great Grade Sword as well, but it was destroyed in an earlier battle. I don't think much of ordinary blades, so I decided instead to study using my own body as a sword."
"Fortunately, I've already achieved some results."
The respect in Smoker's eyes deepened.
He'd originally thought Makoto was just some relation hire, but now it looked as though Makoto was an authentic genius who had been severely underestimated.
As for why he had been underestimated, Smoker couldn't be bothered to think too deeply about it. He'd already seen enough of the Marines' darkness to assume Makoto had probably offended someone.
With that in mind, Smoker turned toward Tashigi and said, "This is your opportunity. You decide."
Tashigi glanced at Smoker and said, "Commodore, if this officer can strengthen us, then wouldn't it be better for him to enhance your strength instead? That way..."
But Smoker directly interrupted her. "As a Logia Devil Fruit user, using Armament Haki isn't very convenient for me, and I don't use swordsmanship."
"More importantly, he chose you, not me. That means this is your opportunity. No one has the right to take it away from you."
Smoker didn't know what it was about Tashigi that Makoto valued. It couldn't be that Makoto had simply pointed at her and picked her at random for an experiment, could it?
So in Smoker's eyes, as long as Makoto truly could strengthen Tashigi, then even if he later asked to take Tashigi away from him, Smoker would accept it.
In this chaotic era, nothing was more important than a chance to quickly increase one's strength.
Besides, if Makoto really succeeded, Smoker could report the matter directly to Marine Headquarters. At that point, relying on Makoto, the strength of the entire Marine camp might advance by leaps and bounds.
Smoker looked at Makoto as though he were staring at a gold mine. He felt Makoto probably hadn't yet realized how important he was.
Or, perhaps more accurately, how dangerous.
Tashigi nodded seriously at Smoker's words.
She, too, was a soldier, with her own courage and sense of responsibility. She stepped in front of Makoto and gave him a proper military salute before saying, "Sir, I am willing to cooperate with your experiment."
"Good."
Without hesitation, Makoto raised his hand, and right in front of Smoker and the other soldiers, plunged it straight into Tashigi's head.
In reality, Makoto had activated intangibility, slipping part of his hand into his cursed technique space. At the same time, while injecting chakra into Tashigi's body, he used the spinning three tomoe in his eyes to cast a hypnotic genjutsu on her.
The reason for doing this was to create the appearance that Tashigi's memories were being manipulated. During the process, Makoto didn't need to worry about anyone discovering his Sharingan, because he had also activated Kaito Kid's disguise cloak.
As for what he was disguising himself as, it was simply himself without the Sharingan activated.
That way, he perfectly deceived everyone present.
Of course, if there had been a true Observation Haki expert nearby, they might still have sensed something strange. But at the moment, everyone's attention was focused on the execution platform, while Makoto and the others were surrounded by soldiers. Those outside couldn't see what was happening here at all.
Once everything was ready, Makoto raised his voice again, deliberately making it sound more excited.
"Prepare yourself. I'm about to transfer my mastery of Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and swordsman-level experience to you using the power of the Memory Fruit!"
These words attracted the attention of even more soldiers nearby. Unfortunately, there still weren't many who could actually see this area, so the effect of this round of Making Fake Become Real only increased by a small amount.
[Ding. Making Fake Become Real triggered...]
[Smoker, Luck 20, trust level 40%, manifestation points 16.]
[Tashigi, Luck 10, trust level 50%, manifestation points 5.]
[60 Marine soldiers, total manifestation points 19.]
[Total manifestation points: 40. Your mastery of Armament Haki, Observation Haki, the Memory Fruit, and swordsman-level swordsmanship has reached 40%.]
…