Wild Pokémon may not necessarily listen to people. Fortunately, Poké Balls possess extremely strong "brainwashing" abilities. Dragonite already trusted Vane, so it swallowed the Door-Door Fruit directly into its stomach.
Without even tasting it—straight down in one gulp.
"This is a Devil Fruit. It can grant you special powers. Now you should be able to open a door in the air. Give it a try."
The chubby Dragonite stretched out its plump little hand and pushed at the air. To everyone's surprise, it actually pushed open an air door. Inside the doorway was a lush green space.
This was the Door-Door space.
"Let's go. We can return to the room directly through this space."
Vane led the group and Dragonite into the space together. Dragonite stared at the space it had "created," finding it incredibly magical.
"Dragonite, you've gained the ability to travel between this space and reality. But at the same time, you've lost the ability to swim in seawater. You must be careful about that."
If Dragonite ever fell into the sea and ran out of strength with no one around to save it, the best method would be to use an Ice-type move to encase itself and float to the surface.
Can't swim? It didn't even like diving into the sea anyway. A simple bath was enough—its true domain was the sky.
For a fully evolved Dragonite, losing the ability to swim wasn't a big deal.
With the help of the Door-Door Fruit, they returned to Saint Garlos's room without any obstacles.
When the air door opened, it nearly startled Selibe.
She quickly reacted. "Is that the Devil Fruit from the treasure vault? How marvelous."
Of course it was marvelous. Even if they gained no more Devil Fruits from here on, with the Door-Door Fruit and the Ankylosaurus Fruit alone—plus the powerful manpower they were about to rescue—this operation was already guaranteed profit with no loss.
"With the Door-Door Fruit, our plan will be even more perfect."
...
When it was completely deep into the silent hours of the night—
Celestial Dragons were still human. At this hour, they too had fallen asleep.
Originally, they had planned to use the Clear-Clear Fruit to approach the place where the slaves were imprisoned. But with the Door-Door Fruit, it became even more convenient. They directly traveled through another dimension to reach their destination.
"These slaves are really restless. Especially that Fish-Man—there's something wrong with the way he looks at me. One glance and you can tell he's a troublemaker."
"I think his gaze isn't right either."
Several guards outside were drinking and eating meat while chatting about their work. Serving the Celestial Dragons was a job where their heads were practically hanging by their belts. Only at times like this could they relax a bit.
"It's such a pity about these slaves. There are quite a few pretty ones—I'm honestly tempted."
"Are you insane? Those are Celestial Dragon slaves."
"I'm just thinking about it. Not like I'd actually do anything."
"Drink, drink~"
Click—
A silent air door opened.
"Did you forget to close the door? It's getting chilly—"
Crack—crack—crack!
The entire table of men froze mid-motion. Their bodies, along with the table and chairs, were instantly covered in ice. The image was much like when Cracker was frozen solid by Aokiji.
"The guards are really careless."
"That's normal. It's been like this for years."
The air door closed.
"Surveillance Den Den Mushi detected."
"Have Selibe hypnotize them."
The team was continuously rotated into a transparent state by Monet.
These Den Den Mushi could have been knocked out in one go using Conqueror's Haki, but the commotion would have been too great. Conqueror's Haki was also a manifestation of willpower and could easily alert those inside Pangaea Castle.
So it was Selibe's turn again. Hypnotizing these low-level creatures was effortless. One by one, the snail Den Den Mushi closed their eyes and fell into slumber.
Tap—tap—tap—
Footsteps echoed inside the massive slave prison. The numb slaves paid little attention. The guards would occasionally patrol at night—they were already used to it.
Rather than care about footsteps, it was better to hurry and sleep. Only in dreams might they taste a sliver of freedom.
There were over a hundred Fish-Men, including someone Vane was fairly familiar with—the Sun Pirates captain Tiger, and the future vice-captain of the New Sun Pirates, Aladine.
Aladine was Jinbe's right-hand man and would later marry Big Mom's shark-mermaid daughter. One could say he would become a winner in life.
Very good. This was an unexpected gain.
Tiger's gaze remained fixed on his surroundings. He was an adventurer who refused to bow to anyone. Ever since being captured, he had been searching for an opportunity to escape.
He heard the footsteps too. At first, he didn't pay much attention. But soon, he noticed something off—there were footsteps, yet no one in sight.
The others were resting and hadn't noticed.
The footsteps stopped in front of the large cage holding the Fish-Men. Though nothing appeared before his eyes, Tiger could sense that something absolutely existed within this transparent air.
Tap, tap—
A string of keys appeared out of thin air.
Tiger's pupils contracted, his breathing quickening. In the dead of night, such a scene appearing—if it wasn't some twisted amusement of the Celestial Dragons… then there was only one possibility.
A quiet voice sounded beside Tiger's ear.
"Notify the other Fish-Men. Tell them not to get excited. Keep it quiet."
There were many slaves here. Some were mentally numb; if they suddenly saw hope, they might scream. Some might even desperately beg to be saved first.
There were even some whose minds had already been thoroughly brainwashed by the Celestial Dragons. They might refuse to cooperate with the rescue—or even try to report it for merit.
That kind of commotion would not be small.
Tiger was the leader of the Fish-Men. He possessed tremendous authority and strong execution ability.
He quietly informed Aladine, then nudged awake all the sleeping Fish-Men, using gestures to signal them not to make a sound.
Over a hundred Fish-Men widened their eyes as they stared at Tiger. They didn't know what he intended to do, but out of trust in their leader, they obediently waited.
Suddenly, their leader vanished before their eyes.
A few grew so excited that a faint sound escaped their noses—but they quickly covered their mouths.
Then Aladine disappeared. The seahorse Fish-Man, the octopus Fish-Man, the swordfish Fish-Man…
One after another, the Fish-Men vanished silently. Those at the back realized what was happening and, trembling with excitement yet maintaining silence, remained seated and waited.
They felt a hand rest upon them. Soon the world spun, and the scene before them changed into the bright interior of a castle, no longer that dark, despair-filled cage.
"Hakuza—it's actually you who came to save us."
Hakuza and Tiger were both from Fish-Man Street. The two were old acquaintances.
Hakuza shook his head.
"I don't have that kind of ability. It's my captain, Vane. Before coming up here, we had already rescued dozens of our companions at Sabaody."
At this moment, Vane was personally removing the explosive collars from the Fish-Men.