Marcus had plenty to complain about regarding the Transmutation Tablet's pricing system, but he quickly stopped caring about the markup.
Anyone who'd used a transmutation table knew that its real value wasn't about the cost. If there was no loss in the conversion process, then it was essentially a massive storage system, hell, you could even call it a creation device.
The main purpose was to avoid repetitive, meaningless time-wasting by duplicating rare items. Even here in the One Piece world, doubling the price on each transaction wouldn't affect its core value in the slightest.
As long as you got a single diamond, you could duplicate infinite diamonds from that point forward. That alone was worth any markup.
The group returned to the Going Merry, where Johnny and Yosaku both looked curiously at the scruffy man who'd suddenly appeared with them. They were puzzled but didn't ask questions, more interested in whether this legendary treasure island had actually contained any treasure.
When they learned that the treasure chests had been empty, but they'd instead discovered a legendary Devil Fruit, a Mythical Zoan type, no less, they offered enthusiastic congratulations to Kira.
"Eh? Gaimon, you really don't plan on leaving with us?" Luffy asked, clearly disappointed. Even though they'd only spent half a day together, Gaimon was exactly the kind of person he liked; interesting, a former pirate who'd dedicated years of his life to protecting his dream.
Gaimon shook his head. "Thank you for the invitation. For years, I've guarded what I thought was my 'treasure' day and night. But as time passed, I discovered what my real treasure actually was."
He gestured toward the forest behind him, and strange creatures began emerging one by one. You could clearly see the reluctance and sadness in their eyes at the thought of him leaving.
"Because of the Devil Fruit's influence over the years, these animals aren't just unusual, they're intelligent. After two decades together, they're my family now. If I were to abandon them, they'd be heartbroken." He rubbed the head of a pig-like creature that had a lion's mane around its neck.
Seeing how harmoniously Gaimon lived with his animal family, Luffy's crew didn't try to persuade him further. It was clear this was where he belonged.
Marcus crafted a small boat. It wasn't large, but it was big enough for two people to sit.
He placed the boat on the water, then tossed over a storage chest that landed perfectly in the center.
"Put anything that's hard to store in here, it'll last much longer than normal storage. This boat will let you leave the island whenever you need to, whether it's to buy daily necessities or if you get some new idea for an adventure."
The group said their farewells to Gaimon and his strange animal family, then set sail from the island.
---
Back aboard the Going Merry, all eyes were focused on Kira. After all, they were eager to see her new Devil Fruit abilities in action, especially since it was a Mythical Zoan, which was supposed to be just as impressive as any Logia-type fruit.
Under everyone's expectant gazes, she lowered her head nervously. She was naturally socially anxious, but she gathered her courage and tried to activate her new powers.
Then something miraculous happened, her head began growing fur, and her facial features gradually transformed to resemble those of a lion.
But it was only her head. The rest of her body remained exactly the same: thin and small.
"Is that... it?"
The others stared in silence. This was supposed to be a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit, and all she could do was grow a lion head?
Had she somehow eaten a defective Devil Fruit? That was the only thought running through their minds.
Kira's lion face turned bright red, and yes, you could somehow tell even with her transformed features... She was embarrassed. Her entire head was glowing and steaming.
She crouched in a corner, looking utterly dejected.
"Aha ha... well, Devil Fruits can be tricky to control at first! A lion's head can still be very useful," Nami said, trying to console her while shooting Marcus a sharp glare.
The others also offered words of comfort, but they kept giving Marcus strange looks that clearly said, "What kind of fruit did you give her?"
Marcus felt completely baffled by all the stares.
"What's with those looks?! Devil Fruits are notoriously hard to control right after you eat them. Turning into just a lion head right now isn't weird at all. If you don't believe me, ask Luffy and Alvida, when they first got their powers, could they control them perfectly?"
Everyone looked at Luffy and Alvida.
The two thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Luffy had eaten his fruit when he was young, but back then his control was so poor that even throwing a simple punch could send him flying backward by accident.
Alvida remembered being completely confused when she first ate the Slip-Slip Fruit. If Marcus hadn't explained how it worked, she might have gone months without realizing she could use it to slip off freckles and excess fat.
So both of them nodded, backing up Marcus' explanation.
Only then did the others stop glaring at him.
Marcus felt somewhat vindicated, but also helpless at their lack of faith in him.
Meanwhile, Kira's body continued to undergo changes, though "losing control" might be a more accurate description of what was happening.
Crouched in her corner, her legs would sometimes transform into goat hooves, other times a pair of wings would sprout from her back, and occasionally a tail would appear and disappear.
Her body sprouted different types of fur that looked soft and fluffy one moment, then shifted into scales the next. Finally, she even grew feathers in some places.
The transformations were completely unpredictable and frankly indescribable.
Kira herself was panicking, utterly confused and frightened by what was happening to her body.
"Try to calm your emotions, Kira. Zoan-type fruits respond to mood," Marcus said, not surprised by the chaotic transformations at all.
After all, a chimera was supposed to be a hybrid creature, there was no way it would have just one fixed beast form. If it were that simple, the fruit would be called something like "Mythical Zoan-Type: Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Chimera."
Since it wasn't named that way, it meant the Chimera transformation was inherently variable and probably one of the most difficult Devil Fruits to master.
That explained why her body kept changing unpredictably.
Honestly, he was starting to suspect this fruit might have originally been intended for Blackbeard in the future. After all, that guy was known for his "abnormal" body structure, and his pirate flag featured three skulls instead of one.
He'd already consumed the Logia-type Dark-Dark Fruit and the Paramecia-type Tremor-Tremor Fruit. The only type left that wouldn't conflict would be a Zoan-type fruit.
Many fans had speculated he'd eventually target a Cerberus fruit, but Marcus thought the Chimera fruit would fit Blackbeard's image perfectly, embodying fear, evil, and calamity just like the legends described.
While he was considering these possibilities, Kira managed to calm herself enough to return to human form. But in the very next instant, she transformed again, this time shifting rapidly between a lion, then a goat, then a snake. And it didn't stop there.
In just a few minutes, she cycled through countless different animal forms one after another.
"This is incredible!"
However, Marcus found himself feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the display.
Mythical Zoan fruits were called "mythical" because they granted abilities that belonged in fantasy and legend, powers that transcended normal animal transformations.
For example, the Phoenix fruit didn't just let you turn into a bird, it granted immortal flames that could heal any injury, even if your heart was completely destroyed.
The Azure Dragon fruit could breathe fire, control wind and storms, and even create flame clouds to fly on.
But if the Chimera fruit could only transform into different animals, then while it was certainly far stronger than an ordinary Zoan fruit, it was still limited compared to other Mythical types. It felt almost... disappointing for something so legendary.