Enel didn't need to spend much time finding the old man, Gan Fall. It was surprisingly easy to know where everyone was using Observation Haki.
Sure, there were ways people could hide from it, but Gan Fall wasn't able to hide properly. If the past Enel saw him as anything other than insignificant then he would've been killed already.
Enel could only sigh once more when thinking of the mess that was his current reputation. Fixing it wasn't going to be easy, well, there was always the option of simply moving away from Skypea.
But Enel didn't want to do something that boorish. The past Enel had originally been from Skypea after all, and he had mistreated everyone inside it without any hesitation the second he gained the power that allowed him to consider himself a god.
His 'Priests' weren't all that much better, the vast majority of the people on Skypea completely despised both Enel and all of his actions though.
They always kept up the charade of calling him a god because they realized that he was always listening in to them.
Enel knew that the situation looked somewhat difficult to turn around, but he also didn't care about building his reputation back up. He just wanted to right some of the wrongs of the arrogant past version of Enel.
Enel sighed as he used his devil fruit powers to turn into lightning and travel right onto old man Gan's front porch.
Enel felt a bit odd for a split second, he had used that power so casually, but it had technically been the first time he had ever used it.
Maybe it was due to the memories, but every action he did using his devil fruit seemed to be natural, instinctual even.
So, there Enel was, right in front of Gan Fall's door. The blonde did realize that he maybe should've thought a bit more about how to approach the old man before he simply stepped into his yard, but it was a bit too late for that.
After gently knocking on the door and hearing it creak Enel was once again reminded that he was now in One Piece where people could cut islands in two. And his body had a decent amount of strength, which he unfortunately also didn't have much control over.
The door opened, and an old man of average height with long white hair, a moustache, and a beard was holding the door handle. He wore medieval armour, reminiscent of that of knights.
The old man's eyes widened when he saw who stood in front of him, cold sweat filling his back, he was afraid, maybe, but he wasn't going to just keel over and let himself be killed.
He started reaching for his weapon with his hand hidden behind the door, he tried to put on a brave face, but he knew he didn't stand many chances in front of the young 'God'.
He had somewhat feared that this day would come, that Enel would eventually come for his life. But he had hoped to have more time...
"Greetings... God Enel of Skypea, how may this old man be of assistance to you..." He tried a cordial greeting, but he knew that Enel wasn't the type to care about such things.
Then the old man noticed something strange... 'That gaze... That posture...' Enel always wore a lazy expression, even in combat, but now his usually half-lidded eyes were open, and his slouched back was straight as a cutting board.
The next thing that happened was going to remain with Gan Fall for the rest of his life. The formerly arrogant Enel took a bow and said.
"Old man, I need your help." There was no senseless formality, no sense of superiority, a simple honest request. Gan Fall dropped the spear he had been grasping from behind the door as his eyes widened.
Enel, the man that had taken so much pleasure in mocking him, the one that had ruled the entirety of Skypea with fear, considering himself above everyone else and enslaving many others to his rule... Was bowing to him?
"W-Who are you?" The question came naturally off his tongue, it was easy for someone as old as Gan Fall that knew past Enel so well to be able to tell that something simply wasn't right with what was happening.
Enel sighed as he raised his head. "It's a long story... May I come in?" If the bow didn't clarify that the person he was speaking to wasn't Enel, then this certainly did. Enel would've never asked him for permission to do anything...
Gan simply nodded, the two of them then entered the small home and sat down at the table.
As soon as the two of them sat down, Enel began recounting a story. Not his story, but the one that he wanted Gan Fall to believe.
He painted the picture of him being an archaeologist from a desert island somewhere in the New World, having found a devil fruit that allowed him to swap bodies with others. He was about to die of starvation in the middle of the desert, so in a last-ditch attempt, he transferred his consciousness away randomly.
Gan Fall had his eyes wide when hearing about that, he stroked his beard in confusion.
"Whenever I switch bodies, the person I switch with gets to use my body, they can only switch back with me if they touch me while in my new body... But I am pretty sure that my old body has already perished in that desert... So the old Enel is already dead, most likely..."
"I- I see... Excuse me for saying this, but it all seems farfetched... Yet there is simply no better explanation as to why Enel would ever do this... Even if it was a ploy to make fun of me, he wouldn't have kept it up this long."
Gan Fall believed the person in front of him, but he was still confused. Enel did well to use a devil fruit for his explanation, they were still mysterious objects that couldn't be explained properly even by the ones using them. Besides, he only needed this excuse for Gan.
"... But, how did you know to come to me for this?" Gan Fall asked while sating at 'Enel'.
"Consciousness gets flipped around, but the brain retains memories. It's just how this works, it's also the root cause of my frustrations right now. This past Enel's actions seem to be those of a petulant child... One that had far too much power."
Gan Fall could only sigh once more. The old man did feel a bit happy in a sense.
"Well... Given the circumstances, I am glad that you took over Enel's body. Having someone mature and less arrogant wielding that power is more ideal..." The old man said as he finally managed to relax completely.
"I am a bit flattered... But I am not interested in the title of 'God of Skypea'. I am an archaeologist at heart, a person striving to uncover all of the secrets of the world, I cannot rule a country while not being there for long periods." Enel said as he finally got around to the reason he had reached out to Gan Fall in the first place.
Gan Fall blinked a few times, then he smiled once more. "I guess it's time for these old bones to come out of retirement, huh?"
"Sorry for putting this over your head. But I also thought you'd be pleased to return to your right position, you were also close to finally creating peace with the Shandians when the original Enel interfered." Enel spoke as he slowly started getting up.
"I am thankful to you stranger... I don't even know your name..." Gan Fall said as he also got up.
"You can just call me Enel, my previous life is already over," Enel said as he stretched a bit. Gan simply nodded as he started thinking about a few things.
"Taking over won't be all that difficult for me since everyone hates you... No offence meant, by the way. The only ones that might prove troublesome would be your priests..." Gan Fall eventually said as he stroked his beard.
"I'll go sort them out then, I remember them being relatively loyal to the old Enel. I'll make sure they don't get in your way, I can do at least that much..."
The conversation was over at that point, with Enel going about finding the priests and getting rid of them. There were only four priests in total, and they each used dials to fight their enemies.
Enel knew that they weren't going to be an issue for him, but he still planned to use them for some training...
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Normally the devil fruit excuse would seem a bit contrived but honestly it’s kinda similar or some other fruit abilities we see. Brook came back from the dead and possessed his own body, and we see Law swap peoples’ minds with his fruit. So it’s not that far fetched to imagine a fruit that lets you swap minds with someone else and potentially possess their body if your original dies.
There's also Big Mom's fruit, which transfers souls as well. Basically, a DF is a really easy-to-use and believable excuse. A lot more believable than God Complex and genocidal Enel suddenly turning over a new leaf.
Well, He should have said the fruit can be used only one time instead of the "Whenever I switch bodies" because, if you think to this, it make him 'immortal' in a sense but by taking over others body
Yep, but it could be used as a decent cover-up/explanation as to why he knows some stuff about the world ;) (at least for the people that know his story)
@VeganMaster Well, he said he was an archaeologist, mean he moved a lot to research purpose and while these move found the fruit. He could also have just read many things on the world for his work as one.
The 'why' I would prefer it like that is because if he is in danger (while people to who he said this backstory are around) and don't use it to change body, things will become weird
The fruit you’re describing definitely sounds like it could exist when we consider Brook’s fruit. When Brook was alive, he must’ve thought he just got f*cked over by a fruit and couldn’t swim anymore lol.
Agreed. Plus If he says he can still use it, that means he kinda breaks the rule of being able to use only one Devil fruit per person. Even if we could, technically, consider that his fruit's power gets transferred along with his soul, while most other devil fruits' powers are linked to the body. Kinda irrelevant I guess...
@EleanorVanRosaelle Not really ? With 2 power, he should die because we know than for a reason or another only black beard can have more than one fruit
@Stonelight I mean it's irrelevant since he doesn't really have two Devil Fruit power's but was just using that lie/excuse as a cover.
@EleanorVanRosaelle @Stonelight Maybe I didn't read right since I just woke up, but did he even say he can use both powers? He said people can swap back if they touch their original body, so I would assume the hypothetical devil fruit has 2 functions / states - if you're in your original body it allows you to swap with someone else, or if you aren't it allows you to swap back upon physical contact; meaning the original body would still be the one with the devil fruit, just that they can't utilize its main function since they aren't the original owner of said body, and the old owner of said body would no longer have access to said devil fruit.
@Dr.Smut I think he said he saw much of the world because of using his fruit (for the part with all the thing he know on the world), that implies he used it many time to switch bodies, it mean would have 2 powers if the body he take already have a fruit in. And like I said in my first com, he also said "Whenever I switch bodies", and that's implies he keep the power after each switch
@Stonelight I don't believe there's been any explanation for Blackbeards ability. Its presumed to be something special about him but there's about an equal chance that its simply something special about the first fruit he ate, we also have no clue HOW he stole a fruit's power without it leaving the body so currently the best explanation for that is ALSO it being something weird about the Yami Yami fruit. So far the general rule of the one piece world is that every rule has at least one exception and its a devil fruit. (I'm just waiting for their to be a 'sea water' devil fruit logia who just ignores the established rules damn near entirely while being able to turn off powers by touch.) So a devil fruit that lets you have ONE additional devil fruit power somehow seems entirely possible to me. (And if that IS a ability of the Yami Yami it'd explain why he only took one additional power and no others since he'd probably explode.)
@Chaeden I don't think that's a ability of the fruit because since a while now the fact he have a special body is put forward so I would think the reason he can have 2 fruit is on it instead. But yeah, it could be the fact the yami yami is able to make even a person with a fruit like if he don't have one who help him to have 2 fruits and not one
@Stonelight it's been implied/ foreshadowed / theorized that Blackbeard is actually 3 triplets sharing a body - whether that be due to a devil fruit one of them has, or some other weird thing.