He's the least talented among us.
Scrawny, muscles that never grow no matter how hard he trains, thick-headed, always day-dreaming.
We used to bully him all the time.
Then some pirate named Roger tricked him into becoming a cook and he never came back.
East Blue, Conomi Islands.
Housha Town, Imperial Fist Gym.
CP9 agent Lu Bian Yi Tiao set down his pen: "Know his surname? Any family left?"
A hulking muscle-man scratched his head.
"He was an orphan the old village chief took in. After the chief died he had no one. We called him Little White Hair—surname Bar…zeb."
"Right, Barzeb it is."
Lu Bian Yi Tiao hurriedly wrote: Roger Pirates cook Barzeb Seven, fifteen, no Haki, no Devil Fruit.
Overall assessment: non-combatant.
Arrest priority: highest.
Pirate King Roger is about to be publicly executed in Loguetown; the World Government has dispatched CP9 agents to secretly track down the rest of his crew.
The likes of Rayleigh and Jabba, the Pirate King's two wings, are out of Lu Bian Yi Tiao's league.
But the little cook Barzeb Seven—he's a prize he can claim, and—
CP9 agent versus cook: the advantage is mine!
Fortune was knocking; Lu Bian Yi Tiao felt great, tossed down thirty-thousand Berries and left in haste. The kid wasn't in his hometown, so he'd almost certainly head to Loguetown to see Roger off.
Promotion and raise hinged on this one move.
Night had fallen, stars dotted the sky.
Amid the foam of rolling waves, a coffin-shaped little skiff docked steadily at Loguetown harbor.
At the prow Barzeb Seven shipped his oars.
"Mihawk, we've arrived."
The youth called Mihawk opened hawk-like eyes: "You were really on Roger's ship?"
Mihawk couldn't fathom how someone like Seven—no Devil Fruit, no Haki, not even a proper boat—could reach the final island.
Just that inexplicable self-confidence?
Mihawk glanced at him: how could such a weakling brim with such fierce confidence?
A gift from ONE PIECE?!
"Hey, what's with that look?" Seven was used to it.
"I told you—I'm the cook!"
Barzeb Seven, the greatest chef on the Roger Pirates; as for combat… best not mentioned.
Truth be told, Seven didn't want it this way either.
But with his wretched natural physique, even two-hundred-percent effort couldn't catch the geniuses—not only catch up, the gap only widened.
Hawkeye took the oar-black blade yoru: "Plenty of eyes in town—you… stick close."
The future world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, had just turned nineteen, black blade yoru on his back, roaming the seas for worthy foes.
Hearing the Pirate King would die in Loguetown, Mihawk had swung by Twin Capes and hired a boatman at top price: Barzeb Seven.
The reason—those who know, know.
After successfully freeloading passage, Seven followed Mihawk into another freebie: a luxury king room in Loguetown.
Door shut, Seven soaked in the tub to ease the ache; Mihawk didn't want anyone seeing him rowing, so Seven had paddled the whole way.
They'd made it just before the execution.
Unlike Mihawk, Seven came only to send Captain Roger off—and to complete the final step of activating his system.
Sixteen years ago, the Great Fortune Celestial ran Seven over with a truck into this world.
Though he'd bound a system, the conditions to activate it were never met, leaving it in standby.
[Multiverse Trade Platform: Standby]
Activation conditions: Pirate King's Straw Hat 1/1, Whitebeard's Moustache 1/1, Shanks's Red Hair 1/1, Buggy's Treasure Map 1/1, Blackbeard's Teeth 2/2, Witness Pirate King's Death 0/1
Captain Roger's public execution would kick off the Great Pirate Age; miss it and Seven's life was as good as over.
Unless he waited twenty-four years to witness the next Pirate King's death.
Twenty-four years—turnips would go sour by then.
Reincarnated here with average bloodline and no noble birth, without a cheat he couldn't survive.
Exhaling, Seven's eyes blazed as he looked at the three gifts in his newbie pack: Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Innate Divine Strength, Big Eater.
His confidence came from this.
Unlike the rest of Roger's crew, Seven didn't mind eating a Devil Fruit—he couldn't swim anyway, so the side-effect was moot.
But it had to be a top-tier fruit.
If anyone believes "there are no weak Devil Fruits, only weak users,"
they're the same fools who spout "there are no trash martial souls, only trash masters."
Idiot—go eat dirt!
Not only do Devil Fruits have tiers, people are born unequal.
A politician's son becomes a politician, a lawyer's son a lawyer; an ordinary man's son stays ordinary or becomes cannon-fodder.
But none of that applied to Seven—he was a noble cheater!
Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Innate Divine Strength, Big Eater—each filled a vital gap.
Put the Rumble-Rumble, Chilly-Chilly, Mag-Mag and other Logia fruits in front of him and he'd still choose Rumble without hesitation.
Because it's the most complete.
Intangibility, speed rivaling the Glint-Glint, destructive power matching the Mag-Mag, Observation Haki boost, cardiac restart, infinite energy—attack, defense, speed, healing, Haki boost all in one.
It could even refine the body with lightning and develop electromagnetism, brainwaves, bioelectricity.
Overall,
the Rumble-Rumble seems a Logia but is essentially Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Type, Thunder God Form.
Sadly, it debuted too early and got benched by Oda; had it appeared post-Marineford it'd be a finals contender.
And most important of all—
Rumble powers are cool.
Strength is patch-dependent; coolness lasts a lifetime.
Big Eater is standard protagonist fare.
For fifteen-year-old Seven, reaching Emperor-tier height depended on this physique.
As for Innate Divine Strength, he had no concrete idea yet.
Head back against the tub, thoughts drifting, he recalled that tomorrow's onlookers would include—
Sun-Sun Fruit user, high-tier-only fighter "Fifty-Fifty" Crocodile.
Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, future Shichibukai grave-robber Moriah.
Old pal, young Emperor, face-saving Red Hair.
Self-Brave Army leader, rescue maniac, cold-sweat Dragon.
String-String Fruit user, young Shichibukai newspaper king Doflamingo.
Old pal, Chop-Chop Fruit user, young Emperor, Haoshoku-luck holder Buggy.
And Smoker.
"What a gathering of luminaries!"
Barzeb Seven