A Nameless deserted island.
Watching Seven in mid-air, gathering his strength, Rayleigh felt a long-lost passion Burning within him, a feeling he hadn't felt since the Roger Pirates disbanded.
Rayleigh also wanted to see what kind of sword technique this little guy, Barzeb Seven—whom the entire pirate crew had misjudged—would use.
What kind of name would be worthy of such a solemn accumulation of power?
At this moment, Rayleigh had come to treat Seven as a true, equal opponent, rather than just a junior from the Roger Pirates.
Since the beginning of their battle, Seven's Devil Fruit ability, which he had never used before, began to manifest its power.
Above the deserted island, the sky was filled with purple thunderstorms and lightning, as if welcoming the descent of their god.
Seven's pupils were dyed with a purple glow, and his entire body was surrounded by crackling electricity. The musou isshin held tightly in his hand seemed to be cheering in jubilation.
Thump-thump... Thump-thump...
Rayleigh's throat moved; he couldn't tell if this was the sound of his own heartbeat or Seven's.
Pushing his Three Types of Haki to the limit, the black-red Haki wrapped around Rayleigh's body almost solidified, and he completely cleared his mind—
The sound of the wind by his ears and the roar of the waves faded away. In his eyes, there was only the skyrocketing Haki around Seven and that blade which was about to tear through the firmament.
Finally, he moved!
Using musou isshin as a medium, Seven slashed the sword momentum he had accumulated to the extreme down toward the deserted island with daunting force.
"Crack—!"
It wasn't the sound of clashing metal, but a crisp sound like the sky shattering or glass exploding.
The majesty of that strike suddenly erupted, turning into a purple torrent that spanned heaven and earth. The light was so intense that one dared not look directly at it.
Wherever it passed, space was forcibly torn apart.
Before it even touched the ground, the heat wave emitted by the majesty scorched the vegetation along the way, and Rocks instantly melted into crimson magma.
"Brat, you're trying to take this old man's life."
Rayleigh stepped on the ground, used the force to leap sideways into the air, and narrowly avoided the majesty of this strike.
The moment the majesty touched the ground, the entire deserted island let out an earth-shaking wail. A giant fissure several zhang wide spread rapidly toward the depths of the island.
Within just a few breaths.
The deserted island was split in two. A bottomless giant canyon lay across the middle, and seawater poured in, forming rapid whirlpools.
Rayleigh put away his double-edged sword and looked at the figure suspended in mid-air. In his eyes, there was confusion, relief, but more than anything, gratification.
The junior from the ship has grown up.
"Roger, we all misjudged him."
Of the three little guys on Roger's ship, all the crew members were most optimistic about Shanks—his physique, mindset, and Talents were unsurpassed in the Grand Line.
As for Seven and Buggy...
Perhaps many years later, Seven would become a world-renowned chef because of his exquisite cooking skills, opening a restaurant in his hometown to spend his old age in peace.
Buggy was hard to evaluate.
However, only two years after Roger left, and with the Great Pirate Era just beginning, Seven had already leaped over the dragon gate and transformed into a soaring dragon.
Two years, it has only been two years.
Is this the new era?
Before Rayleigh could even open his mouth to offer a few words of praise, he was suddenly picked up by Seven and soared straight into the sky, disappearing in a flash.
In mid-air, the wind whistled past.
Rayleigh had a dejected look on his face, looking like he'd lost his will to live: "Seven, what was the name of that move just now?"
"Musou no Hitotachi."
"The charging time is a bit long."
"Yeah, there's still room for improvement."
The fusion progress of Musou no Hitotachi was only 26%. With more fusion, the charging time would surely be greatly reduced, perhaps even reaching the point of instant activation.
Seven was only seventeen; there was plenty of room for improvement.
Based on general logic, the bone and muscle density of a human male reaches its peak around age 25 and then gradually stabilizes.
The overall peak period for powerhouses in the pirate world is usually between ages 25 and 60. This is because the body is not fully developed before 25, and after 60, physical limitations hinder the display of strength.
Of course, special races are an exception.
Compared to humans, the Giant Race can live for several hundred years, so they naturally do not fall into this category.
From his battle with Rayleigh, Seven had a clear positioning of his own strength: at least at the level of a Yonko Commander; if he fought for his life, he might even be able to battle a Yonko-level powerhouse.
As long as he didn't court death by touching Imu's reverse scale in the Room of Flowers, he would be free and easy on the sea... Sabaody Archipelago, Shakkys Rip-off Bar.
Rayleigh pushed open the bar door and sat down at the wooden counter. Although it was late at night, many guests were still gathered in small groups drinking.
When you come out to be a pirate, the best mindset is to live every day as if it were your last.
That way, you'll live longer than you imagine.
"Where's the little guy?" Shakky poured a glass of wine.
"He went to Pleasure Town," Rayleigh said as he took the glass.
"Who won?"
It was originally just casual small talk, but Rayleigh unexpectedly replied with a gratified smile: "I lost."
"Oh?" Shakky frowned. "You didn't hold back?"
Rayleigh paused. "Although I didn't use my full strength, I feel like Seven also held something back."
Unreasonable strength, a Haoshoku that could be called heaven-defying... although his Armament Haki was average, his physical strength was so great that it gave one a faint illusion of Charlotte Linlin.
This kid, he couldn't be Linlin's son who accidentally ended up elsewhere, could he?
Thinking about it carefully, it was actually possible.
Linlin probably couldn't even remember her own husbands herself. Having a son wandering outside... it's quite reasonable!
Rayleigh drained his glass and sighed with emotion:
"What a freak. I can't even imagine what level he'll grow to in a few more years."
"He's just like Rocks back then."
Rocks? Shakky found it hard to believe that Rayleigh would give such a high evaluation.
Who was Rocks?
A fierce man who could kill a Marine Admiral with a casual strike.
The legendary great pirates Whitebeard and Golden Lion, and the great pirates Linlin and Kaido, were all once members of the Rocks Pirates.
After drinking three glasses of wine in a row, Rayleigh remembered the main business and hurriedly asked, "How did the business talk go?"
"I've already found a buyer; the transaction is tomorrow."
Meanwhile, in Pleasure Town.
Seven didn't stay in Pleasure Town because he wanted to visit nightclubs or seek pleasure, but because he wanted to contact Vegapunk through the Queen of Pleasure Town, Stussy.
Vegapunk had something he was interested in.
It was the Artificial Devil Fruit that Momonosuke would eat later—the dragon-dragon fruit.
Compared to the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan Type, Azure Dragon Form eaten by Kaido, the dragon-dragon fruit could also transform into a dragon and enable a hybrid form.
It possessed almost identical fruit abilities. The reason it was called a failure by Vegapunk was simply because the color was different.
This is just ridiculous.
Truly worthy of a scientist's obsession.
Seven was thirsty for this pointy-headed scientist's talent, wishing he could immediately capture him and imprison him on Sky Island.
Unfortunately, the many experiments Vegapunk conducted cost an astronomical amount of resources.
Seven simply couldn't afford it.
At least not for now. He might consider it again after occupying more territory in the future.
In fact, he wasn't quite sure whether Vegapunk had successfully rerun the dragon-dragon fruit at this time or if it was still in the experimental stage.
In any case.
If he didn't know this information, it would be one thing.
Since he already knew, there was no reason to miss out on such a powerful Devil Fruit.
If heaven offers and you do not take, you will suffer the consequences.
However, when Seven stayed in Pleasure Town and actually began to implement his plan, he suddenly realized with embarrassment: he had remembered the timeline wrong.
Stussy wasn't the Queen of Pleasure Town yet.
"Holy crap!" Seven fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
There were still twenty years before Luffy would set sail. Most of the household names of later generations weren't very famous yet, and some were even just born.
The next day at noon.
Seven rarely slept until the sun was high in the sky. After a full meal, he took a slow stroll through the Sabaody Archipelago.
Since he couldn't find Stussy, he would have to make a trip to Ohara. If he remembered correctly, Vegapunk and Monkey D. Dragon would appear after the Ohara Buster Call.
However, he had to meet up with Mihawk before going.
And then there was the issue of the ship.
The most ideal material for building a ship was none other than the adam tree—the ships of Pirate King Roger and Straw Hat were both built from the adam tree.
But the material was too rare and required some luck.
After wandering for the whole morning without encountering any blind pirates for Seven to play the pig to eat the tiger or show off, he had no choice but to come to Shakkys Rip-off Bar again.
"Aunt Shakky, do you have any leads on Devil Fruits?"