Sabaody Archipelago, coating Shipyard.
On the deck of the east blue emperor, Fujitora Issho silently sat down beside Seven and whispered.
"Captain Seven, two strangers came by not long ago. I heard them threatening the coating craftsmen to tamper with the east blue emperor's coating."
"No need to worry," Seven replied calmly.
If he were the Gorosei, he would certainly want to eliminate a pirate who had kidnapped Celestial Dragons twice and demanded ransom from the World Government.
But as long as Saint Elaine was in his hands, they were safe.
Besides, Golden Lion was still there.
At worst, he could make a deal with Golden Lion: in exchange for his freedom, he would assist the east blue emperor and the Giant Yacht in flying over the Red Line to the New World.
Once he found a way to obtain the Float-Float Fruit later, he would capture Golden Lion again and squeeze out every last bit of his remaining value.
What Seven was thinking about now was what kind of three Devil Fruits Brother Kizaru would bring back.
The reason he didn't demand five Devil Fruits like last time was that Seven was worried the Gorosei would intentionally give him something like the Mole Form to spite him.
These Zoan-type Devil Fruits were risky to awaken, and they were also damn abstract.
What would he do with a Mole Form on the sea?
However, since the World Government had already coerced the coating craftsmen to tamper with the ship, the plan to dive to Fish-Man Island had to be terminated.
Seven couldn't gamble the lives of everyone on the ship on whether the coating was reliable.
What if it really had been tampered with?
He decided to have a talk with Golden Lion.
When Seven arrived at the cabin prison carrying two prosthetic limbs forged with Lightning Metallurgy and stated his purpose, Golden Lion grinned and laughed incessantly.
"Jiehahahahaha~"
"Beelzebul! Do you really think two legs will win me over?"
"The humiliation you brought upon me... I wish I could skin you alive and tear your bones from your flesh..."
Golden Lion slumped on the ground, pointing at Seven, pouring out every foul word he had ever learned, one after another, hurling them right at his face.
Clearly, before being captured alive by Seven, no one had ever made Golden Lion lose his composure like this.
As a great pirate who had already made a name for himself in the Rocks era, Golden Lion was a powerhouse who once stood alongside Pirate King Roger and Emperor of the Sea Whitebeard, and the first person in history to escape from Impel Down.
Yet, he had been repeatedly humiliated after encountering Beelzebul and even blackmailed with indecent photos. Golden Lion had never hated anyone so much.
"You want my help? In your dreams."
"Stop dreaming!"
Seven picked his ear.
"Sigh, I originally wanted to... help you remove that steering wheel from your head. Since you don't need it, Senior, then just bury your bones in the deep sea with us."
After saying that, Seven turned to leave without looking back.
Golden Lion's pupils constricted. He hesitated for a second as he watched Seven's departing back, then used both hands to crawl toward the cell bars, his body hunched.
"Don't go! Come back!"
"Come back! I agree!"
If that Massive Steering Wheel could be safely removed from his head, Golden Lion believed that once he recovered, he could definitely return to his peak strength.
What did it matter if he had lost his legs?
As a user of the Float-Float Fruit, he possessed the freedom of flight. Having legs or not didn't really make much of a difference; it just wasn't very aesthetically pleasing.
As for why he was so sure Beelzebul could do what he said instead of deliberately deceiving him...
Golden Lion was gambling. He gambled that Beelzebul truly needed help. And even if it turned out to be a false hope, so what? Could his situation get any worse than it was now?
He had already been captured alive and was likely to be executed. Now, he not only had hope for life but could also regain his freedom and return to his peak.
Never mind helping them fly over the Red Line; even if Beelzebul asked him to join the Morning Star Pirates right now, Golden Lion wouldn't hesitate for a second.
It was no big deal.
At worst, he could just quit afterward.
Once he was back at his peak and free, he, Golden Lion, could go wherever he wanted. No one would be able to stop him. He might even be able to defeat Beelzebul and then take over the Morning Star Pirates... Tsk tsk tsk.
In just a brief moment, Golden Lion thought of many things, and his face glowed with a healthy flush.
"Speak. What are your other conditions?"
Seven gave a thumbs-up.
"Senior Shiki, you're a man of your word."
"After the contract is fulfilled, we will head to the New World to seize a stronghold. At that time, you and I will have another duel. Win or lose, you can leave."
"Of course, if you don't want those photos published in the newspapers for the whole world to see, I hope you can do two things."
"First, do not cause any destruction in any part of the East Blue for the next twenty years."
"Second, you must keep everything that happens when I remove the steering wheel a secret."
"If you fail to do so, no matter where you hide—be it the ends of the earth or Holy Land Mary Geoise—I will surely capture you again..."
Golden Lion thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
"Deal."
Before going to see Whitebeard, Golden Lion had already planned to gather the remnants of the Flying Pirate Group, lie low for a while, and then destroy the East Blue.
He just hadn't expected to hear from Whitebeard about the appearance of someone who inherited Roger's will, which led him to change his mind and chase them to the East Blue.
As a result, he was unfortunately captured alive by Beelzebul.
Although the process was full of twists and turns, fortunately, things were finally back on track. He even gained a blessing in disguise, as he was about to have the steering wheel safely removed from his head.
Thinking of this, Golden Lion suddenly felt his head itch—
"I'm putting my life in your hands."
"I hope you're as good as your word."
After the Edd War Battle, Golden Lion had also sought medical help everywhere to remove the steering wheel from his head, but he always received the same answer: removing it rashly would be life-threatening.
Only then did Golden Lion give up and begin living and fighting with that Massive Steering Wheel on his head.
Seven immediately guaranteed.
"Don't worry, the medicine will cure the disease."
As for how to remove the steering wheel from Golden Lion's head, Seven chose the most primitive and direct method: pulling it out by force.
As Seven applied brute force, Golden Lion saw stars from the pain and began cursing.
"Beelzebul, you tricked me!"
To think Golden Lion actually believed Beelzebul would have a way, only for him to just pull it out like this?
"White-Haired Kid! Dammit!"
"Is my lifelong reputation finally coming to an end?"
The moment the steering wheel was pulled out, blood geysered from the top of Golden Lion's head. Seven calmly raised his hand and collected all the splashing blood, planning to save it for Vegapunk's research.
Immediately afterward, Seven took out a Senzu Bean.
"Open your mouth and eat this."
The only reason he hadn't passed out yet was that Golden Lion was using his willpower to resist the agonizing pain. Hearing the words, Golden Lion cooperatively opened his mouth and swallowed the small pill.
The moment the pill entered his stomach, a surging tide of vitality spread to his limbs and bones.
"Eh?"
Golden Lion's pupils shook. He looked up in terror at Seven, whose face remained completely expressionless.
Because a miracle had occurred.
Around the hole in the top of Golden Lion's head where the white skull was visible, the flesh seemed to come alive, beginning a frenzied process of regeneration and reorganization, intertwining and sealing together. The skin followed closely behind, closing and smoothing over at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the end, it left behind a bare bald spot.
Golden Lion was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently. The hatred in his eyes as he looked at Seven had vanished, replaced by an incredibly complex gaze—
"A divine miracle. This was a divine miracle."
This was the result of witnessing a miracle firsthand: a mixture of wariness, confusion, and a hint of... awe that even Golden Lion himself was unwilling to admit.
This method, unheard of and unseen, something that couldn't even be measured by common knowledge, was close to what Golden Lion considered the "Domain of the Gods."
"Are there really gods on this sea?"
Recalling that Beelzebul's Lunarian lineage was precisely called the Race of Gods, Golden Lion suddenly felt at ease: As a human, it's only logical to lose to a god, right?
"Roger, you're one ruthless man!"
"To think you secretly raised a god."