Seven’s days training on Skypiea were free and comfortable.
As the current God of Skypiea, he no longer had to suffer hunger or cold.
In his spare time, he could sit quietly atop the dome of the Thunder God Palace and watch the morning light pierce the sea of clouds, or the evening glow turn the sky molten gold.
When night fell, he could sleep beneath a sky full of stars and the silver light of the Milky Way.
There was only one regret: he was cut off from news.
The wings of the News Coos could not cross the White-White Sea ten thousand meters in the sky.
Every storm rising on the sea below was blocked by thick layers of cloud, severing his connection to the world.
Of course, that also allowed him to fully calm down and devote himself to training.
In order to integrate the Iron Balloon physique as quickly as possible, Seven burned almost all his passion into various forms of training.
Sweating more now was better than bleeding later.
Looking at the true powerhouses standing at the peak of the sea, almost all of them were all-round monsters.
Whether it was the three types of Haki, martial arts, Devil Fruit abilities, or the swordsmanship unique to great swordsmen, they were complete in every aspect, complementing one another with none lacking.
They never relied on a single method to win.
Instead, they forged every ability into an impeccable combat system.
Only then could one stand firm on the sea and pursue their dreams.
The weak could only drift with the current, stripped of the right to choose.
Having lived two lives and experienced that kind of helplessness, Seven had long since had enough of the torment of hunger and cold.
In the past, he had no choice.
Now, he would become the strongest.
Three months later.
Under the setting sun of the golden city of Shandora, Seven stood before the Poneglyph, casting aside every stray thought.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
His fists tore through the air.
Heavy impacts echoed through the ruins.
Each collision between fist and stone tablet sent numbness through Seven’s arms, yet he did not reduce his strength in the slightest.
Sweat dripped from his jaw and soaked his clothes, but he seemed completely unaware, continuing to drive his fists with sheer will.
One punch after another struck the stone again and again.
The stone tablet remained silent, carrying the weight of history.
Across a thousand years of time, it had become Seven’s best training ground for trying to awaken Armament Haki.
Every impact pushed his body to its limits.
Seven forged his will into the edge of his fists, trying to break through the shackles of flesh and, amid the sound of collision, knock open the gate to Armament Haki.
Why endure hardship when he already had a cheat?
Because he was poor.
Ever since Warhammer Bro, only four dials listed on the trading platform had sold.
Instead, the number of low-priced requests for dials had grown higher and higher.
Three months had passed.
Even Iron Balloon had been fully integrated, yet Seven had only saved 4,300 points.
He suspected the users from other worlds had guessed he had occupied Skypiea after seeing him buy Musou Isshin for 88,888 tons of gold and then list Skypiean dials for sale.
That was why they were frantically pushing prices down. Get faster updates on g.com.
Fortunately, Skypiean dials only existed in the world of One Piece.
As the God of Skypiea, Seven held the right to set prices.
Also, although Seven wanted points, his need was not so urgent that he had to lower his prices.
He would rather fail to sell than lower the price.
Having a cheat was certainly great, but battling wits with users from other worlds on the trading platform was even more addictive.
Logically speaking, every world had its own unique goods for sale, so pricing power should naturally rest in the hands of the users from that world.
But in reality, that was not the case.
Because everything depended on urgency.
Someone like Seven was not in a hurry at all.
If he could not buy Armament Haki, he could train it himself.
Even if he failed to awaken Armament Haki, it did not matter.
He still had the Musou no Hitotachi Training Experience in his mind that had yet to fully merge.
Because he was not desperate, he could say, buy it or don’t.
That was how pricing power ended up in his hands.
If Seven urgently needed points, he would have no choice but to accept the prices set by those lowball request posts.
Naturally, he would lose pricing power.
Only rich brothers like Warhammer Bro did not care about prices, buying purely according to personal preference.
The only thing that could restrict Warhammer Bro was the platform’s rules.
Learning from the platform users’ price suppression, Seven also began posting low-priced requests for Flying Cloaks, martial arts techniques, and other things.
His main strategy was simple: his own goods would not drop in price, but he would buy other people’s goods cheaply.
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out before the stone tablet.
Seven’s chest rose and fell, and his clenched fists had turned black, as if coated in a layer of black glaze.
“Hah…”
“Finally awakened.”
Although Seven had already mastered Conqueror’s Haki infusion, making basic Armament Haki seem somewhat unimpressive, how should he put it?
Having it was better than not having it.
The 5,000 points he saved could be used to strengthen other abilities or buy a Flying Cloak.
Armament Haki.
Its core functions were strengthening attack and defense, as well as allowing contact with the true body of Logia-type Devil Fruit users.
It was divided into three forms: hardening, outward flow, and internal destruction.
Hardening was the most common and basic usage, covering the body or a weapon in Armament Haki to greatly improve defense and attack power.
Outward flow released Armament Haki as a flowing force wrapped around the hands or a weapon, creating a shockwave.
Internal destruction was a method of using outward flow, releasing Armament Haki through an object’s surface to directly destroy it from within.
Because of their flowing nature, outward flow and internal destruction were known in Wano Country as Ryuo.
In the New World, where almost everyone knew Armament Haki, Seven had not awakened it until now.
But now?
With Bottomless Appetite, Innate Monstrous Strength, and Iron Balloon empowering him, Seven had traded his slingshot for a star destroyer.
He was practically a human-shaped giant, completely unlike before.
After successfully awakening Armament Haki, Seven was in an excellent mood.
He drew his beloved blade, Musou Isshin, and swung it at the top of the Poneglyph.
Crack.
A smooth, neat cut appeared at the top of the stone tablet.
A corner of the Poneglyph was cleanly sliced off by Musou Isshin.
“It really has to be you.
As expected of a divine weapon.”
The Poneglyph was made of some unknown stone.
Seven had punched it for three months, yet it had not been damaged at all.
It had almost made him think he had encountered a peerless treasure.
In the end, that was all?
Sheathing his blade, Seven turned into lightning and flashed to the Thunder God Palace in a single breath.
A woman around twenty years old hurriedly bowed to him.
She wore a pale-yellow short dress, with long golden hair, long legs, stormy curves, and small wings on her back.
“Lord Thunder God.”
Just the motion of her bow seemed to show the fiercest waves on the sea.
Seven quickly shifted his gaze away.
I’m not the Thunder God.
Shani, you’re the real Thunder God!
As the God of Skypiea, beautiful maids were naturally unavoidable around Seven.
Gan Fall had even wanted to send his granddaughter over.
His intentions had practically bounced off Seven’s face like abacus beads.
Unfortunately, Seven had spent too long living in poverty and truly was not used to being served.
In the end, he only kept the sisters Shani and Shalu in the Thunder God Palace to work in shifts.
“My lord.”
Shani lowered her head.
“Because… because you came back earlier than usual today, the kitchen hasn’t finished preparing dinner yet.
What would you like us to…”
Seven waved a hand.
“I’ll go take a bath.
Serve dinner at the usual time.”
“Also, raise your head when you speak from now on.”
“It’s not like I’m going to eat you.”
Shani pressed her lips together.
Whether you’ll eat me or not is hard to say.
You’ve secretly looked at me several times already.