No matter how the world defined pirates, a pirate was first and foremost a thief.
A thief who went to sea for wealth and would stop at nothing to fulfill his ambitions.
If Seven could choose his identity freely, he would not mind becoming a Celestial Dragon, living in Mary Geoise with maids at his beck and call, Marine escorts whenever he traveled, and endless wealth that required no labor to enjoy.
But there were no ifs.
Having transmigrated into the world of One Piece, simply surviving had been difficult enough.
If he had to be a thief, then so be it.
“Mihawk, I’ll be right back.”
Mihawk held a chilled bottle of lemon iced tea and nodded silently in response.
Over the past month or so, although Seven had not grown noticeably taller, his physique had strengthened considerably.
Even without using his Devil Fruit ability, the current Seven could at least beat two and a half of his former self.
This was Innate Monstrous Strength.
This was the Bottomless Appetite constitution.
No wonder everyone liked cheating.
The first half of the Grand Line was known as Paradise.
However, compared to the four seas, the climate of Paradise was still extremely harsh.
One moment, the sun shone brightly and the wind was calm; the next, lightning flashed and thunder roared.
On the surging sea, Goat, the dark, heavyset captain of the Gorilla Pirates, stood proudly at the bow.
His codename was Gorilla.
“Boys, bring us alongside!
Let’s make the name of the Gorilla Pirates known!”
“Ooooh!”
“Gorilla!
Gorilla!”
“Great treasure!
Great treasure!”
The Gorilla Pirates were a perfect reflection of the countless pirates, bandits, and refugees who had entered the Grand Line from the four seas after the dawn of the Great Pirate Era.
In this world where almost everyone was poorly educated, the lure of the great treasure outweighed life itself.
Between the two pirate ships, several hundred meters vanished in an instant as a streak of lightning arrived in the blink of an eye.
It was the most basic application of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit: instant movement.
In terms of speed, only that sleazy man who had eaten the Glint-Glint Fruit was faster than the Rumble-Rumble Fruit in the entire One Piece world.
Seven ended his elementalization and sat atop the sail of the Gorilla Pirates’ ship.
“Oi.
Over here.”
Hearing the voice, the pirates led by Gorilla nearly had their eyes pop out of their sockets.
“What?!”
“Who are you?
When did you get here?”
As an old-timer from the previous era, Seven decided to teach these rookie pirates a lesson.
“Thunder Dragon!”
A dragon-shaped creature formed entirely from lightning rushed straight toward the pirates on the deck.
After a single exchange, only the dark, heavyset man at the bow remained standing, his fists clenched tight and his chest rising and falling.
“I’m a gorilla human who ate the Gorilla-Gorilla Fruit!
Die!”
The heavyset man transformed directly into a four-meter-tall black-backed gorilla.
His pair of black fists pounded wildly against his chest, and then he charged forward with strange footwork.
“As expected of a Zoan,” Seven sighed.
“Their vitality really is strong.”
The gorilla smashed the mast apart with one punch.
Seven floated lightly in midair, condensing the lightning around his hands into a blue-glowing longsword.
Plasma Sword.
It was rare to encounter an ability user, so Seven intended to use him to evaluate his own combat strength.
There was no helping it.
During the month since leaving Loguetown, Seven had challenged Mihawk many times, but completely one-sided battles had no reference value.
The gorilla kicked off the ship and leaped into the air, roaring, “Eight-Step Gorilla Fist!”
Squelch.
Holding the plasma sword in one hand, Seven imitated Captain Roger’s sword-swinging posture and struck with all his strength, sending the gorilla flying and smashing heavily into the deck.
Looking at the unconscious gorilla, Seven clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“This is Innate Monstrous Strength.”
[Innate Monstrous Strength: Your strength is somewhat impressive.]
This thing seemed to be a conceptual passive ability.
If Mihawk did not use Armament Haki and competed purely in strength, Seven was already stronger than him.
Now, he had even defeated Gorilla in a single slash.
“No wonder people like using cheats in games.”
Seven dismissed the plasma sword and landed steadily on the deck.
Then he woke the unconscious pirates one by one with a kick.
“Men on the left, women on the right.
Line up.
This is a robbery!”
The rookie pirates trembled as they stood in a row, all because the captain they believed was the strongest, a man comparable to the Pirate King himself, lay unconscious on the deck with his fate unknown.
The charred wound across Gorilla’s chest was still giving off heat.
“Anyone who can sail, step forward.”
When no one answered, Seven kicked one pirate into the sea.
“None of you can sail?
Then what are you doing in the Grand Line?”
Was steering a ship not a basic skill every crew member should master?
“Sir, our captain can sail.”
Hearing that, Seven was even more speechless.
“So your captain has been sailing the ship this whole way?”
“Yes.”
The pirates quickly nodded.
“You can’t even sail a ship.
What use are any of you?”
Seven cursed as he said, “In your next life, don’t imitate others and go out to sea.”
The first rule of surviving in the underworld: pull weeds up by the roots.
Because you never knew whether someone you spared might one day turn out to be a child of destiny.
After that chosen one finished training, they might start shouting about bonds and friendship, then come back to take revenge.
After dealing with all the pirates and throwing them into the sea, Seven looted every valuable item on board.
Only then did he place an apple beside Gorilla.
With one slash, he beheaded Gorilla, then squatted beside the apple and waited quietly.
The main reason he did this was to try his luck.
Besides, in this area of the sea, the only fruit nearby was on the Gorilla Pirates’ ship.
About ten minutes later, the apple’s smooth surface began to form the distinctive spiral patterns of a Devil Fruit.
“Huh.
My luck is this good?”
Seven hurriedly put away the freshly produced Zoan-type Gorilla-Gorilla Fruit and sold it directly to the system.
That scammer on the trading platform had offered 1,000 points for Devil Fruits, but the system’s direct-sale price was 1,200 points.
Fortunately, Seven had been cautious.
Otherwise, losing 200 points for no reason would be the same as losing 2,000 cases of lemon iced tea!
[Ding.
Congratulations, you have received 1,200 points.
Current point balance: 1,266.]
After shattering the Gorilla Pirates’ ship with lightning, Seven transformed into electricity and caught up with Mihawk.
“Mihawk, let’s find a nearby island to resupply.
After that, we should be able to reach Jaya.”
The legendary City of Gold and Skypiea were the main reasons Mihawk had stayed.
If not for that, he would have gone off searching the world for opponents long ago.
For the sake of the free lemon iced tea Seven provided, Mihawk gave him a reminder.
“If you want to form your own pirate crew, you should at least find a proper pirate ship.
This one won’t withstand the storms of the New World.”
“True.”
Seven nodded.
The most suitable ship would naturally be the Oro Jackson, built by Mr.
Tom using wood from the Treasure Tree Adam.
But the Oro Jackson was the Pirate King’s ship.
For Seven, it was far too conspicuous.
Since his current strength was still insufficient, keeping a low profile was the correct path.
Besides, Seven had already decided to turn Skypiea into his base and develop steadily for a while.
Mihawk steered the ship while Seven sat on the deck, staring at the system’s direct-sale interface in thought.
[Swordsman Training Experience: 1,000 points]
Strictly speaking, Seven’s swordsmanship was not bad.
A cook and a swordsman were, in essence, similar in certain ways.
One cut vegetables.
The other cut people.
“Mihawk, do I count as a swordsman now?”