“Oi, why was the World Government after you?”
The man lifted his head.
On his filthy face was a pair of dull, lifeless eyes, without the slightest spark in them.
His lips were cracked like parched earth.
Seeing this, Seven brought over food and water and placed them in front of him.
“Eat first.
Talk after you’re full.”
Only those who had truly starved understood what kind of torment hunger and thirst could be.
Under normal circumstances, even if Seven intended to kill someone, he would still let them eat first.
His principle was simple: go on your way with a full stomach, not as a starving ghost.
Even with both hands locked in Seastone handcuffs, the man still devoured the food in great mouthfuls.
That wretched table manner reminded Seven of himself before joining the Roger Pirates.
Whenever a kind villager had given him food, he had probably looked the same.
When meals came only after long stretches of hunger, table manners were a luxury.
The man wolfed down two bowls of braised pork rice in no time.
“The cook on your ship is good.”
“My name is Phoenix.
I’m a doctor, and a space human who ate the Space-Space Fruit.”
“The World Government seems to have obtained some method of recovering Devil Fruits.
I suspect they wanted to recover the Space-Space Fruit, which is why they captured me.”
A doctor?
The Space-Space Fruit?
Seven pressed his lips together.
On the surface, he showed no reaction, but his heart was pounding wildly.
Surely this couldn’t be the Op-Op Fruit that the World Government had once offered five billion berries for?
If it truly were just a standard “Space-Space Fruit,” the Cipher Pol leader would never have pulled a gun and tried to kill Phoenix after Mihawk appeared.
Then the truth was obvious.
The World Government would rather kill this man than let him fall into someone else’s hands.
Besides, the difference in his behavior before and after was too great.
Someone who had already given up on life would not eat like this.
Only someone desperate to survive would wolf down food without hesitation, grasping at every chance to live.
And his explanation had been too neat.
Every word was carefully placed, almost as if he had rehearsed it over and over beforehand.
Although there had never been any information on the seas about another Op-Op Fruit user besides Law, that was not difficult to understand.
A Devil Fruit capable of granting immortality was on the level of a strategic nuclear weapon.
The World Government would absolutely erase every trace of information about it.
This was immortality they were talking about!
Still, even if the doctor really was the Op-Op Fruit user, Seven guessed he probably could not perform the Perennial Youth Operation yet.
Only ten Cipher Pol agents had been enough to capture him.
That alone showed what level his strength was at.
Most likely, he was not even as strong as Seven was now.
“Boss, I haven’t asked your name yet.”
The doctor then asked, “Boss Seven, where are you headed?”
Seven looked at him with a smile.
“Where we’re going isn’t something you need to ask.
You’re spoils I stole from the World Government.”
“What a coincidence.
I’m rather interested in the Space-Space Fruit too.
Even more coincidentally, I also know how to recover Devil Fruits.”
Hearing that, the doctor froze.
His already pale face turned even whiter.
Even Mihawk, who had been taking a sweet drink from the ice bucket nearby, paused in place.
Bad news.
He was even more interested in Seven now.
The doctor gave a bitter smile, looking thoroughly broken, as if he had just escaped a wolf’s den only to enter a tiger’s mouth.
“Boss Seven, a man like you, someone with the qualities of a king, actually knows that too?”
“Just kidding.”
Seven patted the doctor on the shoulder.
“From now on, cleaning the ship is your job.”
“Yes, Captain!
I’ll make sure it gets done.”
After leaving the harbor, Seven’s group continued toward Jaya.
Even if the doctor really was the Op-Op Fruit user, Seven had no intention of coercing him right now.
He was only fifteen.
Being forever twenty sounded wonderful.
Being forever fifteen was a little less appealing.
At the very least, he would have to wait until his body had fully matured and stopped growing before considering immortality.
Rather than waste time here, it was better to reach the City of Gold as soon as possible and use that giant golden pillar to buy the divine weapon Musou Isshin.
What if that idiot in Teyvat took Musou Isshin off the market?
Seven had to consider the possibility that this might be the only chance he would ever get in his life.
If he missed it, it would be gone forever.
…
World Economic News.
Morgans, president of the newspaper, stared at the faxed photo in his hand, then at the Den Den Mushi.
“Do you have a clearer photo?
With this quality, it won’t cause nearly enough of a sensation.”
The Den Den Mushi mimicked the speaker’s expression as it replied, “Three million berries.
I’ll send you every photo I have.”
Morgans sneered.
“Three million berries?
Have you gone insane from thinking about money?”
The Den Den Mushi said, “Don’t forget, he’s a member of the Roger Pirates.
Before I was knocked out by Conqueror’s Haki, I took plenty of photos that could make your newspaper sales explode.”
“And ten Cipher Pol agents are all dead.
He also took that criminal with him.”
Morgans said coldly, “You don’t even know his surname.”
The Den Den Mushi replied, “Does his surname matter?
“I never sell fake news!”
Morgans cursed and snapped, “He’s just a little cook from the Roger Pirates.
Final offer, two million.
Sell or don’t.”
The Den Den Mushi said, “Deal.”
When the Den Den Mushi transmitted the high-resolution photos, Morgans planted his hands on his hips, threw back his head, and laughed wildly.
“Big news!
This is big news!”
Morgans deliberately chose one photo as the cover.
In it, lightning flashed across the sky, black-red Haki tore through the heavens, and Seven stood holding a blue-glowing longsword.
Then he found a close-up: snow-white hair and a slightly youthful face.
“Beelzebub Seven!
The qualities of a king, the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit, slaughtered World Government agents and abducted a mysterious prisoner.
Mm, that’s what we’ll write.”
“What codename should I give him?”
Morgans paced back and forth in his office, muttering to himself.
“‘Demon Heir’ is already taken by Bullet.
‘White Hair’ doesn’t sound intimidating at all.”
“The Rumble-Rumble Fruit… Rumble-Rumble Fruit…”
“Raiden Shogun?”
“Forget it.
Let’s call him the Thunder God.”
After personally finalizing the draft, Morgans shouted excitedly.
“Tomorrow’s newspaper is absolutely going to sell out!”
Before it went to print, however, Morgans took out a Den Den Mushi and contacted an old acquaintance, CP9 agent Lubin.
“Lubin, I found Beelzebub’s whereabouts.
Three million berries, and I’ll send you his location immediately.”
The Den Den Mushi gritted its teeth as it asked, “Is Hawkeye Mihawk still with him?”
Morgans paused.
“They’re together?
I didn’t receive any information that they were together.”
The Den Den Mushi said, “Good.
Thanks.”
East Blue, Loguetown.
When Lubin received the news that Beelzebub Seven had appeared on Sandy Island, he was utterly dumbfounded.
“What?”
“You’re a noncombatant with no Haki, no martial arts, and no Devil Fruit ability.
A triple-no player.
How did you get into the Grand Line?”
“How dare you?”
Thinking of how he had wasted more than a month in the East Blue like a headless fly, Lubin’s rage meter instantly maxed out.
“Beelzebub, you really deserve to die!”