"Hey, what's this?"
Luffy casually caught the letter Kuma had tossed him. He stuffed food into his mouth as he squinted at the page.
Everyone else got up and gathered behind him, except Zoro and Robin, who had already overheard the conversation.
Both wore solemn expressions, as if deep in thought.
They both knew that Luffy's father was Dragon, the World Government's most wanted criminal. With that connection, Luffy shouldn't have been offered a position as one of the Shichibukai.
What they didn't know was that Bartholomew Kuma, standing right in front of them, had once been a Revolutionary Army commander.
The Five Elders cared more about the benefits someone could bring than their identity. As long as they didn't make it public, who would ever know?
And once they'd gotten what they wanted, they could always quietly get rid of him later.
"An invitation to become one of the Shichibukai?" Luffy read aloud from the letter.
"WHAT?!"
At his words, Franky and the others behind him gaped.
The Shichibukai were said to stand alongside Marine Headquarters and the Four Emperors as the three great powers of the sea!
The title was enough to strike fear into people's hearts. The Shichibukai had once seemed untouchable to them, yet now one of them was about to be numbered among their ranks?
And the person being invited was this goofy captain standing right in front of them?
"Hey, hey, hey, is this for real?!"
"This is an invitation to become one of the Shichibukai!"
Usopp's eyes widened as he scanned the letter again and again. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't believe the World Government would invite Luffy.
"Do you know what this means, Luffy?!"
Usopp grabbed Luffy by the shoulders and shook him excitedly.
"Only pirates powerful enough