Barzeb Seven

"He was the least talented person around here.

"He was small and skinny, and no matter how much he trained, he couldn't build muscle. He was also stupid and always zoning out.

"We used to bully him all the time.

"Then a pirate named Roger tricked him into becoming some kind of cook, and he never came back."

East Blue, Konomi Islands.

Housha Town, Emperor Fist Gym.

CP9 agent Rujian Yitia stopped writing. "Do you know his surname? Does he have any family?"

The burly, muscular man scratched his head.

"He was an orphan adopted by the old village chief. After the chief died, he had no family. We all called him Little White Hair. I think his surname was Barzeb..."

"Right, it was Barzeb."

Rujian Yitia quickly jotted down: Roger Pirates' chef, Barzeb Seven, fifteen years old, no Haki, no Devil Fruit powers.

Overall assessment: Noncombatant.

Arrest priority: Extremely high.

King of the Pirates Roger was about to be publicly executed in Loguetown, and the World Government had dispatched CP9 agents to secretly investigate the whereabouts of the Roger Pirates' other crew members.

He couldn't afford to provoke powerhouses like Rayleigh and Gaban, the Wings of the King.

But the little chef, Barzeb Seven, was as good as his already, and—

CP9 agent versus chef? Advantage: me!

A fortune was about to fall into his lap. In high spirits, Rujian Yitia dropped thirty thousand Berry on the table and hurried away. The little chef wasn't in his hometown, so there was a good chance he'd gone to Loguetown to see Roger off.

His chance at a promotion and a raise rested on this.

(๑Ő௰Ő๑)

It was late at night, and the stars twinkled overhead.

Amid the foam tossed up by the waves, a small wooden boat shaped like a coffin came to a steady stop at Loguetown's harbor.

At the bow, Barzeb Seven lowered his oars.

"Mihawk, we're here."

The young man he'd addressed as Mihawk opened his hawk-like eyes. "You really were a member of Roger's crew?"

Mihawk couldn't understand how someone like Seven... with no Devil Fruit powers, no Haki, and not even a ship, had made it to the Final Island.

Was it all down to that inexplicable confidence of his?

Mihawk glanced at Seven. How could someone this weak have such an overwhelming degree of confidence?

Was it because of ONE PIECE?!

"Hey, what's with that look?" Seven was used to it by now.

"I told you, I'm the cook!"

Barzeb Seven's cooking had been the best in the Roger Pirates. As for his combat ability... better not to mention it.

Actually, Seven didn't want things to be this way, either.

But no matter how hard he worked—two hundred times harder, even—his natural physical talent was so poor that he still couldn't catch up to those gifted freaks. The gap didn't just remain; it kept growing.

Hawk Eyes took the oars and the Black Blade Night. "The town's full of prying eyes. You... stay close to me."

The future World's Greatest Swordsman, Hawk Eyes Mihawk, had just turned nineteen. With Black Blade Night on his back, he traveled the world in search of opponents.

After hearing that the King of the Pirates was about to be executed in Loguetown, Mihawk had hired a boatman at an extravagant rate while passing Twin Capes: Barzeb Seven.

As for the reason, well, you know.

After successfully freeloading a ticket, Seven followed Mihawk and managed to freeload a place to stay, too: a luxury room with a king-sized bed in Loguetown.

Once the door was shut, Seven lay in the bathtub to ease his fatigue. Mihawk didn't want anyone to see him rowing, so Seven had rowed the whole way.

They'd finally arrived in time for the execution.

Unlike Mihawk, Seven had come only to see Captain Roger off and complete the final step to activate his system.

Sixteen years ago, Great Fortune Heavenly Venerate had hit Seven with the front of a truck, sending him crashing into Pirate World.

Though he'd later bound himself to a system, he hadn't fulfilled the conditions to activate it, so it remained dormant.

[Myriad Worlds Trading Platform, awaiting activation]

[Activation conditions: Pirate King's Straw Hat 1/1, Whitebeard's mustache 1/1, Shanks's red hair 1/1, Buggy's treasure map 1/1, Blackbeard's teeth 2/2, witness the death of the King of the Pirates 0/1]

Captain Roger was about to be publicly executed, and the Great Pirate Era would begin soon after. If Seven missed this chance, his life would be over before it even started.

Unless he waited twenty-four years to witness the next King of the Pirates die.

Twenty-four years? He'd be dead of old age by then.

He'd crossed over into Pirate World with an ordinary bloodline and no noble background. Without a cheat, he wouldn't stand a chance.

Taking a deep breath, Seven fixed his gaze on the three rewards in his starter pack: the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Innate Divine Strength, and Big Eater.

That was the source of his confidence.

Unlike the other members of the Roger Pirates, Seven had no aversion to eating a Devil Fruit. He couldn't swim anyway, so he could practically ignore its drawbacks.

But he had to choose a powerful Devil Fruit.

If anyone really believed, "There are no bad Devil Fruits, only bad users," then how were they any different from the idiots who believed, "There are no useless spirits, only useless spirit masters"?

Get lost and go eat shit!

Don't tell him Devil Fruits had no difference in strength. Even people were born unequal.

A politician's son became a politician; a lawyer's son became a lawyer. An ordinary person's son either became ordinary, too, or became someone else's stepping stone.

But then again, that rule didn't apply to Seven—he was a superior cheat user!

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Innate Divine Strength, and Big Eater were all things Seven urgently needed to make up for his shortcomings.

Even if the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Ice-Ice Fruit, Magma-Magma Fruit, and other Logia Devil Fruits were all laid out before him, Seven would still choose the Rumble-Rumble Fruit without hesitation.

It was simply the most versatile Devil Fruit.

Elemental transformation, speed comparable to the Glint-Glint Fruit, destructive power on par with the Magma-Magma Fruit, enhanced Observation Haki, reviving a stopped heart, limitless energy...

Attack, defense, speed, healing, and Haki enhancement—all in one.

He could even temper his body with lightning and develop electromagnetic powers, brain waves, and other forms of bioelectricity.

All things considered,

the Rumble-Rumble Fruit seemed like a Logia Type, but was actually the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Raijin.

What a shame it had appeared too early. Oda had unjustly shelved it. If it had appeared two years after the Summit War, it would've been a seed contender in the finals, at the very least.

Of course, there was one more important point.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit's powers were cool as hell.

Whether it was strong depended on the era; whether it was cool mattered for a lifetime.

And Big Eater was a standard perk for a protagonist.

At fifteen, whether Seven could grow to the height of an Emperor depended entirely on his Big Eater constitution.

As for Innate Divine Strength, Seven still had no clear idea what it would do for him.

He leaned back in the bathtub, gazing up as his thoughts drifted. He vaguely remembered that, besides Mihawk, the people who'd come to watch tomorrow included—

Sand-Sand Fruit user: the fifty-fifty Sand Crocodile who only picked high-end fights, Crocodile.

Shadow-Shadow Fruit user: future Shichibukai and tomb raider Moria.

His buddy: the Young Yonko, the Face King, Red-Haired.

The Revolutionary Army's leader, the hero who rescued people, Dragon, the Cold Sweat King.

String-String Fruit user: young Shichibukai and the Face King Doflamingo.

His buddy: Chop-Chop Fruit user, Young Yonko, and lucky Conqueror's Haki possessor, Buggy.

And Smoker.

"Wow... what a gathering of the great and good!"