No Merit, But Plenty of Toil

Red Line, Holy Land Mary Geoise.

Inside the spacious, bright room of Pangaea Castle, the center of World Government power, the Gorosei arranged themselves in their usual poses.

Finance God of War Saint Nusjuro sat on the sofa, slamming a newspaper heavily onto the table, a sharp glint flashing in his piercing eyes.

"CP9 is a bunch of trash. Can't even catch a fleeing Devil Fruit user."

The prisoner being hijacked was bad enough.

But what truly enraged the Gorosei was that the World Government only learned of the entire incident through the newspaper.

Absolutely unforgivable.

Though unwilling to admit it, this all showed that the World Government's grip on the seas was weakening.

Saint Saturn narrowed his eyes.

"Running into a Roger Pirates member who awakened Conqueror's Haki and ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit... can't entirely blame them."

"The Op-Op Fruit user is still in Barzeb's hands. Notify the Navy. Send Borsalino. He must capture Barzeb and the fugitive alive."

"This arrangement will also muddy the waters."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

Normally, for a strategic weapon as important as the Op-Op Fruit, the Divine Knights should be deployed.

Only then could the mission be guaranteed.

But both the Op-Op Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit possess the ability for instantaneous teleportation. Among the World Government and Navy, only Borsalino counters such abilities.

Purely in terms of speed, if the Glint-Glint Fruit claims second place, no one on this sea dares claim first—not even the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Considering all factors, Borsalino was the most suitable man.

"As for the remaining members of the Roger Pirates..."

Saint Saturn paused. "Send CP1 to warn Rayleigh. If anything like this happens again, the agreement between the Navy and Roger is void."

"Agreed!"

"Agreed!"

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

Inside the Admiral's office, the then-Marine Admiral Sengoku ended a Den Den Mushi call and looked at the slacker trimming his nails.

"Borsalino."

"Get to Paradise immediately. The World Government demands you capture Barzeb Seven and that fugitive alive."

Kizaru put away his nail clipper, his face slumping into a lecherous frown. "Sengoku-san... my vacation."

The man who loved slacking off the most had eaten the fruit that demanded the most work. Kizaru was truly helpless. Whenever an emergency cropped up, he had to go personally.

Sengoku gritted his teeth. "Finish this mission, and you'll get your promotion to Admiral."

Hearing this, Kizaru's eyes lit up.

Everything else was secondary, but the promotion to Admiral meant his salary would jump to 10.8 million Berry a year.

The money gave Kizaru all the motivation he needed.

"I'm leaving now."

Watching Kizaru vanish as a beam of light, Sengoku wearily rubbed his brow. He had thought that executing the King of the Pirates, Roger, publicly would at least quiet the pirates on the seas for a while.

[Being a pirate has no future. Look, even the Pirate King was captured and executed by us.]

But he never expected Roger's final words about the One Piece to throw the entire sea into chaos.

Not only were more and more people setting sail to become pirates, but even nobles from some countries were doing the same. As this ebbed and flowed, the Navy's forces were stretched thinner and thinner.

"Roger... you played us all."

A week before Roger's execution, Golden Lion had rampaged through Marine Headquarters, destroying most of Marineford and causing countless Navy casualties before he was thrown into Impel Down.

After Roger's death, the remaining members of the Roger Pirates had behaved relatively peacefully.

Only the Devil's Descendant, Bullet, and Barzeb, who had recently hijacked the World Government's prisoner, were stirring up trouble on the seas.

Navy Fleet Admiral Empty was about to head to Holy Land Mary Geoise to take up the post of Commander-in-Chief of all forces. From now on, the burden of the Navy would fall on Sengoku's shoulders.

Thinking of that bastard Garp still enjoying himself in the East Blue, Sengoku quickly dialed the Den Den Mushi and roared.

"You bastard, Garp!"

"Get your ass back here right now!"

Sengoku thought: Why should this old man be stuck working overtime while that bastard Garp gets to enjoy his vacation? If they're brothers, they have to share the hardship.

The Den Den Mushi mimicked Garp's expression.

"What?"

"The promised three-month vacation isn't even half over. If there's nothing important, I'm going back to sleep."

Staring at the Den Den Mushi that had been hung up on, Sengoku took off his seagull cap and grabbed his afro with both hands, starting to self-PUA.

"Forget it. After all these years of chasing Roger, Garp has earned some credit even without results."

Paradise, waters near Jaya Island.

"Captain."

Doctor bowed slightly. "Considering I've been cleaning and taking night shifts these past few days, could you do me a favor and unlock these Sea Prism Stone cuffs?"

At the bow, Seven dismissed his Plasma Sword, his mood sour. "Asking me is useless. I'm a Devil Fruit user; I can't open Sea Prism Stone cuffs."

He was just a hair's breadth away from cutting out a Flying Slash, but that hair's breadth refused to be breached.

Doctor tested the waters.

"Then could you put in a word with Mr. Mihawk?"

If he couldn't get the Sea Prism Stone cuffs off, how could he plan an escape? It wasn't that following Seven was bad—the real issue was that after the World Government's failure, they'd definitely send stronger lackeys.

Doctor neither wanted to die nor get caught.

Back when he first ate the Op-Op Fruit, he'd devoted himself wholeheartedly to healing and saving lives in his hometown.

But then...

Because the World Government wanted that Devil Fruit, his hometown was destroyed, and he was taken alive. He barely managed to escape in the chaos to Lodestar Island, only to fall into CP's hands.

He'd thought Seven would be his savior, but instead, he'd become a prisoner again.

What unsettled him most was that after the ship reached the waters near Jaya Island, Seven stopped moving forward and started circling the area instead.

"Captain, are you looking for something?"

Seven pulled out a telescope. "Yeah. Keep mopping the deck and stay out of my sight."

To reach Sky Island, he had to ride an Upward Sea Current. Setting aside the danger, just encountering one was incredibly rare.

It was basically pure luck.

Seven decided to wait a bit longer. If he still couldn't find an Upward Sea Current, he'd go up alone and use that Golden Pillar to buy Dream One Heart.

The main reason he wanted to sail up was to bond with Mr. Mihawk.

Some Pirate Crews rely entirely on the Captain's strength to intimidate members, some maintain relationships through camaraderie, and others bind themselves together with shared interests.

Captain Seven, however... wanted it all.

With his current strength insufficient for intimidation, building bonds and locking in interests was critical.

With the Rocks Pirate Crew as a cautionary example, he had to fully learn from their mistakes.

In just half a day, the nearby waters had gone through sunny skies, violent storms, thunder and lightning, and other harsh weather.

Night fell, and Seven still hadn't found an Upward Sea Current. "Mr. Mihawk, wait on the ship for a bit. I'll go up ahead and scout the path."

Thunder split the darkness as Seven transformed into a streak of azure lightning, shooting straight into the sky.