East Blue, Loguetown.
Roger Bar was tucked away underground at the end of a narrow alley, two turns away from the bustling Commercial Street.
The bar had earned the name "Roger" for one reason: more than twenty years ago, before King of the Pirates Roger set sail for the Grand Line, he had spent a whole night drinking rum there.
In front of the wooden counter, a man with hair like a bird's nest slumped over the table and mumbled, "Boss, another drink."
The bar owner, Raoul, wiped a glass and shot back irritably, "Roadside, settle last month's tab first!"
"Once I catch Beelzebul..."
His words still hung in the air when his head sank. He was already fast asleep on the counter, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth and soaking the wood.
Raoul sighed helplessly. His voice wasn't loud, but a customer nearby heard him. "Another poor soul driven mad by pirates."
"Boss, what's his story?"
A customer immediately leaned over the counter. "When I was here two years ago, wasn't he still a respectable-looking fellow?"
"Sure was." Raoul set down the glass and lowered his voice. "He used to work for the World Government, so he had money."
"Then how'd he end up like this?"
As questions flew at him from all sides, Raoul muttered an explanation:
"There were eleven people in his unit. They ran into one of Roger's crew while on a mission. The other ten were killed, and he only survived because he wasn't there."
"Ha ha ha!" Laughter erupted at once.
Someone slapped the table and teased him. "Boss, you're spinning another tall tale. Where'd you get so many of Roger's crew? They were probably just petty thieves pretending to be pirates!"
Raoul snorted.
"Two years ago, the papers printed it in black and white—Thunder God Barzeb Seven attacked CP9 agents and broke a major World Government criminal out of custody!"
At those words, Roadside, who had been asleep, jerked his head up as if stung by a needle and began shouting like a madman.
"Where's Beelzebul?!"
"Seven, where are you?"
Jaya Island, Demon Valley Town.
Two years ago, Buggy had followed the trail from East Blue all the way to Jaya Island, only to come up empty-handed.
For the past two years, he had wandered between taverns and alleys like a homeless ghost, drifting through more than seven hundred long days and nights.
His captain was gone, and Shanks had broken their promise.
All Buggy had left to cling to were his treasure map, his treasure, and his good friend Seven. But Seven had vanished from the face of the earth, without a single word.
Every day, Buggy clutched his crumpled Berries and bought a newspaper without fail, just hoping to catch a glimpse of that familiar face in the news.
For two whole years, he had let hope rise more than seven hundred times, only to have it mercilessly dashed every time.
"Seven, do you remember Bullet, the guy who fought Vice Captain Rayleigh to a draw? The Marines caught him."
The wind swept by, lifting scraps of paper from the ground.
Buggy pulled his cloak tighter and gazed toward East Blue, his voice full of melancholy.
"Seven, I'm going back to East Blue."
"The Grand Line is just too dangerous. East Blue's much better for digging up treasure."
Before anyone knew it, the execution of King of the Pirates Roger in Loguetown had become old news from two years ago.
Roger's last words about the One Piece had ushered in the Great Pirate Era. The entire sea had erupted into chaos, and more and more people were setting sail in search of the One Piece.
A lot had happened across the seas over the past two years.
The posthumous child of King of the Pirates Roger, Portgas D. Ace, was born at Garp's Old House in Foosha Village.
Kozuki Oden was still dancing naked.
After many pirates ran wild on Fish-Man Island, Whitebeard Edward Newgate planted his flag there and claimed the island as territory of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Tom, a shipwright in Water 7, was sentenced to death by the World Government for building the Roger Pirates' ship, the Oro Jackson.
However, Tom proposed the idea of a Sea Train to the judge and was granted a ten-year reprieve.
He and his apprentices, Iceberg and Cutty Flam, then devoted themselves to designing and building the Sea Train.
A pirate uprising broke out in Wano Country, and the Beasts Pirates and Moria Pirates fought a major battle in Ringo.
Moria lost all his companions. As he fled Wano Country, he turned into a grave robber, breaking into Shimotsuki Ryuma's tomb and taking Ryuma's body and Sword Shusui.
The people of Wano Country built a tomb for the hero who had fought Kaido: Kozuki Moria.
To capture Bullet, Admiral Sengoku and Hero of the Marines Garp authorized a Buster Call.
The former Roger Pirates member and Devil's Descendant, Douglas Bullet, was defeated by Vice Admiral Sakazuki and locked away in Impel Down's Sixth Layer Infinite Hell.
Dracule Mihawk traveled far and wide to hone his swordsmanship, and showed signs of becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman.
The World Government searched far and wide for the Op-Op Fruit.
Skypiea, Golden City Shandora.
A tall, imposing figure stood among the ruins, nearly two meters and sixty centimeters tall. His silver hair gleamed like snow, and his black fitted clothes clung to his body, outlining sleek, powerful muscles.
A katana at his waist shone with a cold purple light, matching the black cloak fluttering behind him in the wind.
It was Seven, who had spent two years training on Skypiea.
"Phew—"
Seven took a deep breath and focused all his attention on the coin resting on his left thumb. His fingertip turned faintly white from the sheer intensity of his concentration.
"Test number 2,688."
The moment he finished speaking, Seven's left thumb thrust upward. The coin shot into the air like a bullet fired from a gun!
At the same time, the electromagnetic field around him surged. Blue currents snaked up his arm, and a deafening shout rang out.
"Super Electromagnetic Cannon!!!"
In an instant, an invisible electromagnetic force erupted from nothing, centered on his left hand, and swelled to its limit.
A three-meter-wide column of blue-white electromagnetic energy gathered, crackling with electricity as it hurtled toward the coin with earth-shattering force—
The air ionized into searing plasma. The golden buildings shuddered violently beneath the powerful magnetic field, while stones and gold dust were swept up by electromagnetic force and whipped into a roaring storm.
Everything in its path trembled.
It tore through the clouds and pierced the sky.
"Perfect!"
Having successfully replicated the Super Electromagnetic Cannon through his own efforts, Seven was over the moon.
Seven hundred and more days and nights.
Seven's greatest achievement wasn't awakening Armament Haki or Observation Haki and, with the aid of electromagnetic waves, extending it across the entire island.
It wasn't his development of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, either.
Nor was it fusing in some of the training experience from Thoughtless Sword, allowing him to cleave mountains and split seas with a casual slash.
It was—
The three passives he had gained—Big Eater physique, Innate Divine Strength, and Iron Balloon—had combined like a catalyst to reshape his body.
Not only had he shot up to two meters and sixty centimeters, but his strength had also grown more and more terrifying. Just the sword energy produced by swinging his blade through brute force could split the clouds.
His stamina was even more monstrous.
As long as he had something to eat, he wouldn't go down!
In the world of pirates, a tough, enduring body was the upper limit of all combat strength.
Whether it was awakening a Devil Fruit, mastering the Three Types of Haki to their utmost, or unleashing a Great Swordsman's Flying Slash, every display of strength had one prerequisite: having stamina left.
There had been far more than just one person captured after running out of strength.
Garp on Hachinosu Island, Golden Lion when he went on a rampage at Marineford, Bullet during the Marines' Buster Call, and The Lone Red, who fought Fleet Admiral Kong for ten days and nights before running out of strength and getting caught off guard by Garp.
No matter how strong you were, you were finished without stamina.
A tough, enduring body was the greatest reward of Seven's seven hundred and more days and nights of training.
It was the solid foundation on which he would reach the pinnacle of strength.
Before you continue