Thoughtless Sword

An unnamed deserted island.

Watching Seven hovering in midair, poised to strike, Rayleigh felt a long-dormant passion rekindle within him—the kind he hadn't felt since the Roger Pirates disbanded.

Rayleigh wanted to see what kind of sword technique the little fellow Barzeb Seven would unleash. The entire Pirate Crew had underestimated him.

What kind of name could possibly suit such a solemn buildup?

By now, Rayleigh regarded Seven as a true equal, not merely a young upstart from the Roger Pirates.

Since their battle began, Seven had never once used his Devil Fruit powers. Now, they began to reveal their might.

Purple lightning storms raged across the sky above the deserted island, as if welcoming their god's descent.

A purple glow filled Seven's eyes, and crackling electricity coiled around him. The Dream One Heart in his hands seemed to tremble with excitement.

Thump~ thump~

Rayleigh's throat bobbed. He couldn't tell whether the pounding came from his own heart or Seven's.

Rayleigh drove the Three Types of Haki to their limits. The black and red Haki coiling around him nearly solidified as he emptied his mind completely—

The wind in his ears and the roar of the waves faded away. All he could see was the Haki surging around Seven and the blade about to cleave the sky.

At last, he moved!

Using the Dream One Heart as a medium, Seven unleashed the Sword Intent he had built to its utmost, slashing down at the deserted island.

"Crack—!"

It wasn't the clang of metal on metal, but the brittle sound of the heavens shattering and glass exploding.

The blade's radiance burst forth, turning into a purple torrent that spanned heaven and earth, so dazzling no one could look directly at it.

Where it passed, space itself was torn apart.

Before it even reached the ground, the heat radiating from its brilliance scorched the plants along its path, while rocks melted instantly into crimson lava.

"You little brat, are you trying to get the old man killed?"

Rayleigh pushed off the ground, twisting into the air to narrowly dodge the blade's radiance.

The instant the radiance struck the ground, the entire deserted island let out a world-shaking groan. A colossal fissure, several yards wide, raced toward the island's heart.

In just a few short breaths—

The deserted island split in two, with a bottomless gorge dividing it down the middle. Seawater poured in, forming a raging whirlpool.

Rayleigh sheathed his twin swords and looked toward the figure hovering in midair. Confusion and understanding mingled in his eyes, but above all, he felt pride.

The youngsters from the ship had grown up.

"Roger, we were all wrong about him."

Of the three youngsters aboard Roger's ship, Shanks was the one all the crew had believed in most. His physique, judgment, and talent were second to none on the Grand Line.

As for Seven and Buggy—

Perhaps one day, Seven would become a renowned chef across the Four Seas, thanks to his exquisite cooking. He'd open a restaurant back home and enjoy a peaceful old age.

Buggy was harder to judge.

Yet only two years after Roger's departure, with the Great Pirate Era just beginning, Seven had already leapt from carp to dragon and soared into the sky.

Two years. It had only been two years.

Was this what the new era was all about?

Before Rayleigh could offer a few words of praise, Seven suddenly hoisted him up and shot straight into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The wind howled past them in midair.

Rayleigh wore a crestfallen, utterly resigned expression. "Seven, what was that move called?"

"Thoughtless Sword."

"That charge-up took a while."

"Mm. There's room for improvement."

Thoughtless Sword's fusion progress was only at 26%. With further fusion, its charge-up time would surely shrink dramatically, perhaps even allowing Seven to unleash it instantly.

Seven was only seventeen. He had plenty of room to grow.

Generally speaking, the bone and muscle density of human males peaked around the age of twenty-five, then gradually stabilized.

In the Pirate World, the strongest fighters generally reached their overall peak between the ages of twenty-five and sixty. Before twenty-five, their bodies were still developing; after sixty, their physical limitations began to hinder their strength.

Of course, extraordinary races were exceptions.

Compared with humans, the Giant Race could live for several hundred years, so they naturally didn't fit into this category.

Their battle had given Seven a clear sense of his own strength: at least a Yonko Commander, and if he went all out, he might even be able to fight a Yonko-level opponent.

As long as he didn't court death by provoking Imu in the Flower Room, he could live freely across the seas.

Sabaody Archipelago, Knockoff Bar.

Rayleigh pushed open the bar's door and took a seat at the wooden counter. Though it was already late at night, plenty of customers still gathered in small groups, drinking.

The best mindset for a pirate was to live every day as if it were his last.

That way, he'd live longer than he expected.

"Where's the little brat?" Shakky poured him a drink.

"He went to the Pleasure District." Rayleigh took the glass.

"Who won?"

She'd only asked out of casual curiosity, but Rayleigh smiled with pride as he replied, "I lost."

"Oh?" Shakky furrowed her brows. "You didn't hold back?"

Rayleigh paused. "I didn't exactly go all out, but I get the feeling Seven was holding back too."

His unreasonable strength, his almost heaven-defying Conqueror's Haki, and his Armament Haki, which seemed merely average—yet his physique was so powerful it gave Rayleigh the faint impression of Charlotte Linlin.

Could that brat be Linlin's son, accidentally left behind somewhere?

The more Rayleigh thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Linlin probably couldn't even remember all her husbands. A son left behind somewhere... It made perfect sense!

Rayleigh drained his glass and sighed.

"What a freak. I can't even imagine how strong he'll be in a few years."

"He's just like Rocks was back then."

Rocks? Shakky found it hard to believe Rayleigh would give anyone such high praise.

Who was Rocks?

A monster who could kill a Marine Admiral with a single casual slash.

The legendary Great Pirate Whitebeard, Golden Lion, the Great Pirate Linlin, and Kaido had all once been members of the Rocks Pirates.

After downing three more glasses, Rayleigh finally remembered the matter he'd come to discuss. "How did the deal go?"

"I've found a buyer. We'll make the exchange tomorrow."

Meanwhile, at the Pleasure District—

Seven hadn't checked into the Pleasure District to visit a nightclub or indulge in its pleasures. He wanted to contact Vegapunk through Stussy, the Queen of Pleasure District.

Vegapunk had something he was interested in.

It was the Artificial Devil Fruit Momonosuke would eat in the future—the Dragon-Dragon Fruit.

Compared with Kaido's Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Azure Dragon Model, the Dragon-Dragon Fruit could also turn its user into a dragon and allow them to take on a human-beast form.

Its powers were almost identical. The only reason Vegapunk called it a failure was that its color was different.

That was just absurd.

The stubbornness of a scientist, for sure.

Seven was desperate to recruit the pointy-headed scientist. He wished he could grab Vegapunk at once and lock him up on Skypiea.

Unfortunately, the many experiments Vegapunk conducted required astronomical resources.

Seven simply couldn't afford them.

At least, not yet. Once he occupied more territory, he might consider it again.

In fact, he wasn't even sure whether Vegapunk had already managed to replicate the Dragon-Dragon Fruit by then, or if he was still working on it.

Regardless—

If he didn't know about it, that would be one thing.

But now that he did, there was no reason to pass up such a powerful Devil Fruit.

If Heaven offers it and you don't take it, you'll be punished for it.

However, when Seven checked into the Pleasure District and put his plan into action, he suddenly realized, to his embarrassment, that he'd gotten the timing wrong.

Stussy wasn't the Queen of Pleasure District yet.

"Son of a—!" Seven flopped down and went straight to sleep.

Luffy wouldn't set out to sea for another twenty years. Most of the familiar faces from the future weren't famous yet; some had only just been born.

The next day, at noon.

It was rare for Seven to sleep until well past sunrise. After a hearty meal, he took a leisurely stroll around the Sabaody Archipelago.

Since he couldn't find Stussy, he'd have to go to Ohara. If he remembered correctly, Vegapunk and Monkey D. Dragon would appear there after the Buster Call.

But first, he had to meet up with Mihawk.

Then there was the ship.

The ideal material for building a vessel was Treasure Tree Adam. Both the ship of King of the Pirates Roger and the ship of Straw Hat Kid had been made from it.

But the material was incredibly rare, so he'd have to get lucky.

He wandered around all morning without running into a single foolish pirate who would let him pretend to be weak, crush them, and show off. So Seven returned to Knockoff Bar.

"Auntie Xia, do you know where I could get a Devil Fruit?"