The Unreachable Love

Not far away, from the third-floor window of a hotel, Seven took in the entire scene.

In this Pirate World where the strong preyed on the weak, compared to this pair of star-crossed lovers, Seven considered himself extremely fortunate.

Though an orphan, he was lucky enough to be taken in and raised by the old village chief. After the old chief passed, the villagers often helped him out. Even if he was frequently bullied by the local punks, he still managed to survive.

Later, by sheer chance, he met Captain Roger, awakened his system, was invited aboard the ship by the captain, and gathered all the components needed to activate the system.

In just seventeen years, his life had already been more eventful than his previous one.

At this moment, Seven not only possessed a physique far surpassing the Giant Race, but also wielded a Supreme Grade Sword and was a top-tier Logia Type Rumble-Rumble Fruit user.

He was also the god of Skypiea, and the future General of Thunder of Wano Country, Inazuma.

"Praise be to the system!"

Even though the system was neither intelligent nor had an independent will, it didn't affect Seven's devotion to it. He wasn't the type to bite the hand that fed him.

For two straight days, Tesoro showed up punctually at dawn and night before the iron cage, using clumsy jokes to make Stella laugh.

"Just one more night, Stella."

Tesoro pressed his face close to the iron bars, his voice low but carrying a glimmer of light. "Once I get paid tomorrow morning, I'll take you away."

"Mm, make sure you rest."

Tesoro was born in the slums—a gambling father, a drunkard mother. He himself had fallen into gambling addiction as a youth. Life was like a murky, bottomless swamp, the road ahead dark, with barely any light piercing through.

But in his most chaotic years, Stella was like a bright lamp, dispelling the black fog that clung to him and illuminating the path he had lost.

For her, Tesoro quit all his bad habits and started working day and night, his only goal to save enough money to buy her freedom.

Now, hope was right before his eyes.

Tesoro had never longed for time to pass faster. As long as he finished tonight's work, Stella could break free from her cage.

The happiness he had yearned for was within reach.

That night, Stella tossed and turned in the iron cage, unable to sleep, while Tesoro worked with boundless energy.

But when dawn broke.

The ransom that should have been complete fell short, thanks to the heartless boss's deductions.

"Boss, please have mercy..."

"I'm begging you, I'm begging you..."

A man's knees are heavy with gold, but only when he's at his wit's end.

Tesoro knelt on the ground, hoping for pity from the heartless boss, but he seemed to have forgotten why the boss was called heartless.

"Someone, throw him out."

Like trash being discarded, Tesoro was tossed out of the heartless workshop, rolling to a street stall, right in front of a pair of white skate shoes.

"Sorry." Tesoro quickly apologized.

These shoes didn't look cheap. Tesoro just wanted to hurry up and gather the money, not stir up more trouble.

"It's fine." Seven left money for breakfast, stood up, and walked away unhurriedly.

What he had seen and heard over these two days confirmed a saying: The rope always breaks at its thinnest point, and misfortune always finds the wretched. That little wench, Misfortune, seemed especially fond of bullying those who had already fallen into the abyss.

Indeed, weakness was the original sin.

The strong would always draw their blades and pierce the heavens.

Tesoro might think the shortfall in money was the trial, but he had no idea that a greater, insurmountable suffering was just beginning.

The Celestial Dragons—late, but never absent.

The World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, lived year-round in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, enjoying endless wealth without labor and privileges that trumped all else.

The Celestial Dragons saw themselves as descendants of gods.

They believed that breathing the same air as commoners would taint them, so they used glass bubbles to isolate themselves from the outside air.

As a Celestial Dragon arrived at Island 1 of the Sabaody Archipelago, the entire island was instantly shrouded in dead silence.

A large number of Marines blocked off the streets to maintain order, CP members acted as security, and the guards of the Celestial Dragon's family stood close by in personal protection.

On both sides of the street, men and women, young and old, all prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to breathe loudly.

Elderly people trembled as they crawled on the ground, children had their mouths covered by their parents, faces flushed red from holding back tears but too scared to cry out. Even pet dogs were forced down by their owners, their heads pressed against the cold stone slabs.

The majesty of the gods was not to be looked upon.

In the middle of the street, a fat Celestial Dragon with a glass bubble on his head and purple hair sat on the back of a slave carriage, eyeing Stella in the iron cage by the roadside.

Blonde hair dazzling, long legs snow-white—the Purple-Haired Celestial Dragon had seen plenty of women with such looks.

But he had never seen a slave locked in an iron cage whose eyes burned with such a bright light—

A longing for the future, a yearning for freedom, a vitality and hope that suffering had never extinguished.

The Purple-Haired Celestial Dragon's fat lips split into a cruel, excited grin.

Compared to plundering a beautiful shell, personally snuffing out such hope is far more exhilarating.

"Take her back."

A light, airy sentence, yet carrying an unassailable finality—such is the weight of a Celestial Dragon.

"Yes, Saint Elaine."

In such a situation, no one dared step forward; even the Marines couldn't show an angry expression. A few tens of thousands a month wasn't worth risking their lives.

Only the King of Sea Transport, Umit, watching from the slave auction house, silently cursed.

"Damn, that's the slave Beelzebul had his eye on."

Umit panicked a little, but quickly calmed down: even a man like Beelzebul wouldn't dare defy a Celestial Dragon, right?

Probably... not.

"This place is no good. I have to leave immediately." Umit felt as if he could already see the coming storm sweeping through the entire Sabaody Archipelago.

He dared not defy a Celestial Dragon, not even get close. He still had too much wealth left to spend.

Umit slipped away without looking back.

Before the iron gate of the slave auction house, Tesoro was pinned to the rough stone slab by two CP Agents, his shoulder blades nearly crushed.

Yet all he could do was watch, watch as chains coiled around Stella's neck, dragging her away.

"Thank you, Tesoro."

"Knowing you feel this way makes me happy." Stella's smile was radiant. "I truly feel blessed, Tesoro."

"No!!!"

Tesoro thrashed like a madman, but couldn't break free from the CP Agents' grip, couldn't break free from this damned, cruel shackle of fate.

"Stella!!!"

Why?

Tesoro's eyes split at the corners as he roared again and again in his heart.

They had already touched the faint light of freedom, already gathered the ransom, already... already only one step away from taking her out of this hell!

Why?!

Why?!

"Oh~" Seeing this, Saint Elaine drew out his tone, a strange excitement rising in his heart. "So they're lovers."

"Heh heh heh, take him too."

Saint Elaine had already thought of a better game—not just to destroy hope, but to do it right in front of this man... to crush that damned hope bit by bit.

"Heh heh heh~ Hurry, take them to the ship."

Tap~ Tap~ Tap~

Suddenly, footsteps rang out, cutting off Saint Elaine's laughter.

From a small alley by the street, Seven, his silver hair whiter than snow and a black cape fluttering behind him, walked slowly with his hands in his pockets.

"Stop right there!"

The Marines aimed their rifles forward, barking harsh warnings.

Hum~

Red-black Haki rippled out like layers of waves, ravaging the entire island. The Marines and CP Agents, who had been on high alert a moment before, all rolled their eyes back and collapsed unconscious.

Seven moved like a ghost, flashing in front of Tesoro in an instant. "Oi, want to save her?"

Tesoro gritted his teeth, eyes bloodshot. "I'll do anything to save Stella."

"Even give your life?"

"Even my life!"

Hearing the answer, Seven patted Tesoro's shoulder with satisfaction. "Watch closely. I'll show you how it's done."

After taking two steps, Seven suddenly turned around.

"Say thank you."

Tesoro froze in shock for two seconds, then quickly said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you..."

In Tesoro, Seven saw the many versions of himself from the past.

He saw the version that worked nine-to-five, muddling through life, never doing anything wrong yet still living so bitterly.

He saw the eight-year-old version, setting up a stall in Housha Town to sell fish balls.

He saw the once-weak version, unable to do anything, forced to hide behind the Captain.

Without the system, he would have been just as powerless against fate's oppression as Tesoro.

Since fate had already changed, then it was time to overturn this world.

"Oi, you bubble-wrapped pig."

The shorter the words, the greater the impact.

Especially when Seven had precisely described the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, as pigs—bubble-wrapped pigs.

From Seven's appearance to the moment he knocked out the Marines and CP Agent fodder, only a few dozen seconds had passed. Saint Elaine, a Celestial Dragon, was already shielded behind his family guards.

"Kill him! Kill him now!"

Saint Elaine's face flushed red, clearly unable to bear being called a bubble-wrapped pig. So what if he was a bit fat? Was he eating their rice?!

The two Celestial Dragon guards wore grim expressions.

"You truly intend to oppose the World Government? Saint Elaine hails from the Nairona Family—nobles among the Celestial Dragons."

Seven's eyes lit up. "Ah↗ Ha↘"

He'd thought this was just an ordinary pig like Saint Charlos, but who'd have guessed he'd hooked a big fish: the Nairona Family... Could they be descendants of Imu?

Well then, Seven would gladly take this windfall.