Much Stronger Than Shanks

Grand Line, New World.

Moby Dick.

Whitebeard Edward Newgate had once been hailed alongside the King of the Pirates, Golde Roger, and Golden Lion Shiki as one of the Three Legendary Pirates.

He was a top figure in the pirate world.

Now that the King of the Pirates had been executed and Golden Lion had been locked away in Impel Down, Whitebeard was known as the World's Strongest Man. He was the first Sea Emperor to emerge after the Great Pirate Era began.

"Old Man! Old Man! Big news!"

Marco, with his pineapple-shaped hair, handed Whitebeard the newspaper he had just bought.

"Old Man, that little Seven who used to cook such delicious food aboard Roger's ship has a ten-billion bounty."

Whitebeard took a closer look. The headline showed a side profile and chin, along with the distinctive white hair of Barzeb Seven.

"Gurarara!"

Thinking of the fine wine the white-haired little chef had brewed, Whitebeard smiled. Back then, the little guy had traded him three bottles of wine for a tuft of his beard.

The two crews had been left utterly dumbfounded.

"Did that brat Seven go out to sea, too?"

"A ten-billion bounty! That's incredible."

"But something's strange," Marco said. "It doesn't say what Seven did."

Usually, the newspaper devoted plenty of space to describing the crimes of wanted pirates, which served as a reference for the Navy when setting their bounties.

It was extremely rare for a ten-billion bounty to be issued without any explanation.

After all, a ten-billion bounty these days was nothing like the bounties around the time Luffy set out to sea twenty years later. They weren't even in the same league.

After a moment's thought, Marco voiced his guess.

"It probably has something to do with the World Government."

"Gurarara!" Whitebeard clapped Marco on the shoulder. "Go prepare a banquet to celebrate our chef Seven making a name for himself across the Four Seas."

Back then, when Roger had asked Whitebeard to let Oden, Captain of the Second Division, board his ship and help him, Whitebeard had joked that he'd trade him their little chef, Seven.

But he hadn't expected Roger to drop to his knees, and Oden himself had agreed, leaving Whitebeard with no choice but to let it go.

Whitebeard had two great passions in life: putting family first and loving wine. Seven was an expert brewer and a superb cook—Whitebeard's dream son.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Roger had gotten to him first.

On this vast sea, whether you were happy or unhappy, throwing a banquet was what mattered most.

With Whitebeard at the head, his sons gathered around him, raising their cups, drinking, singing, and dancing.

Only one fat, dark-skinned man reacted differently. When he learned the banquet was to celebrate Seven's bounty surpassing ten billion, he suddenly clutched his cheek, feeling a terrible toothache.

Those two missing teeth—three had been kicked out by the Red-Nose Brat and the Red-Haired Brat working together, and the white-haired brat had picked up two of them.

Then he'd actually refused to admit it afterward. Damn it!

And the worst part was that they'd searched him and still found nothing. How infuriating!

Teach stared expressionlessly at the side profile in the newspaper. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was a pretty good ability, but unfortunately, like the Dark-Dark Fruit, it was a Logia Type.

"A guy like that... already has a ten-billion bounty."

"When will my chance to make a name for myself come?"

"Teach, come have a drink!"

At the sound of someone calling from behind him, Teach switched to a guileless smile. "Coming, Thatch."

East Blue, Organ Islands.

Waters off Orange Town.

Buggy lay on the deck of his pirate ship. With a practiced Splitting Headache Palm, he snatched a passing News Bird out of the sky and took its newspaper.

"Let's see what the great Buggy's got here..."

Hair white as snow, a sculpted profile, a refined chin... The moment he saw it, Buggy's body split into dozens of pieces.

"Seven... ten billion?!"

Buggy rubbed his eyes, afraid he'd read the number wrong. When he saw the headline in print, he froze in a daze.

[Barzeb Seven, former member of the Roger Pirates. Bounty: 1,000,000,000. Dead or alive!]

In the least conspicuous corner of the paper, Buggy finally found the tiny notice about his own bounty.

[Buggy, captain of the Buggy Pirates. Active in the Organ Islands of East Blue. Bounty: 5,000,000.]

Ten billion versus five million. The enormous gap didn't upset Buggy. Instead, he was delighted that his good brother had made a name for himself across the Four Seas.

"Just like Seven!"

"He's way stronger than Shanks."

At the thought of Shanks, half of Buggy's good mood vanished. He was so angry he turned red.

If Shanks hadn't changed his mind two years ago, the two of them could have formed a pirate crew and invited Seven aboard. The three of them might well have become the King of the Pirates.

Instead, things had turned out like this—

Shanks had vanished without a trace, who knew in what far-flung corner of the world, while Buggy was holed up in East Blue, the weakest sea, surviving by digging up treasure.

Only Seven had a ten-billion bounty and had made his name across the seas.

Two years ago, Buggy had even gone to Paradise in the Grand Line, hoping to catch up with Seven...

But now Buggy had changed his mind.

Buggy was afraid Seven would reject him, just like Shanks had.

After all, Seven had reached the Final Island, Laugh Tale, alongside the captain and the others. What if Seven had no intention of inheriting Captain Roger's will?

He'd already fallen out with Shanks. He couldn't afford to fall out with his last good brother, too.

If Seven planned to form a pirate crew someday, Buggy could decide then whether to join him. He wasn't good at fighting, but he was good at making money!

Give Buggy enough treasure maps and he could dig up all the world's treasure.

West Blue, Twin Snake Island.

Aboard a small wooden boat shaped like a coffin, Mihawk put down the newspaper. A sharp glint flashed in his eagle-like eyes.

"Ten billion. Not bad."

Two years had passed. Once he had challenged the last Great Swordsman, it would be time to meet up with the captain.

Over the past two years, Mihawk had traveled across the Grand Line, from Paradise to the New World, with Black Blade Night in hand. He had challenged swordsmen of every kind and fought nearly a hundred battles without a single defeat.

He had almost seemed invincible.

His target this time was Thirty-Two Years Old.

He was a Paramecia user with the Gravity-Gravity Fruit, and wielded Gambler Fireline, one of the twelve Supreme Grade Swords. He was a rare master.

Mihawk was on the verge of reaching the peak of swordsmanship. Opponents who could stir his interest were as rare as phoenix feathers, and there were fewer and fewer of them.

Perhaps for the rest of his life, only his captain, Barzeb Seven, would be worthy of facing him.

"My path won't be a lonely one."

Mihawk was immensely glad that the captain he'd chosen was also a swordsman, and possessed a mysterious Supreme Grade Blade no less remarkable than Black Blade Night.

The only thing he regretted was that he hadn't had any sweet iced black tea to drink these past two years.

And the food on the sea...

Compared with Seven's cooking, it just didn't measure up. Mihawk belatedly realized that Seven seemed to have made him much pickier.

He guided the little boat neatly into the harbor, slung Black Blade Night over his back, and strode into Twin Snake Island, following the information he'd gathered.

They said Thirty-Two Years Old was a compulsive gambler, so he was probably at the casino right now.