Ten thousand meters above the White Sea.
The sea of clouds rolled like a veil. Golden rays from the setting sun spilled through the clouds, and Thunder God Palace stood among them, its vermilion pillars entwined with bouquets of pearly white and crimson flowers.
Wind chimes rang softly in the breeze.
A pristine white carpet stretched across the square in front of the palace, all the way to the ceremonial platform.
With Thunder God Barzeb Seven as witness, Tesoro and Stella officially entered into marriage.
As the newlyweds disappeared into their bridal chamber, a warm smile spread across Seven's face. Tragedy might make a story more profound, but it shouldn't happen to those close to him.
Especially not the kind of love story that ended in tragedy nine times out of ten in the pirate world.
Those who loved each other shouldn't be left with regrets.
One reason he helped Tesoro was that Seven resented the idea of fate. Why should everything have to follow a predetermined course? He refused.
He was going to defy fate and change his destiny.
The other reason was that no matter what Seven chose to do in the future—overthrow the World Government or carve out a kingdom of his own—he would need the Golden Emperor.
The Golden Emperor would handle the money and Devil Fruits.
Seven made full use of his Profiteer King nature, relying on the pirate world's unique goods to earn massive sums of points on the Trading Platform and grow stronger.
At the same time, he planned to turn Skypiea and Inazuma into the most powerful sanctuaries on the seas, so no one could bully them again.
Of course, Seven didn't intend to save everyone.
He didn't have the ability or the energy for that.
He'd be better off protecting his own patch of land, making sure every crew member had a full belly and could happily pursue their dreams.
Just like that old lord, Sangoma Mahabai: keep only the conscience you need, do only what you want, and spend every day of your life with a smile.
To put it another way—
Seven's dream was to invest in other people's dreams and make a little something for himself along the way.
His investments included the crew of the Morning Star Pirates, Skypiea, Wano Country and Inazuma in the future, and any Marines or pirates who caught his eye.
He did it because he liked them. That was Seven's philosophy of life.
Pulling himself out of his rambling thoughts, Seven opened the system interface. A series of notification chimes rang out.
"Ding! Your listed item, Rat-Rat Fruit, was purchased by the Tomb Raider user. You received 2,700 points. Balance: 3,388."
"Ding! Your listed item, Fly-Fly Fruit, was purchased by the Dragon Ball user. You received 4,500 points. Balance: 7,888."
"Ding! Your listed item, Owl-Owl Fruit, was purchased by the Fairy user. You received 2,700 points. Balance: 10,588."
"Ding! Your listed item, Ox-Ox Fruit, was purchased by the Teyvat user. You received 4,500 points. Balance: 15,088."
"Heh heh heh."
At that moment, Seven felt better than he had in ages.
"My dream ship!"
He spent 10,000 points on the East Blue Emperor, then another 5,000 on five Senzu Beans, just in case he needed them someday.
"I finally have a ship! Let's set sail!"
Just as a Famous Sword was a swordsman's second life, a pirate ship was the foundation of a pirate's life at sea.
Even a man like Mihawk had a coffin boat, let alone great pirates like Whitebeard and Golden Lion.
And the East Blue Emperor was the dream ship of dreams: +50% sleep quality, +50% recovery, a dragon figurehead, crimson sails, and Wind-Electric Dual Drive.
Its setup was countless times better than what Captain Roger had when he first set sail.
Back then, Captain Roger didn't even have a small wooden boat. He had to borrow Vice Captain Rayleigh's ship just to put out to sea.
That little boat was worlds apart from the East Blue Emperor. Only the Golden Jackson, which came later, could just about match it.
With his dream ship in hand, Seven ran more than ten laps around Skypiea before finally letting out all his excitement.
The next day at noon.
Seven gathered Skypiea's elite and bestowed the Paramecia Power-Power Fruit upon the Shandia Warrior Calpa, and the Slippery-Slippery Fruit upon his maid, True Thunder God Shani.
He gave five Fine Grade swords to the three commanders of the Thunder Cloud Guards and to the sisters Shalou and Shani.
He had other plans for the Door-Door Fruit and the Mythical Zoan Bear-Bear Fruit, both strategic-grade Devil Fruits.
"Tesoro, spend some time learning about Skypiea alongside Gan Fall and Calpa."
Tesoro was extremely respectful.
"Yes, Lord Thunder God."
After all, he was a newlywed. Seven wasn't some heartless capitalist who wanted to work Tesoro and his wife like beasts of burden.
"All right, you're dismissed."
Ignoring the resentful looks from the sisters Shani and Shalou, Seven leaped down from ten thousand meters in the sky.
Keep women out of your heart, and your sword will become divine.
Women would only slow down his swings.
Instead of wasting time chasing women, he could spar with Mihawk and speed up the fusion of his Thoughtless Sword training experience.
Seven's Thoughtless Sword currently took too long to charge. He couldn't use it in a fight unless his opponent stood still and waited for him to finish charging.
Surely there weren't idiots like that on the sea?
Above Jaya.
Seven was trying out a bungee jump without a rope when the Den Den Mushi in his pocket suddenly buzzed and vibrated.
He hurriedly pulled it out.
"Moshi moshi."
The Den Den Mushi imitated Mihawk's voice. "Captain, bring one billion Berry to Twin Snake Island in West Blue."
"Twin Snake Island?" A spark flashed in Seven's eyes. Twin Snake Island. One billion Berry...
No way. What were the odds? Had Mihawk run into the future Marine Admiral Fujitora?
Aside from Fujitora, Seven couldn't think of anyone on Twin Snake Island in West Blue worth Mihawk making a special trip to see.
"Sure. Give me a moment."
He hung up, his heart pounding with excitement.
If he could bring Fujitora aboard, wouldn't the Morning Star Pirates take off at once? Even if they weren't an Emperor-level crew just yet, they'd definitely be one of the Three Emperor crews ten years from now.
Seven swallowed, then turned into lightning and shot toward West Blue at top speed.
Normally, to travel from the seas around Jaya to West Blue, he'd have to return to Reverse Mountain and take the current leading to West Blue.
But Seven could simply fly there.
Twin Snake Island was in West Blue, conveniently close to Seven's next destination: Ohara.
Taking the books from the Tree of All Knowledge was a goal Seven had set long ago.
And, of course, there were Ohara's scholars.
People like Dr. Clover, formerly known as Clou D. Clover, who had known Vegapunk for many years.
Why waste time researching the history of the Void Century? If they joined him, he'd tell them everything about the hundred years that had been concealed.
Rather than waste time investigating the truth of history, they could research things like replicating Devil Fruits and feeding Devil Fruits to weapons...
The value of these scholars would be worth several Morias.
And if Fujitora refused to join the crew, Seven could take him to Ohara first and let him see the so-called justice of the Marines for himself—the Buster Call.
Then Seven could keep working on him, and before long he'd have Fujitora aboard.
It was a win on several fronts.
As the saying went: once Captain Seven had his eye on you, you couldn't get away.
Before you continue