Because I Trust You

Under the night sky, Loguetown Harbor.

The salty sea breeze stirred rolling waves, their rise and fall like a moonlit lullaby, soothing away all the clamor of Loguetown.

In the darkness, a faint bolt of Thunder tore through the night before flashing past at extreme speed, instantly electrocuting every pirate aboard a medium-sized pirate crew into unconsciousness.

After deactivating his elemental form, Seven first hooked Mihawk's small boat onto the deck, then pulled up the anchor and kicked the unconscious pirates ashore one by one.

He then skillfully started the ship and sailed out of the harbor.

He had originally planned to find Buggy and Shanks to catch up, but the thought of Garp being nearby made Seven hate how slow the ship was.

When it came to the terror of Garp's iron fists, the Roger Pirates had the most authority to speak on it.

In the years since the battle of God Valley, Garp had done only two things—

First, refuse promotion to Marine Admiral.

Second, chase Roger all over the world.

Within the Roger Pirates, from the three main powerhouses Gold, Silver, and Copper to the apprentices Shanks and Buggy, everyone except Seven had been fortunate enough to experience Garp's iron fists.

They were utterly unreasonable iron fists that locked onto their targets automatically and were imbued with Conqueror's Haki.

Seven steered with one hand while watching the pointer with the other.

Not far away, Mihawk held a cup of black tea. "What is ONE PIECE?"

Seven grinned. "Want to know?"

"Mihawk, if you call me Captain, I'll take you to Laugh Tale right now."

With the Great Pirate Era underway, the world would only grow more chaotic. Because of his identity, Seven's path to joining the Marines had been almost completely blocked.

If he wanted to survive better in this chaotic age, his strength alone would ultimately be limited. He had to form his own pirate crew.

Especially after Seven had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the ship needed at least a salvage team specifically responsible for fishing people out of the sea.

As for crew candidates, the first choice was naturally the world's greatest swordsman, Hawk Eyes Mihawk. Only an idiot would pass up such combat power. He had to recruit him!

Then came Kuma and Jinbe.

Kuma's life had been far too tragic.

Seven coveted Kuma's strength, but he also didn't want to see a hero who had saved five hundred civilians at God Valley... live such a miserable life.

Heroes should not meet such an end.

As for Jinbe, who wouldn't want a Blue Fatty?

And with Blue Fatty... Fish-Man Jinbe aboard, Seven would never have to worry about falling into the sea again.

However, before recruiting crew members, his first priority was improving his strength. After all, this was a world where strength ruled, and the weak had no right to choose.

Mihawk gently set down his teacup, rose to his feet, drew Black Blade Night from his back, and held it across Seven's neck.

"You seem to have some misunderstanding about me?"

The icy edge of Black Blade Night instantly sobered Seven up. He hurriedly raised both hands.

"Sora wa Inai, Mihawk."

Right. Mihawk was no softhearted good guy. The title of Marine Hunter had not been given to him for nothing.

Mihawk sheathed Black Blade Night. "CP has its eyes on you now. Next, you'll face endless pursuit from the World Government and the Marines."

"If word gets out that you were a crew member of the King of the Pirates, the pirates won't let you go either."

"Even if you've eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, don't go telling everyone that you were a member of the Roger Pirates and that you've been to Laugh Tale."

Seven had already realized that Mihawk was worried about him. Seriously, he could have just said he cared. Why did he have to draw a sword? What a damn tsundere!

"Mihawk, how do you think I survived all these years? I'm only honest with you."

Mihawk picked up his teacup, walked to the entrance of the cabin, and stopped. Without turning around, he asked, "Why?"

"Idiot, because I trust you!"

Crack—Mihawk crushed the teacup into powder, and the temperature in the air seemed to drop by several degrees.

Seven's heart raced wildly. Only after Mihawk entered the cabin did he reach up to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. Training him really couldn't be rushed.

Still, Mihawk, you won't escape.

Hehehe, hurry up and get on this Captain's ship!

Seven took an Eternal Pose pointing toward Reverse Mountain from his pocket and browsed the purchase requests on the Trading Platform while steering the ship.

[Wanted: Brothers from Teyvat Continent, 50,000 points for Third Brother's death.]

Seven deliberately checked the poster's world, and only then did he understand: Warhammer World...

"No wonder they're so rich. They've put bounties on Momonosuke and the Deserter King, and now they're offering a huge price for Third Brother too... A transmigrator who can survive in Warhammer World can no longer be described as merely formidable. They're practically divine."

Still, Seven felt that the Warhammer World user had deliberately placed such a high bounty on Third Brother solely to make the idiots of Teyvat Continent develop family conflicts.

Setting aside his unrealistic ambitions, Seven began selecting commissions that were currently within his capabilities.

[Wanted: 9 points in exchange for food and water.]

Seven quickly accepted the commission and submitted enough food and water for ten people to the guy who had transmigrated into a post-apocalyptic world.

[ Ding. Congratulations, you have completed the commission and received 9 points. Monthly platform commission limit: 9/10. Current point balance: 9. ]

Though it used up one commission slot, Seven was not discouraged. At least he had figured out another rule.

[Wanted: Any guys from the Pirate World? 1,000 points. Seeking to purchase Devil Fruits in large quantities on a long-term basis.]

[10 cases of Iced Black Tea: 1 point]

"Iced Black Tea?" Seven pondered.

"If Iced Black Tea can be exchanged for points... then the shells from Sky Island should work too, right?"

In order to better train Mihawk, Seven painfully spent the enormous sum of 1 point to buy ten cases of Iced Black Tea, then took one case from the system storage and placed it in the refrigerator.

Mihawk liked black tea, after all. As the Captain, of course he had to spoil his future crew member.

[ Ding. Purchase successful. Monthly platform purchase limit: 9/10. Current point balance: 8. ]

After closing the system interface, Seven had gained a general understanding of the Trading Platform: each month, both the commission limit and purchase limit were ten.

The system's direct sales, on the other hand, had no such limit.

And points were really hard to earn.

He had to head to Shandora on Sky Island as soon as possible and use the Golden Pillar there to purchase the Divine Artifact, Dream One Heart.

Then he would occupy Sky Island as his base, spend some time stuffing himself with food and drink, let the Big Eater physique fully work its magic, and build himself back up.

He could also list those Sky Island Shells with supernatural powers on the Trading Platform in exchange for points, then use those points to strengthen himself.

With God's Perspective, Seven naturally knew where the future of this sea was headed.

Shanks would establish the Red-Haired Pirates, then infiltrate the Divine Knights to gather intelligence, before eventually returning to the seas and becoming the fourth Sea Emperor.

Buggy, meanwhile, had been hiding in East Blue all along.

According to World Government intelligence, Buggy and Shanks had only been apprentices and had not gone to Laugh Tale, making them far less threatening than the other crew members.

And among the Roger Pirates' remaining members, the easiest one to capture was undoubtedly Barzeb Seven.

Seven opened a bottle of Iced Black Tea and gulped it down in one go before cursing angrily.

"Damn it! I'm a crew member of the King of the Pirates, yet the measly World Government looks down on me like this!"

"The weak really have no rights."

For the next month or so, Seven and Mihawk took turns steering the ship. They entered the first half of the Grand Line through Reverse Mountain and sailed toward Jaya Island.

During his spare time, Seven did only three things: sleep, gorge himself on food and drink, and train his body like mad.

Until one day, Seven awkwardly realized that the ship needed supplies again—but they had no money...

Just then, a pirate ship flying a skull flag entered Seven's field of view.

"Mihawk, bring us alongside!"