Brother, Fly Slowly

The urging of his brothers made Vista take a deep breath to steady his emotions before reading aloud.

"Morning Star Pirates Captain Barzeb Seven, Bounty three billion; Vice Captain Dracule Mihawk, Bounty two billion; Combatant Fujitora Issho, Bounty two billion... dead or alive."

"Defeated the Buster Call force of over ten thousand Marines led by five headquarters Vice Admirals including Sakazuki and Kuzan, and rescued the Child of the Devil, Nico Robin."

"Recognized as the second Sea Emperor."

The Whitebeard Pirates crew stared in stunned silence.

"What?!"

"A Sea Emperor like Old Man?!"

"You've got to be kidding!"

"Seven-kun only set sail two years ago."

The reactions of his sons made Whitebeard laugh even more heartily: "Alright, alright, Marco, go prepare a banquet. We'll talk over drinks."

After several rounds of drinks and dishes.

Marco shook his head, sighing in disbelief.

"Old Man, I never thought that among Captain Roger's boys, it'd be Seven-kun who became a Great Pirate first. I just thought he was good at cooking."

"Gurarararara!"

Whitebeard downed a huge bowl of sake and set it on the deck.

"Roger told me Seven awakened Conqueror's Haki at eight. Now he can go toe-to-toe with that magma brat. He's no ordinary one."

"He's only seventeen," Marco remarked.

"Next time I see Seven-kun, I definitely want to spar with him."

Vista laughed heartily: "Seven-kun is a Great Swordsman. If anyone's sparring first, it's me."

Perhaps because they'd known each other for years, or because Seven's cooking and brewing were excellent—especially since Whitebeard had been pining for his dream woman—most of the Whitebeard Pirates had a good impression of Seven.

Except for one dark, fat man, who stared blankly at the bounty on the newspaper.

He got this strong in just two years at sea?

Maybe I should set sail too, instead of hiding out in the Whitebeard Pirates, waiting for a Dark-Dark Fruit that might never show up.

Teach felt a surge of irritation. One of his former rivals from Roger's ship, that seventeen-year-old white-haired brat, had become the second Sea Emperor.

Damn it!!!

No justice. That bastard who stole this old man's teeth—what right does he have to become a Sea Emperor?

When he thought about how the Red-Nose Brat and the Red-Haired Brat still hadn't made a name for themselves, Teach finally felt a little better: It's not just me.

Barzeb's already a Sea Emperor, while those two brats are still stuck in some corner of the world.

This old man is at least a crewmate of a Sea Emperor!

"Ah-choo! Ah-choo! Ah-choo!"

On an unknown island, a red-haired boy in a straw hat sneezed several times in a row. Rubbing his nose, he muttered.

"Is... someone thinking of me?"

"Extra! Extra! Ohara Buster Call... the second Sea Emperor is born!"

The newsboy's cries on the street caught the red-haired boy's attention. He pulled a hundred Berry from his pocket and called out.

"Hey, kid, give me a newspaper."

Seeing the coin in the red-haired boy's hand, the newsboy smiled and chirped, "Big brother, the newspaper is five hundred Berry."

"Five hundred? Isn't it a hundred Berry?"

Faced with the red-haired boy's confusion, the newsboy explained, "This issue's sold out, so the price went up."

"What? Sold out?" The red-haired boy quickly fished out five hundred Berry. Something big must have happened for the newspaper to sell out.

"Thanks!" The newsboy handed over a paper.

When the red-haired boy saw the headline, he nearly buried his face in the paper, as if that would confirm whether the news was real.

"What?!"

"Seven? A Sea Emperor?"

Shanks rubbed his eyes, seriously wondering if he was dreaming: Great Swordsman, Captain of the Morning Star Pirates? Defeated a Marine Buster Call force?

He recognized every word, but together they made no sense.

"Is this the Seven I know?"

White hair... right, features... right, confident eyes... right too, but how is this possible?

We only parted three years ago, didn't we?

Three years ago, the Roger Pirates disbanded, and Seven disappeared with Captain Roger. Two years ago, the captain turned himself in and was executed at Loguetown.

Just three years without seeing each other, and his good brother Seven had already become the second Sea Emperor on the seas?

Shanks' bewilderment in that moment was just like Doflamingo's when, locked away in the underwater prison of Impel Down in the future, he saw the newspaper reporting Luffy becoming a Yonko.

His mind was full of: How is this possible?

A moment later, Shanks returned to his temporary hotel room, took out a Den Den Mushi he hadn't used in a long time, and contacted Vice Captain Rayleigh... to clear things up.

Den Den Mushi: "Hello, who's this?"

"Vice Captain Rayleigh, it's me, Shanks."

The Den Den Mushi said lazily, "Oh, Shanks. How have you been lately?"

"Pretty good, Uncle Rayleigh."

After chatting for a bit and reporting on his travels over the past two years, Shanks finally got to the point: "Uncle Rayleigh, how are Buggy and the others doing lately?"

The Den Den Mushi chuckled but didn't call him out.

"Buggy? I haven't seen him in a long time. I keep in touch with Seven, though. He borrowed three hundred million Berry from me not long ago."

"Seven's really something now. I saw in the papers they're calling him a Sea Emperor, with a bounty of three billion. Both of his crew members have bounties of two billion, too."

Shanks suddenly felt incredibly thirsty. He hurriedly poured a glass of water and gulped it down in one go.

So it really is Seven.

A seventeen-year-old Sea Emperor. Brother, we said we'd coast through life together, but you've taken off way too fast. How am I supposed to catch up?

The Den Den Mushi laughed out loud. "Shanks?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Rayleigh." Shanks changed the subject, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Uh... I'll come visit you and Auntie Xia sometime soon."

The Den Den Mushi continued, "Your Auntie Xia and I aren't on Sabaody Archipelago right now. We're planning to go to Elbaf for a while."

"That kid Seven took out a Navy Buster Call fleet. He's worried the World Government might come after us, so he told us old-timers to lie low for a bit."

"Shanks, you're out there alone. Stay safe, too."

"Yeah."

After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Shanks smiled bitterly. Brother, take it slow. Give me a chance to catch up!

Becoming a Sea Emperor in two years? That's just unreasonable. How could something so absurd happen on the seas?

Is this even plausible?

Is there no justice? Is there no law?

Shanks could already imagine how Buggy would mock him for not knowing his place when he saw that Seven had become a Sea Emperor.

Hell, Buggy might even shout it out.

[That idiot Shanks! If he hadn't changed his mind back then and they'd invited Seven onto the ship, maybe he'd be a Sea Emperor too!]