A Perfect Age to Have Children

East Blue, Organ Islands.

Orange Town.

Buggy was holed up in his secret hideout, happily staring at the newspaper he had just snatched from a News Bird.

One moment, he threw his head back and laughed, as if making sure everyone knew about it. The next, he covered his mouth to keep quiet, as if afraid someone might find him.

"Shanks, you idiot! If you hadn't changed your mind back then and we'd invited Seven aboard, maybe we'd be Sea Emperors too!"

Buggy smoothed out the crumpled newspaper and placed the latest issue beside the one from two years ago, when Seven's bounty had first passed one billion.

"Seven, I knew I was right about you."

"Becoming a Sea Emperor in just two years! No wonder you're my brother! Hoh hoh hoh! Hahahaha!"

After just two laughs, Buggy hurriedly covered his mouth.

"I almost forgot. Seven crushed the Navy's Buster Call fleet. The World Government and the Navy will definitely come after old-timers like us."

"For safety's sake—and to protect the treasure map."

"From now on, I must never let anyone find out that I'm Seven's good friend, or that we were both members of the Roger Pirates."

Back when Seven's bounty had just passed one billion, Buggy had considered going to join his good brother. Now, it seemed better not to.

A Buster Call fleet... Just thinking about it was terrifying.

Only a man as gutsy as Seven would dare charge in with just two crewmates.

"I'd better stay in the East Blue. As long as I don't run into Old Man Garp, Buggy the Great will be the coolest guy in the East Blue. I can dig for treasure wherever I want!"

At almost the same time,

news of the bounties on the three members of the Morning Star Pirates, along with the news that Beelzebul had become the second Sea Emperor, spread across the entire sea.

New World, Wano Country.

Onigashima.

As the Beasts Pirates' stronghold, most of Onigashima's day-to-day affairs were handled by King the Conflagration, one of Kaido's Lead Performers.

As for Kaido, he usually drank while crying.

"Mr. Kaido."

King the Conflagration gently placed the freshly printed newspaper in front of Kaido. "A remarkable fellow has appeared on the sea. They're calling him the second Sea Emperor."

"Hm?" Kaido lifted his head, narrowing his eyes.

"A seventeen-year-old brat deserves to be called a Sea Emperor? I'll go capture him and make him a Lead Performer."

Kaido stood and took three steps, then turned back. "Why aren't you stopping me, boy?"

King replied impassively, "The Morning Star Pirates' captain, Beelzebul, has a bounty of three billion. Their vice captain, Mihawk, has a bounty of two billion, and Fujitora Issho has a bounty of two billion."

"Mr. Kaido, the three of them have a combined bounty higher than our entire Pirate Crew. The Navy's Buster Call has already tested their strength."

"And he was a member of the Roger Pirates, alongside Oden."

Kaido sat back down, looking sullen.

"Damn brat."

"Once I've dealt with Oden and taken over all of Wano Country, I'll capture all three of them... But how did that kid Beelzebul change so much?"

King grew interested. "You know Beelzebul?"

Kaido shook his head. "Wasn't he in the newspaper a couple of years ago?"

As if noticing his little brother's change in mood, Kaido muttered, "He's got white hair too, but he can't be a Lunarian. He doesn't have wings on his back."

"Of course, he could be some kind of variant."

"I'll deal with Oden in a couple of years, then go capture him myself. You'll see."

King nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Kaido."

Kaido leaned back. "We're brothers. No need to thank me. Where's Yamato?"

"Still throwing a tantrum?"

After thinking it over, King finally tried to reason with him.

"Big brother Kaido, Yamato's still a child. You can't expect a kid her age to meet the same standards as an adult."

If Kaido hadn't saved him back then, King, a descendant of the Lunarian Race, might still have been trapped in a World Government lab, treated like a test subject and drained of blood.

So King... Abel truly saw Kaido as his own big brother. Unfortunately, his brother wasn't the brightest and had no idea how to raise a child.

Kaido grumbled, "She's my daughter. She should be different from everyone else. When I was her age, I was already on the battlefield."

Well, King silently sighed.

"I'll get back to work."

"Go on, boy."

After King left, Kaido picked up the newspaper and fixed his gaze on Beelzebul's white hair in the front-page headline.

"He really could be one of Abel's people. If that's the case, I have to capture him."

Unlike Kaido, who was determined to bring Seven back as a Lead Performer, another Great Pirate—

Charlotte Linlin, captain of the BIG MOM Pirates, known as Big Mom, was fantasizing about having several children with Beelzebul.

"Mamamama..."

"Katakuri, send Beelzebul an invitation. Invite the three members of the Morning Star Pirates to our Totto Land Tea Party."

At this, Katakuri's head began to ache. Having a mother who was always looking for husbands to have children with was truly exasperating.

"Mother, Beelzebul is only seventeen."

Big Mom's whole body shook with laughter. "Mamama! I gave birth to Perospero at eighteen. A seventeen-year-old young man is in his prime for making babies."

"Even if things don't work out with Beelzebul, there's still Dracule Mihawk and Fujitora Issho. Surely all three of them won't turn me down."

"All right." Katakuri nodded.

Sending the invitations was no problem. Whether they came, however, wasn't up to him. A man like Beelzebul...

He probably wouldn't come, right?

If he really did, it could well spell disaster for Totto Land. A man so lawless that he'd charged into a Buster Call was no pushover!

The Navy's bounty posters for the Morning Star Pirates, along with the newspaper reports about the second Sea Emperor, had a tremendous impact.

On a smaller scale,

before, whenever people mentioned Beelzebul Seven, whether they were Navy, pirates, or ordinary people, either they hadn't heard of him, or their first thought was that he had been a member of the Roger Pirates.

After the Ohara Buster Call incident, when people mentioned Beelzebul Seven, their first thought was—

That white-haired man who stormed a Buster Call. The second Sea Emperor on the sea. The captain of the Morning Star Pirates. A Great Pirate with a three-billion bounty.

To put it in showbiz terms, Seven used to have neither fame nor notable work.

But now? He had the Buster Call's stamp of approval!

The previous Great Pirate to stir up trouble across the sea was Douglas Bullet, known as the Devil's Descendant. Even he had never earned the Buster Call's stamp of approval.

That was because the Buster Call had captured Bullet.

But Beelzebul Seven had not only made it through a Buster Call unscathed, he had also rescued a little girl from it. (Only Kuzan knew about the other three scholars.)

Sakazuki had taken part in both Buster Calls.

The contrast between the two made the value of passing the Buster Call's test crystal clear. Anyone who saw Beelzebul would give him a thumbs-up: "That man's got guts!"

Of course, praise was one thing.

Ordinary people still secretly spat and thought, "Damn pirate, stay away from me!"