"An accomplished swordsman?"
Mihawk took a bottle of iced black tea from the ice bucket. "Come back when you can unleash a Flying Slash."
A Flying Slash was a sword technique in which an accomplished swordsman swung his blade to send a slash of air flying at a distant target.
"Don't underestimate me."
Seven gritted his teeth and bought the Swordsman Training Experience. "Give me a month. I'll become an accomplished swordsman."
Mihawk glanced sideways at him. "If you can unleash a Flying Slash within a month, I'll grant you one favor."
Having a worthy opponent to cultivate didn't sound too bad.
Of course, Seven first had to cross the threshold of Iron Cutting and master the Flying Slash within a month.
Was that possible?
It was utterly impossible!
Mihawk suspected that Seven had spent all his time aboard Roger's ship studying food. Otherwise, he couldn't have made such delicious dishes and iced black tea.
"Mihawk, you're going to be Vice Captain, whether you like it or not!"
Seven was practically buzzing with excitement as he pulled out his Plasma Sword and began practicing. Mihawk, you'd never guess what your Captain's about to do—I'm going to cheat!
[Used Swordsman Training Experience]
A vast amount of training experience poured directly into Seven's mind. It felt like a strange, unfamiliar memory had suddenly awakened within him. Rubbing his temples, Seven awkwardly realized—
His brain: I've got it, I've got it.
His hands: No, I don't!
One slash, then another, and another.
At first, Seven's sword swings looked utterly clumsy. But after only a thousand or so, Mihawk's eye began to twitch.
Seven's swinging rhythm was already taking shape.
Seeing this, Mihawk pressed his lips together and decided to make things harder for his future Captain. "You're taking the helm. I'm going to rest."
Seven nodded. "All right."
Mihawk, I never thought a man like you would get impatient. But what difference does it make? The Vice Captain I've set my sights on isn't getting away.
Mihawk picked up the ice bucket and headed back to the cabin. Ever since Seven had brought out the sweet iced black tea, Mihawk had hardly brewed any regular tea.
In the month since they'd met, Seven had dropped four trump cards in front of Mihawk: the One Piece, delicious food, sweet drinks, and Shandora. Who wouldn't be dazzled?
It had all happened so subtly, like a gentle rain nourishing the earth.
Seven had to admit, his efforts to win Mihawk over had gone wonderfully. The day Mihawk became Vice Captain was... just around the corner!
The Grand Line's weather was just like a girlfriend's temper: one moment, the sky was clear and she was all smiles; the next, rain poured down and she was glaring furiously.
The gale whipped up towering waves. Seven hurriedly summoned lightning to form a Protective Shield around himself, evaporating the seawater that splashed onto the deck.
After eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit,
Seven had come to hate seawater even more than Momonosuke. It had claimed the top spot on his list of most hated things.
Dark clouds blotted out the sky, and the sea turned black as ink.
The pirate ship drifted alone across the water, rocking violently as waves crashed against it.
Fortunately, Seven didn't get seasick.
As rain came pouring down, Seven steered with one hand while browsing information on the Trading Platform.
Aboard the Roger Pirates' ship, steering and sailing were basic skills every crew member had to learn—even Seven, who was a cook.
[For Sale: Flying Bamboo Dragonfly, 500 points. Seller's note: A conceptual Anti-Gravity Device. Requires no energy and never breaks.]
"Whoa..." Seven's eyes lit up. A flying Anti-Gravity Device—now that was a great item.
Rumble-Rumble Fruit users could fly too, but not in the traditional sense. They used elemental transformation and the transmission of electric currents to change their position instantly.
However, using Devil Fruit powers consumed stamina. Once that ran out, the Flying Bamboo Dragonfly's advantage would become clear.
Unfortunately, Seven only had 266 points at the moment.
Gazing at the turbulent sea, Seven felt his blood surge. "I have to take Skypiea as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'll just have to look at all this great stuff from afar."
Sky Island Shells and Devil Fruits were the only ways Seven had found so far to earn points quickly.
Devil Fruits sold for a thousand points or more. But a miraculous fruit like the Op-Op Fruit, which could grant eternal life, was clearly better kept as a strategic weapon.
After all, it offered eternal life. Who wouldn't be tempted?
Three days later, a large island appeared on the distant horizon: Lodestar Island, the island where Alabasta was located.
Seven didn't plan to explore Lodestar Island.
He had a clear goal for this trip: head straight to the waters around Jaya, find the Upward Sea Current, and ride it to Skypiea.
Back when he'd sailed with the crew in search of the Final Island, Seven had recorded each island they reached with a compass, claiming he'd one day sail the same route again on his own.
That had turned out to be a very wise decision.
By the helm, Mihawk suddenly spoke. "King of the Pirates Roger... What kind of man was he?"
Seven paused before answering.
"Captain... was an outstanding pirate."
An inadequate husband and father.
"Just outstanding?" Mihawk took a sip of iced black tea. "I thought you'd call him the strongest pirate. So who do you think is the strongest?"
"Rocks and Mr. Gaban."
Before Mihawk could ask, Seven continued.
"In a world where men abandon their wives and children for their dreams, Rocks gave up his dream for his family. That makes him a real man."
"But honestly, I admire Mr. Gaban even more than Rocks."
"Next to Mr. Gaban, the likes of Golden Lion and Kaido all pale in comparison."
Mihawk's gaze sharpened as Seven explained, but Seven didn't mention where Gaban was. Mihawk had no choice but to put his thoughts aside.
"By your account, he must be very strong."
Seven grinned smugly. Once they'd spent some time training on Skypiea, he'd find a chance to visit Elbaf and ask Mr. Gaban how to become a college student.
"I'll explain why later. Once we find Mr. Gaban, you'll understand."
"Our goal for now is Shandora."
After docking at the port, the two split up. Mihawk went to buy food, water, and other supplies, while Seven took charge of repairing the ship.
If anyone asked, he'd learned it aboard the Roger Pirates' ship.
As the only noncombatant among the Roger Pirates, Seven had put every point in his skill tree into abilities unrelated to fighting.
It hadn't been deliberate. His talents had simply gone in the wrong direction.
Seven had little talent for physical combat,
but his knack for everyday skills was remarkable. As a cook, he was not only an excellent chef, but could also steer and sail, repair ships, draw charts... and even make Eternal Poses.
He was bad at fighting, but good at just about everything else.
East Blue, Konomi Islands.
The CP9 agent Rujian Yitia came back once again and found the muscular man. "Has Barzeb Seven returned recently?"
The muscular man quickly replied, "Little White Hair still hasn't come back. Sir, I just remembered something strange."
"Something strange?" Rujian Yitia raised an eyebrow and pulled ten thousand Berries from his pocket.
"Tell me."
The muscular man took the money. "You know, sir, we used to bully Little White Hair all the time. But once, this red light suddenly came from his body..."
"Then we fell asleep."
At that, Rujian Yitia irritably waved a hand. "I get it."
This country bumpkin didn't even know who Roger was. There was no reason to believe what he said.
Red light? What a joke.
Could it have been Conqueror's Haki?
Barzeb Seven had joined the Roger Pirates at the age of nine. How could a little kid younger than nine possibly have Conqueror's Haki?
Thinking of how the little cook had slipped away right under his nose—and taken his hopes of a promotion and raise with him—Rujian Yitia's anger flared.
"Barzeb, you're the worst! Someone like you deserves to be arrested by me personally!"
Rujian Yitia didn't regret not asking the Marines for help in Loguetown. He only hated how cunning Seven had been to slip away while under surveillance.
"Just how did that guy get away?"
Before you continue