"Oi, why is the World Government after you?"
The man lifted his head. His dirty face revealed a pair of dull, lifeless eyes, and his lips were cracked like parched earth.
Seeing this, Seven fetched some food and water and set them down in front of him. "Eat your fill before you talk."
Only those who had gone hungry knew what it was like to suffer from hunger and thirst.
Usually, even if he planned to kill someone, Seven let them eat their fill first. He believed in sending them off with a full stomach, not letting them die hungry.
Though his hands were shackled with Seastone Handcuffs, the man still wolfed down the food without pause.
His pitiful table manners reminded Seven of himself before joining the Roger Pirates, when kind villagers had offered him food. He'd probably eaten just like that.
Sometimes hungry, sometimes full, with no table manners to speak of.
The man polished off two bowls of braised pork rice in no time. "The cook on your ship is pretty good."
"My name is Phoenix. I'm a doctor, and I ate the Space-Space Fruit, making me a Space Human."
"The World Government seems to have a way to reclaim Devil Fruits. I think they wanted to take back the Space-Space Fruit, which is why they captured me."
A doctor? The Space-Space Fruit?
Seven pressed his lips together, outwardly unmoved, though his heart was pounding. Surely this wasn't the Op-Op Fruit—the one the World Government had put a five-billion-Berry bounty on?
If it really was the Space-Space Fruit, the CP leader wouldn't have drawn his gun and tried to kill Phoenix after Mihawk showed up.
The truth was obvious.
The World Government would rather kill this man than let him fall into someone else's hands.
Besides, the man's behavior had changed drastically.
Someone who had given up on living wouldn't eat like this. Only someone desperate to survive would wolf down food without restraint, clutching at every chance to stay alive.
And his explanation was so carefully worded... It sounded as if he'd rehearsed it over and over in advance.
Though apart from Luo, there was no information about any other Op-Op Fruit users out on the sea.
That wasn't hard to understand.
A Devil Fruit that could grant eternal life was on the level of a strategic nuclear weapon. The World Government would certainly erase every trace of information about it.
Eternal life, after all!
Still, even if the doctor really was an Op-Op Fruit user, Seven guessed he couldn't perform the Eternal Youth Surgery right now.
Just ten CP agents had been enough to capture him. That told Seven all he needed to know about the man's strength—he was probably weaker than Seven was now.
"May I ask who you are, sir?"
"Beelzebul Seven."
The doctor asked, "Captain Seven, where are you headed?"
Seven smiled at him.
"Don't ask where we're going. You're spoils I took from the World Government."
"Funny thing is, I'm interested in the Space-Space Fruit too. And funnier still, I also know how to reclaim a Devil Fruit."
Hearing this, the doctor froze. His already pale face turned even whiter.
Even Mihawk, who was taking a bottle of sweet drink from the ice bucket nearby, stopped in his tracks.
Damn, I'm even more interested in Seven now.
The doctor wore a bitter smile, looking as if he'd just escaped a wolf's den only to fall into a tiger's lair. "Captain Seven, a man with the qualities of a king like you actually knows about this?"
"Just kidding."
Seven patted the doctor on the shoulder. "From now on, you're in charge of cleaning the ship."
"Yes, Captain! I'll get it done."
After leaving port, Seven and the others continued toward Jaya Island.
Even if the doctor really was an Op-Op Fruit user, Seven wasn't going to force him to do anything right now.
He was only fifteen.
Being twenty forever sounded wonderful. Being fifteen forever, not so much.
At the very least, he'd wait until his body had fully matured and stopped growing before considering eternal life.
Rather than waste time here, he might as well head to Shandora as soon as possible and use that Golden Pillar to buy the Divine Artifact Dream One Heart.
What if that idiot on the Teyvat Continent had taken Dream One Heart off the market? Then what?
Seven had to consider whether this might be the only chance he'd ever get.
If he missed it, it would be gone forever.
World Economic News Company.
Morgans, the company's president, alternated between staring at the faxed photos in his hand and looking at the Den Den Mushi.
"Do you have any clearer photos? These won't make a big enough splash."
The Den Den Mushi mimicked the caller's expression as it spoke. "Three million Berries, and I'll send you every photo I've got."
Morgans sneered. "Three million Berries? You're out of your mind."
The Den Den Mushi said, "Don't forget, he's a member of the Roger Pirates. Before I was knocked out by his Conqueror's Haki, I took plenty of photos that'll make the papers fly off the shelves."
"Also, all ten CP agents are dead, and he took the criminal with him."
Morgans drawled, "You don't even know the man's last name."
The Den Den Mushi replied, "Does his last name matter? What do you think of Roger's?"
"I never sell fake news!" Morgans snapped. "He's just a cook from the Roger Pirates. Two million, take it or leave it."
The Den Den Mushi said, "Deal."
When the high-resolution photos came through the Den Den Mushi, Morgans put his hands on his hips and threw his head back, laughing.
"Big news! This is big news!"
Morgans picked a photo for the cover: lightning and thunder filled the sky as black-and-red Haki tore across the heavens, and Seven gripped a blue-glowing sword.
Then he found a close-up: snow-white hair and a youthful face.
"Beelzebul Seven! Qualities of a king, Logia Type Rumble-Rumble Fruit, killed a World Government agent, abducted a mysterious prisoner. Hmm, that'll do."
"What should his epithet be?"
Morgans paced around his office, muttering to himself. "Devil's Descendant is already taken by Bullet, and White Hair doesn't sound intimidating."
"Rumble-Rumble Fruit... Rumble-Rumble Fruit..."
"General of Thunder?"
"Forget it. Thunder God will do."
After finishing the draft himself, Morgans crowed, "Tomorrow's paper is going to sell like crazy!"
But before the paper went to print, Morgans took out a Den Den Mushi and called an old acquaintance, CP9 agent Rujian Yitia.
"Rujian, I found Beelzebul's whereabouts. Three million Berries, and I'll send you the location right away."
The Den Den Mushi asked through gritted teeth, "Is Hawk Eyes Mihawk still with him?"
Morgans paused. "They're together? I haven't heard anything about that."
The Den Den Mushi said, "Good. Thanks."
East Blue, Loguetown.
When Rujian Yitia received word that Beelzebul Seven had appeared on Lodestar Island, he was completely stunned.
"What?!"
"You have no Haki, no martial arts, and no Devil Fruit ability. You're a noncombatant with nothing going for you. What makes you think you can enter the Grand Line?"
"How dare you!"
Thinking of how he'd spent over a month wandering aimlessly around East Blue, Rujian Yitia's anger shot through the roof.
"Beelzebul, you deserve to die!!!"
Before you continue