The Gold Content is Still Rising

In the waters near Jaya Island on the Grand Line.

Seven stood at the bow, swinging the Plasma Longsword in his hand without pause. He had a feeling he was getting closer to unleashing a Flying Slash.

By then, the vice-captain would also be in position.

So the question remained—what should the pirate crew be named, and what about the flag...

Seven dismissed the Plasma Sword and looked at Mihawk, who was at the helm. "Mihawk, you're the educated one here. Help come up with a name for our crew."

Mihawk smirked smugly. So you've noticed I'm the cultured type, have you?

In truth, Mihawk had just realized it himself—Seven was likely only a flash of inspiration away from cutting out a Flying Slash.

A Swordsman in under half a month!

Talent like that was worth cultivating as a sword-fighting rival.

And with the qualities of a king, good cooking, brewing skills, making sweet drinks, crafting Eternal Poses, repairing ships, helming, navigating, drawing sea charts...

Most importantly, as a former member of the Roger Pirates who had been to the Final Island, Seven was especially young.

Having a guy like that as captain really did make things easy.

At least he wasn't a hassle.

Without realizing it, Seven's training had been a success—subtle as rain soaking into the earth.

Just then, the Doctor, who had finished scrubbing the deck, jogged over. "Captain, don't we already have a pirate flag? Why do we need to think of a crew name?"

Seven pointed at the flag hanging from the mast.

"You mean this? I stole this ship in the East Blue and forgot to take the flag down."

Now that the issue was spotted, Seven flicked his finger, and a bolt of lightning shot out, instantly burning the flag to ash.

Watching the electric current ignite the fire, Seven couldn't help but remark, "The Flame-Flame Fruit? Even a dog wouldn't eat that."

"Now it's gone. If you can come up with a name that satisfies this captain, I'll consider unlocking those Sea Prism Stone cuffs."

The Doctor's eyes lit up on the surface, but inwardly he grumbled, A man with the qualities of a king, yet so broke he doesn't even have a decent ship.

"Hey, News Bird."

Mihawk waved at the sky—reading the paper daily was a must for a cultured man.

When the News Bird landed on the deck, Seven took out 200 Berry. "Two copies, thanks."

The Doctor was full of nonsense and wasn't officially a crew member yet, so he didn't qualify for the crew benefit—free newspapers.

After tossing a paper to Mihawk, Seven lay back in his deck chair, glanced at it, then sat right back up.

"Mihawk, do you know that bird Morgans?"

Mihawk found it strange too—the entire article never once mentioned his name.

"Not close."

Seeing Morgans' praise of him in the paper, Seven clicked his tongue. "Not bad for the president of the World Economic News Company. I didn't even notice how he took that photo."

"The picture's good—not just the color and atmosphere, but the close-up captures about seventy percent of my handsome face."

Seven couldn't care less about Morgans' exposé. He was already wanted by the World Government; this was just another charge.

One death sentence is a crime; ten death sentences are still a crime.

If the World Government had the guts, they could give him immortality—kill him once, resurrect him, kill him again...

Seven wasn't worried that his actions would get his other crewmates targeted by the World Government. Those guys valued their lives more than anyone and had long since gone into hiding.

Except for Vice-Captain Rayleigh and Shakky, the former world's most beautiful woman and the spark of the God Valley incident, who were active on Sabaody Archipelago.

But Vice-Captain Rayleigh could handle it. He probably wouldn't mind.

Right, Vice-Captain?

Sabaody Archipelago, Groggy Ring BAR.

After the Roger Pirates disbanded, Rayleigh chose to live in seclusion here with Shakky, making a living by coating ships for passing vessels.

When he ran out of money, he'd occasionally auction himself off.

But most of his free time, Rayleigh spent drinking with his love at Shakky's bar.

At the wooden counter, the still-charming Shakky slid the newspaper over to Rayleigh. "There's a remarkable little one from your old crew."

"What? Shanks?"

When Rayleigh saw the high-definition front page and close-up, he froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, as if mocking himself for misjudging.

"Hahaha, it's Seven, huh? Tsk tsk... Thunder God, so he ate a Devil Fruit."

Rayleigh stared at the Conqueror's Haki tearing through the sky in the photo, as if lost in memory.

"His Conqueror's Haki's gotten a lot stronger."

The three little ones on Roger's ship—Seven, Shanks, and Buggy—along with everyone else including Rayleigh, had the highest hopes for Shanks.

Though Seven had awakened Conqueror's Haki early on, his physical talent was nowhere near Shanks's.

As for Buggy... hard to judge.

"Never thought that among the three little ones, it'd be our little chef who made a name first."

"Barzeb Seven."

Even Rayleigh was learning Seven's full name for the first time.

Back on Roger's ship, Seven trained hard, but his natural physical talent was too poor, which was why he was the only non-combatant on board.

Still, aside from combat talent, Seven's aptitude in everything else was almost terrifying. He learned to draw sea charts after just three days of studying under Gaban.

"I really miss that kid's cooking."

Shakky rolled her eyes: Fine, fine, so you're saying my cooking's no good?

Go kneel on the washboard tonight.

"The World Government lost face this time. They'll either take it out on the kid or come after you old-timers."

Hearing that, Rayleigh downed his drink in one gulp: "I'll lay low for a couple days."

It wasn't that Rayleigh feared the World Government or the Navy—he just didn't want his peaceful retirement disturbed.

East Blue, Loguetown waters.

Over a month ago, after a falling out with Shanks, Buggy parted ways and began searching for treasure in the East Blue, following a map.

All to scrape together enough money to form his own crew.

That day, Buggy lay on a small stolen boat, staring blankly at the sky.

"Shanks, you bastard!"

"You inherited Captain Roger's will, said you'd sail your own ship to Laugh Tale someday—so why'd you change your mind?"

"I was wrong about you, Shanks!"

Splat. A glob of bird shit landed right on him, making Buggy snap. He pointed up and cursed: "You mangy bird, even you're picking on Buggy-sama!"

With a Splitting Headache Palm, Buggy snatched the News Bird down, grumbling as he pulled out the newspaper.

When he saw the familiar face on the front page, Buggy's whole body split into countless pieces in excitement, tears welling in his eyes.

"Se~ven!!!"

"Hahaha! I knew I wasn't wrong about you."

"A man like you is the one who should inherit Captain Roger's will! Seven!!!"

Buggy's fighting spirit reignited. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the oars: "Wait for me, Seven. I'm coming to Paradise right now."

With Morgans pushing the story, news that former Roger Pirates member Barzeb Seven had attacked the World Government and stolen its prisoners spread across the Grand Line and the Four Seas in a single day.

The irony? The World Government learned about it through the newspaper.

The value of leaving no survivors just kept rising.