[Ocean Calendar 1481, March. On the outlaw island of Sphinx, you encountered current marine admiral Kong. Relying on your indomitable will and with the help of your comrades, you successfully drove off the admiral, making your name resound throughout the New World.]
[You have earned the title "White Wolf"!]
[Your bounty is 560 million — even among great pirates, you now stand out as one of the elite, a rising star in the world of pirates!]
[Based on your bounty, you receive the following rewards:]
- Equivalent-value Devil Fruit.
- Mastery of Ancient Script.
- Enhanced cellular vitality.
And so, after claiming his system rewards, the item that appeared in Magnus's hands was none other than the Paramecia · Gaga no Mi (Song Song Fruit)!
Devil Fruits were still one of the fastest ways to gain power.
A strong Devil Fruit and a weak one were worlds apart.
A weak fruit might just make you stronger than the average person, but a strong one could produce someone approaching admiral or even Yonko-level power.
In this era, an ordinary fruit might only fetch 10–20 million Berries — for example, Ripley's fruit, the Paramecia · Mini Mini no Mi (Mini Mini Fruit), was probably worth just a few tens of millions.
But the value of the Gaga no Mi? Dozens of times higher!
Yet, was it truly strong?
For someone like Magnus, tone-deaf and clueless about music, eating the Gaga no Mi would do nothing. At best his singing would just give people nightmares.
But for someone compatible with it? They could forcibly drag enemies into a mental world of their own creation and face down two Yonko-level crews head-on.
That was what the fruit's pure ability could accomplish.
That was what gave Magnus a headache.
A fruit this broken could only show its true potential in the hands of a rare talent — and none of his crewmates seemed suited to it.
"I'll just hold on to it for now."
To fully harness the Gaga no Mi's power, you needed a good singing voice. Magnus did know an excellent musician, but a musician and a singer were not the same thing.
—The next day—
After a night of indulgence, Rose Lily Edwards was glowing with energy. Even an outsider like Stussy could see the change.
She nearly ground her teeth to dust.
"Old woman… even at your age, you're still stealing my man?!"
If before Stussy had only wanted Magnus's wealth, now she also craved his strength.
Over the past few days she'd overheard injured pirates say more than once that White Wolf Magnus might become the first true ruler of the seas in a century.
A man who could slay and repel marine admirals, whom even the World Government could do nothing about.
If such a man fell for her, wouldn't that mean she could, by extension, dominate the seas?
But Stussy was, in the end, just a girl from a small place.
She lacked experience.
She never thought that someone like Magnus could ever be controlled so easily.
To him, emotional bonds mattered more than fleeting bodily temptation.
Unwilling to give up, Stussy sought out Ripley and asked quietly: "Ripley-san… you also like Captain Magnus, don't you? Don't you think it's too much that Lily-san monopolizes him all day long?"
"…Do I?"
Ripley's reply caught her off guard.
"Hasn't it been a long time since Lily-nee and the captain saw each other? It's normal for them to spend time together. In a few days, I'm sure it'll go back to normal."
R-right? Stussy began to doubt herself — had she misunderstood Ripley's feelings? Could it be they weren't romantic at all?
And then Ripley continued, "Anyway, humans only live a hundred years at most, while we giants can live at least three hundred. Giving Lily-san the first few decades isn't a problem, right?"
"…But Captain Magnus is already quite old, isn't he?"
"Not really. Captain is only seventy-one, and I'm fifty-three. Where I come from, we're the same age."
"Ah, ah, that's not what I meant!"
Stussy nearly lost her mind — she knew Ripley was a giant, but Magnus clearly wasn't. How could a normal human live that long?
Or… could he?
Ripley wasn't stupid — she'd seen the changes in Magnus over the past half year. He'd obviously found some way to restore his youth.
In this world, miracles that granted eternal youth or even immortality did exist — from the ageless medicine made from Millennium Dragon bones to the pure gold that vanished with an island, there were ways to greatly extend a person's life.
Ten years ago, when Magnus visited the giant village to tell them stories, he'd mentioned both Millennium Dragons and pure gold. Ripley believed that even if he hadn't found those exact things, he'd found something similar.
In a way, she wasn't wrong.
When Magnus realized he was aging, he did try to find the Millennium Dragon and pure gold — but neither was something you could simply search out.
The Millennium Dragon was a living creature.
And the pure gold had been swallowed by a giant lanternfish along with an island, lost somewhere in the vast ocean.
Yet even without finding either, the system had appeared and strengthened his vitality, greatly extending his life — as evident from his restored, vigorous physique.
Vitality often showed in one's appearance.
—
Not long after his bounty was announced, Magnus finally received a reply from the navy and the World Government.
The World Government was willing to accept Sphinx as a member nation.
But a hundred years of tax exemption was impossible.
The World Government didn't care how its member nations made their money, as long as they paid the Tenjōkin (Heavenly Tribute) on time.
A hundred years was far too long.
They would never agree to that.
As for the captured marines?
No one but the navy cared.
To the upper echelons of the World Government, the navy was just a dog they kept. Why would they hurt their own interests over a dog?
Unless the dog's injury hurt their interests too.
So, the term was set at ten years.
Sphinx would be exempt from the Tenjōkin for ten years after becoming a member nation, but it also couldn't attend the World Summit, only enjoying the normal protection the navy offered member nations.
After ten years, Sphinx would pay the normal Tenjōkin.
And that sum? Twenty billion.
The same amount Magnus had stolen from the Tenjōkin shipment.
"Haha! Looks like those old geezers in the World Government hold grudges!"
Whether it was ten or twenty years, Magnus didn't care.
Asking for a hundred was just to leave room for bargaining.
All he needed was time.
Even with just ten years, by then, Rocks would likely reach admiral level, Newgate wouldn't be far behind, and Charlotte Linlin — who grew stronger just by eating and sleeping — would also be in top form.
The current White Wolf Pirates might only look like a Yonko crew on the surface, but in ten years, even if they were still called Yonko, they would be the strongest Yonko crew.
A ten-year deadline it is!
(End of Chapter)
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