South Blue, aboard the east blue emperor.
Inside the multi-purpose conference room.
The entire Morning Star Pirates sat around a round table; on it rested a spiral-patterned fruit.
"Ginny, this is the Paramecia Gate-Gate Fruit. If you don't mind becoming a Devil Fruit user and you're interested in the Gate-Gate Fruit…"
Seven hadn't finished when Ginny was already rubbing her hands and giggling.
"Thank you, Captain."
"Captain, my combat Talents are average, so I'll just support everyone. From now on, if you guys want to go anywhere, just look for me and Kuma-chin."
Ginny knew about the Gate-Gate Fruit.
Although it couldn't compare with the very top fruits among the nine Devil Fruits of God Valley, it was still an amazing Paramecia.
There was no way she would refuse such a powerful fruit.
As for the future—if the crew obtained an even stronger Devil Fruit, she'd leave it for the next comrade. One must know contentment and gratitude.
"Mm." Seven emphasized, "Remember to eat every last bit of the Gate-Gate Fruit."
"What?!" Ginny's face turned to horror.
Anyone who's tasted a Devil Fruit knows the flavor is best described as "one bite and you shut up forever." Setting everything else aside, the taste alone lives up to the name "devil."
"I only heard about it—just mentioning it casually."
Seven toyed with the electric arc dancing between his fingers: "Only by eating the entire fruit is awakening more likely."
In his previous life the internet had been full of such rumors, all sounding perfectly logical, impossible to verify.
But what if…?
What if it was true? Compared to the temptation of awakening, the inhuman taste was trivial.
On these seas where strength is king, the gap between an awakened and an un-awakened fruit isn't small—it's like heaven and earth.
Can the Gum-Gum Fruit even be compared to the Nika state?
Seven added another line.
"Back then I even swallowed the stem."
Hearing that, Fujitora, Kuma, and Robin all exhaled in relief.
"I was hungry, so I finished it."
"I ate it all too."
"Same here."
Truth didn't matter; the psychological boost had already given them full confidence in awakening.
"All right." Ginny hugged the Gate-Gate Fruit, took a deep breath, and, fighting the nauseating taste, chomped away with muffled grunts.
For the sake of awakening—go for it!!!
Seven projected the marked map onto the screen behind him via den den mushi.
"The Four Blues are the World Government and Marine's home ground; a full-scale war isn't wise for now. Our immediate target is the pirates' future stronghold—Hachinosu Island."
"Our base is currently occupied by that trash Directly Ruling; we have to take Hachinosu back."
Fujitora's eye twitched slightly.
Clearly still new to piracy, he hadn't fully adapted to pirate logic.
He could feel the Captain's righteous fury, as though Directly Ruling had really stolen the island from them. No wonder Sakazuki called the Captain a "born-evil pirate brat."
In some ways, the description fit.
Seven went on.
"That garbage Directly Ruling—traitorous, back-stabbing, frame-setting, utterly shameless, a model pirate if ever there was one."
"If Kuma-san hadn't rescued Rocks' wife and child, Directly Ruling would've tried to look after the big sister-in-law too."
"In all my years at sea I've never seen such a thick-skinned scoundrel; when we deal with human trash like this, don't have any psychological burdens."
The gold mines on Hachinosu had once let the Rocks Pirates expand rapidly; even after Blackbeard seized the island, gold still flowed—perfect for laundering Gold Country's bullion.
And the fortune Directly Ruling had plundered for years was worth the Morning Star Pirates' personal attention.
"Before we retake Hachinosu, we'll swing by the East Blue to recruit some cabin boys for chores, freeing up everyone else's time."
The East Blue had produced Pirate King Roger, Marine Hero Garp… even Seven himself hailed from there.
With someone to handle the grunt work, the core crew could devote far more hours to training.
In cultivation, standing still is regression.
Slow progress is still regression.
Most important of all, Seven needed to visit Garp's hometown, Foosha Village, and dig up Captain Roger's saber—Ace—from the Marine hero's yard.
"Of course, if any of you have friends who'd like a lucrative career in piracy, send them our way."
With that, Seven looked toward Mihawk.
"Mihawk, anything to add?"
Mihawk said flatly, "If none of that is urgent, find an island soon."
"No problem."
Seven caught the subtext: Mihawk was itching for a duel on dry land.
And who would the opponent be?
On these seas, which pirate crew boasted three Great Swordsmen, each wielding a supreme grade blade?
Because Fujitora Issho had blinded himself, Mihawk, too proud, wouldn't choose him; only Seven was worthy.
That was the bond between them!!
Ginny finished the Gate-Gate Fruit in one go and wiped her mouth. "Captain, you said Rocks' wife and child were rescued by Kuma-chin?"
"You know what happened at God Valley?"
"Mm." Seven passed the buck without hesitation: "Heard it all from Captain Roger."
After all, he was Pirate King Roger; knowing such secrets was normal—and no one could verify with Roger whether Seven's words were true.
Anyone capable could go ask.
Kuma laced his fingers, trying to recall whether Rocks' wife and child had been among the five hundred he'd saved at God Valley.
Seven stood. "Free time, everyone; I'll steer tonight."
With no dedicated helmsman yet, for now only Seven and Mihawk took turns at the wheel.
Beside the helm, briny wind in his face,
Seven single-handedly guided the ship while pondering whether he'd missed anything—like the famed sword Shusui exhumed by the grave-robber Moriah.
Or the whereabouts of certain Devil Fruits.
Before crossing over, besides the rumor that eating an entire fruit aided awakening, Seven had read that Devil Fruits actively chose their users.
If that theory held,
fruits like the Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Vampire Form—legendary in the giant kingdom of Elbaf—would be useless for him to pursue.
Yet not going still gnawed at him.
I've freaking transmigrated—who cares about canon? Every top-grade Devil Fruit on the sea is mine… for points.
The Blazing-Blazing Fruit had sold for a sky-high 60,000 points, refreshing Seven's view of the trading platform—rich guys really treated points like pocket change.
So pricing the Mythical Vampire Form at 100,000 points sounded perfectly reasonable.
Virtual immortality for 100,000 points?
Worth every point.
In short,
find the Mythical Vampire Form, sell it, and he could afford Conquerors Haki Defense.
The broken thing about Conquerors Haki Defense is that if an opponent's Conquerors can't surpass the user's own Haki, they can't deal a shred of DMG.
With his blade musou isshin giving 100 % Haki amplification, once Seven learned Conquerors Haki Defense, he'd be the toughest guy in the pirate world.
Even tougher than Rocks.