No one answered Shiliew's confusion; he simply felt a pang of regret for boarding the ship so late, having failed to grasp the Captain's intentions from his every word and action.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late.
The reason Golden Lion Shiki was so full of energy and happily went to gather his old subordinates was precisely because the Captain had assigned positions to the members of the Morning Star Pirates—
Captain: Barzeb Seven.
vice-captain: Dracule Mihawk.
Honorary vice-captain: Golden Lion Shiki.
Combat Captain: Fujitora Issho.
Medical Captain: Bartholomew Kuma.
Logistics Captain: Ginny.
Intelligence Captain: Shiliew of the Rain.
First Division Captains: Dorry, Brogy.
First Division members: Oimo, Kashi, and the former members of the Giant Warrior Pirates who had not yet reported: Raideen, Bjorn, and Higu.
The four giant crew members, all around one hundred and thirty years old, were in the prime of their lives for the Giant Race, each possessing the strength of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral.
Even Shiliew was no match for the two division Captains, Dorry and Brogy.
Yet, the Captain could tank the two division Captains' ultimate combined technique, Hakkoku, without taking any damage.
For Seven whole days, Dorry and Brogy were panting every day, having used Hakkoku on the Captain a total of forty-nine times over those Seven days.
The first forty-eight times were tanked by the Captain without injury.
On the last time, if the two division Captains hadn't dodged quickly, there was a high probability they would be lying in coffins right now.
This was also one of the reasons why the two division Captains were eager to return to Elbaf.
The Captain simply isn't human!
That strike of Majesty was not only something Shiliew would never forget, but even Great Swordsmen like Mihawk and Fujitora had a fighting intent Burning in their eyes that had never surfaced before.
The Captain's only named sword technique—
Musou no Hitotachi.
His other sword techniques could be collectively referred to as: Normal Attack, Strong Normal Attack, Consecutive Normal Attacks, and Consecutive Strong Normal Attacks.
Having eaten and drunk their fill, the crew members quickly tidied up, some washing dishes and others handling the kitchen waste.
Work that usually took thirty minutes to complete took less than five minutes this time.
All because Mihawk and Fujitora wanted to challenge the Captain.
The coast of Hachinosu Island.
Ginny sat on Kuma's shoulder, Shiliew and Tesoro stood side by side, and behind them stood the four giant crew members watching the excitement.
To avoid causing damage to Hachinosu Island, Seven specifically stood with his back to the island, facing the ready-and-waiting Mihawk and Fujitora.
Fujitora's expression was more solemn than ever, and his eyes flowed with a hot-bloodedness that hadn't been awakened in a long time.
As for Mihawk, his hawk-like eyes were sharper and brighter than ever before.
Mihawk felt extremely fortunate that forming a pirate crew with Barzeb two and a half years ago was the most correct choice of his life, especially after witnessing the Musou no Hitotachi.
Fujitora and Mihawk both agreed:
Relying on individual strength alone, they were currently unable to withstand the Captain's sword technique, so they rarely chose to join forces to try and take that move.
Both understood that only by facing the Majesty directly could they truly feel it—
Seven's swordsmanship, which perfectly fused Haoshoku, Armament Haki, Rumble-Rumble Fruit abilities, Lunarian Tribe flames, and his own physical strength to the extreme.
"Captain, draw your sword."
Seven nodded slightly, but instead of drawing his saber from his waist as usual, he pulled the musou isshin, wreathed in purple lightning, from his chest.
[Musou no Hitotachi Mastery Experience: Fusion Progress 41%, Unlocked Function: Weapon-Soul Fusion]
This was exactly Seven's harvest from tanking the giants' combined technique, Hakkoku, forty-eight times over the Seven days; from now on, the musou isshin would normally be stored within his body.
When needed, he would pull it from his chest.
The advantage was that Seven could enjoy the musou isshin's 100% boost to Haki at any time without needing to specifically hold the sword.
Perhaps the only downside was that not having a sword hanging at his waist made him feel like he had lost the style of a swordsman.
Perhaps when his Musou no Hitotachi mastery fusion progress reached 100%, the musou isshin might even be restored to a Divine Artifact.
Seven pulled the musou isshin from his chest,
but in everyone's sight, only an instant passed; it wasn't that the flow of time had slowed down, but that Seven's speed had reached the absolute limit.
Zzzzzzt~
Near the coastline, streaks of purple lightning spread from around Seven's body to the surroundings.
Seeing this, Mihawk and Fujitora both unleashed their respective strongest sword moves, continuously performing several combined strikes, slashing forward incessantly.
Mihawk:... Fujitora: "Gravity Sword, Gravity Blade: Fierce Tiger..."
The blue Flying Slash wave and the gravity wave converged, carrying an indomitable momentum that could cleave mountains and part the sea as they surged forward.
It was foreseeable that if these layers of combined sword waves hit the land of Hachinosu Island, they would surely leave a canyon-like gorge on the island.
Almost at the exact moment the duo's combined attack was about to hit Seven, as the musou isshin slashed forward, Seven's voice followed.
"Now, the moment of annihilation."
The Flying Slashes that could previously cleave mountains and seas, and the gravity waves that could make the earth collapse and shatter, pressing the surrounding space into distorted tremors, were utterly erased before the Majesty of the Musou no Hitotachi.
There was no earth-shattering aftermath, only a silent annihilation, as if they had never existed.
These were two different levels of power.
Fortunately, the duo's continuous and frantic slashes at least withstood part of the power, yet they still failed to completely shatter that sliver of blade light.
In the end, Mihawk chose to tank it without dodging, and Fujitora was equally unwilling to be a "Low-level Pirate" in the Captain's words.
Even though both pushed their respective Armament Haki to the limit, they were still sent flying by the residual blade light; with two squelching sounds, countless droplets of blood splattered from their bodies, like red petals fluttering in the wind.
The sea behind Mihawk and Fujitora was even split into two by this sliver of blade light, exposing the seabed.
Immediately following that, two sounds of falling into water rang out.
Splash~ Splash~
The crew members who had specifically come to watch were all frozen in place, not even daring to blink for fear of missing this scene.
Seven's voice broke the silence.
"What are you staring at? Oimo, quickly fish those two High-level Pirates out."
Seven was very regretful now—why had he discussed the difference between Low-level Pirates and High-level Pirates with Mihawk and Fujitora before?
Now look, his two partners chose to tank it head-on.
How stupid!
Though, if it were Seven, he would have chosen to tank it too; after all, a single retreat lasts a lifetime. If one doesn't even have the courage to face it, how can one talk about becoming the strongest swordsman?
Once upon a time, Seven was worried that the charging time for Musou no Hitotachi was too long and that no Iron-headed fool would stand still and wait for him to charge.
Now it seemed that such Iron-headed fools on the sea were nearly as countless as carps crossing a river.
Especially if Seven were to throw out the fundamental difference between high-level and Low-level Pirates, such Iron-headed fools would probably line up from Hachinosu Island all the way to Mary Geoise.
"Oh, alright, Great Captain."
Oimo and Kashi quickly jogged over and fished Mihawk and Fujitora—whose chests were bleeding non-stop but whose lips were curled upward—out of the water.
"Barzeb, I am a High-level Pirate."
"Captain Seven, I am a High-level Pirate."
Seven raised both hands, giving a thumbs-up to Mihawk and Fujitora respectively.
"I, Barzeb Seven, am willing to call Mihawk and Fujitora High-level Pirates."
After speaking, Seven looked at the ship doctor, Kuma.
"Kuma, quickly paw the pain and DMG out of these two High-level Pirates' bodies."
Kuma stepped forward quickly upon hearing this, his fleshy paws using both palms to push two giant blood-red spheres out of Mihawk and Fujitora.
Before the other crew members could act—
Flaming wings ignited behind Seven, and he reached a hand into each blood-red sphere, absorbing all the DMG contained within the two spheres.
"Hiss~ It's indeed intense."
The instant Musou no Hitotachi was Seven's strongest attack method at the moment; unfortunately, the consumption was too great, and he estimated he could swing it at most thirty times before being exhausted.
But compared to when he met Dorry and Brogy in the Small Garden a few months ago, he had grown a lot.
Once he entered his twenties and his body matured, that would be the true beginning of Seven's peak period.
For now, the most important thing was to find a way to increase the hit rate of Musou no Hitotachi.
In a real fight with an enemy, except for Iron-headed fools who wanted to be High-level Pirates, anyone else could dodge the attack if they were fast enough.
Previously, Vice-Captain Rayleigh had managed to dodge it.
Seeing Seven stand still in place after taking the damage, Ginny poked Seven with her finger.
"Captain, are you alright?"
"What could possibly happen to me?"
Seven looked up at the sky over the sea: "I am the Captain of two High-level Pirates!"
In the sky above the Hachinosu Island sea area, Marco, who had just arrived, waved awkwardly.
"hisashiburi dana, Little Brother Seven."
"hisashiburi dana, Little Brother Marco."