The New World, an unnamed deserted island.
Whitebeard realized belatedly that Seven, his "dream son," was actually using him to practice Armament Haki, which left him feeling a bit sour.
Five years ago, he fought Roger.
Five years later, he fought Seven.
In just five short years, such a world-shaking change had occurred.
Whitebeard slammed his naginata heavily against the ground. "You brat, you're as slippery as ever. If you keep using this old man for practice, I'm going to get angry."
Back when Seven traded fine wine for a pluck of his mustache, Whitebeard knew the little guy was clever, but he never imagined he would grow to this level.
Roger probably wouldn't have expected it either.
A young man who had just reached adulthood could actually fight Whitebeard to a standstill. Neither Roger nor Rocks could have achieved this at that age.
Seven smiled to mask his embarrassment. "In that case, let's settle it with one final move."
At this time, Whitebeard was not in the state he would be during the Marineford War—riddled with illness and needing an IV drip every day. Right now, Whitebeard was still in his prime.
The peak period for humans in the One Piece World usually lasts until around sixty. After sixty, physical stamina gradually fails to keep up with one's strength.
For instance, if every punch deals ten thousand tons of DMG, a thirty-year-old's stamina allows for continuous punching without reservation, whereas a sixty or seventy-year-old must pick the right moment to conserve energy.
The DMG output doesn't actually fluctuate; it's just that stamina limits the duration of the battle.
If the current Whitebeard went to the Marineford War, he might still lose, but he could definitely make a clean getaway.
Whitebeard lifted his naginata, Murakumogiri.
"Fine, one move to settle it."
...The center of the square on Hachinosu Island.
Kuma and Marco were surrounding Whitebeard; one was attempting to push out the DMG, while the other used Blue Flames to heal the wounds. Whitebeard, meanwhile, looked at the unscathed Seven.
"You monster!"
The peak strike from both of them had directly sunk that island, but the results were quite different.
Whitebeard was injured, while Seven, relying on Conquerors Haki Defense, had forcibly neutralized the attack, only getting the hem of his clothes wet from the seawater.
What made Whitebeard even more conflicted was that Seven had actually mastered the technique of Ryuo during their sparring match.
It truly left one feeling both helpless and speechless.
"Just a stroke of luck." Seven opened a wine jar. "If we kept fighting, we wouldn't be able to determine a winner anytime soon anyway."
"Taste the fine wine from my private collection."
As he spoke, the wine, under the control of Teigu: Water Dragon Possession, actively leaped into the large bowl in front of Whitebeard.
Seeing this, the corner of Whitebeard's mouth twitched slightly.
The members of the Whitebeard Pirates instantly fell silent, followed by a sudden outburst of exclamations.
"Captain Seven, I, I, I..." Jozu held up his wine glass, looking at Seven expectantly.
Vista squeezed in front of Jozu. "Stupid Jozu, let me try first."
"There's enough for everyone, everyone."
Seven opened all the wine jars and manipulated the wine to form over a dozen small water dragons, which leaped into the glasses held up by the crowd one by one.
Mr. Lu Xun once said: Showing off is the ultimate motivation for everything.
The joy and satisfaction brought by flexing in front of others are incomparable to anything else; it's a form of positive psychological suggestion.
Commonly known as acting cool.
The great Zhang'Snake' Yida Wei also once said: Stand back, I'm about to start acting cool.
A life without flexing is an incomplete one.
With this little interlude, the shock and distance caused by Whitebeard being injured while Seven remained unscathed vanished without a trace.
Whitebeard grinned, looking incredibly happy.
"Seven, this Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit of yours is truly something. It can control lightning, manipulate flames, and even govern liquids."
Seven laughed. "Just luck."
Having told the lie about it being a Mythical Zoan for so long, Seven himself sometimes almost forgot he had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
This was actually good; after consuming the Age-Age Fruit, his firm belief in the Mythical Zoan nature might actually lead to some unexpected changes.
During the battle with Whitebeard, Seven finally made up his mind: once the opportunity to consume a second fruit opened up, he would eat the Age-Age Fruit.
After all, Seven had fought Golden Lion and sparred with Whitebeard; he could entirely use the Age-Age Fruit to manifest the abilities of the Float-Float Fruit and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
By fully utilizing the power of "I reckon,"
In the future, it might not be impossible to manifest the legendary devil fruit of Elbaf, the nika form, or even Imu's fruit abilities.
Whether it'll work or not, he'd only know after trying.
Compared to ability users who can only eat one Devil Fruit, Seven still held a massive advantage regardless of whether he succeeded.
At this moment, Kuma finally pushed out the DMG and pain from Whitebeard's body. The massive blood-red bubble made Seven's eyelids twitch.
Just how many injuries had he sustained?
Marco led the way, and the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates' division Captains swarmed forward. Even the dark, chubby Teach joined in to share the pain.
For a moment, the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed continuously.
Blood leaked from the dark, chubby Teach's mouth and nostrils. Fortunately, there were many members of the Whitebeard Pirates, so the pain wasn't enough to make them faint when shared.
Once his sons sat down to rest, Whitebeard smiled gratifiedly.
"Thanks, Dr. Kuma."
Kuma nodded with a smile and continued to help the other crew members. When Kuma pushed out the injuries from Rosinante, Who's-Who, and Vergo, Seven stepped in before Kuma could take them himself.
"Kuma, don't forget the Captain's privilege."
Given the injuries the three youngsters had sustained, Seven could barely feel any pain.
To put it in common terms: if they had gone to the hospital any later, the wounds would have already scabbed over on their own.
The three youngsters were moved to tears, shouting about Burning their youth for the Morning Star Pirates. Whether they meant it or not, perhaps only they knew.
Seven picked up a wine jar and poured a drink for Whitebeard.
"Come, come, let's keep drinking."
For this banquet, Seven didn't hesitate to spend the huge sum of three hundred points to buy over a hundred jars of Dandelion Wine from the trading platform.
There was no helping it; he was just that rich now.
The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Nue, the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Python, Model: King Cobra, and Model: Black Mamba had all been bought by Warhammer Girl.
Even after deducting taxes, it was nearly 150,000 points.
He didn't know how Warhammer Girl had obtained so many points; he had never seen her list anything for sale on the trading platform.
Seven suspected that Warhammer Girl had transmigrated very early and had achieved point freedom long ago.
In the three years since activating the system, Seven had never been as wealthy as he was now. He only needed to develop the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to its awakened state to enter the dual-fruit phase.
If he could successfully manifest the nika form, Imu's Black Turn Dominion would no longer pose a strategic threat.
I have the Drums of Liberation too!
When that time came, whether to completely break ties with the World Government would depend entirely on Seven's mood.
If he was in a good mood, he'd continue cooperating with the World Government to earn more Devil Fruits. If not, he'd camp outside Holy Land Mary Geoise and kidnap some Celestial Dragons to ransom the World Government.
The banquet lasted until late at night. After arranging accommodations for the Whitebeard Pirates, Seven returned to the east blue emperor to accelerate his stamina recovery.
Before long, a thump-thump-thump knocking sound came from the door.
"Captain, it's me, Rosinante."
"Come in."
Rosinante closed the door gently, walked quickly to the desk, and whispered.
"Captain, I've discovered a secret."
Seven was greatly surprised. Could it be that Rosinante discovered Who's-Who and Vergo were spies—and not even spies for the Marine system?
If that was truly the case, what should he do?
He wasn't done playing with his three little spies yet.
"Tell me more."
Rosinante paused, seemingly organizing his words.
"It's like this, Captain. When the three of us were fighting that dark, chubby guy from the Whitebeard Pirates today, we accidentally discovered that the fellow is hiding his strength."
"Nani?" Seven feigned surprise.
"Alright, I understand."