East Blue, Loguetown
Roger's bar is hidden deep in an alley, two turns away from the noisy shopping street.
It bears the name "Roger" only because, more than twenty years ago, Pirate King Roger drank here all night before setting sail for the Grand Line.
At the wooden bar, a man with bird-nest hair sprawled across the table, slurring, "Boss, another round."
Bar owner Raul polished a glass and snapped back, "Lu Bian Yi Tiao, pay last month's tab first!"
"When I catch Barzeb…"
The words still hung in the air when his head dropped; he was snoring on the bar, drool pooling on the wood.
Raul sighed in resignation, but a nearby patron overheard: "Another poor soul driven mad by pirates."
"Boss, what's his story?"
A customer leaned in. "When I was here two years ago, he still looked human."
"He used to," Raul muttered, lowering his voice. "Worked for the World Government—plenty of money then."
"So how'd he end up like this?"
Pressed by the crowd, Raul grumbled:
"Their squad had eleven men. On a mission they ran into Roger's crew; ten died, and only the one who didn't go survived."
Laughter exploded.
Someone slapped the table. "Boss, quit bragging—how many of Roger's crew could there be? Probably small-timers waving the Pirate King's flag!"
Raul snorted.
"Two years ago the papers printed it plain—Thunder God Barzeb Seven attacked CP9 agents and snatched a government prisoner!"
The moment the words fell, the sleeping Lu Bian Yi Tiao jerked upright as if stabbed, shouting like a madman:
"Where's Barzeb?!"
…"Seven, where are you?"
Jaya Island, Mock Town.
Two years ago, Buggy chased clues from East Blue to Jaya and found nothing.
Since then, like a homeless ghost, he wandered taverns and alleys for Seven hundred nights.
His Captain was gone, and Shanks had broken their promise.
Buggy's last hopes were a treasure map, treasure, and his sworn brother Seven—yet Seven had vanished without a trace.
Every day Buggy clutched crumpled Berries and unfailingly bought a newspaper, praying to see that familiar face.
For two whole years, hope flared over Seven hundred times—and was ruthlessly extinguished each time.
"Seven, remember Bullet, the guy who fought Vice-Captain Rayleigh to a draw? The Marines caught him."
A bleak wind swept scraps of paper across the ground.
Buggy tightened his cloak, gazing toward East Blue, voice full of loss.
"Seven, I'm heading back to East Blue."
"The Grand Line's too dangerous; East Blue's better for digging up treasure."
…Before they knew it, the execution of Pirate King Roger in Loguetown was already two-year-old news.
Roger's dying words about the great treasure launched the Great Pirate Age; the seas erupted as more and more people sailed in search of the prize.
In those two years, much happened on the seas.
Roger's posthumous son, Portgas D. Ace, was born in Foosha Village at Garp's house.
Kozuki Oden was still dancing naked.
Because pirates ran wild on Fish-Man Island, Whitebeard Edward Newgate planted his flag and claimed it for the Whitebeard Pirates.
Water 7 shipwright Tom, who built the Roger Pirates' ship Oro Jackson, was condemned by the World Government and sentenced to death.
Tom, however, proposed the Sea Train concept and won a ten-year reprieve.
He and his apprentices Iceburg and Cutty Flam began designing and building the Sea Train.
Wano Country suffered a pirate uprising; the Beasts Pirates and Moriah Pirates clashed in Ringo.
Moriah lost all his comrades and, fleeing Wano, looted Ryuma's tomb, taking the corpse and the sword Shusui.
The people of Wano erected a grave for their hero against Kaido: Gekko Moriah.
To capture Bullet, Admiral Sengoku and Marine Hero Garp issued a Buster Call.
The Roger Pirates' former "demon heir," Douglas Bullet, was defeated by Vice Admiral Sakazuki and imprisoned on level six of Impel Down.
Hawkeye Dracule Mihawk wandered the world honing his swordsmanship, already showing signs of becoming the world's greatest swordsman.
The World Government scoured the seas for the Ope-Ope no Mi… Sky Island, the golden city of Shandora.
A tall figure, roughly 2.6 meters, stood there, silver hair like snow, black combat clothes clinging to every muscle.
The long sword at his waist gleamed cold violet, matching the black cloak that fluttered in the wind.
It was Seven, who had trained on Sky Island for two years.
"Hah—"
Seven drew a deep breath, focusing every shred of mind on the gold coin on his left thumb; the fingertip whitened with concentration.
"Test number 2,688."
The instant the low words fell, Seven flicked the coin upward like a Bullet.
At the same time, the electromagnetic field around him exploded; blue current crawled up his arm as he roared.
"Railgun!!!"
In that instant, invisible electromagnetic force surged from nothing to the extreme.
Blue-white lightning condensed into a three-meter column, crackling with world-shaking might, pouring toward the coin—
Air ionized into scorching plasma; golden buildings shook in the magnetic storm, rubble and gold dust whirling into a howling tempest.
Space quivered in its path.
Clouds tore, sky pierced.
"Perfect!"
By his own effort, he had recreated the Railgun; Seven was elated.
More than Seven hundred days and nights.
Seven's greatest gain was not awakening Armament Haki, nor Observation Haki that, boosted by radio waves, blanketed the entire Sky Island.
It wasn't the development of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Nor was it merging part of the Musou no Hitotachi experience, letting him cleave mountains and seas with a casual slash.
It was—
Big Eater constitution, Innate Divine Strength, and Iron Balloon, three passives that remade his body like a catalyst.
Not only did his height shoot to 2.6 meters, his strength became terrifying; a simple sword swing could split clouds.
His stamina was even more monstrous.
As long as there was food, he would not fall!
In this pirate world, a mighty, enduring body is the ceiling of all combat power.
Whether it's Devil Fruit awakening, the ultimate three-color Haki, or a Great Swordsman's Flying Slash, every release of power has one prerequisite: stamina remaining.
Those captured from exhaustion are far from few.
Garp on Hachinosu Island, Golden Lion rampaging through Marineford, Bullet under the Buster Call, and the solitary Red who fought Fleet Admiral Aether for ten days and nights before Garp finished him—
No matter how strong you are, without stamina it's meaningless.
A mighty, lasting body is the greatest harvest of Seven's Seven hundred days and nights.
It is the solid cornerstone for him to stand atop the world.