Chapter 24: Two Years Later

East Sea, Loguetown.

Luo Jie's Bar is hidden deep underground in a narrow alley, separated from the bustling commercial street of the town by two corners.

The reason it bears the name "Luo Jie" is simply that more than twenty years ago, before the Pirate King Luo Jie set sail for the Grand Line, he drank a night's worth of rum here.

Before the wooden bar, a man with messy hair like a bird's nest lay slumped on the counter, mumbling indistinctly: "Boss, another round."

The bar owner, Raoul, wiped a glass and retorted in a bad mood: "Lu Bianyi, settle last month's bar tab first!"

"Wait until I catch Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen..."

The man's words still hung in the air when his head grew heavy; he had already fallen asleep on the bar, snoring loudly, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth and wetting the counter.

Raoul sighed helplessly, his voice not loud but heard by a nearby patron: "Another poor soul driven mad by pirates."

"Boss, what's wrong with this fellow?"

Immediately, a patron leaned over to the bar: "When I came here two years ago, wasn't he presentable?"

"Indeed," Raoul set down the glass and lowered his voice. "He used to work for the World Government, so naturally he had money."

"Then why has he gotten worse and worse?"

Facing the rising chorus of questions, Raoul muttered an explanation:

"Their squad originally had eleven members. During a mission, they encountered Luo Jie's crew; ten of the fellows were lost, and only he survived because he wasn't there."

"Hahahaha!" Laughter instantly exploded.

Someone patted the table and teased, "The boss is bragging again! Where are there so many of Luo Jie's crew? Most are probably just petty thieves flying the Pirate King's flag!"

Raoul snorted coldly.

"Two years ago, the newspapers printed it in black and white—Lei Shen Barzab Saint Saint Saiwen attacked CP9 agents and even kidnapped a Government's Weight!"

The moment these words fell, Lu Bianyi, who had been sound asleep, suddenly shot up as if pricked by a needle, screaming and shouting like a madman.

"Where is Barzab?!"

"Saint Saint Saiwen, where exactly are you?"

Jiayadao, Mock Town.

Two years ago, Buggy followed clues from the East Sea all the way to Jiayadao, only to find nothing.

For the past two years, like a homeless wandering soul, he had drifted through taverns and alleys for more than seven hundred days and nights.

The captain is gone, and Shanks betrayed the agreement.

Buggy's spiritual anchor was left only with the treasure map, the treasure, and his good brother Saint Saint Saiwen, but Saint Saint Saiwen had vanished as if evaporated from the human world, with no trace or news.

Every day, Buggy would clutch his crumpled Belly and, without fail, buy a newspaper, hoping only to see that familiar face in the news.

For a full two years, hope was kindled more than seven hundred times, only to be ruthlessly extinguished each time.

"Saint Saint Saiwen, do you remember Barrett, who fought Vice-Captain Lei Li to a draw? He was captured by the Marines."

The wind blew bleakly, sweeping up scraps of paper from the ground.

Buggy tightened his cloak, his gaze fixed on the direction of the East Sea, his tone full of melancholy.

"Saint Saint Saiwen, I'm returning to the East Sea."

"The Grand Line is simply too dangerous; the East Sea is more suitable for me to dig for treasure."

Unknowingly, the execution of the Pirate King Luo Jie in Loguetown was already old news from two years ago.

Luo Jie's final words regarding the Great Treasure ignited the Great Pirate Era; the entire ocean erupted directly, and more and more people set sail to search for the Great Treasure.

Many things happened on the seas during these two years.

The posthumous son of the Pirate King Luo Jie: Portgas D. Ace, was born in the old mansion of Garp in Windmill Village.

Kozuki Oden was still dancing naked.

Because many pirates committed crimes on Fish-Man Island, Whitebeard Edward Newgate planted his flag on Fish-Man Island, placing Fish-Man Island under the territory of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Tang Mu, the shipwright of Water Saint Saint Saiwen, was executed by the World Government for building the Oro Jackson, the ship of the Luo Jie Pirates, and was sentenced to death.

However, Tang Mu proposed the concept of the Sea Train to the judge and received a ten-year reprieve.

He then devoted himself to the design and construction of the Sea Train with his apprentices Bingshan and Cutty Flam.

A pirate riot occurred in Wano Country; the Beasts Pirates and the Moria Pirates fought a great battle in Suzu.

Moria lost all his companions; when fleeing Wano Country, he transformed into a tomb-raiding officer, excavated the tomb of Shimotsuki Ryuma, and took away Ryuma's corpse and the famous sword Autumn Water.

The people of Wano Country erected a tomb for the hero who resisted Kaido: Kozuki Moria.

To capture Barrett, Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the Marine Hero Garp signed a Buster Call.

Douglas Barrett, the former Luo Jie Pirates member known as the Devil's Offspring, was defeated by Marine Vice Admiral Sakazuki and imprisoned in the sixth layer of Impel Down, the Infinite Hell.

Hawk Eyes Jorakoru Mihawk traveled everywhere to cultivate his swordsmanship, showing a clear trend of becoming the world's number one swordsman.

The World Government searched everywhere for the Ope Ope no Mi.

Sky Island, the Golden City of Shandora.

A tall figure, about 2.6 meters high, stood amidst it, with a full head of silver hair surpassing snow, wearing tight black combat clothes that clung to his muscles, outlining fluid lines of power.

A long sword hanging at his waist emitted a cold purple light, complementing the black cloak dancing in the wind behind him.

This was Saint Saint Saiwen, cultivating on the Sky Island for two years.

"Hoo—"

Saint Saint Saiwen took a deep breath, focusing all his mind on the gold coin on his left thumb; his fingertips turned slightly white from extreme concentration.

"Test number 2688."

The instant the low murmur fell, Saint Saint Saiwen's left thumb suddenly exerted force upward, and the coin shot up abruptly like a bullet leaving the chamber!

Meanwhile, the electromagnetic field around Saint Saint Saiwen surged with a thunderous boom, blue current patterns crawling and spreading up his arms as a deafening roar erupted.

"Super Electromagnetic Cannon!!!"

In an instant, invisible electromagnetic force, centered on his left hand, violently sprang forth from the void, exploding to its absolute limit in a flash.

A blue-white torrent of electromagnetism coalesced into a thick cylinder three meters in diameter; crackling with electricity, it carried the momentum of world-destroying devastation as it poured down upon the gold coins—

The air was ionized into scorching plasma; the golden structures trembled violently within the intense magnetic field, while gravel and gold dust were whipped up by the electromagnetic force, transforming into a howling storm.

Wherever it passed, space itself trembled.

It tore through the clouds and pierced the sky.

"Perfect!"

Relying on his own efforts, Saint Saint Saiwen had successfully replicated the Super Electromagnetic Cannon, putting him in a mood so good it was about to explode.

Over seven hundred days and nights.

Saint Saint Saiwen's greatest gain was not the awakening of Armament Haki, nor the awakening of Observation Haki, which, bolstered by electromagnetic waves, now covered the entire Sky Island.

Nor was it the development of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Even less so the fusion of partial Wu Xiang Yi Dao cultivation experience, allowing him to cleave mountains and split seas with a casual slash.

But rather—

The three passive traits: Big Eater Constitution, Innate Superhuman Strength, and Steel Balloon, acting together like catalysts to reshape his body.

Not only did his height shoot up to 2.6 meters, but his strength also became increasingly terrifying; the sword qi generated simply by swinging his sword with brute force was enough to split the clouds.

His endurance was even more terrifying.

As long as he had food to eat, he would never fall!

In the world of Pirates, a powerful and enduring physique is the upper threshold for all combat power.

Whether it is the awakening of Devil Fruit abilities, the ultimate mastery of the three colors of Haki, or the Flying Slash of a Great Swordsman, there is only one prerequisite for releasing any power: remaining stamina.

Those captured due to exhaustion were far from just one.

Koby of Honeycomb Island, the Golden Lion who caused chaos at Marineford, Barrett under the Navy's Extermination Order, and the Loner Red who fought the Navy Admiral for ten days and ten nights before being exhausted and picked off by Koby.

No matter how strong you are, without stamina, it is all for nothing.

A powerful and enduring physique is Saint Saint Saiwen's greatest gain from those seven hundred-plus days and nights.

It is the solid foundation upon which he ascends to become the world's strongest.