Chapter 429: Come Be My Deputy

Sacred Land, Sky City, Lan Yue Terrace.

Lan Yue Terrace reaches straight into the clouds, the tallest structure in the entire Sky City.

Seven sat alone on Lan Yue Terrace.

He couldn’t resist his curiosity again and opened the trading platform to see which unlucky kids had accepted Hammer Girl’s invitation.

【Sheep Catcher Robot: 50,000 points. Seller’s note: Pay attention to pricing when listing items next time—we’ve got plenty of big spenders here.】

【Delicate Crab Roe Burger: 10,000 points. Seller’s note: Just say Pirate Merchant Wang’s name outright—oh wait, you’re one of the big spenders too.】

【Eye of the Gods (Thunder): 1,000,000 points. Seller’s note: Pirate Merchant Wang, brother’s been kneeling on a washboard for seven years…】

【Reverse Harem Technique: 100,000 points. Seller’s note: Twelve Talisman users, MCU users, LOL users—who else clicked agree besides these three unlucky kids?】

【Eye of the Gods (Grass): 1,000,000 points. Seller’s note: Also Giant users, Blue Planet users, Fullmetal Alchemist users, Doraemon users.】

【Fake Girl Immortal Bean: 100,000 points. Seller’s note: Summary: seven unlucky kids clicked agree.】

【World Rune Witchcraft: 100,000,000 points. Seller’s note: Who’s the unlucky kid?】

Seven was enjoying the drama when he suddenly spotted a World Rune fragment—a thought instantly flashed in his mind.

Placing a Witchcraft Rune fragment into the Warhammer world should qualify it as a top-tier spiritual energy artifact.

I wonder if it would work on the Four Chaos Merchants.

As a primordial force of creation, the World Rune is a fragment of primordial magic from the moment of creation.

It is the crystallization of the physical laws and magical essence of the Rune Lands, once used to forge worlds, capable of easily destroying planets, rewriting reality, and reshaping laws.

Unfortunately, the price is 100 million points.

Seven needs to sell 110 pure gold rings; even selling ten per month, it would take a full year to accumulate enough.

Moreover, all supernatural powers in the Warhammer world are permeated, monitored, and corrupted by the Warp.

Releasing massive energy with a Rune fragment in the Warhammer world is like lighting a supernova lighthouse in the Warp—it would instantly attract the God of Wisdom.

“These are too distant.”

Seven put aside his lofty ambitions—he hadn’t even resolved the issue with Yimu yet; these fantasies were impractical.

Still, he could prepare in advance.

According to Hammer Girl’s recent invitation, once one reaches a certain level of power, they may invite users from other worlds.

Seven would never go to the Warhammer world.

That place isn’t meant for humans.

Only if one day Seven ascends to the Immortal Realm and becomes a Hunyuan Da Luo Immortal would he consider liberating the suffering Warhammer humans.

Until then, Seven would rather stay firmly in the Pirate World.

The outside world is simply too dangerous.

Seven calmed his mind and continued refining his sword technique.

With the Horse Talisman and pure gold, he had no need to worry about time or lifespan limits—he could wait until he saved enough points before buying Elixir of Immortality or Dog Talisman.

In essence, pure gold freezes life at the moment one wears the Pure Gold Devil Fruit.

For Seven, if he wished to further raise his power ceiling, he couldn’t wear pure gold indefinitely.

The best choice would certainly be the Dog Talisman.

But given the lesson from the Pig Talisman, Twelve Talisman users likely won’t list the Dog Talisman.

Moreover, since the Twelve Talisman user was willing to rent the Horse Talisman to Seven in exchange for pure gold rings, he probably hasn’t obtained the Dog Talisman yet.

And with pure gold as his mountain of points, Seven felt utterly confident about the future.

A cheat life is just that unreasonable.

…

North Sea Region, Lubnil Province.

Lubnil Province was formerly the Lubnil Kingdom, the hometown of the famed explorer Nolan, and the site of the first Martial Arts Tournament’s North Sea branch.

Admiral Aokiji, as the Marine’s North Sea commander, guarded the tournament grounds.

Aokiji had been deeply troubled lately.

Among the Marine high command:

Sakazuki had his deputy, Rosinante; Garp had his deputy, Boggart; Akainu had his deputy, T. Paine; Kizaru had his deputy, the eighteen-year-old Sentomaru.

But Aokiji, despite having set his sights on two deputies—Enel and Smoker—both were assigned to garrison the Loguetown branch in the East Blue.

This was a torment for Aokiji.

A capable deputy could shoulder the vast majority of tedious administrative duties.

Military deployments, document approvals, personnel coordination, logistical planning—all could be handled smoothly.

This freed the admiral from bureaucratic drudgery, allowing him to focus on more meaningful matters.

In essence, a deputy was the admiral’s hands and eyes, his true right and left arm.

All the other Marine high commanders had one—but Aokiji did not.

It wasn’t that Aokiji had overly high standards; it was that each of his previous deputy candidates had been unsatisfactory.

He had initially chosen Enel and Smoker because they shared his interests—they could talk, and they could relate like friends.

Yet even this simple demand:

Aokiji had searched within the Marines for years; even the Marine’s supreme commander had changed from the World Government to the United Kingdom, and Aokiji still hadn’t found one.

At this moment, Virgo, who had accompanied him, handed Aokiji a compiled list.

“Mr. Kuzan, these individuals on the list are all upright, talented prospects worthy of strong cultivation.”

Aokiji had barely glanced at the list when he suddenly realized something—his eyes lit up as he turned to Virgo.

“Virgo, if I recall correctly, before you followed Saint Seven, you were in the Marines, weren’t you?”

The answer was right before him.

As an official appointed by the United Kingdom’s Interior Ministry to assist Aokiji with North Sea affairs, Virgo’s competence was unquestionable.

He was also a former Marine, familiar with internal Marine operations.

Moreover, Virgo had infiltrated both the Morning Star Guild and the Beasts Pirates for years, even managing to become a Disaster under Kaido—his mental fortitude and patience far surpassed ordinary men.

Wasn’t this exactly the deputy he had been searching for?

“Yes, Mr. Kuzan.”

Virgo flashed a bright smile.

“If it weren’t for Marshal Sakazuki’s orders, I’d still be serving in the Marines. Of course, serving in the Marines isn’t bad—but for me, following Saint Seven offers far greater horizons.”

Aokiji couldn’t help laughing.

“Your legendary experiences could easily fill a book.”

Then, with sincere words, he invited:

“Virgo, come be my deputy?”

At these words, Virgo’s mind went numb—he instinctively wondered: after all his infiltration, had he just returned to the Marines?

“Th-this… this… this…”

Aokiji thought Virgo was hesitating.

“Whether you serve the Marines or the Interior Ministry, you’re still serving the United Kingdom. Think it over—I’ll keep my door open for you.”

“Alright,” Virgo nodded.

In truth, Virgo was deeply tempted.

Though the Marines now fell under the United Kingdom, they were still remnants of the old World Government, and some within undoubtedly harbored disloyal intentions.

As the captain’s most loyal subordinate,

Virgo believed: he had both the duty and obligation to infiltrate the Marines, closely monitor their movements, purge potential traitors, and ensure the captain maintained firm control over the Marines.

But first, he needed to inform the captain.