Located at the lowest level of Elbaf, the Underworld Snow Mountain is covered in permafrost that never melts, also known as the First World after the death of the sun.
The billowing thick smoke dissipated.
Harald and Seven sat on the ground; through their brief exchange, the Giant King had already recognized the other, granting him the status to speak as an equal.
Ultimately, this is a world where strength is king.
Following the display of his strength, Seven did not forget to employ the art of persuasion while pouring the wine.
"Rocks should have told you that he comes from the Davy family. His real name is Davy D. Xebec, a descendant of Davy D. Jones."
So-called cooperation is nothing more than forming a community of shared interests, building a bridge of mutual benefit.
And the prerequisite for cooperation,
besides equal strength, is making the partner believe that you and everything you promise will eventually come to fruition.
Thus,
Seven began with Rocks' background.
The readers with a God's perspective know these secrets, but in the One Piece World, Rocks only mentioned the secrets of the Davy family to Harald.
Harald raised his wine bowl in a gesture, believing a few points more in the upcoming negotiations.
"He... did indeed say that."
"Mr. Giant King, regarding what happened in God Valley back then, I have a slightly different version of events. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."
Seven responded by picking up the wine jar.
People really do change; Seven, who used to only love drinking Milk, has now become a mild alcoholic.
"The reason Rocks went to God Valley wasn't to compete for the treasures of the Celestial Dragons' hunting competition, but to rescue his clansmen living in God Valley."
"But he was transformed into a demon by Imu—the master of the shallow sea contract on your arm—through a move called Black Transformation Dominion."
He ultimately met his end at God Valley.
However, Rocks was not defeated by Garp as the World Government propaganda claims; instead, Rocks pleaded with Roger and Garp to kill him.
At that time, he was almost completely controlled by Imu.
By the way, his son Teach is still alive."
"Above the shallow sea contract you signed, there are also the deep sea contract and the abyss contract, corresponding respectively to the God's Cluster Blade, the Knight of God, and the Gorosei."
"The shallow sea contract grants teleportation abilities, the deep sea contract provides an immortal body, and the abyss contract achieves an effect close to eternal life."
"Depending on the type of contract signed, the range Imu can influence also differs."
"As long as you don't approach the Holy Land Mary Geoise, the influence of the shallow sea contract on you is limited. In fact, if you're willing, you could completely discard that arm and free yourself from the shallow sea contract."
A certain Red Hair young man used exactly this method to break free from the shallow sea contract and gain freedom in one fell swoop.
After the words fell, there was a long silence.
Regarding the truth of God Valley, Harald chose to believe only half based on Beelzebul's strength; the other half he decided to verify personally.
"Beelzebul, why did you specifically tell me these secrets?"
Harald knew clearly that there is no kindness in the world for no reason; all gifts have long been marked with a price in secret.
"Giant King, I know you have no choice."
"Even if you already know about the deep sea contract, and know that becoming a Knight of God means being completely controlled by Imu, you and Elbaf still have no better choice at present."
"And I can't help much right now."
Imu's existence was somewhat beyond the limit; at least for the current Seven, it was indeed difficult to deal with, with no countermeasure for the Black Transformation Dominion alone.
"Give me five years. In five years, I will come to protect Elbaf."
Five years was Seven's most conservative estimate; in all likelihood, it wouldn't even take five years.
"Of course, if I can't do it,"
"the worst-case scenario is nothing more than you being completely controlled by Imu and transformed into a demon form, and I can teleport to Elbaf to support at any time."
Harald knew that Beelzebul had a Paw-Paw Fruit ability user under his command; the promise given by the other party even considered the worst-case scenario.
"What does Elbaf need to pay?"
Seven finally revealed his true intentions: "I want Elbaf's legendary devil fruit and Iron Thunder."
Harald rejected it immediately without even thinking.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible."
"If you can do everything you promised, and Iron Thunder is willing to go with you, I would have nothing to say. But that Devil Fruit is Elbaf's national treasure. How could I let you take the legendary devil fruit just because of those conditions you promised—"
"Those conditions that haven't happened yet and only exist in hypotheses?"
No matter what,
the legendary fruit is Elbaf's national treasure, the final trump card in times of disaster; it was absolutely impossible to hand it over to Beelzebul.
"Brother Harald, really no?"
Facing Seven's overly familiar address, Harald felt utterly speechless; no wonder there were rumors that Beelzebul had friends all over the Grand Line.
He was simply too shameless.
How could a person be shameless to this extent?
Running into someone else's home in the middle of the night, and with just a few words, wanting to take away the family heirloom and the divine beast guarding it.
A person, at the very least, shouldn't be shameless to this extent.
"No, absolutely not."
Hearing this, Seven immediately showed a look of regret, but in fact, he was overjoyed.
This was the so-called 'Door-in-the-Face' effect—
In a room full of people, if you think the room is too dark and directly suggest opening a window, you'll be rejected. But if you advocate for tearing off the roof, everyone will instead compromise and agree to open the window.
After a large request is first rejected, a smaller request is more easily accepted.
Seven asked for both Iron Thunder and the legendary devil fruit, and Harald rejected him outright,
but Harald proactively relented: As long as you have the ability to take Iron Thunder away, I have no objection.
"Alright." Seven shook his head in regret.
Having made Harald relent, a quarter of this trip's goal had been achieved. Next was how to trick the Lightning Squirrel Iron Thunder onto the ship.
Ceding five cities today, ten cities tomorrow.
Take it step by step, slowly.
Although directly robbing them would be fine, the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities... War is the last resort.
One must know that the Morning Star Pirates' First Division, the Giant Warrior Pirates, consists entirely of the Giant Race.
Seven didn't want Dorry and the others to be put in a difficult position.
Moreover, Elbaf is known as the world's strongest nation. Even Imu is trying to consolidate his rule by controlling Giant King Harald and utilizing the power of the Giant Race; how could Seven miss out?
It wasn't about occupying Elbaf, but connecting Elbaf with Inazuma and Hachinosu Island into one territory.
At that time, want to go to the Final Island Raftel? No problem, pay the toll first.
Harald nodded.
"If it really is as you described, I hope you can keep your word."
Previously unaware of the downsides of the shallow sea contract, now knowing about the shallow sea contract, deep sea contract, and abyss contract, Harald only felt that the road ahead was an abyss.
It was an abyss trap specifically woven for him and Elbaf by the Gorosei.
"Why do you know so many secrets?"
If Beelzebul hadn't told him these things, Harald believed he would only have sunk deeper and deeper, from the shallow sea contract to the deep sea contract... and been completely controlled.
But if he didn't sign the deep sea contract and become a Knight of God, Elbaf would never be able to become a Member Nation of the World Government.
Even knowing the truth, there was still no way out.
Precisely because of this, after Harald recognized Beelzebul's strength, he agreed that if the other party could make Iron Thunder follow voluntarily, he would certainly not interfere.
This was in exchange for Beelzebul's help should Elbaf fall into a dangerous situation in the future.
As for protecting Elbaf five years later? Harald took it as the other party just bragging.
No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible.
When a strong person enters their peak period and wants to continue climbing higher peaks, it's not something that can be easily done; effort, Talents, time, and state of mind are all indispensable.
An example like Beelzebul, who became an Emperor of the Sea after three years at sea, would absolutely never appear again.
Seven shifted the blame without any psychological burden.
"Hey, how old am I? These are all things Captain Roger told me secretly after experiencing them himself."
Captain Roger is truly a jack-of-all-trades; any secret can be blamed on the Captain.
Noticing the worry on Harald's face that hadn't dissipated for a long time, Seven dropped another bombshell.
"Don't worry too much about the World Government either. Delay as much as you can. I'll spend money to find someone to help and temporarily distract the World Government's attention."
"Put it on the tab for now, remember to pay me back later."
"Let's go, take me to find Iron Thunder."