Ambush

After Sig reunited with her parents in Koala, he sensed a crisis from the emotions of her parents and the surrounding villagers!

Koala's parents were undoubtedly very excited, after all, their beloved daughter, who had been abducted for several years, had miraculously returned to their side.

At the same time, however, Sig could sense that they were also afraid. In fact, Sig could tell precisely that they weren't excited that "their daughter is back," but rather that "their daughter [really] is back!"

It's clear that someone must have told them beforehand that Koala might return, and... the fear and dread they felt towards Sig was far too much; Sig didn't consider himself to have shown any pirate-like qualities.

So Sig tried his best not to give them time to inform him, and immediately left the village, deliberately changing direction instead of going to land—it was just a small boat, so he could just leave it; if he was alone, he could simply swim away.

However, even though Sig reacted quickly, he still sensed something and stopped before reaching the shore...

"Come out!" Sig shouted at the seemingly empty woods around them.

Amidst a commotion, dozens of naval soldiers and an officer wearing a coat with the word "Justice" on it emerged.

The officer's features were quite distinctive; he was thirty centimeters taller than Sig, but... fifty centimeters of that was due to his excessively high skull!

His shoulder height is actually shorter than Sig's in his Fish-Man form.

"Very astute, no wonder you managed to get your men to escape Vice Admiral Momousagi." The tall-skulled officer paused, then continued, "But this is the end of it! I, Rear Admiral Strawberry, hereby arrest you! You should know best what your crimes are."

Strawberry —if not told, Sig wouldn't have remembered such a long name.

This guy was Rear Admiral under Kizaru, and later rose to the Vice Admiral in the original work. He was also one of the five Vice Admiral leading the Buster Call Enies Lobby, which clearly shows that he was already one of the stronger Vice Admiral at that time.

However, Kizaru is still Vice Admiral, while this high-brained guy is only Rear Admiral...

Seeing that Sig showed no sign of surrendering, Strawberry said somewhat irritably, "Honestly, it's already disappointing enough that you're the only one here. Do we really have to go through all this trouble?"

"There's something I'm quite curious about..." Sig said in a deep voice.

"Oh? Curious how I found you?" Strawberry chuckled dismissively.

"Putting those aside for now, finding out where there are civilians being 'illegally enslaved' in the surrounding area isn't difficult for the navy. And you'll threaten the people in that village, telling them to immediately notify you and not to raise any alarms after someone returns the child... You might even have promised them that you'd let the innocent child go afterward? I can guess all of that."

But what I'm curious about is... how did you explain to them that the child would become a Celestial Dragons's slave? This is Affiliated Nation of the World Government, right?"Sig didn't know if he was being sarcastic or genuinely puzzled.

"Explanation? Justice doesn't need that. How she became the property of the Celestial Dragons is none of my business. From the moment she left Mary Geoise, she was a runaway slave of the Celestial Dragons! But now that we've caught a slightly bigger fish, it's fine to let it go for now," Strawberry said firmly.

Although he is Kizaru's subordinate, his ideology is somewhat similar to Akainu's...

Perhaps sensing Sig's sarcasm, Strawberry added, "Also, I hope you don't think that just because you're taking the bait yourself, you can save these sinful Fish-Man... Kizaru Vice Admiral personally overseeing things on Baelen Island."

Upon hearing Sig's eyes narrowed, and he then took the initiative to attack Strawberry!

Fish-Man Karate: Great Waterfall Burial!

It's both by the sea and in the forest, surrounded by plenty of water and the natural "Sea Power."

"Great Waterfall Burial" is a new technique that Sig only developed after he fully played the role of the Light Pray-er. After he began to play the role of "I am the Sun," Sig could naturally also play the role of "I am the sea," greatly increasing the range of his ability to mobilize the "Sea Power."

While it's true that mobilizing too many resources makes it difficult to control, this move isn't a direct attack!

Centered on Sig, a massive amount of seawater surged forth from all directions. The sheer volume of water caused Strawberry's pupils to shrink, and he drew his sword without hesitation.

The surrounding ordinary navy personnel were scattered and broken up; firing guns was of little use in the face of such a great flood.

However, this was not a depression, and Sig could not produce water indefinitely. He had only mobilized a large amount of Sea Power, which eventually had its limits. After a few breaths, the force of the water subsided, and only the ground beneath his feet became muddy.

As for Strawberry's direction, he was "completely unharmed"—the waves were instantly cleaved in two by his sword.

However, just as the giant wave parted in front of him, Sig seamlessly rushed in from behind, his right fist wrapped in water, forming a blue giant fist several times his own size, and he punched towards Strawberry!

"Fish-Man Karate - White Whale!"

Facing Sig's punch, which seemed to devour everything in its path, Strawberry dared not be careless. He held his sword horizontally, channeling all the power of his strike into the blade. "Army Breaker!"

As fists and swords clashed, waves of water and air instantly spread outwards, felling and snapping countless trees, and wiping out all the remaining soldiers...

Strawberry was also frustrated— Sig was much stronger than he had imagined!

Strawberry is currently only Rear Admiral, not the elite Vice Admiral who will be able to carry out the Buster Call ten years later.

Even though Strawberry is considered quite strong among Rear Admiral, he's still two or three levels below a codenamed Vice Admiral like Momousagi. And when Sig was instantly defeated by Momousagi, he wasn't even wearing Battle Suit...

Now, Sig has a fighting chance against Strawberry!

After the two clashed, Strawberry recovered faster and delivered a backhand vertical slash, while Sig caught the blade with his bare hands and then, before Strawberry could exert any more force, unleashed his full power.

Paralyzed, Strawberry's strength weakened, and he was unable to turn the blade or pull the knife back. Sig took advantage of the situation, twisted the blade, and kicked him in the chest.

Even so, Strawberry didn't drop his sword, and while flying backward, he readjusted his posture, and after Sig caught up...

"Ivory Spear!"

That massive skull was no joke; Strawberry's skull instantly turned jet black and gleaming. The half-meter-long skull Armament Haki Hardening, and a headbutt blocked Sig's fist, even slightly pushing Sig back—in terms of absolute strength, Sig was still slightly inferior...