Familiar Faces

When Sig passed by Reverse Mountain again, he didn't see Laboon, nor did he specifically look for him. After resting for a while and allowing Bananaman to fully recover his energy, he picked up the specially made seaplane and flew up together...

Although most of the energy was used up by the time they reached the summit, going "downstream" was much easier than going "upstream".

After identifying the location of the East China Sea, Sig bravely forged ahead and arrived at the East China Sea.

After leaving the Grand Line, there was no need for a compass anymore, and nautical charts became reliable.

At this point, Arlong should not have arrived in the East China Sea yet...

After Arlong was released, Jinbe immediately fought him Impel Down. To be precise, after letting Arlong punch him a few times, Jinbe knocked Arlong down with one punch as Arlong 'Arlong words became increasingly outrageous.

Jinbe had anticipated that Arlong would leave the Sun Pirates.

Sig guessed that Arlong, like himself, might not truly be unable to understand Jinbe's actions, but rather... simply couldn't accept them.

Arlong didn't tell Jinbe where he was going, but Arlong did take Hachi and other close Fish-Man with him, and it seemed that Arlong intended to leave the Grand Line.

Sig wasn't sure if Arlong would ever return to this "Weakest Sea." At least Sig felt that Arlong's racist tendencies weren't as extreme as depicted in the original work.

However, Sig decided to wait and see; if there was still no news after six months, he would make other plans.

Following the original storyline, Sig arrived at Cocoyasi Island in the East Blue...

This is a small island with only one village – Cocoyasi Village.

However, "archipelagos" have become common in the world. Within a day's sailing distance, there are twenty small islands with people living in them. Due to their size, they live in "villages".

Riding a jet ski, Zig, who was over two meters tall and looked quite strong, with Sig skull and crossbones flag tattoo on his arm that he didn't hide, unsurprisingly attracted the villagers' attention after docking at the port.

However, even if Sig were in human form or Fish-Man form, they wouldn't recognize him. No one in the Sig Seas would specifically publicize the bounties of pirates in the Grand Line, since they generally don't appear in the Four Seas.

It's worth mentioning that before Sig's bounty was cancelled, his bounty suddenly jumped to 175 million. Sig probably guessed that the news of his possession of Conqueror's Haki had reached the Navy, so they directly added a "1" to his bounty.

However, the new bounty was canceled after only a few days, following Jinbe's "recruitment." It's estimated that not many bounty posters were printed, and hardly anyone saw them.

Of course, pirates are common in this day and age, especially since Sig is all alone—he looks like a dangerous character. But if he's alone, he probably isn't planning to plunder—with that in mind, no one immediately came to attack him.

Sig parked his jet ski at the harbor's small boat berth, then watched as a middle-aged man in a police uniform with a mustache approached somewhat nervously. Even more puzzling than the mustache was the windmill on his hat, which seemed rather odd...

When Sig looked at him, he could clearly sense his nervousness, but... even though he was nervous, he still stepped forward.

"Who are you?" As the police officer spoke, he couldn't help but glance at the tattoos on Sig's arm and... the "lizard" on his shoulder.

"Sig, Siegfried... Are you an immigration officer? Is it okay to leave the motorcycle here?" Sig's tone was calm, like an ordinary person, but he didn't try to hide his pirate aura.

Seeing that Sig didn't seem to have any violent tendencies, the police officer breathed a sigh of relief, "No problem... If you're staying for a long time, you can park in my duty room over there."

Even if Sig is a pirate, as long as he doesn't do anything heinous, as a garrison officer, Genzo doesn't need to "be mortal enemies with evil," since this isn't a naval branch!

"We'll probably stay here for a while," Sig said, unceremoniously lifting the jet ski with one hand.

For Sig, this wasn't a show of force at all, but for the resident police officer, Genzo, it put even more pressure on him.

Just then, Sig suddenly sensed something, turned his head, and spotted an old acquaintance...

"Huh? It's you? You... what are you doing here?" Bellemere looked at the guy carrying the motorcycle with surprise.

Although he was even more muscular than two years ago, Bellemere still recognized Sig at a glance.

Genzo couldn't help but feel his heart tighten again— Bellemere used to be a Marine in the Grand Line, so wouldn't the pirates she knew be dangerous people?

"What a coincidence, I... just had nowhere to go." Sig couldn't very well say that he had anticipated that Arlong might come.

"I see." Bellemere paused for a moment.

She had also been in contact with the Sun Pirates at the time, and as a former Marine, she was able to deduce some of the truth from the surface reports in the newspapers.

In this way, we can understand Sig's complicated feelings right now.

"Genzo, don't be nervous, he... is no longer a pirate," Bellemere said to the nervous Genzo.

However, Sig then emphasized, "No, I haven't retired from the pirate world. It's Jinbe's business to accept the position of Shichibukai... Besides, Shichibukai are just legal pirates."

"So you still want to be a pirate?" Bellemere frowned.

Although the previous events had disappointed Bellemere with the Navy and changed her opinion of the Sun Pirates, as a former Navy officer, she knew all too well what most pirates were like!

Sig's distraught expression only fueled Bellemere's agitation. "Why? You... it's not about the treasure, is it? If it's about rescuing the slaves, there could be... another way..."

"That man..." Sig suddenly interrupted.

Bellemere was taken aback, only to find that Sig's previously somewhat listless eyes now flashed with an almost palpable "hatred."

"The One Piece, the slaves... everything else can wait. But that man... is absolutely... absolutely unforgivable!"

At this moment, although Sig was standing in front of her, Bellemere felt that his eyes were no longer looking at her; his pupils seemed to reflect the scene before Fisher Tiger's death.

Bellemere had never seen the photograph, but she knew that Fisher Tiger had died at the hands of Vice Admiral Kizaru.

"Kizaru... that person was just following orders, after all..." Bellemere wanted to say, after all, Fisher Tiger was indeed a wanted criminal, and as Marine Vice Admiral, what could Kizaru do?

But when she thought about her encounter with the Sun Pirates, and how they fought against slave hunters and rescued civilians, Bellemere found it hard to say these words.

Sig simply pretended not to hear—even if he said those words aloud, they wouldn't extinguish even a fraction of the flames of hatred burning within Sig...

Genzo was standing nearby, also realized that the burly pirate in front of them was probably... a dangerous person who wasn't dangerous for the time being!