Task 140
"Sig!" Luffy called out to Sig was taking a nap in the sea.
Because Luffy meant no harm, and Sig hadn't realized it beforehand, he was still somewhat confused when he was first woken up...
Just now... did I dream?
I don't remember the details of the dream, but it seemed to have been very frightening.
Forgetting dreams isn't a problem; with his "Psychiatrist" abilities, Sig can unearth forgotten dreams from the corners of his memory. But now...
"Sig! Sig!"
He rolled his eyes at the brats who called him by his Daimyo and said, "What are you doing? And... aren't you being polite?"
Sig has been quite relaxed lately. How should I put it... it's like he just started working and then got caught up in the company's annual party, which was also a world trip.
Sig wasn't really idle; he had been "cultivating"—hiding was a passive act, and as long as he continued to "cultivate," his progress in playing the role of a "Shadow Ascetic" would steadily advance.
After this wave in the East China Sea, there may be no more opportunities for "seclusion," so Sig is determined to complete his role in one go.
"Beckman sent me to call you over." Luffy, then added, "Beckman also asked me to test your real fists. Can you handle that?"
Luffy spoke, he struck a punching pose in front of Sig, making "humphs and hahs" to create an imposing aura, as if he were going to demonstrate it to Sig.
"A real fist?" Sig paused for a moment, then understood what Beckman meant.
"Okay, watch closely! Ee... Ha!"
Zig Sig his strength from his lower body, exhaled, and threw a punch... snapping a tree as thick as a man's waist in half.
It's a power that's almost like a joke; if you're going to call that full power, then 99% of your effort is definitely in the performance.
However, after seeing it, Luffy exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing!" -- It seems that before eating the Rubber Fruit, Luffy probably hadn't been beaten by his grandfather much!
Under Luffy's adoring gaze, Sig not only understood Beckman's meaning, but also surprisingly discovered that his own "Shadow Ascetic" role-playing progress had been spurred on and made a big step forward.
Beckman certainly didn't want Sig to give Luffy a goal that was temporarily unattainable, and Sig had a more thorough understanding of the "Shadow Ascetic" at this point.
Simply not showing anything isn't the best way to "hide." For example, when facing Luffy, because he is the "pirate" Luffy admires, he has a lot of room for his imagination to fill in the blanks, since Luffy doesn't understand anything.
On the contrary, Sig's current performance, which seems to be able to break only one tree even at full strength, surprised Luffy and also made him believe that this was Sig's true strength...
Sig's understanding of "Shadow Ascetic" has also deepened somewhat—first, simply hiding is not the essence of Shadow Ascetic; second, the concept of "hiding" is different when facing different goals.
Afterwards, Sieg left Sig Luffy train on his own while he went to the tavern and found Beckman.
"Hey, old Beckman, what's up?" Sig greeted him casually, while "unintentionally" showing Beckman the newly tattooed "Red-Hair Pirates and crossbones flag on his right arm.
Well, given Sig's prejudice, smart people are all petty. Beckman, being Big Fool, is already under observation, so... he should at least appear to have a "thoughtful mind"!
Beckman was exasperated, feeling that Sig seemed to have a deep misunderstanding about him.
But let's get down to business first. "The boss wants to see the Grand Duke of the Auguste family tonight, and I'd like you to come along." Beckman's expression was serious.
"Huh?" Sig didn't understand.
Beckman then briefly explained the matter of the Auguste family to Sig...
After Beckman uncovered August's "plot" and located his secret base at the Terminal of Uncertainties, Shanks decided to meet with him alone.
Based on Beckman's understanding of Shanks, he probably wanted to "save face," that is, to convince Shanks!
However, given the situation in the Kingdom of Goa, Beckman worried that Shanks might act impulsively and be easily persuaded by him.
Beckman didn't really believe that August, a nobleman from the Kingdom of Goa, would launch a rebellion to overthrow the country's unequal policies.
Just like when King Peter ascended to the throne, he overthrew the previous Tyrant, but nothing changed for the Kingdom of Goa; in fact, the power of the nobles increased.
Therefore, Beckman wanted Sig to follow him— Sig's Observation Haki gave him the ability to see through people's hearts, and with him around, Beckman wouldn't have to worry about Shanks being deceived.
After listening, Sig understood completely that Beckman must have made the decision on his own.
Given Shanks' personality, he would definitely believe that communication between people is based on trust, and wouldn't place his hopes on Sig's Observation Haki.
If Shanks is the Sun of the Red-Hair Pirates, then Beckman is the Moon, not only the brains but also the rational ones— Beckman may seem to have a good personality, but he possesses the ruthlessness befitting a pirate!
"After you've determined whether that guy is trustworthy, when Morio returns, you should join the fruit-hunting team with them," Beckman suggested.
As mentioned in the original work, Shanks used Windmill Village as a base during his stay there, constantly exploring outwards. When he finally left, he told Luffy, "I've explored this area enough, now I'm heading further north."
But you have to understand that if you start counting from when they invited Yasopp, the Red-Hair Crew had already been at sea for three or four years...
Considering the strength of Red-Hair and his crew, it's absurd that they used a small island in the East Blue as their base and took a year to complete their exploration of the surrounding waters. Sig even once thought that Shanks was exploring the mysteries of women.
Now that Sig is part of the Red-Hair Pirates during this period, he naturally understands their strength even better.
However, now that he has more information, Sig realizes that Shanks wasn't lying, but his words were too suggestive!
Dawn Island is located in the East China Sea, which is quite far south, close to the Grand Line. Sailing further south, you will reach the Calm Belt.
Meanwhile, taking the first half of the Grand Line as a reference, the area directly south of Dawn Island, passing through the Calm Belt, is the middle of the first half of the Grand Line, roughly around Jaya Island. When Luffy for Reverse Mountain, he crosses half of the East Blue.
Red-Hair's exploration of "the surroundings" refers to the area encompassing the Grand Calm Belt Grand Line...
The subsequent "heading north" likely refers to crossing the Red Line Continent from the north and directly entering the "New World"—this makes perfect sense!
The Red-Hair Pirates have been staying in Foosha Village for two months now. In the last month, the Red-Hair Pirates split into two groups: Beckman continued to investigate the internal strife in the Kingdom of Goa, while the Red Force was taken away, and Morio and Lucky Roo attempted to sail south—through the Calm Belt —to enter the Grand Line directly.
Morio is good at communicating with wild creatures, Beckman thinks he could try communicating with Sea King...
This was just an experiment; once they returned, Beckman planned to include Sig in the "Calm Belt Exploration" team as well.
This was actually Shanks' decision—the result Redfield wanted, and perhaps Sig would be a good fit as well.
Beckman hasn't acknowledged Sig yet, so he hasn't mentioned it.
Sig was indeed more interested in the "exploration" route, because the Devil Fruit Redfield was looking for should be the Mythical Zoan, the Vampire Fruit!
However, what made Sig less enthusiastic was that even though he didn't know much about the game's plot, he at least knew that Redfield's battle with Luffy's crew in the original work took place "two years later," and only before the final battle, when he found the Vampire Fruit. That meant... that fruit should be in the New World, right?
Of course, the original work's positioning might be inaccurate, or for some other reason, the fruit's location could very well have changed over the past thirteen or fourteen years...