"Huh? What were you doing? Why is it Bananaman keeping watch?" Beckman looked at Sig, who had just returned, with displeasure.
"Um... let's go for the big one! What else can I do?" Sig felt a little guilty, but then became more assertive.
Beckman stared at him for a moment. Just then, Lucky Roo returned carrying a baby Sea King he had just hunted down, intending to have White make breakfast. Seeing this, Lucky Roo pursed his lips and said, "Hmm, he certainly doesn't look like he's secretly sleeping... He looks quite listless. Is keeping watch this tiring?"
"Heh, this is from the battle," Sig explained forcefully.
Two hours later...
"Looks like you're done for today! Ready to be crushed by diamonds?" Jozu excitedly punched Sig.
If it hadn't been lunchtime, Sig would probably have lost completely.
At lunchtime, seeing Sig's obvious injuries, White asked worriedly, "Is it because your seawater absorption efficiency is too low? Should I make you some juice?"
"No need! He was just cheating..." Sig said indignantly, muttering something like "This should be considered two against one."
However, the others didn't quite understand, and they were all preoccupied with their own "opponents," so they didn't think much of it and just assumed that Sig was talking nonsense again.
On the other hand, Whitey Bay Whitebeard was in good spirits and had a good appetite, since she didn't have to fight. The Red-Hair Pirates didn't have enough people, and even the White Ship's main crew wasn't enough to go around!
Jozu was unusually happy today, saying he had given that stinky Fish-Man a good beating, but he was glared at several times by Nami, who was also Fish-Man, while Whitey Bay listened with a smile.
After venting his anger this morning, Jozu's hostility towards Sig dissipated somewhat.
Teach almost brought up the fact that Whitey Bay had offered to switch places with him the night before, but Whitey Bay glared at him and shut him up.
In the afternoon, both sides regrouped, and Sig once again fought Jozu to a standstill!
That evening Shanks looked at Sig and asked, "Do you still want to keep watch?" He even winked as he spoke.
Sig suspected that this guy hadn't slept last night...
"No, I think it's better to get some rest!" Sig said firmly.
Over the next five days, the Red-Hair Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates engaged in a series of "battles," but they ate when it was time to eat and rested when it was time to rest, making their "battles" very regular.
On the seventh night, after Shanks once again refused Whitebeard's invitation to "be my son," Whitebeard finally gave up the idea, and the two sides ceased hostilities...
The Red-Hair Pirates used all the treasure on their ship to apologize to Whitebeard.
Whitebeard then invited Shanks and his crew to the Whitebeard Pirates' New Year's Eve dinner, adopting the attitude of "a senior figure looking out for a newcomer." It was the last day of 1509, and 1510 was just around the corner.
Now Shanks and his crew are down to their Red Force, without even a barrel of sake or a pound of meat. It's quite pathetic. Although pirates don't have any "New Year's" traditions, celebrating like this is rather shabby.
So Shanks joined the party too...
Although there was some awkwardness about sitting down and drinking together after the previous fight, the Red-Hair Pirates had Shanks, sitting next to Whitebeard and bowing as he drank with him, making Whitebeard very happy.
Now that the war had ended, Sig then toasted the Whitebeard who was looking at him with disdain.
"You brat... tsk, even more annoying than Jinbe said!" Whitebeard clearly disliked Sig.
"Haha, thank you for the compliment, Captain Edward... Pirates don't survive by being liked." Sig retorted sarcastically.
Before Whitebeard could attack, Whitey Bay dragged Sig away.
Then Jozu and Sig started drinking again...
Although unwilling to admit it, Jozu knew in his heart that in a one-on-one fight, even in terms of physical strength, he and Siegfried, this young Fish-Man, were only evenly matched. In fact, he could feel that Sig was getting stronger little by little. Originally, he was slightly ahead, but now this slight gap, which was not enough to determine the outcome, was also narrowing!
It is evident that Sig's body is already developing towards "dehumanization".
After all, he not only has the enhancement of the Paths of the Divine, but also the tempering of lightning. Furthermore, after analyzing the various Devil Fruit ability, he can grow flesh by drinking water, his muscles have some rubber-like properties, and his bones have some diamond-like properties... In addition to the Dragon Scales on his body, Sig's physical attack and defense are quite formidable.
Whitebeard didn't dwell on Sig's actions, and then turned to Shanks to talk about Big Mom—after Shanks entered the New World, he had several conflicts with the Big Mom Pirates' executives!
The primary reason Whitebeard appeared here was, of course, to claim his son as his own...
However, even if the main objective wasn't achieved, there were still secondary objectives—such as helping Roger teach the "newcomers" a lesson, or giving the Red-Hair Pirates an "invisible pass"...
Once the news spreads that "the Red-Hair Pirates escaped unscathed from Whitebeard (only surrendering their treasure)," other powerful figures, as well as the Great Pirate and Shichibukai active in the New World, will no longer treat them as newcomers, Vice Admiral reducing a lot of trouble.
However, having already offended Big Mom, she certainly won't let Shanks off the hook.
Shanks then honestly spoke about Sig's situation—he had also discovered that, starting with Smoker, what seemed like a chance Crying Pirates or even conflict was actually the Big Mom Pirates "coveting" Sig's abilities!
Shanks didn't hide anything from Whitebeard, after all, Roger had told Whitebeard about the secret of Laugh Tale back then.
Unlike Big Mom and Kaido, Whitebeard didn't care about these things at all...
"Huh? That brat? Tch..." Whitebeard clicked his tongue in displeasure upon hearing that Sig possessed abilities similar to Oden's.
As for Sea King Whitebeard, that's even more confusing—shouldn't it be the Mermaid Princess? This is neither Mermaid nor Princess! They're way off!
"Speaking of Uncle Kozuki... you old man..." Shanks asked somewhat nervously.
Kozuki Oden had promised Whitebeard that he would return to the crew in two years, but after Roger's death, Kozuki wanted to go back first to complete the opening of Wano Country, and then... he never returned!
The last piece of news Shanks received was brought Gennosuke Shanks — Oden, the foolish son of the Kozuki Family, was entertaining Kurozumi Orochi every day.
Whitebeard paused for a moment upon hearing this, his aura becoming somewhat dangerous, but he ultimately replied, "I only recently learned this myself... The Oden brothers... died eight years ago!"
Shanks was taken aback by the news. Although he wasn't entirely unprepared, the news still weighed heavily on his mind.
"Is it... Kaido?" Shanks could tell that Whitebeard didn't want to talk about it, but he couldn't help asking anyway.
"I don't know. I only met Moria a while ago. He had just escaped from Wano Country... Moria doesn't know the specifics either. He only knows that Oden brother died in Wano Country not long after he was captured by Kaido!" Whitebeard was clearly getting impatient.