"2,998, 2,999, 3,000!" Sig finished his three thousand straight punches for the day.
Sig could now consistently throw punches at 1,400 watts. For the last three, he gritted his teeth, and every punch packed 1,500 watts!
Thanks to his use of Sea Power, Sig's Fish-Man Karate had continued to improve at an incredible pace. Only recently had it started to slow down... or, rather, return to a more normal pace.
By a fairly lenient estimate, Sig's Fish-Man Karate was already at the fiftieth level!
If Kuroobi found out, he'd probably be deeply discouraged. That was why Jinbe had told Sig not to show off just yet—he'd save it for later and give Kuroobi a sudden shock, finally bringing him to his senses!
As Sig climbed out of the submerged cage hanging from the ship and made his way up the rope ladder to the deck, he suddenly heard someone crying.
He didn't find it particularly creepy, since he'd been hearing it often lately.
They'd been at sea for nearly three months, and the others aboard—especially the slaves who hadn't been willing to set sail in the first place—were gradually starting to feel the strain.
Lately, Sig had often heard Mermaids or Fish-Men crying at night.
Everyone seemed to assume that the deck was mostly deserted at night, forgetting that someone else was sleeping in a hammock there.
Whenever it happened, Sig would first observe in secret, judging from his companions' subtle expressions whether they needed someone to talk to, or whether they truly didn't want to be discovered and just needed to let it out alone.
From the sound of it, the person crying was a young Mermaid. Sig crept up onto the deck without making a sound, careful not to startle her.
Then he recognized her. If he remembered right, the one crying was Triton. Judging by her tail, she was either a turbot Fish-Man or a flounder Fish-Man.
Sig didn't know her well, but he knew she was a slightly chubby, freckled Mermaid girl who was very cute and had a kind personality.
After watching for a little longer and confirming how helpless she seemed, Sig deliberately made some noise with his footsteps.
Triton jumped, quickly stifling her sobs.
"Triton? What are you doing out here? Getting some fresh air?" Sig pretended he hadn't seen her crying.
"S-Sig?" Seeing who it was, Triton relaxed a little.
If it had been Arlong and the others, they might have been kind to their companions, but after finding someone in this situation, they'd probably have started teasing her. They likely thought a few jabs would help her work through it... Their emotional intelligence barely went beyond that of a fourteen-year-old.
By comparison, Sig was one of the few normal people aboard.
When he'd lost control before, the Fish-Men who couldn't fight had all hidden in the cabins. So the ones who'd been left with a shadow of Sig were the fighters from Fish-Man District!
Sig walked over and leaned against the railing beside Triton...
"I remember your home wasn't on Fish-Man Island, was it? Which direction from the moon?" Sig asked casually.
Of course, using the moon or stars for directions wasn't accurate. On the Grand Line, the unusual atmosphere distorted the constellations. They were only symbolic reference points.
Many Mermaids abducted and enslaved by humans hadn't originally come from Fish-Man Island.
Some had been captured while visiting the outside world, and some had been snatched from Fish-Man Island by bold slave traders who slipped onto the island. But quite a few were Fish-Men, or their descendants, who had already moved to other islands.
Tiger had taken a record of their stories. If they could find out where their former homes were and locate islands with Log Poses along the way, he could take them back when the opportunity arose.
Hearing Sig's question only made Triton look more dejected. "My home... is in the Kingdom of Prodence in the New World. My mother and father fell in love and got together there."
The New World...
Sig could only try to comfort her. "Don't worry! With Tiger and Jinbe leading us, we'll make it to the New World too!"
The second half of the Grand Line, the "New World," was even more chaotic now than it would be over a decade later in the original story!
It would be roughly eight to ten years before Shanks, one of the original Four Emperors, became an Emperor. At present, he was merely the "strongest rookie," famous in the first half of the Grand Line.
The Four Emperors system hadn't been established yet, either. The ones ruling the New World at the time were the Hachinosu Pirate Alliance. It was said that each of its six dominant pirate crews had the power to stand against Marine Headquarters.
Legend had it that the leaders had once belonged to a legendary pirate crew that had operated out of Hachinosu Island... But both the World Government and the leaders themselves kept quiet about it.
Among the names, Whitebeard, Big Mom, and Kaido were familiar to Sig. The others—Ochoku, John, and Klaus—weren't.
One thing worth noting was that, in the public eye, Whitebeard and Big Mom were the most famous of the six dominant pirate crews. They were widely regarded as the two rulers of the New World, while Kaido was considered a level below them, alongside the other three.
Although Kaido had once been captured by Marine Headquarters and survived, he'd rarely appeared in public since entering Wano Country many years ago, and his reputation had declined considerably. His most recent famous feat had been years ago, not long after Roger's death, when another Great Pirate of the time, Gecko Moria, attacked Wano Country and was completely wiped out...
Sig, who read books and newspapers every day, knew there had once been a seventh pirate leader as well: Silver Axe of the Giant Axe Pirates. His base was currently in the first half of the Grand Line, and the World Government had granted him the title of one of the Shichibukai.
Sig's previous captain had been captured and enslaved by a Celestial Dragon after failing to assassinate one of the Giant Axe Pirates' three commanders.
The name "Hachinosu" itself didn't ring a bell for Sig, but he did remember Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom being pirates. He hadn't read that far in the story, but he'd seen analyses on message boards and forums.
The legendary Rocks Pirates had ultimately been defeated at God Valley by Roger and Garp working together, and three of the Four Emperors had once been Rocks' subordinates!
And, if things went as expected, John, Ochoku, and Klaus were probably the nameless zombies used by Gecko Moria in the original story. Sig hadn't paid enough attention to the details himself, but the all-knowing netizens had posted a screenshot of an invisible leopard calling one of the zombies "Captain John." Of course, by then they clearly no longer had the strength to rule the seas.
Moria had failed in his challenge against Kaido many years ago, and the outside world believed his entire crew had been wiped out.
He hadn't yet recruited that genius surgeon and begun his research into zombies.
And with his strength, there was no way he'd defeated those legendary pirates himself. The likely explanation was that he'd stolen their corpses from Kaido...
Well, Sig could roughly figure out how things would go if the original story's chain of events continued: several years from now, four of the seven pirate leaders would be dead, and Moria would eventually get hold of their corpses!
By then, the so-called "Pirate Alliance" would have completely fallen apart. Whitebeard, Big Mom, Kaido—whose terrifying power the world would come to know—and the upstart "Rookie King" Shanks would form a new balance of power as the Four Emperors, striking fear across the seas.
The World Government would also strategically abandon the New World because of the Revolutionary Army's growing activity and the Four Emperors' strength!
Thinking about it, the seas wouldn't be peaceful over the next few years...
These days, any newcomer who entered the New World basically had to join one of the leaders. Otherwise, it was almost impossible to survive there!
And despite the alliance they nominally shared, the great powers constantly jostled for advantage, and their conflicts never stopped.
Even for the Sun Pirates, the New World was an extremely dangerous place...
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