"You're really relentless, aren't you..." Sig walked in with practiced ease and saw the Prison Demon sitting on the throne at the far end, wearing a handsome face.
Once was chance, twice was a pattern. After being "dragged" in so many times, Sig wasn't all that afraid of him anymore.
The two of them were more or less evenly matched. More importantly, as long as Sig was still wearing Seastone Handcuffs outside, the power of the Devil Fruit wouldn't make him lose control!
The Prison Demon was clearly irritated by Sig's teasing remark. "If you're so tough, how about taking off your good-luck charm?"
The Prison Demon was referring to the Seastone Handcuffs.
"Sure," Sig agreed lightly.
"I knew you wouldn't dare... What? Are you messing with me?" The Prison Demon was caught off guard by Sig's sudden change of tune.
"No. I just need to wait until I've mastered enough Sea Power myself. Then I won't need Seastone," Sig said matter-of-factly.
Jinbe had also pointed Sig in that direction. And judging by the response Sig had received after praying to the sea, the sea in this world did indeed represent some kind of mysterious power!
Besides, if he only wanted to use his Devil Fruit ability, Sig should be able to do that, too...
After putting on the Seastone Handcuffs earlier, Sig had asked Jinbe: since the Navy had Seastone Handcuffs, why didn't they make Seastone Bullets?
Although Seastone was difficult to shape, bullets weren't all that sophisticated these days. Lead bullets were just round balls, after all, so shaping them shouldn't be any harder than making handcuffs.
This time, Jinbe didn't dodge the question by changing the subject. Instead, he explained the reasons he could think of.
First, Seastone was expensive. Second, any truly skilled Devil Fruit user would know Haki. Even if they were an ability user, they could briefly touch Seastone with the parts of their body covered in Armament Haki, allowing them to block an attack!
In that case, using Seastone Bullets on a large scale clearly wasn't cost-effective...
Sig hadn't read ahead in the original story, or he would've known that in Wano Country, the original source of Seastone, Luffy had been attacked with Seastone Bullets. He'd covered his hands in Armament Haki and knocked the bullets aside.
Of course, an ordinary ability user who'd already been cuffed would be powerless all over, let alone able to use Armament Haki.
But Sig was clearly an exception. Seastone could only restrict Devil Fruit powers; Sig still had his own strength. In other words...
If Sig covered his wrists with Armament Haki, the Seastone Handcuffs would temporarily lose their effect. He could then use his Devil Fruit ability. When Sig brought up the idea with Jinbe, Jinbe had agreed that it was probably right.
It was just that Sig still couldn't control his Armament Haki freely, so he had no way to test it.
As for losing control, there was no need to worry for now. From what he could tell, it only happened when Sig was unconscious—or when his consciousness was pulled into the "prison."
When using Armament Haki, Sig would definitely be conscious. Even if someone knocked him out, his Haki would fade along with his consciousness, and the Seastone Handcuffs would restrain him again!
"Want to spar? I could get a head start on learning how to use my Devil Fruit ability." As he spoke, Sig assumed a Fish-Man Karate stance.
"Get lost..." The Prison Demon seethed helplessly.
"You don't want to fight again? Then what did you call me here for?" Sig asked in confusion.
"Hmph. Just look at you, a loser," the Prison Demon said coldly.
Sig studied him carefully. Just as the Prison Demon was starting to squirm under his gaze, Sig ventured, "Could it be... you can't actually control when I 'come in'?"
A vein bulged on the Prison Demon's forehead as he snapped, "I'm just giving you a warning, for what it's worth. Someone powerful is approaching this wretched place... Believe me or not, the next time you hear another Devil's whispers could be the day you die!"
"I don't believe you. You're not a Devil Fruit yourself, but a combination of a Devil Fruit ability and part of my personality. If I died that way, you'd die too, wouldn't you?" Sig saw through his threat.
Sig already knew the answer to the question of whether he'd be in danger the next time he encountered a Devil Fruit.
The Prison Demon could block out the whispers of other Devils, preventing Sig from dying because he couldn't withstand two abilities at once.
Otherwise, as Sig had said, the Prison Demon would "die" too.
And Sig now knew for certain that merely approaching an ability user wouldn't make him hear whispers. He'd only be affected if he got near a Fruit, or in a special situation like with the ghost ship.
Sig also guessed that if he could master enough Sea Power to suppress multiple Devil Fruit abilities, he could accept even more Devil Fruit abilities...
The Prison Demon couldn't do anything about Sig, so he had no choice but to throw him out.
Sig kept the Prison Demon's warning in mind. Someone powerful was approaching?
If the Prison Demon could sense them, they must be a Devil Fruit user too, right?
The Prison Demon was also part of Sig. He might want Sig to lose control and become a "Devil" completely, but he didn't want Sig to die.
But the Prison Demon had said that someone was approaching "this wretched place," not Sig. Judging by the location, they were probably only approaching Water Seven. The unusual currents here put the Prison Demon in an especially foul mood.
Sig didn't understand how it worked yet, but the sea's power naturally countered Devil Fruits. And this pair of "natural enemies" corresponded to Sig's "Sun Sequence" and "Hanged Man Sequence." In the original Lord of the Mysteries, those two also seemed to counter each other... yet had an inexplicable similarity. One purified, the other corrupted, and both had a tendency to brainwash.
So Sig wasn't too worried. For one thing, there was no immediate danger. For another, Water Seven was always full of people coming and going, and whoever it was might not even be targeting the Sun Pirates.
After losing consciousness again, Sig drifted in and out of a daze and slept until dawn. Then a newspaper smacked him in the face and woke him up.
The News Bird showed no sign of apologizing. It circled overhead a few times, then flew off. Sig pulled the newspaper off his face and grumbled a couple of curses, but resisted the urge to knock the bird out of the sky.
The News Birds all came from the world's largest news outlet, the World Economy News Company, abbreviated as WEC. Its president, Morgans, was an ability user who'd eaten the Bird-Bird Fruit, Albatross Model. He could communicate effectively with News Birds, making his the only news company capable of delivering newspapers across the Grand Line. Its advantage was enormous...
Countless News Birds roamed the Grand Line indiscriminately, heading toward any ship they spotted to deliver newspapers. If the crew took one, they had to pay up voluntarily. Otherwise, they'd be blacklisted and never receive another newspaper from a News Bird. Generally, nobody would bother trying to save 100 Beli.
On islands, the birds usually delivered newspapers to places that had subscribed, so no extra payment was needed. Tom's Workers must have subscribed to the paper, which was why the News Bird hadn't landed.
"Ah! What did you go off and do last night? Why'd you fall asleep here?" Franky had probably come to pick up the newspaper and happened to spot Sig.
"Boxing." Sig believed boxing made him happy.
"Huh?" Franky stared at Sig in surprise, as if he hadn't expected him to be such a hard worker.
Seeing Sig reading the newspaper, Franky asked, "Any big news?"
"One of the Shichibukai has been replaced... Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman, accepted the World Government's summons," Sig said, giving him the day's headline.
Finally, there was a second person among the Shichibukai that Sig had known about beforehand...
Before you continue