Although he promised Big Mom a month, Sig arrived at Whole Cake Island in mid-March and didn't leave until mid-June.
For the first two months, Sig stayed on his own initiative—after all, with twelve children, it would take quite a while for them to "reunite" with each other.
And there's a thirteenth target...
Sig was referring to Katakuri!
The last month was "semi-proactive"...
As expected, Big Mom still had some ideas. After all, Sig's marriage prospects were very good. However, he had just made an appointment with the Red-Hair Pirates, and... Sig's own strength was already extraordinary, especially his complex methods. It was not advisable to force him to stay, otherwise it might damage the currently friendly relationship.
Even so, BigMom tried Sig best to persuade Sieg to stay when he was about to leave, or made excuses not to see Sig when he came to say goodbye.
In the end, Sig stayed a little longer...
On June 20, 1517, Sig returned to Fish-Man Island in seclusion.
In fact, if Sig were to ask for permission, as long as he paid some price to save face for Whitebeard, it wouldn't be a problem whether he wanted Fish-Man Island under Red-Hair's control or Sig himself used the name of "Sea King" to protect Fish-Man Island.
However, Sig did not speak!
On one hand, Whitebeard's decision to raise his flag on Fish-Man Island wasn't driven by any particularly utilitarian motives. On the other hand, it was partly due to his friendship with Neptune, and partly because Whitebeard had some understanding of the prophecy of "Joy Boy," and therefore wanted to protect Fish-Man Island.
On the other hand, Sig knew he was attracting a lot of hatred, and... in the eyes of the World Government, he was already a "Half Fish-Man," so even without flying the flag, he was deeply tied to Fish-Man Island. Flying the Whitebeard flag would be like double insurance for Fish-Man Island!
After returning to Fish-Man Island, Sig didn't go to Fish-Man District to visit his number four fanboy Hody Jones, but instead went to find the sister of his number one fanboy, Arlong...
Of course, Arlong himself didn't know when he had become Sig's "fanboy".
When Sig arrived at the Mermaid Cafe, he happened to see an Old Man with a very "un-coffee" style sitting at the bar.
If Sieg hadn't sensed the intense "Conqueror's Haki," Sig probably would have thought it was some indecent old man harassing his sister.
After all...
This Old Man doesn't look like the type to frequent coffee shops. He's more suited to those run-down pubs that only serve cheap ale and rum.
"What a coincidence, Madame Shyarly's café, it really is a place where good luck comes..." The Old Man seemed to have been asking Shyarly about Siegfried earlier.
And the old man's identity was discovered as soon as Sig entered—although Sig was wearing a hood that served as a Psychological Suggestion conceal his identity, the Old Man's will was clearly not swayed by it.
Shyarly looked at Sig, her gaze somewhat unfocused...
On one hand, when Rayleigh mentioned the person who came in, it made Shyarly look at Sig. On the other hand, due to "Psychological Suggestion," she unconsciously ignored the "hooded man."
Sig snapped his fingers and said, "A Kabu."
While the action may seem somewhat frivolous, the snap of his fingers actually broke the cognitive confusion in Shyarly's mind, ensuring that his own Psychological Suggestion would not affect Shyarly.
At that moment, Shyarly immediately recognized Sig...
Although the two were strangers before, Siegfried... the Daimyo "Sea King," was quite well-known on Fish-Man Island, especially since the two were connected by the name "Arlong."
Of course, because Arlong was abandoned when he was a child, and when he was a teenager, a man claiming to be Arlong's father appeared with Shyarly, the two siblings were not very familiar with each other.
Unlike Arlong, Shyarly is Mermaid, and a very large Mermaid at that; in Sig's memory, she's second only to Shirahoshi...
"Kabu ...that tastes quite like your Captain's," the Old Man remarked.
This Old Man is none other than Shanks' former first Captain, Roger's right-hand man, Silvers Rayleigh!
"That's probably because Roger Pirates's bartender loves making Kabu, right? From what I've observed, our boss doesn't really have any particular preferences; when he orders with acquaintances, he always orders their proudest creations," Sig corrected.
For example, in Foosha Village, Shanks usually drinks with everyone, just regular ale, and a few times he secretly spends time with Makino... When Sig finds out, he discovers that Shanks is drinking butterbeer, which is probably Makino's specialty.
"Is that so?" Rayleigh muttered, feeling that this was subtly different from the Shanks he remembered.
Shyarly then said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "Mr. Rayleigh... if you have something important to discuss with Siegfried, wouldn't it be better to find a quiet place to talk?"
This statement undoubtedly further proves that Rayleigh was inquiring about Sig earlier.
"No need, it won't alert anyone else." Sig ignored Shyarly's disdain and continued to look at Rayleigh.
"Actually, it's nothing much..." Rayleigh paused before saying, "You're later than I expected... I almost thought you'd found 'that'."
The "that" naturally refers to OnePiece.
Sig paused for a moment before saying, "Almost? Hmm, so you have some reason not to believe we'd find OnePiece in the past three months... It seems OnePiece isn't something that will appear during this time, or something that points to it, is it?"
Rayleigh:...
"Now that you have no doubts about 'the condition that points to it,' it seems there is indeed such a point," Sig added.
"This is no fun... What happened to the adventure? Why are you trying to get information out of this old man?" Rayleigh suddenly started grumbling without any regard for his image.
"So, what exactly does the One Piece's first Captain want to see me about?" Sig asked directly.
"Hahaha, don't be so aloof! What's wrong with me, the Pluton, coming to see you, the Sea King?" Although Rayleigh's tone was cheerful, Sig felt that he was being sarcastic.
It seems to be saying that Sig's "Sea King," like his "Pluton," is just a nickname, so he shouldn't try to ride on the coattails of Ancient Weapon!
After all, Rayleigh, as a member of Roger's crew, certainly knew that the real "Sea King" was the Princess of the Ryugu Kingdom...
"Eh? So our Captain didn't tell you? Actually, Oden misunderstood. The Poneglyph say 'The Mermaid Princess is to become the Sea King's woman.'" Sig said this with a straight face, something Rayleigh would never believe.
"Oh, really? Actually, I have another nickname, 'One shot sinks an island'..." Rayleigh twitched the corner of his mouth, feigning an "I believe you" tone.