The Lure

After obtaining the "Op-Op Fruit," Sig was constantly distracted by its delirious ramblings, which made him much less attentive and sluggish.

On the other hand... with something as conspicuous as the "Op-Op Fruit" in hand, no matter how eloquent one is, it will be difficult to deal with it anymore!

Moreover, since they were discovered from the very beginning, and there was no time to silence them while they were being chased, there was no point in covering them with clothes.

After escaping the castle, they were pursued by various forces.

The good news is that the Giant Axe Pirates, who initially chased Sig, were taken down by the Navy and CP0 who caught up with them, and indirectly served as cannon fodder, buying Sig some time.

However, not long after, Sig was cornered. His Sun Pirates crewmates were blocked outside, and Sig was forced to a cliff by the sea. Jumping into the sea was nothing to Sig, but the Marines had already circled around below and cut off his Sig route.

If Sig is even slightly hindered, with a lieutenant Vice Admiral and CP0 elites behind him, Sig will definitely not be able to withstand it and will have to stop at the edge of the cliff.

"It's you? You're Fish-Man?" Momousagi looked at Sig with a gloomy expression, but no longer in a hurry to approach.

Thinking back to how this guy had so brazenly boarded her ship and pretended to be a CP0 agent, Momousagi gritted her teeth... especially since she had actually believed him!

"Interesting, kid. You're from the Fish-Man Pirates? So... were you lying to me before?" Golden Lion floated in the air, his tone calm, but his eyes were filled with killing intent.

"No, Captain Golden Lion ... I never said I was a member of the Vinsmoke Family. I was just talking to Mr. Gage about some things," Sig quickly denied.

Gage didn't know where he chased after them; they weren't here.

Although it was a sophistry, the Golden Lion's eyes became playful, shifting from simple murderous intent to "interest".

"Kid! Hand over the Op-Op Fruit! I... can sign a pardon for you!" Spandine's eyes were only on Sig... Devil Fruit in his hand.

"This one?" Sig held up the Op-Op Fruit, which had mutated into Devil Fruit, with beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

What the people opposite didn't see was that Sig's right wrist, beneath the Seastone Handcuffs, was constantly imbued with Armament Haki!

Although he cannot absorb a second Devil Fruit yet, Sig continues to listen to its whispers...

Gage's earlier words gave Sig a significant hint—could "Life Return" mimic Devil Fruit ability?

For others, figuring out how to "Life Return" and cultivate it into Devil Fruit ability is a completely baffling matter.

However, Sig is different. The "Listener" can hear babbling containing Distortion and confused knowledge, while the "Reasoning Trainee" can sort out some of the thoughts!

In this way, Sig at least had a direction for his cultivation...

Of course, this is only a "direction".

Sig speculated that the real aid in this kind of training should be the "Polymath" who has advanced to Sequence 6 —in the original Mystery, the "Polymath's" ability is the ability to analyze and learn from other Pathway.

Sig had occasionally wondered if this ability would be completely useless in the pirate world, since no one else in the pirate world possessed Paths of the Divine.

However, it now seems that it may not be limited to "other Pathway", but rather to "extraordinary abilities", and Devil Fruit ability in the One Piece world are also included!

Of course, among the three abilities that can simulate other Pathway— "Scribe," "Polymath," and "Shepherd"—the ability imitated by the "Polymath" is the weakest. However, only the "Polymath" truly learns and incorporates other abilities into their own mastery.

As a result, Sig re-understood the progressive Sequence of "Reasoning Trainee", "Knowledge Keeper" and "Polymath". Originally, Sig considered it from the perspective of "reasoning" and regarded it as another special kind of Observation Haki, which is good at observing details and inconsistencies.

However, Sig is now beginning to look at it from a different perspective—"the ability to learn," "the ability to acquire knowledge," and "the ability to apply knowledge"...

After thinking about it this way, Sig understood why the name of the White Tower Path Sequence 7 in Lord of the Mysteries was changed from "Detective" to "Knowledge Keeper"—it was probably because the latter better summarized its abilities and the key role it played.

The "Reasoning Trainee" is not just about solving cases, but about enhancing the ability to learn, which is in line with the "Reader" of Sequence 9.

This is why Sig's previous "cases" on the ship, such as helping Hachi find the person who stole the takoyaki, didn't progress very quickly.

Sig is currently stalling for time while trying to "listen" to the whispers of the Op-Op Fruit as much as possible, and then use his "Reasoning Trainee" ability to convert them into knowledge—"Reasoning Trainee" is not yet a "Polymath" and cannot analyze the abilities of others, but can only deduce the passively received fruit murmurs.

But...

It's clear that no one will just stand by and watch Sig take the Op-Op Fruit!

Just Spandine was about to lose his patience, Sig suddenly said, "This fruit must be very important to the World Government, right? It's enough to warrant an amnesty?"

"So what are you still hesitating about?" Spandine said immediately.

"That makes sense, after all, it's the fruit that created a powerful being like Silver Axe ... And if I were to trade it to the World Government for billions or even tens of billions, wouldn't the World Government agree?" Sig deliberately spoke loudly.

"Heh, do you think you can negotiate such terms now?" Spandine hadn't yet grasped Sig's intention.

However, Sig was paying close attention to the emotional changes of the surrounding navy and CP0 members, and deliberately used words to incite their greed!

"I don't think so, so... could you please have this officer come forward and take it?" Sig appeared to be willing to compromise.

But Momousagi was already on guard. Having been tricked once, she was very wary of Sig!

"I hope you're not stupid enough to think you can kidnap me," Spandine said dismissively before stepping forward, driven by greed.

Sig certainly didn't expect to coerce Spandine, otherwise the CP0 agents probably wouldn't care whether their commander lived or died!

Sig used this to make Golden Lion even more anxious, and naturally, Momousagi's attention had to be diverted to Golden Lion.

Just then...

While Sig's attention was mainly focused on Momousagi, and Spandine's figure blocked the people behind him as he stepped forward, Golden Lion suddenly assumed a shot put throwing posture, then coordinated all his strength and hurled the Devil Fruit!

A pardon? Leaving aside whether Sig believed Spandine's words, the most important thing was... how could he possibly hand over the Op-Op Fruit to the World Government, to the Celestial Dragons?

Sig may have thrown himself into the sea casually, but he actually did it after careful consideration, choosing the direction where the emotion of "greed" was strongest!

Although he could no longer keep the fruit, Sig did everything he could to want it to fall into the hands of other greedy people—as long as it didn't fall into the hands of the World Government.

However, since it's being thrown out, it's clearly most advantageous for Golden Lion. As long as it's within the range of Conqueror's Haki, he can control the fruit to fly back. Momousagi, seeing Sig's actions, after her initial anger, had no choice but to stop Golden Lion first...