I the King of bandits of the East Sea

The seemingly ordinary slash from several kilometers away made Stussy recall the fear of being utterly immobilized by Sig's strange abilities before.

Her face turned pale, and she instinctively stuffed the Den Den Mushi into her bosom.

"No, it's impossible, right? Even from this far, his ability can still work?"

Stussy felt as though she'd been struck by a heavy hammer, her mind spinning in disbelief.

Had Sig discovered her? Was his promise to let her go free just another scheme?

"A man as devilish as this…"

Stussy gritted her teeth, her body tensing as she instinctively prepared for combat.

She saw Sig swing his sword from afar, and then... nothing happened.

The expected feeling of her body being controlled did not occur.

They were separated by several kilometers, and it was nighttime, so Stussy could only rely on her Observation Haki to sense from afar.

"What's going on? There's a faint, weak presence in the sea heading toward Sig?"

"That's... a crab?"

Stussy's face was full of confusion.

Observation Haki was not the same as normal vision. Stussy could only vaguely sense Sig's aura, body outline, and movements from a distance.

Thus, Stussy couldn't see that, several kilometers away, Sig's expression was just as baffled as hers.

The sea crab beneath Sig's sword was not small, about the size of a washbasin. It had somehow jumped onto the railing of the deck, waving its two large pincers, putting on a display of "empty pincers meet naked blade."

Oh no, this is bad.

He'd forgotten about this compatibility issue.

What should he do? Pretend nothing happened and go back to bed?

The Revolutionary Army and Stussy shouldn't have noticed, right? Absolutely not, right? Otherwise, this would be too embarrassing.

Sig kicked the crab off the deck with a single move, glancing out of the corner of his eye toward the nearby Revolutionary Army ships.

In the darkness of night, all the ships were silent, as if none of them had noticed Sig's embarrassing moment.

Unbeknownst to Sig, in the cabin of one Revolutionary Army ship, the black Den Den Mushi that was supposed to be monitoring the scene was currently sound asleep...

"Alright then, no big deal. I'll just try again. It's only a matter of probability."

"No problem, this time it's definitely going to work."

Sig steadied himself and swung his sword again in the direction of the distance.

Sploosh!

Another figure burst out of the water and leaped onto the railing. This time, it was a familiar pair of pincers facing his sword...

It was a large lobster!

Sig's eyes widened as he stared at the lobster, speechless. He considered kicking it back into the sea...

Instead, he swallowed hard and booted the lobster onto the deck.

"I don't believe it! Li Jing's power is the same as mine!"

Unwilling to give up, Sig swung his sword again.

This time, there were no pincers. Instead, an octopus latched itself onto the ship's deck, raising two tentacles high to intercept Sig's sword.

"Again!"

"Again!"

That night, Sig harvested a variety of seafood with pincers and tentacles—a huge, bountiful catch, truly something to celebrate.

Several kilometers away, Stussy observed the situation from afar, her suspicion deepening.

"What is he doing?"

"Could it be... he's fishing with his sword? And only for crabs and lobsters?"

"Why is he fishing in the middle of the night? Did he suddenly get hungry?"

"Or has he already discovered me? Is this some sort of performance for me to see? What strange symbolism does this have?"

Stussy found herself bewildered.

Despite her vast experience, she couldn't fathom the reasons behind Sig's bizarre behavior.

However, she didn't let her confusion sink too deep and cautiously began taking steps to retreat further away.

Stussy was genuinely wary of Sig, whose powers were strange and personality unpredictable.

At the same time, Sig stood on the deck, staring at the small mountain of seafood covering half of it, his sword in hand, feeling utterly bewildered.

Various kinds of crabs, shrimp, octopuses, squid, and even many strange aquatic creatures unique to this world—ones Sig couldn't recognize—were piled up. It was enough to start a small aquarium.

"What Pirate King? With Li Jing's powers, wouldn't it be just as great to become the King of Seafood instead?"

"From now on, I'll revive the East Blue's seafood industry. The King of East Blue Seafood, that's me."

Sig's gaze gradually turned hollow, losing all traces of ambition.

Listlessly, he swung his sword once more.

This time, the sound of crabs or shrimp jumping out of the water didn't come.

Sig's heart skipped a beat, and he glanced at the tip of his sword.

There was nothing beneath it.

Raising his gaze, he stared into the distant darkness.

A blurred shadow, moving with terrifying speed, rapidly grew larger in his field of vision, coming from the direction of Frost Moon Village.

This figure's speed was astonishing, kicking up a gust of wind as it sprinted.

Sig blinked and smirked, his expression brimming with confidence.

"Finally, it worked."

In the next second, Stussy's figure reappeared beneath Sig's sword. She dropped to one knee, her hands raised to intercept the blade, her head tilted back as she looked at Sig, her chest heaving violently.

Her heart sank deeply.

She had only just started testing her distance, taking a few steps away… but suddenly her body had moved uncontrollably, sprinting toward him at full speed.

"What kind of power is this, being able to control my body from several miles away?"

"This is truly, in every sense, a Devil Fruit ability worthy of being called demonic. It's incomprehensible!"

As Stussy's mind reeled in shock, she heard Sig's calm voice. His expression carried a faint smile as his gaze flicked toward the pile of seafood nearby.

"Stussy, everything that just happened was my warning to you. I'm very disappointed you made me wait so long into the night."

Sig spoke faintly.

A warning? So it was intentional!

Stussy's heart went cold, and any remaining sense of luck was shattered.

She had naively thought Sig hadn't noticed her and had even intended to test moving a bit farther away.

This man, Sig, was indeed terrifying. His schemes ran too deep!

In the darkness of the night, one person stood while the other knelt. They held their respective positions, both lost in countless swirling thoughts.

For a long while, both began to feel puzzled as nothing further happened.

Sweat started forming on Sig's forehead.

Suddenly, a critical realization dawned on him.

"Where's the Revolutionary Army? Where are the reinforcements they promised? I've already subdued Stussy—why haven't they made their move?"

The night was heavy and dark, silent and unchanging.

Sig's heart grew increasingly heavy.

Without the Revolutionary Army's strong fighters, his ability would only suppress Stussy for a short while and wouldn't suffice to truly subdue her.

"I should have figured this out earlier!"

"If the Revolutionary Army were here, how could they just sit and watch me summon a mountain of seafood?"

"For all I know, Dragon or Ivankov, who are closer, might also randomly end up beneath my sword!"

Sig internally roared in frustration.

_________________________

60 advanced chapters here:

patreon/Tetsuya12