I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Chapter 1178 Subduing the Dragon 6k

At an altitude of 10,000 meters, the floating island group of Vermeer.

As usual, Shiki the Golden Lion floated comfortably in mid-air, looking down at the sea of ​​clouds below, drinking alone.

"Unconsciously, another year has passed, it always feels exceptionally long."

The golden lion raised his wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp, but his interest seemed to wane.

He considered the Marineford War a crucial part of his grand plan, and his imagined high-martial arts program should be about to begin... But a year has passed, and Sig hasn't made a move.

The golden lion landed from the sky, and with a wave of his hand, a large mirror came flying through the air and floated in front of him.

Shiki the Golden Lion in the mirror looked old again.

The hair on the sides is still thick and lush, but the hair roots on the top of the head are starting to thin, and age spots are gradually reappearing on the skin.

Eleven years ago, the Golden Lion and Sieg raised their glasses in a toast at an altitude of 10,000 meters, and after drinking, they plotted a huge conspiracy.

At the same time, the Golden Lion drank Sigurd's Regression Fire Wine, causing his body to regress 12 years... but that was 11 years ago.

As people age, various age-related illnesses will follow one after another. Birth, aging, illness, and death are natural laws that cannot be resisted. No matter how white-bearded or how golden-haired a lion is, they will eventually be unable to escape the passage of time.

Compared to 11 years ago, Shiki the Golden Lion is now a dual-power user, and his swordsmanship has improved. He is extremely agile and is a rare top-tier four-sword style swordsman... but he is ultimately aging.

"My time is running out."

The lion is the king of beasts at the top of the food chain, and he certainly doesn't want to see himself looking old.

His time is limited, and so is his patience.

The golden lion put down the mirror, its body transformed into a cloud, and it plunged into the clouds below, rapidly descending.

Before long, he broke through the clouds, and a ghost island with a huge, long-horned skull mountain appeared before him.

Shiki the Golden Lion can be said to be the only sky pirate of this era. He has mastered the air and can come and go freely in the sky. He can also come and go as he pleases during the Marineford War.

His only fear was storms... After eating the Cloud Fruit, this weakness was also overcome.

As a sky pirate, Shiki's mobility and intelligence capabilities are unmatched.

Sig's movements could be kept secret from others, but not from the Golden Lion, who could traverse the skies over this vast ocean.

"Hmm? Where's Sig's ship? And there doesn't seem to be anyone on Ghost Island?"

The Golden Lion had only intended to take a quick glance from high above, as it always had, but now it noticed something amiss.

The ghost island is now empty; the bandits have all come out, and Sig's giant ship is nowhere to be found.

"Has he finally started?" The Golden Lion's lips unconsciously curled up slightly.

........................

One week later, in a certain sea area of ​​the New World.

The vast expanse of blue waves propelled the giant ship, Dushan, slowly forward.

Over the course of the year, shipwrights Tom and Barrett worked together to further reinforce the ship, using Wahlbo alloy as its framework to significantly strengthen the entire vessel, replacing the original steel.

If an ordinary shipwright wanted to remodel this huge island ship, the project would take at least three to five years, and ten years wouldn't be unusual. It might even be easier to build a new one.

But Barrett is different.

Having awakened his Fusion Fruit, he can manipulate inorganic matter as easily as using his own limbs, creating mountain giants thousands of meters tall in just a few minutes.

Replacing materials was not a problem for him, and the raw material Wahlbo alloy was in ample supply; it just meant that Wahlbo had to work a little more overtime.

"Devil Fruits are the primary source of productivity," Sigurd exclaimed.

The Float-Float Fruit can mass-produce alloy battle suits, the Fusion-Fusion Fruit can easily construct large warships, and the Gluttony-Gluttony Fruit can create high-quality Wapol alloy...

By skillfully utilizing these Devil Fruit abilities, it is possible to achieve things that current technology cannot accomplish.

At this moment, the Dushan had landed back on the sea and was heading towards Punk Hazard.

After moving the Dushan boat down the waterfall, Sig used telekinesis to move the boat back onto the water.

Transporting the Dushan aircraft carrier by air for an extended period of time would be both exhausting and too conspicuous.

Sieg didn't want to attract too much attention, so the Dushan sailed at a low speed while the ship's fog-making device was turned on to maximum power, so that fog would envelop the island ship and avoid attracting the attention of others.

After approaching Punk Hazard, Sieg ordered the Dushan giant ship to anchor in the waters near the island instead of landing directly. Instead, they continued to create fog to conceal the Dushan's presence.

Afterwards, Sieg transferred to a normal-sized ironclad ship, and with Law, Stussy and others on board, set off for Punk Hazard.

"Speaking of which, this island used to be Vegapunk's research base, right?"

Inside the room, Sig asked while petting the cat.

“Yes, as the World Government’s chief scientist, Dr. Vegapunk has more than one research base around the world,” the blue-and-white cat said lazily, yawning.

“Besides Punk Hazard, there are also bases in the Doctor’s hometown, Future Country, and Sword Mountain Island,” Blue and White Cat said.

Punk Hazard, also known as "Punk Forbidden Zone," is an uninhabited island controlled by the World Government, serving as Dr. Vegapunk's research and development base.

“If I remember correctly, Dr. Vegapunk’s research project was related to dragons back then, and I once peeked at it,” the blue and white cat said.

As Vegapunk's former assistant and pet, it possesses some unknown information.

"Oh? Tell me more." Sig became interested, and his hands paused.

The blue and white cat got a little impatient. It meowed and gently nibbled on Sieg's hand.

"Keep going, you two-legged creature, don't stop, keep masturbating and I'll tell you."

As Sieg continued his actions, the blue and white cat comfortably squinted its eyes and lazily continued:

"Actually, this is a big secret hidden by the world government."

"There is an island on the Grand Line called the Ancient Island. That island seems to have been frozen in the ancient times, and it is inhabited by ancient dinosaurs and a large number of giant trees."

"That's it?" Sieg's eyes held a subtle expression.

“Most importantly…” the blue and white cat said solemnly:

"Decades ago, the World Government discovered that a legendary mythical beast, a dragon, had appeared on that island. It wasn't a Devil Fruit user, but a living mythical beast that could swim in the sea and was unaffected by the curse of the sea. It was said to be a blue dragon!"

"Afterwards, the World Government became interested in the mythical beast Azure Dragon and later considered initiating a research project."

After the blue and white cat finished speaking, it noticed that Sig had stopped what it was doing, looking at it with a blank expression and no interest.

"That's fake. That dragon is just a prop that can only be admired from afar."

"How could that be?-----" The blue and white cat instinctively tried to refute.

next moment.

A loud bang!

"Keep going? Don't stop? The hidden secret?"

"Sig, let me see what you're up to in your room!"

A blue-haired woman with dragon horns burst through the door. She was beautiful, but her fair face was flushed with excitement, her eyes curved into crescents, and she looked comical.

Click click click!

She was holding a camera Den Den Mushi in her hand, and as soon as she entered the room, she started snapping photos of Sig.

"What... I thought I could capture some evidence of your evil deeds." The Dragon King, after seeing the scene in the room, put down his camera with a disappointed look.

"She's the stupid dragon you were talking about," Sieg said irritably.

"Vegapunk's research was all for nothing..."

The Dragon King's summoning lasts for 1 hour and can only be summoned once a week, with a relatively short time in the real world.

The Dragon King is playing a smaller and smaller role now, and the intervals between each summoning are getting longer and longer.

So Sieg made an agreement with the Dragon King over the past year, letting her out for some fresh air every now and then when he had nothing else to do.

The enemy we're going to face on this trip to Punk Hazard is just Caesar, which we can easily handle without the Dragon King, so we summoned the Dragon King in advance.

"..." It took the blue and white cat a while to understand what the Dragon King in front of it was...

It was speechless for a long time before continuing:

"Never mind, Vegapunk's project is over anyway, and it didn't take up too much time because of 'Dragon King,' right? The Doctor went to Sword Mountain Island later to study the strange spatial distortion phenomenon..."

Sig put a hand to his forehead.

The Dragon King of the Ancient Island? A living mythical beast? The Dragon King?

Sorry, this Dragon King can only spout water.

The mysterious spatial distortion phenomenon on Jianshan Island?

Sorry, that was photoshopped using a photo editing camera.

Sieg suddenly felt a little sorry for Vegapunk.

In short... it's all the fault of this ridiculous system!

Wait... Sig suddenly came to his senses and looked at the Dragon King who had pushed open the door and entered.

"Did I just send you to conduct aerial reconnaissance? Now that you're back, it means we've reached our destination?"

"Not bad." The Dragon King put away his camera and nodded.

Sieg picked up the cat and walked from the cabin to the deck. Looking into the distance, he indeed saw the outline of an island emerging in the distance.

Punk Hazard, due to the final battle between the generals, has been reduced to an island of ice and fire, half lava and half ice.

Meanwhile, a few years ago, a gas leak and explosion caused by Caesar occurred on the island, destroying the entire research base. Now, only one of the research institutes is still secretly maintaining normal operations. The wanted scientist Caesar has reoccupied the place and is secretly conducting illegal research.

“Our target this time is only Caesar, so according to the F2A operation plan, let’s not waste time and finish this quickly,” Sig said, looking at Stussy, Sugar and the others on the deck.

"The only thing worth noting is that Caesar is conducting giantification research here, backed by the Yonko Big Mom. If Caesar goes missing, it will inevitably attract the attention of the Yonko Big Mom."

To be honest, Sieg had a grudge against Big Mom for a long time, but he had no intention of starting a war with her because of Caesar.

There is actually a way to capture Caesar without alerting Big Mom.

“So… Sugar, after you subdue Caesar, you’ll turn him into a toy and erase everyone else’s memories of him,” Sieg said.

This is the only point that needs attention in the F2A program.