I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Considering the gas leak caused by Caesar a few years ago, the existence of a secret underground shelter in the research institute is not so surprising.

In addition to these, Sieg also found a sea stone handcuff, which surprised him a bit.

Why would there be sea stone handcuffs in an underground shelter? Surely it's not like they're hiding a mistress?

While he was rummaging through the room, the blue and white cat lay on top of the metal coffin, patting it here and there.

The discovery of a body resembling Vegapunk inside the coffin greatly agitated the blue and white cat.

As if a switch had been flipped, the metal coffin suddenly vibrated.

Startled, the blue and white cat nimbly leaped up and jumped off the coffin lid.

The next moment, the coffin moved again. The silver-white metal plate on top gradually unfolded, and with a hissing sound, the coffin actually opened on its own.

The gas inside the coffin seemed to be very cold, turning into a cloud of white mist and dissipating, releasing a chilling aura that caused those around to involuntarily take a step back.

Before anyone else could react, the man lying in the metal coffin suddenly twitched his eyelids.

"It looks like its eyelids twitched? Is it a zombie coming back to life? Sure enough, you can't bring a cat into a tomb!" the Dragon King exclaimed.

Sig wanted to reprimand him, but then he suddenly realized that in this world, the resurrection of corpses wasn't unusual; Moria, for example, could do it with ease.

As the blue and white cat turned its head and bared its teeth at the Dragon King, the man lying in the coffin suddenly opened his eyes. He sat up directly from the metal coffin, staring blankly at everyone with a slightly bewildered look in his eyes.

It took him a long while to come to his senses. His gaze swept across the crowd, pausing only briefly on Sig and the blue and white cat.

“Sig, it’s been a long time... You guys really found your way here.”

Vegapunk sighed softly, the bewilderment in his eyes fading as he regained his usual composure.

“What do you mean?” Sieg frowned and asked in a deep voice.

"I know you have many questions, and you're probably still wondering about my identity, right?"

Vegapunk and Sieg exchanged wary glances. Vegapunk first subconsciously rubbed his temples, then sighed softly.

He stepped out of the coffin, his body still swaying slightly.

Vegapunk walked to the table, picked up the sea stone handcuffs on it, and actually cuffed his own hands, even showing them off to Sieg.

"Seastone handcuffs".

"I am indeed Vegapunk himself, not someone who changes his appearance through some demonic power."

“Now, we can have a normal conversation, right, Sig?”

Sieg paused for a moment. Although he still had questions, he had temporarily lowered his guard.

Vegapunk's gesture of rubbing his temples stems from the fact that during their first meeting, Vegapunk repeatedly shot him in the forehead with bullets within a time loop. The injury healed, but the habit remained.

The act of handcuffing himself was something Vegapunk did ten years ago when he discovered the identity of the shadow clone, Sunkuh, to show that he had no hostile intentions.

Both of these actions were based on Vegapunk's personal experiences, and he would never tell anyone else about such a secret.

"I can believe your identity for now, but you'll have to explain yourself properly later." Sig's expression softened.

"You're still as wary as ever."

Vegapunk shook his head slightly.

"It's obvious that I didn't open this secret room myself."

"This secret chamber is very well hidden. The outer walls are made of Seastone, which cannot be breached by external forces. And the key to opening the chamber is only known to me..."

"It's only you."

Vegapunk's gaze softened slightly. He stepped down from the coffin, knelt down, and gently stroked the blue and white cat.

The blue and white cat arched its back, its fur bristling. It was agitated and confused, and it bit at Vegapunk's outstretched hand.

The bite broke Vegapunk's palm, and blood seeped out, but he was oblivious to it.

“Silly cat,” Vegapunk murmured.

Do you really think you can see my password?

"Huh?" The blue and white cat was stunned for a moment, then suddenly gave up resisting. It was held in Vegapunk's arms and petted in his familiar way.

"So this secret room was arranged by you, and the sea stone handcuffs were prepared for yourself? Was this all part of your plan?" Sieg asked again, frowning.

"It is indeed one of the plans I have prepared, but I am not sure whether the plan will succeed."

Vegapunk looked around.

Of all the people present, only Blue and White Cat and Sig had ever interacted with Vegapunk.

The others were complete strangers to Vegapunk and had no prior contact with him.

“This isn’t the place to talk, let’s go upstairs first,” Vegapunk said.

Sieg nodded, and he, Vegapunk, and the others went up to the ground floor of the research institute.

Vegapunk remained quiet, petting the cat under the wary gazes of the bandits. Only when his eyes swept over Caesar lying in a pool of blood did his expression change slightly.

"It's a bit of a pity from a talent standpoint, but as a scientist, he did go astray..." Vegapunk commented.

“Vegapunk, take a look at this.”

Sieg raised his hand and pointed, causing the large stack of experimental documents on the table to float in mid-air and fly towards Vegapunk, where he caught them.

“...He went even further than I expected,” Vegapunk said.

“I don’t want to hear your opinion of Caesar, Vegapunk,” Sigurd said calmly.

"Can you cure the children who participated in the giantification experiments?"

“…” Vegapunk paused for a moment, then quickly flipped through the documents in his hand.

"The process of becoming gigantic is irreversible. After all, the body's skeleton has already grown, so how can it shrink back down?"

"Besides, isn't Caesar's drug addictive? Things have come to this point, and even if we stop supplying the drug now, it's too late. Moreover, stopping the medication will cause severe withdrawal symptoms, and their minds will be affected."

“Healing them is extremely difficult…” Vegapunk said gravely, his brow furrowed.

He picked up a pen and paper and quickly scribbled on it, then checked the equipment at the research institute.

"It will take at least a month."

"Even you couldn't do it—in a month? Just one month?" Sieg's eyes twitched.

“I asked Caesar before, and he said there was no cure.”

“He is him, and I am me. Don’t compare me to anyone else.” Vegapunk said calmly.

“I stood out from millions of people to become a… ability user in the Reverse Current Project. Comparing me to ordinary people is unfair to them.”

Sig: .....

Vegapunk spoke calmly, his expression unchanged. He was simply stating a fact, not boasting about his achievements like Caesar had done before.

In his view, these things seemed to be taken for granted.

"So, the fact that it took me a month to complete this experiment shows how difficult it is; it would be impossible for others."

Vegapunk shook his head:

"Of course, even a skilled cook can't make a meal without rice. Besides needing time, I also need all of these equipment..."

This research institute originally belonged to Vegapunk, and the equipment inside was provided by the World Government for Vegapunk's research. It was of a very high standard and cost a lot of money.

Later, the research institute was occupied by Caesar for several years. Caesar also had two Yonko (Emperors of the Sea) behind him, so the funding was plentiful. Therefore, the cost of the research institute itself was quite high.

"All the equipment? I don't want to stay on this island for a month."

Sieg thought for a moment and then had an idea.

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

A moment later, all the bandits arrived outside the research institute, escorting the children who had participated in the giantification experiment, along with all the pirate prisoners on the ship, toward the Dushan giant ship anchored on the shore.

The deadly poison gas weapon "Death Kingdom" left behind by Caesar, which was actually a poison gas monster slime that had eaten the Hexagonal Salamander Fruit, was also eliminated by the bandits and recycled into a Devil Fruit.

"Are there any other living people on the island?" Sig turned to ask the pirate prisoners in the research institute.

"No...no, this island is already considered an uninhabited island by ordinary people. Otherwise, why would two Marine Admirals have chosen this island as their dueling arena a year ago?" the pirate replied.

"That's good." Sig nodded.

"Sigurd, what are you waiting for?" Vegapunk urged from the side.

"There are a lot of these devices, and they're quite heavy. But I see you have a lot of men under your command, don't you?"

"Hurry up and gather them over to move the equipment; this island is not a good place to stay any longer."

“No rush, I’m faster,” Sig replied calmly.

While Vegapunk was still somewhat puzzled, he floated up into the air and looked down at the research institute below.

He stood in the air, bent his knee and raised his right foot. In a flash, his right foot blurred, and then he kicked down hard.

"Lanjiao·Sifang."

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Amidst a crisp, sharp sound, four massive vacuum slashes erupted from beneath Sig's feet, raining down from all directions.

What is he going to do?

"They suddenly changed their minds and are going to kill us?"

The pirate prisoners were terrified, thinking that Sig would suddenly turn on them like he had when he killed Caesar.

The four massive slashes didn't strike them directly, but instead landed on the ground surrounding the research institute. The glaciers and land were as fragile as paper under these sharp blows, and were torn open with narrow ravines.

"Did it...miss?"

The pirates looked at the four new ravines on the ground with some fear and some confusion, unable to see what Sig had done.

Sig's four gusts of wind did not hit them or destroy the research institute. Instead, they carved out four trenches, enclosing the entire institute in the middle and separating it clearly from the surrounding land.

But the next moment, they understood.

"Rise!" A low shout came from the sky.

In his eyes, a raging storm erupted once again.

At that moment, an invisible force of thought, as powerful as a surging tide, swept in all directions, enveloping the entire research institute.