I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

At the same time, due to the time travel paradox, just like in many science fiction movies, no matter how hard time travelers try, they cannot change the predetermined future; all their efforts are in vain.

The biggest difference between Vegapunk and cases in science fiction movies is that... his time travel is one-way.

Not only can he not change history, he can't go back to his own time... This is the biggest limitation of the seemingly powerful time-reversal fruit.

This is how it should be.

"The flame will be passed on, and every Vegapunk will become a piece of kindling." Vegapunk said with a sigh:

"Pass the flame to the next clone, Vegapunk, before the firewood burns out, so that the flame can be passed on forever."

"This torch will be the spark for the next five hundred years."

Tian Yue remained silent for a long time, stunned.

After a moment of contemplation, Sieg asked a pointed question.

"You are not a soul-type ability user. The soul does not have special power, unlike the Yomi Yomi no Mi, the Soul-Soul no Mi, or the Ghost-Ghost no Mi, which can develop the ability to separate the soul from the body."

"Vegapunk, are you sure you really... sent your soul back?"

“What stands before me may simply be a clone who believes himself to be Vegapunk.” Sig frowned; he wasn’t entirely convinced.

The clone Vegapunk in front of me knows a lot.

Higuma had contact with Vegapunk's main body three times: once when they first met after traveling back in time, once when Higuma, a shadow clone, met him ten years ago, and the last time was before the Marineford War, when Higuma used his experiences from parallel worlds to entice Vegapunk to help him modify his combat suit gloves.

Judging from the clone's speech, he has memories of all three encounters.

But... are memory and soul the same thing?

"Are you really Dr. Vegapunk?" The blue and white cat lay on the table, a look of human-like worry on its face.

"A clone is ultimately different from the original body on the World Government's side, isn't it?"

"This question is actually meaningless," Vegapunk shook his head with disinterest.

"This body possesses the exact same bloodline factors as Vegapunk; physiologically, this is Vegapunk."

"At the same time, I possess the memories of Vegapunk's original self... Both my body and memories belong to Vegapunk, so why am I not Vegapunk?"

His question left the blue and white cat speechless.

Vegapunk's gaze fell on Sig, for the inspiration for Project Torch was also closely related to Sig.

He observed Sig, especially Sig's shadow clones Sunbear and Sigma... and that's how the Firestarter project came about.

"The so-called clones and the original are just concepts created for ease of understanding. In reality, there is no difference between clones and the original. Every person is Vegapunk, and every person is me."

“Sigurd, you would understand if you were him, right?” Vegapunk said softly.

"The so-called clone and the original body are just different paths chosen by the same person."

"Vegapunk's first choice was the Navy line,"

"This time, however, it's a rewind to the past, an attempt to change another possibility for the future."

Sig didn't say anything, but the blue and white cat was almost dizzy from Vegapunk's charade and hesitated.

"But Doctor, your true form—"

"The real body? Do you really think that Vegapunk from the World Government is the real body?" Vegapunk interrupted Blue and White Cat, startling the cat.

Vegapunk looked quietly at the blue and white cat and said softly:

"The first Vegapunk is dead, one of the reasons for his death being the overuse of his abilities... The Torch Project has successfully inherited Vegapunk's memories and Devil Fruit abilities, and there is already a successful precedent."

"And the one hidden in the cryogenic chamber of the Punk Hazard Research Institute is another backup."

"This... was also arranged by you? You knew I would come to Punk Hazard, so you used the cat to guide me to open the secret room?" Sig recalled the sea stone handcuffs in the basement room, which were obviously prepared in advance for negotiating with him.

“This is a plan, not a prediction,” Vegapunk corrected.

"As the chief scientist, I have more than one research institute and basement. As long as I prepare several backups, the probability of encountering it will naturally increase."

Vegapunk raised his teacup and took a small sip.

He wasn't a chatterbox; he just always fought alone, with no one to confide in. But today, he could finally speak out what he had kept hidden in his heart for so long.

"This is incredible." Amatsuki Toki, who hadn't said a word until now, finally exclaimed in amazement.

"Your development and utilization of the Time Reversal Fruit's power is truly astounding."

When Vegapunk glanced at Tengetsu, his expression returned to its usual indifference.

"You're still here?" Vegapunk was so engrossed in his conversation that he completely ignored the presence of Toki Amatsuki.

He was only being polite to Sieg, which is why he didn't mind that Sieg brought both Tianyue and the cat.

“I’ve finished speaking. Sig, do you have anything to say?” Vegapunk turned to look at Sig.

He had ignored Tianyue Shi earlier, but this time he deliberately ignored him.

Sig didn't respond to Vegapunk, but instead turned to look at Toki.

"You go first."

He brought Tianyue to eavesdrop on the conversation, naturally with his own plans.

“Then I will tell you.” Amatsuki Toki took a deep breath and looked at Vegapunk seriously.

"Dr. Vegapunk, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Toki Amatsuki, and I was born... 800 years ago."

"I am a user of the Time-Time Fruit."

Time Fruit?

Vegapunk's eyes widened instantly. His hand trembled, and the teacup in his hand tilted to the side, overturning along with the tea.

Enveloped by Sig's invisible telekinetic power, the spilled tea returned to the cup before it even hit the table.

Vegapunk remained silent for a very long time.

His shock was no less than that of the previous Tengetsu.

For Vegapunk, the people and events of this era were history from five hundred years ago.

As a person from the future, Vegapunk knows about some important historical events and figures, such as Momonosuke, who will obviously shine in Wano Country...

However, great pirates like Tenzuki Toki, or even those far more famous and powerful than Tenzuki Toki, are not included.

For example, Redfield the Lone Red, who is known as a legendary pirate who single-handedly rivaled Whitebeard and Roger... but from a historical perspective, he is not worthy of being remembered in history.

Take, for example, the once-famous sea tyrant Rocks. In just a few decades, the sea had forgotten Rocks' name, let alone five hundred years later.

Vegapunk was unaware of the existence of Toki Amatsuki; before meeting Sigurd, he wasn't even sure if the Time-Time Fruit existed.

His gaze shifted back and forth between Sig and Tengetsu before he finally guessed what it was.

"Were we enemies when we first met decades ago? Have you been lying to me since then?" Vegapunk shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"However, there's no doubt that you also possess the ability to travel through time... Besides the Time Fruit and the Reverse Time Fruit, there's actually a third time traveler, isn't there?"

Sig put his hands under the blue and white cat's armpits and lifted the cat up.

“There might be a fourth one,” Sieg said.

"Why not just sign up for a time-travel tour?"

Sig's power is that of the "original hero," while the Blue and White Cat's power is the result of an unpredictable deviation in Vegapunk's experiment.

It is certain that the blue and white cat's ability is not an artificial Time-Time Fruit. It is a completely new fruit born by chance, which may be called... an artificial Time-Space Fruit.

After Vegapunk gradually calmed down, Amatsuki Toki continued to tell her story.

At the beginning, Toki Amatsuki, like Vegapunk, wanted to find a user with the corresponding Time Reversal Fruit ability.

The two combined their abilities to become a time traveler capable of traveling through two times... but no one expected that Vegapunk and Toki would be separated from Higuma.

The two individuals possess symmetrical abilities, and one comes from 800 years ago while the other comes from 500 years in the future. Their stories with Sieg are also roughly the opposite of each other.

"Perhaps it's fate in the dark," Vegapunk sighed softly.

Perhaps two time-manipulation ability users with symmetrical abilities are destined never to meet.

The current Vegapunk is not the original Vegapunk; even his abilities are artificial and not the original.

The two looked at each other silently for a long time.

Their encounter was far from what they had expected when they first began their time travel.

To this day, both of them have given up on their initial ideas.

In the end, it was Higuma who broke the deadlock. He told Vegapunk about his idea, which was to try to modify his own body to simulate the development of Devil Fruit abilities.

"You want me to help you conduct human experiments on yourself? That's ridiculous..." Vegapunk chuckled.

"You're already very strong. And there are many ways and means for you to increase your strength, right? Why choose such a dangerous path?"

He looked at Sieg with a rather complicated expression, then suddenly seemed to remember something, shook his head and smiled.

"As one of the time travelers... your abilities are different from what I imagined, but as expected, you are still the same kind of person as me."

At this point, whether Sigurd's ability is called the Time-Time Fruit or the Boast-Blowing Fruit is no longer important.

“Danger? Vegapunk, don’t forget, like you, I also have clones.” Sig shook his head.

The two men discussed the plan together, leaving Tian Yue Shi out in the cold.

She's clearly the same Devil Fruit user as Vegapunk...

"Sig, Devil Fruits and genetic modification drugs are not entirely the same. Devil Fruits are very special, possessing a variety of inexplicable supernatural properties, which cannot be simulated simply by changing bloodline factors."

Vegapunk stated bluntly:

"Forgive my bluntness, but your initial plan to ask Caesar for help was just a waste of time. His artificial fruits are nothing but defective products."

"As for whether the path you envisioned will work, I cannot be sure until it is put into practice."

“Perhaps you should go to…” Vegapunk started to say, but then changed his mind and said, “No, we should go to Elbaf, the land of giants.”

"I don't have much information about that place either, but perhaps I can find the answer."

Unlike when discussing the giantification experiment, Vegapunk did not make any definitive statements.

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

The giant ship Dushan left Punk Hazard, while Vegapunk lived in the research institute on the ship, trying to treat the children who had participated in the Titanification experiments.