I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

By making notes in the inventory, one can determine whether Vegapunk has used the Time Reversal Fruit. This is an advanced technique that Higuma used to break Vegapunk's mentality.

Sieg flipped through his diary for the month... This diary showed that in the month since Vegapunk boarded the ship, he had never used his ability to travel through time, not even once.

This is not normal.

To save time, Vegapunk often reverts to previous projects during the research process, much like a perfectionist who insists on randomly obtaining rare attribute modifiers on equipment.

But Vegapunk, the clone, hasn't used his powers in the past month.

Although Vegapunk from the main world helped Sigur a lot, the two were once enemies, and Sigur was not entirely without suspicion.

The allure of the Time Reversal Fruit is immense, even if it's man-made and may have limitations; it remains a powerful temptation.

Vegapunk is currently on his ship. If Higuma wanted, killing Vegapunk as a clone wouldn't be difficult, and he could easily obtain the Time Reversal Fruit...

However, killing for the sake of achieving a result is putting the cart before the horse.

Sieg could coerce Lo into handing over his heart and force Wapol to become a laborer, but that's a different matter from killing someone for the sake of the fruit.

If acting solely based on self-interest, Sigurd wouldn't have attacked Caesar... After all, he does possess considerable talent and did indeed create the artificial Devil Fruit, SMILE.

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

"Judging from the fact that Vegapunk did not use a Devil Fruit user, the artificial Time Reversal Fruit also has flaws. Perhaps its power is not as good as the original, or perhaps there are other reasons... just like the difference between Momonosuke and Kaido."

After realizing this, Sieg felt a bit scared.

Even without the ability, Vegapunk was still able to quickly get up to speed with the Titanization project left by Caesar within a month and successfully solve the children's problems.

"Judging from a scientist's professional abilities, perhaps Vegapunk really is, as he says, a genius among billions of people five hundred years in the future, whose qualities are already superior to Caesar's."

"At the same time, he has mastered the technological knowledge of five hundred years from now, which is equivalent to standing on the shoulders of giants."

"Even without Devil Fruit powers, he's still an overpowered character."

Sig suddenly realized... perhaps Vegapunk himself was more important than his fruit.

at this time.

The Den Den Mushi on the table rang. Sig answered it and learned that they had arrived at the agreed-upon location with NEO.

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

At this point, a full year had passed since the NEO Navy became independent.

During this year, the NEO Navy fought crime and captured pirates in the New World, while also actively developing and expanding its forces.

No one could boss Zefa around anymore, and in that year Zefa felt an unprecedented sense of exhilaration and freedom.

The Navy and the World Government also temporarily turned a blind eye to Zephyr's NEO Navy.

This is because the World Government is still in a period of rest and recuperation, and although the NEO Navy is an illegal armed force, its level of harm is always less than that of the Four Emperors of the New World.

At this moment, the giant ship Dushan approached a remote island in the New World and encountered a NEO Navy warship at sea.

Mountain bandits are lawless and unsuitable to take care of children. Sig also had other matters to attend to, so he entrusted the children to the NEO Navy.

The NEO Navy, which upholds the new world order in the name of justice, cannot refuse such a request.

The leader of the NEO Navy is Admiral Ain.

She stood side by side with Sig at the port, watching the children emerge from the giant ship Dushan and be handed over to the NEO Navy by Violet.

“It’s been a whole year since we last met. This is the first time I’ve been away from Uncle Sig for so long since we met more than ten years ago…” Ain said quietly, standing beside Sig.

"But Uncle Sig is still the same as before, he won't sit idly by and watch the children suffer, just like when we first met in the town of Char Island."

Ain brought up her past again, when she was also a child who was almost abducted by human traffickers, so she could empathize with her.

"What are your plans next?" Sieg asked softly.

"Are you still planning to...stay in the NEO Navy?"

Ain's eyes lit up slightly as she gazed at the sea before her, but out of the corner of her eye, she secretly glanced at Sieg.

"Otherwise what?" she asked.

Sig noticed Ain's gaze and suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He casually said, "How about considering becoming a bandit? It's a promising job. Five social insurances and one housing fund, weekends off."

“Before, besides Mr. Fujitora, there was no one else who could take the lead around Professor Zephyr, so there was a gap in the generation of talent. That’s why I chose to stay here, but now…” Ain pondered for a while before taking out a blank piece of paper that she had prepared in advance from her pocket.

With a gentle force, Ain tore the piece of paper into two pieces, one large and one small, and then wrote her name on them.

Then, she handed the smaller piece of paper to Sieg.

"A life card?" Sig put away the piece of paper in his hand and stared at Ain.

She said softly, "NEO Navy has only been established for a year, and there are still many things to be improved. It is not yet fully on the right track, so I want to stay here and help Teacher Zephyr."

"Seeing the paper is like seeing the person. When the NEO Navy grows stronger, the time should be ripe... At that time, this Vivre Card will guide us to meet again."

Ain chuckled softly.

But actually, she had her own little schemes.

She doesn't have Zephyr's strong sense of justice, and she doesn't consider becoming a bandit or a NEO Marine. Instead, she hopes that both sides can become one family, so that she won't have to worry about making a choice.

In addition to this, there is a second purpose.

Ain glanced furtively at the deck of the Dushan, where she could vaguely see Weiben, A-Ling, Yamato, and others.

These people were the ones who shone brightly in the Marineford War and became famous because of that war, much more famous than her, the user of the Rewind-Rewind Fruit who had always been deliberately hidden by Sig and prevented from showing off.

“Uncle Sig has too many daughters... I want to be the most special one. Only someone who can’t have you will be constantly on his mind,” Ain thought to herself.

Ian drew a simple smiley face of herself on the Vivre Card before handing it to Sig.

“Okay.” Sig nodded solemnly in agreement.

As the two were each holding a small piece of paper and saying their goodbyes, a shout broke the silence.

"Old Man Sig?" Violet called out naturally. She had finished dealing with the children's matter and came over.

"Father, I've thought about this for a long time. Please take me away this time too," Violet said solemnly.

"I've witnessed the justice of the NEO Navy, now I want to learn about... the mountain bandits."

After the Dressrosa incident, she, who had served as a Don Quixote officer for ten years, did not return to the palace as a princess, but instead became a member of the NEO Navy.

But now, a year later, she has changed her mind.

Violet isn't from the Navy, and she doesn't have the same overwhelming sense of justice as Zephyr.

“Okay…okay. Of course, that’s fine.” Sig readily agreed.

Ain stared blankly at Violet's retreating figure, watching as she naturally followed Sig away with the bandits...

“......How could this happen?” Ain suddenly felt a little regretful.

Was she overthinking things and doing something unnecessary?

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

Having dealt with the children's affairs, the Dushan separated from the NEO Navy, this time heading straight for the giant nation of Elbaf, deeper into the New World.

Meanwhile, Vegapunk had finished dealing with the Titan transformation project and finally had some free time.

The two sides met and talked again in the castle of the Dushan.

"Vegapunk, I'm very curious about what you said earlier about Devil Fruits."

Previously, Vegapunk's focus was on rescuing children, and to avoid being distracted, Sieg suppressed his doubts until now.

"What's the difference between Devil Fruits and bloodline factor modifications?" Sigurd asked solemnly.

This question is very important to Sigurd. If the two are equivalent, it means that Sigurd has the potential to change his own bloodline factors through the life return and simulate Devil Fruit abilities.

"Simply put, Devil Fruits can change lineage factors, but Devil Fruits are not the same as drugs that can change lineage factors."

Vegapunk first presented his conclusion, and then further explained:

"As is well known, Devil Fruits possess a variety of supernatural properties that are difficult to explain by science."

"When a Devil Fruit user eats the first bite of a Devil Fruit, they gain the full power. This means that even a small piece of the fruit can have a full power. However, if the remaining part is given to someone else to eat, the second person will not gain the power from it."

"And the regeneration principle of Devil Fruits, etc..."

"These characteristics are not found in ordinary gene-editing drugs; I call this the uniqueness of Devil Fruits."

Sieg nodded; he could understand those words too.

"Eating a Devil Fruit will naturally change a person's bloodline factors; this change is just one of the effects of a Devil Fruit."

"In my opinion, the changes brought about by Devil Fruits are like obtaining a key with a bloodline factor, while the fruit's power is like a house."

"Each key corresponds to a house. By using the unique key to open the house, you can obtain the power within."

"The artificial Devil Fruit is like a key that can be copied. It can open a house... but the house's power is limited. It's just a one-bedroom house and can't accommodate a second person."

"Therefore, when Kaido was alive, the power of artificial Devil Fruits was very weak, like a failed imitation."

At this point, Vegapunk's gaze drifted slightly:

"My original body possesses the power of the Time Reversal Fruit. When he dies, the house is empty, and the next Vegapunk, as a backup, will be quickly awakened and the house will be reopened."

"Of course, this is my personal understanding and may not represent the truth."

"Whether it's the truth or not is not important. Since you've succeeded, it means you're closer to the truth than others," Sieg commented.

Vegapunk ignored Sieg's comments and took out a paper form from his bag, placing it in front of Sieg.

Sieg glanced at it and was immediately shocked, looking at Vegapunk in surprise.

“What is this?” Sig asked.

“Funding application form,” Vegapunk said succinctly.

“Of course I can read, I mean the numbers on this…” Sieg frowned.

"Four billion Berries, what's wrong?"

"...Is researching Devil Fruits really that expensive?" Sig was a little puzzled.

“Funding isn’t important; what matters is whether we get along.” Vegapunk hinted wildly, “I prefer donors who don’t interfere with my research and who give me a lot of authority.”

"If the authority is high enough, a budget of three or four billion a year is acceptable. If they constantly ask questions, a budget of one or two billion peles a year is also manageable."

"So it all comes down to money," Sieg sighed.