I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"Are you poor?" Vegapunk paused for a moment.

He thought for a moment, picked up his pen, and removed a zero from the astronomical figure on the application form.

Chapter 1183 Aquaman Vegapunk 6k

"Four billion peles, is that a lot?"

Vegapunk was a little confused. He picked up his pen and simply erased a zero.

He suddenly felt a pang of emotion; the days of relentlessly exploiting the World Government were probably gone forever.

The World Government is arguably the best financial backer, with vast wealth and resources. To be fair, the World Government treats Vegapunk with high levels of privilege and authority, which deeply moves him. As a result, he secretly engages in some underhanded activities, such as building a basement to store clones and launching artificial satellites.

Although he was the chief scientist entrusted with important responsibilities by the World Government, Vegapunk was not on the same side as the World Government. For example, in the original work, he refused to hand over the artificial Blue Dragon Fruit and lied that it was a failed product. Another example is that he secretly installed a backdoor in Bartholomew Kuma's body so that Kuma could fulfill his last wish and protect the Sunny for two years.

"I'm sorry," Vegapunk said apologetically.

"For decades, I worked in the science departments of world governments, and I can say that I never touched money, I was only in charge of applying for funding."

"It seems I'm too far removed from the world of ordinary people and lack common sense."

Vegapunk's expression was calm, and his tone was quite sincere.

Sieg was taken aback.

“I’ve recalculated, and I think 400 million Berries should be about right,” Vegapunk explained.

"After all, you've moved the entire research institute here. The equipment is quite advanced and highly accurate. It seems that Caesar paid for it, so there's no need to replace it, saving a lot of money."

"Upon closer reflection, it's actually not necessary to have as much as four billion peles."

Vegapunk observed Sigurd's expression and tentatively asked:

"Four hundred million Berries, how about that? Isn't that too much?"

"From four billion to four hundred million?" Sig looked at Vegapunk with a bit of a puzzlement.

This was the first time he had ever seen someone cut their own budget.

Speaking of which, Caesar's financial backers were also two of the Four Emperors... It's safe to assume that Caesar's expenses must have been astronomical.

Sigurd pondered for a moment without responding immediately. Vegapunk noticed this reaction and assumed that Sigurd was genuinely short of money and couldn't even come up with 400 million.

"Shall I calculate it again more carefully? Actually, if we're careful with money..." Vegapunk was a little troubled. He picked up his pen again, ready to cross out another zero.

Forty million Berries?

"Stop!"

His actions were somewhat helplessly stopped by Sieg.

Actually, Sieg wasn't poor.

Over the years, he made around 10 billion dollars by reselling treasure maps, profiting from newspapers, and selling his own products.

For mountain bandits who don't rob civilians but only bully powerful pirates, this speed at which they make money is already quite astonishing.

Although he earned a considerable amount of money, he spent almost all of it on Vegapunk's telekinetic drugs in the parallel world, leaving him with just a moderate amount of money.

Although Sieg is not short of money, it would be too difficult for him to come up with four billion at once.

While Siegfried was surprised that Vegapunk would voluntarily remove a zero, he also understood that funding was essential.

Even if Vegapunk cuts the budget himself, Sieg doesn't want the project to be delayed as a result.

For some reason, he had this strange feeling that a poor boy had run off with a naive rich girl...

"Actually, we don't necessarily need that much funding, do we?" Sieg hesitated for a moment and asked, "Well... could we use something else to replace the funding, like my body?"

Vegapunk: "?"

“What I mean is, using my clone to conduct experiments should save a lot of money, right?” Sieg explained.

"A clone?" While Vegapunk was still in a daze, Sigurd immediately cast a Shadow Clone Technique.

A cloud of smoke exploded, and a shadow clone that looked exactly like Sig appeared.

"Cloning is my ability. It's a clone with physical flesh and blood that can exist for a long time. I even infiltrated the Navy for ten years," Sigurd said.

"Although it is a clone, it has flesh and organs that perfectly simulate the human body, so it can be used as a second me."

"A second you?" The clone Vegapunk's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself, "You're an expert."

Vegapunk's "Torch Project" was actually inspired by Seagull's ability to create clones, and looking at it now, the similarities are indeed striking.

"If clones can be used as normal human subjects for human experiments... that would be a huge help." Vegapunk's expression turned serious.

He wasn't trying to flatter Sieg; it was what he truly felt.

It's true that the World Government is wealthy and powerful, but it's simply impossible for a strongman like Sigurd, who stands at the pinnacle of the ocean, to accompany him in experiments.

Vegapunk's two closest allies are the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma and the Admiral Kizaru.

These kinds of powerful individuals have already reached the pinnacle of power, and people like Kizaru hold important positions themselves, so they can only offer minor assistance at most.

To say that such a person would be used as a human experimental subject?

When Shiki, Lone Red, and others were still imprisoned in Impel Down, there was a possibility that prisoners were captured and used for human experimentation... However, Impel Down was breached 11 years ago.

Therefore, Sig's offer was extremely generous to Vegapunk, something even the wealthy World Government couldn't provide.

"It seems I made the right choice."

This idea suddenly popped into Vegapunk's mind.

In his first choice, he chose the World Government. Because the World Government was incredibly wealthy and powerful, it was the best platform, bar none, for Vegapunk to showcase his talents.

This time, Vegapunk reverted through the Torch Project, choosing a different path.

To be precise... at this point in time, Aquaman Vegapunk has divided himself in two, giving one part to the current World King who controls the World Government, and the other part to the underworld boss, the Mountain Bandit King, who has been painstakingly plotting to overthrow the world.

They placed bets on both sides simultaneously, making two choices at the same time.

As for who will win and who will lose, and who will eventually ascend the throne of the world, overlooking this vast ocean...

For Vegapunk, the outcome of the modern era is not that important.

His vision was not focused on the immediate victory or defeat, but on the future five hundred years from now.

"Elbaf, the land of giants, is deep within the New World; it will take some time to reach it," Vegapunk said.

"Before that, let's take this opportunity to thoroughly study your body." Vegapunk's gaze fell on the shadow clone, Sigur, his eyes shining brightly, he was a little impatient.

"Elbaf, the land of giants?" Sig pondered.

Elbaf is designated as the world's strongest nation, with military strength surpassing that of Totto Land, which is home to one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom.

This country is very mysterious. So far, it has only appeared in the memories of older women, and only in fragments, but its presence is very strong.

The power of the giants is something that even the old lady has coveted for many years, and Sig is preparing to make more preparations before arriving to avoid any mishaps.

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

Several days later.

In the deep seas of the giant kingdoms of the New World, a massive fleet of distinguished guests arrived.

The visitors were Charlotte Linlin, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, and her family. In addition, Kaido of the Beasts also arrived with his entourage.

The unusual behavior of Punk Hazard a while ago made the old lady realize that something ominous was about to happen.

Lola's marriage is of great importance. On a grand scale, if the wedding goes smoothly, she will have the giants as a major fighting force, completely surpassing the other four emperors and potentially becoming the Pirate King.

To avoid further trouble, such as the Golden Lion or Higuma causing trouble as they are suspected of doing something on Punk Hazard, she specifically called on her ally Kaido of the Beasts.

Thus, this massive fleet, composed of two Yonko, assembled with remarkable speed and swiftly arrived in Elbaf with the bride, Lola.

Elbaf, the land of giants, is vast everywhere—giant trees, giant people, giant houses.

The standard height of an adult giant is over 12 meters, about the height of a four-story building, and there are even taller ones over 20 meters.

In the presence of these giants, the tall children of the Charlotte family and the burly men under Kaido's command all appeared insignificant.

The only two exceptions are Big Mom and Kaido.

Although Big Mom is human, she is 8.88 meters tall, and Kaido is about the same height. The height of these two is very close to that of an adult giant.

"Elbaf, the land of giants, how I miss it. I haven't been back since I left when I was five years old."

Walking down the street, the middle-aged woman's face showed a rare expression of sentimentality, and the stern look she usually had was gone.

Her height is close to that of giants, making her a true anomaly among humans and even other demi-human races.

In human society, houses, tables, and chairs are designed for the average person's height. Her size is too large, making it inconvenient for her to go anywhere and drawing strange looks from others.

Only in the land of giants did she, a monster born extraordinary, feel a sense of finding her kind, and her loneliness was alleviated.

"This time, I must obtain the power of the giants," the old woman thought to herself.

"Everyone is about the same height, and we can live from the same perspective. This is the world that the nuns dream of."

Beside the older woman, a short, elderly man followed closely behind.

Longbread is quite old, and as one of the earliest members of the Big Mom Pirates, he naturally accompanied her to this important occasion.

"Heh, one day I actually managed to come back to the land of giants? That's incredible. I thought I'd never be able to come back here in my lifetime."

The long bread's lips curled up slightly.

He noticed the complex gazes cast by the giants around him—a mixture of hatred, indifference, and curiosity.

Sixty years ago, on an island in the sea of ​​giants, he witnessed and participated in the Sheep House massacre and saw Sister Carmel's death... But that was sixty years ago.

Longbread is a key figure in Charlotte Linlin's journey to becoming Big Mom, and knows many, many secrets about her...

Even for long-lived giants, this is a considerable amount of time.

Over time, and with the events surrounding Loki, the giant prince, the hostility towards Big Mom within the giant race gradually subsided, becoming less intense than before.

The woman's family, led by the old woman, were treated as honored guests and led directly into the royal city by the giant warriors.

In the main hall of the Giants' palace, the male Giant royal family and the female Charlotte family began a friendly and harmonious conversation.

Unlike the Germa family, the giant royal family is not someone Big Mom can manipulate at will, so Big Mom also showed great restraint.

The two sides had a very pleasant conversation.