I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"A permanent ability...that sounds amazing. Law, let's focus on developing the Devil Fruit from now on," Sigurd said casually.

Actually, he was just asking out of curiosity and didn't say much.

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

Day two.

Once his second energy level was restored to full, Sig attempted to activate [Life Possession] against the Black Flame Dragon.

Intense, jet-black flames engulfed the Black Flame Dragon's entire body, causing its massive form to rapidly shrink until it transformed into a dragon-shaped tattoo on Sig's left arm.

"It actually succeeded?" Sig was a little surprised.

He had tried to take the Black Flame Dragon into his body, but this guy seemed to be like Sig, secretly coveting the World Tree, so he kept actively rejecting Sig.

But now, tempted by the Sun Tree Eve, the Black Flame Dragon has abandoned its white moonlight and entered Sig's body.

The semi-transparent panel unfolded quickly, and Sieg glanced at the status.

Black Flame Dragon (Left Arm):

Shared Ability: Dark Flame - In Dark Flame Master mode, you can borrow the flame power of the Black Flame Dragon.

Devourer — capable of feeding on most substances, and has a particular fondness for gnawing on the roots or trunks of certain tree species.

Shared ability: Dark Flame, which can solve the problems of insufficient Sigranite and rapid consumption of Chuunibyou energy.

The ability of the Devourer is a description of the Black Flame Dragon and has nothing to do with Sig.

"The Devourer? What kind of creature was the so-called Black Flame Dragon originally...?"

Sig knows the origin of the Black Flame Dragon.

This creature, originating from a spotted giant egg on Roger's ship, is a mystery shrouded in mist.

Judging from the ability of [Devourer], its birth should be due to devouring Sig's black flames, thus being affected by the black flames while still in the eggshell, just like the spiritual stone on Flower Fruit Mountain in Journey to the West turning into a monkey when it encountered the wind.

It's hard to say what kind of creature the Black Flame Dragon would be without Sig's interference.

However, it's not unusual for a living dragon to exist in the world of One Piece, since even Vegapunk was able to create one using genetic technology.

"Borrowing the Black Flame Dragon's flames? Now, am I considered a true Black Flame Dragon Jinchūriki?"

Upon closer reflection, Sieg felt something was amiss.

The Black Flame Dragon's power originated from him, so it seems...

"Understood, Black Flame Dragon is my Jinchūriki."

After retrieving the Black Flame Dragon, Sig turned his gaze to Vegapunk and Toki Amatsuki, who were standing behind him.

Next, we should try Vegapunk's plan.

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

PS: The next chapter will go back to ancient times; it was originally intended to cover the World Tree storyline.

However, this part of the story was cut, so it won't be written in a very long way.

The reason for cutting the plot is simply that I felt there was no need to add new plot lines as I was nearing the end, so I kept it simple.

As the book progressed into its later stages, I became less concerned with following along, so I stopped using the previous method of leaving clues.

During this process, the writing style and focus shifted, with the focus shifting to continuously developing the plot while also trying to innovate and introduce new elements, such as original storylines.

Of course, change carries risks, and some people may not adapt. But having written this far, I'm not so concerned about maintaining high subscription rates anymore.

Reading it repeatedly is the objective data that reflects the situation of most readers. If we relied on the opinions of a few individuals, this book would have failed long ago.

However, overall, the subscription rate can still be described as rock solid. It hasn't dropped much for over a year, which is very rare in Hedgehog Cat, remaining stable even in the late game when it reaches 300 million+ subscriptions.

So you can continue writing, but it's not necessary.

The biggest reason is that the serialization has been going on for a long time, and I'm tired of writing it. Plus, I've almost finished writing all the content I wanted to write.

Chapter 1257 The Origin of Devil Fruits (4k)

"Then, before we proceed with time travel, let's discuss the specific plans."

In the small room.

Sig, along with Toki and Vegapunk, are making their final preparations.

Vegapunk tapped the blackboard and highlighted the key points:

"First of all, the purpose of this operation is to obtain a certain amount of information."

"Information about ancient kingdoms that have been lost, or related technologies, or even intelligence related to the world government."

"The World Government is very mysterious, having remained behind the scenes for hundreds of years, only allowing the Navy to operate in the public eye."

"Before the war, we'd better get some more crucial intelligence."

Vegapunk and Stussy were both important figures under the World Government, but one was a member of CP0 and the other a scientist under its command. Strictly speaking, neither of them entered the core management of the World Government.

No matter how high Vegapunk's status was, he was just a scientist who developed weapons, and so was Stussy.

"And this operation has several key points," Vegapunk said seriously, looking at Sigurd.

"First of all, we should not try to forcefully change the course of major historical events. We are observers of history, not participants."

"In my experience, people who travel back in time using the Time Reversal Fruit cannot truly change the course of history."

“We don’t really belong to that period of history, so everything we do will become part of history.”

"The inertia of history itself will erase the small impact we have."

“Sieg, your situation was rather special before, but this time it’s my ability that’s being used.”

Back then, Vegapunk, as the chief scientist under the World Government, created a whole host of advanced technologies, making him a highly influential figure in the entire One Piece world.

But even Vegapunk, in the end, could not truly change the course of history. Just like the classic plot in time travel science fiction movies, going back in time a thousand times cannot change history.

The current Vegapunk is a modern clone created through the "Torch Project," a modern human designed to evade the influence of history.

“I understand,” Sig nodded.

Sig's time travel was achieved by altering the causal power of history, first planting the seeds of the result in the present, then traveling to the past to create the cause, thus connecting cause and effect to complete the lie.

But now, the [original heroes] have long been exhausted since their return from the parallel world.

So this time, the journey through ancient times isn't about going back to Tata.

“Secondly,” Vegapunk continued:

"To prevent any accidents, the fewer people involved in this operation, the better."

“Agreed,” Sig nodded.

The only people involved in the operation were Sigurd, Toki, and Vegapunk.

Sig is experienced and can also serve as a bodyguard, while the latter two are time-related ability users and are indispensable.

“Then, shouldn’t we set off?” Amatsuki Tokiya said.

Although she was born 800 years ago, she was still young at the time and kept jumping through time amidst the chaos of war in order to protect herself, so she didn't know much about ancient times.

At this time.

"Wait a minute."

The door creaked open, and Stusi pushed it open and walked in.

She found a place to sit in the room, put her long legs together, and glanced at Tianyue Shi and Xige and the others.

At this moment, she was dressed in a white suit with a white cape draped over her shoulders, looking very dashing. This was her look when she was still CP0, giving off a smart and capable vibe.

“I’ll go with you,” Stussy said.

Vegapunk paused, then turned to look at Sieg.

Sieg's gaze softened slightly as he recalled Stusky's words the day he woke up after the Fishman Island banquet...

But in the end, he shook his head: "There's no need for that."

"As Vegapunk said, to avoid risks, the fewer people, the better."

Stussy was not discouraged; her expression remained calm, and she simply shook her head.

"No, the Door-Door Fruit's power will be incredibly useful for your journey."

"The ability to open doors in the air can create an alternate dimension shelter that is free from external interference, allowing you to calmly observe the outside world."

"At the same time, the power of the Door-Door Fruit itself can be said to be the most suitable ability for special agents to gather intelligence."

She gave a brief explanation, which made both Sieg and Vegapunk interested.

Two years ago, CP0's Stussy defected and demonstrated the Door-Door Fruit's power during the Marineford War.

The Door-Door Fruit is very powerful, enough to threaten the World Government's information security. However, no Devil Fruit ability is invincible, so the World Government or the Navy will inevitably have corresponding preventative measures to prevent Door-Door Fruit users from infiltrating undetected.

Therefore, if Stussy were to secretly spy on the Navy or the World Government now, he might not be able to return safely.

But if we go back 800 years, things would be different.

Caught completely off guard, the Door-Door Fruit's power will become a huge asset to Sigurd and his crew in gathering intelligence.

“Before taking action, to avoid any negative impact, it would be best to do some minor adjustments and change the guise,” Stussy suggested.

As a CP0 agent, she is proficient in makeup and life restoration, so changing her appearance is not difficult for her, and the same applies to Sieg.

Vegapunk and Amatsuki, on the other hand, can have their appearances subtly adjusted using Stussy's makeup techniques.

“Actually, we could try this…” Sig flashed his hand, and three or four panda face masks appeared in his hand.

"When you need to operate covertly, you might as well wear this mask."

The Pandaren are mysterious figures who lived from 800 years ago to 500 years into the future. Sig thought to himself... Since the mystery of the Pandaren has been so difficult to unravel, he might as well dress up as one himself and maybe he could complete the mission.

Back then, the Pandaren card series was quite powerful, except for the Dragon King which was a bit weak.

After a brief discussion and some minor makeup adjustments, the four stood together.

The artificial time-reversal fruit's power, limited to a single use, activated silently, and they all vanished into thin air.

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