I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"Did you also escape from other laboratories?"

"Big brother, do you have a name?"

This bald giant looks tall, but his appearance still has a childlike quality, roughly equivalent to a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy.

He seemed to be captivated by Sig's power and was quite curious about him.

“So many questions…” Sieg glanced at him.

"If you're being polite, shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone's name?"

"Are you asking me?" The bald giant boy pointed to himself:

"My name is Heart, the heart of ambition."

"And what about you?"

Heart? Is it a single-word name?

Thinking he should do as the Romans do, Sieg replied:

"My name is... Mountain."

He casually made up a name to fit the local customs.

Like Stussy, Toki, and others, Sigurd has slightly altered his appearance through life restoration or makeup techniques, so it's normal for him to have a pseudonym.

As expected, after Sieg spoke, he saw the giant boy's expression immediately become much friendlier, and even the girl beside him, who had been wary, softened her expression at this moment.

Sieg then took the opportunity to introduce the other people.

Tianyue Shi's surname was omitted, and he was given a single-character name, Shi.

Dr. Vegapunk was casually nicknamed "Dr. Who" by Sieg, while Stussy was referred to as "0" from CP0.

The atmosphere noticeably eased, and the test subjects looked at Sig and the others with much friendlier eyes.

The giant boy also pointed to the girl who was always by his side, leaning against him.

“I am the heart, and my sister’s name is Lyca.”

"It's okay if you don't introduce me..." The girl, Leica, waved her hand, seemingly not very interested in talking.

"Are you really experimental subjects who escaped from other laboratories? I have never seen experimental subjects as powerful as you. You are almost... almost as powerful as humans."

"A person?" Sig paused, surprised. This was the first time he had heard such a novel way of praising someone.

Vegapunk whispered a reminder to him:

"According to the information, Devil Fruits completed in the laboratory are usually sent to the outside world and enter the Great Kingdom."

"Depending on their intended use, these fruits will be distributed to factory workshops, research laboratories, or the legions of warriors."

"What this little girl means is that she has seen some human warriors with special abilities from some great kingdoms before."

While Siegfried and Vegapunk were whispering to each other, the giant boy interrupted:

"Sister, is there even a need to ask this question?"

"Shan and the others must be experimental subjects just like us, otherwise why don't they have surnames?"

The giant boy whispered:

"A surname is a word inherited from one's parents. Since they have no surname, it means they have no parents. They are obviously experimental subjects just like us."

"Only those wearing lab coats have complete surnames and given names."

“Experimental subjects like us, without parents, don’t deserve a surname.”

Sig: .....

If it weren't for the giant boy's serious expression, he would have almost thought the guy was swearing.

This giant boy doesn't seem very bright... Oh well, thanks to him, the atmosphere seems to have eased a bit.

"Ahem... Let's change the subject."

Sig also wanted to lower the test subjects' guard through conversation, since he was counting on them to cooperate with Vegapunk's physical examination.

If they could figure out what happened to these test subjects, and with the information obtained by Sig and others, Vegapunk, with his intelligence, might be able to master the human modification technology of the ancient kingdoms.

"Heart, you just said your name is Heart of Ambition, so what is your ambition?"

Sieg recalled the siblings' tearful farewell and asked.

"My ambition...?"

The giant boy smiled somewhat embarrassedly; he seemed a little shy.

"It's a little embarrassing to say, please don't laugh..."

The firelight illuminated the giant boy's face, and he smiled, revealing a set of white teeth.

If it weren't for seeing him fight like a madman on surveillance footage, and considering his enormous size, Sieg would probably have mistaken him for an ordinary child.

“Ambition should be stated openly and honestly to others,” Sieg encouraged.

He noticed that the giant boy seemed quite excited when the word "ambition" was mentioned, and he clearly enjoyed the topic.

Although it might be a little strange to bring up this topic when meeting someone for the first time, we decided to ignore that in order to build rapport.

"I... my ambition is..." The giant boy's face flushed slightly, and after stammering for a moment, he finally spoke under Sig's encouraging gaze:

"I want to become...a person."

"?" Sig and the others all showed slight surprise.

"I want to be a human, I don't want to be an experimental subject anymore," the giant boy said.

"I want to live in the sunlight as a human being."

Sig paused for a moment.

Adults often feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, mixed feelings) about children's innocent dreams.

He was speechless when he heard about the child's ambition.

“Heart, if you really want a surname, you can choose one yourself,” Sig changed the subject again.

"Huh?" The giant boy named Heart was a little surprised:

"But a surname is a character passed down from parents to children, and I don't have any parents."

"If a person's surname comes from their parents, then I ask you, from whom do the parents' surnames come? From their ancestors? And from their ancestors' surnames?"

Sieg evaded the giant boy with a series of questions, leaving him looking somewhat bewildered.

"So, just like given names, the original surname was chosen by oneself," Sieg continued.

"If you're willing, you can choose a surname for yourself now, and pass on this character from your name to your descendants."

Can I choose my own surname?

"So, what should my surname be?"

The giant boy was stunned for a while, then pondered deeply, caught in a difficult yet happy choice.

He thought for a long time, then suddenly a smile bloomed on his face, revealing a set of white teeth.

“I want to be someone who brings joy and happiness to others, so I’ll just use the surname Joyboy.”

“Joyboy Heart. That’s my full name.”

The giant boy smiled, looking quite excited.

"Mountain, if I had a complete name like a person, would I be considered a person now?"

Sieg did not answer.

He exchanged glances with Stussy, Vegapunk, and the others behind him, and his heart skipped a beat.

Joy Boy was the one who made a promise with the mermaid princess 800 years ago to send the fish-people to live on land via Noah's Ark.

Is this a coincidence, or some kind of historical inevitability?

Sig and Vegapunk's expressions turned serious.

Before they learned of Joy Boy's name, they could treat these test subjects with ease, but now that they know he is an important historical figure, they have to start taking him seriously.

“Then, the heart,” Sieg asked tentatively.

"Now that you've escaped the lab, what are your plans?"

Xin didn't answer immediately, but subconsciously glanced at the girl Leica next to her.

“It’s not that I can’t say,” Leica said softly.

These two people don't look like they're related by blood, but they address each other as brother and sister and have a very close relationship.

Thanks to Sieg, after Xin had a surname, she finally lowered her guard when looking at Sieg and the others.

“I am different from Xin and the others. I come from another laboratory in the World Tree City, not the kind of laboratory in the tree.”

Leica said:

"There are a few other test subjects like us who are just barely surviving in this ocean, trying to evade capture."

"If we can find someone named Ren, we should be able to escape this calamity."

"A person?" Sig asked in surprise.

“Ren certainly has a surname, we just don’t know it,” Xin added.

"People can be good or bad, and Ren is a kind-hearted environmentalist."

"Let us be by his side, as a person, there shouldn't be any problem."

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

P.S.: I'll recommend two books this weekend.

Title: I, Reborn as a Doctor, Ascend to the Pinnacle of Terra

In his previous life, Yu Sheng was an ordinary student and a Doctor; in this life, he is still a Doctor.

To avoid the disastrous end in Saltwind City, he initially only wanted to protect everything on Rhodes Island and, incidentally, make up for past regrets.

…………