I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

But as she turned her head, she didn't go through the door. Instead, she bumped into Ain and Wib, who, along with Aling, surrounded Stusey.

“...Alright.” Stussy sighed softly.

She had originally wanted to protect Sieg's reputation, but now there was no way to do so.

"Go ahead and read it if you want, just so you don't regret it later." She handed the newspaper to Ah Ling.

The crowd gathered around and began reading the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the Dragon King, the instigator of this farce, was still nearby, enjoying his melon-eating.

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

the other side.

A large pirate ship shaped like a white whale, the Mobius, gradually approached the shore. On the bow deck, the middle-aged white-bearded man with his golden hair flowing freely saw Sig and the others on the beach. His eyes lit up, and he let out a hearty and loud laugh.

"Sig, I brought a case of century-old wine this time, so don't get drunk too quickly."

Whitebeard lifted a large liquor chest with one hand, leaped, and landed heavily on the beach.

boom.

His body landed just before Sieg, his massive, two-story-high frame creating a shallow crater in the sand. White, crystalline sand splashed up, intentionally or unintentionally splashing Roger's face, who was dozing nearby.

"Pfft..." Roger suddenly came to his senses, quickly wiped his face, and spat out the sand that had entered his mouth.

"Whitebeard, you're so old, is this really necessary?"

"I should at least pay you half of this case of wine as compensation, right?" Two elderly men, both over 120 years old, glared at each other on the beach.

On the Möbius

A new pirate who had just joined the Whitebeard Pirates stared blankly at Whitebeard, who was glaring at Roger.

"I have a feeling that the white-bearded old man is acting a little differently than usual?"

As the patriarch of the pirate crew, Whitebeard was the only one of his kind, and all his subordinates were his sons.

His usual words and actions also reflect the steady and reliable demeanor of a mature and reliable father.

But in front of Sigrog, Whitebeard's image seemed somewhat different from what they had in mind.

“It’s good that things are different.” Marco leaned against the ship’s railing and smiled slightly.

“We sons are family, but we are still the younger generation.”

"When he's with people from the same era, he won't be our father anymore, but the pirate Edward Newgate."

"So that's how it is..." The rookie pirate nodded in realization.

“Ever since Dad regained his youth, his mindset seems to have become younger too,” Marco continued.

"Decades ago, every time our Whitebeard Pirates met the Roger Pirates, a battle that would last for days would break out. But things seem to be different now."

"Why are you saying all this? Let's have a banquet!" Ace led the pirates in a noisy commotion.

He walked over and put his arm around the shoulder of the newly joined pirate:

"Newcomer, do you know that after joining the Whitebeard Pirates, you all have to acknowledge our mother and go over to offer her a toast?"

.......

PS: Let me explain why the Sword God and Sword Saint, as well as the characters from the Wano Country series, have so little screen time.

I quite liked the original character designs for the Sword God and Sword Saint, which is why I included them in the book. One reason for their departure from the story is that I felt a retirement ending suited them better.

The second reason is that having too many characters around the protagonist makes things difficult to manage. If there are too many people, and each one has a few lines, a whole chapter can easily pass by. Giving them too little screen time makes them seem stereotypical, while giving them too much feels like filler and just wanting to see Siegfried showing off.

So having the Sword God and the Sword Saint leave the stage in the early to mid-game is actually a way of writing their retirement ending in advance, not because I forgot about these two characters.

I saw someone mention these two guys earlier, so I'll explain them here.

The reason why characters like Yamato and Toki, the leaders of Wano Country, have less screen time later on is another reason.

For example, I liked Yamato's initial character design in the original work. But the later plot changed my opinion of these characters.

If there are plot twists or character developments in the later parts of the original story, it will be too late for me to do so.

In short, when I tried to write about these characters in this book, I felt a serious disconnect. The fan-made characters and the original characters were out of character, like two different people.

When I try to write about characters from Wano Country like Yamato, I feel quite uncomfortable and can't seem to get the words out.

My original plot plan was that Yamato would eat Vegapunk's artificial Blue Dragon Fruit and become a new Devil Fruit user after Kaido's death... but I didn't write that, and Yamato's name hardly appeared at all afterward.

Chapter 1301 Sig's Dragon-Slaying Technique (4k)

Ace, who had been poisoned by Marco and transformed into his likeness, was now actively recruiting new recruits, smiling as he walked towards Whitebeard and Higuma.

Marco watched from the sidelines, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

I don't know when it started, but Ace has become a seasoned veteran.

They chatted and laughed, clinked glasses, and the aroma of wine filled the air.

It was another noisy and joyous banquet.

This kind of thing had happened many times during Sig's summer vacation. Even Ace was familiar with the process and encouraged rookie pirates to go and acknowledge their mothers.

However, the joy belonged to them; Ah Ling and the others only found it noisy.

While this group of burly, smelly men were having another drinking party on the beach, Ah Ling and the others had just finished reading their newspapers.

"The bandit king's gender is a mystery? He's actually the Whitebeard Pirates' mother..."

"He is a man physically, but a woman psychologically..."

Ah Ling and the others didn't quite understand it, but they were deeply shocked.

Stussy sat quietly to the side, watching.

Of course she knew it was fabricated fake news, but because Ah Ling and the others had forced her to hand over the newspaper, she was still a little angry and didn't explain, letting them speculate.

While Ain, Aling, and the others were a little confused.

Ace, over there, had already led the rookie pirate to Sigurd.

The newcomer was a burly man with a four- or five-meter-tall hairstyle and an airplane-like hairstyle, but at this moment his face turned red, and he seemed to want to say something but couldn't.

"Hello...Mom."

There was a moment of silence, followed by a chaotic burst of laughter.

"Get up!" Sig looked up at the newcomer, and an invisible telekinetic force swept over him. The burly pirate and Ace beside him were sent flying backward for hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, leaving a deep imprint on the wall of the Moby Dick.

After Ace landed, he couldn't help but laugh. Darkness and flames erupted around him at the same time, and the two abilities gradually merged into dark fire, gradually breaking free from Sig's invisible telekinetic hand.

"Ace is getting more and more mischievous. Sabo is much more polite." Roger clicked his tongue in amazement.

Perhaps because he had been with the Whitebeard Pirates for so long, Ace was also influenced by Marco.

Roger, holding his wine glass, watched as the flames and darkness flowing around Ace gradually merged, and sighed with emotion:

"Is he already [Black Flame] Ace?"

"His abilities are somewhat similar to yours, Sieg."

Roger took a sip of his drink, then suddenly laughed and offered a terrible idea:

“How about this, since this child likes to have a mother so much, why don’t you, Sieg, really become his godmother… no, his second godfather?”

One godfather is still a godfather, and two godfathers are still godfathers.

Roger still harbored some resentment about his own son Ace recognizing Whitebeard as his father, always feeling as if he had lost to his arch-rival Whitebeard.

If Ace had another adoptive father, things would seem much smoother.

"What nonsense! Why have so many fathers?" Sig was speechless.

"Gurararararararararar," the white-bearded man laughed loudly from the side.

"We're already one big family, why bother distinguishing who's whose son?"

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

While they were drinking and making merry, Ah Ling and the others in the distance were gradually turning green with envy.

"What do you mean by making Sieg the godmother...?"

"What does it mean to be part of a big family?"

"Is Sigmund not only the mother of the Whitebeard Pirates, but also had an ambiguous relationship with Roger?"

The group looked at each other, their expressions varied.

Stussy learned from Morgans that it was fake news, but Wiburn, Aling, and others did not have such a strong ability to distinguish.

The saying goes, "Those involved are often confused."

When emotions run high, even normally rational people can easily be swayed by media professionals who lack professional ethics.

When the newspapers pointed the finger at Sieg, Ah Ling and the others seemed a little confused.

Only the Dragon King continued to float in the air, enjoying the show.

After all, her relationship with Sig was purely platonic; she only wanted to enjoy Sig's company.

“I think what I read in the newspapers is all false,” the Dragon King suddenly said.

"Is it fake... is it fake?"

"That's good." Wei Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

"The reporter who wrote the news is still too young. Actually, there's another possibility she hasn't ruled out." The Dragon King continued to fan the flames:

"Maybe Sig was a woman before, and then she became a man."

"So he appears as a man, but is a woman at heart. Whitebeard knew his secret, which is why he made his sons recognize their thief as their mother..."

"..."

"..."

Ah Ling and Wei Ben looked at each other, feeling that this line of thinking was a bit too absurd.

Only Stusi, who was quietly watching the scene unfold, suddenly felt a jolt in his heart.