I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"Does Sigurd both crave the power of Hades and desire a peaceful life?"

"Does this mean he wants to destroy the Holy Land and then go into seclusion afterward?"

Chapter 504 Build Two Hundred Pluto Ships

“Neptune, you're overthinking it.” Queen Otohime shook her head.

"We must have misunderstood. Every ancient weapon possesses the power to destroy the world."

"If Sieg is pursuing Hades, how could he possibly be content with a peaceful life after mastering Hades' destructive power? This is a contradiction."

"Moreover, since he does not want to rule the world but chooses to retire... then the world after he retires will only fall into chaos once again."

At this point, Queen Otohime recalled the thoughts she had heard before.

“I once heard Sig’s inner thoughts. Even someone as powerful as him often felt fear when he was in battle.”

“I didn’t quite understand this before, but now I do.”

Queen Otohime smiled faintly:

“He is different from guys like Hody Jones who are consumed by hatred.”

"Even though Sigurd possesses great strength, he always maintains a sense of awe for life. Perhaps that is why he spared Colonel Higuma. Sigurd is not a man who kills indiscriminately."

At this point, Queen Otohime's smile gradually spread across her face:

"I think Sieg is just curious. A person who has a deep respect for life would not easily kill innocent people even if he were to touch Hades."

“You’re saying Sieg is afraid?” Neptune was taken aback.

Queen Otohime had said a lot, but all he heard was the word "fear".

fear?

fear!

Neptune's eyes widened in shock as he considered an extremely terrifying and absurd possibility.

Neptune was not entirely unaware of the Hades blueprints Tom possessed.

If Fishman Island has been protecting Poseidon for generations, then the shipwrights of Water Seven have been protecting Hades for generations.

These two sides are not unrelated.

After all, the merfolk 800 years ago already possessed the world's most advanced shipbuilding technology.

The giant ship Noah was not a weapon with terrifying firepower, but it was not something that just any shipwright could build.

"Perhaps... Sieg wants to use the power of Hades to instill fear in this world!"

"Excessive firepower will instill fear in the world, which might stop the war, and in the end, Sig could live a peaceful life?"

Queen Otohime frowned deeply upon hearing this: "Powerful weapons bring peace? That's absurd."

“No, the key isn’t Hades.” Neptune shook his head, his eyes gleaming.

"The crucial thing is... the blueprints for Hades! They are even more terrifying than the finished Hades!"

These words left Queen Otohime even more confused; she seemed unable to follow Neptune's train of thought.

"This doesn't make sense, does it? Turning design blueprints into finished warships requires time and manpower..."

"Hehe...hahaha...I get it." Neptune grinned, but his smile carried a strange sense of awe.

"The advantage of blueprints over finished warships lies in the fact that they can be used to build a second, a third, a fourth... even dozens of Hades warships!"

"Princess, imagine what would happen if there were dozens of Hades ships in the world, each controlled by a different country?"

Queen Otohime's expression immediately changed; from those words alone, she seemed to see endless war and chaos.

"This will bring endless war, and perhaps the world will become a wasteland, with countless islands destroyed by Hades... The whole world will be shrouded in fear," Queen Otohime said, her heart aching at the thought of such a possibility.

Neptune, however, wore a calm and composed smile on his face.

"It is right that the whole world is shrouded in fear, but this may bring about a new peace and order."

"Pluto's firepower is too strong; a single shot is enough to destroy an island. If all the countries in the world possessed such a terrifying weapon as Pluto... but they lack the means to defend against it."

"The Hades in my hands can easily destroy your entire country, and so can you."

"Therefore, war will not be easily started, because neither side can afford the cost of war."

"Peace will come in the new era."

"Perhaps this can be called... the era of strategic deterrence."

Queen Otohime was completely bewildered; she didn't quite understand what she was hearing.

Seeing this, Neptune continued to explain:

"This is similar to the current Four Emperors and the Navy."

"These four powerful forces, the Four Emperors, dominate the New World. Their strength and that of the Navy serve as a deterrent to each other, so none of them want to start a war easily."

"Therefore, the new world, especially the islands under the rule of the Four Emperors, has ushered in a rare period of peace."

"For example, our Fishman Island."

With this analogy, Queen Otohime understood.

In the early days of the Great Pirate Era, before the Four Emperors existed, the world was in chaos, and Queen Otohime experienced the chaos of Fishman Island ten years prior.

However, when the Four Emperors appeared and Whitebeard used his banner to protect Fishman Island, the island began to move towards stability and order.

The fact that four powerful pirate emperors brought localized peace to certain islands may sound counterintuitive, but it is true.

"So, this is Sig's plan?" Queen Otohime was gradually persuaded.

“Yes.” Neptune nodded:

"Sigurd wants to use the power of Hades to destroy the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and end the rule of the World Government."

"Then he will build hundreds of his Pluto warships and make the nations of the world deter each other, so that peace may come."

"Finally, he will be able to retire from public life and live a peaceful life."

At this point, Neptune couldn't help but sigh:

"No wonder he wanted the blueprints for Hades. Sieg is a crazy man."

"But... this is just speculation, isn't it? We can't be sure yet," Queen Otohime said hesitantly.

Neptune's gaze fell on Shirahoshi, who was quietly playing by herself in the hall.

Bai Xing is still young and naive, and they didn't avoid mentioning her when they were discussing things before.

“Then, we can try to sound out Sieg.”

"Sig would probably be less guarded around Shirahoshi, right?"

...........

Half an hour later.

The shark Mecaro carried Shirahoshi away from the Dragon Palace and arrived in front of Sig.

"Mr. Sig, I've come to visit you."

"Mr. Sig, you come from the land, right? Have you ever seen a forest?"

"So... what about the sun? What does the sun look like?"

Upon hearing these questions, Sieg gave Shirahoshi a deep look.

Shirahoshi is still young and is indeed a very curious child.

After thinking for a moment, Sieg took out his photo editing camera and showed Bai Xing the landscape photos he had taken.

Chapter 505 Whitebeard's Invitation

A photo editing camera only produces distortion when the editing process is in effect; it does not put a strain on the camera when taking ordinary photos.

Therefore, along the way from Kenzan Island, through the Sabaody Archipelago, to this Fishman Island, Sig took some landscape photos. The number wasn't large, but for Shirahoshi, who had always longed for the land, it was already a rare and beautiful sight.

Shirahoshi's reaction was exactly as Sieg had expected; she watched intently, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"This is the sun on land...and the forests on land...the naked sister on land..."

Sieg's eye twitched, then he slid his finger across the photo of Hancock's back.

For Siegfried, Hancock's photos are important source material for photo editing, and each one is precious. That's why he has preserved them to this day.

He glanced at Bai Xing, who didn't show any unusual expression, seemingly not yet that age.

"Shirahoshi...you must have been seeing things. Don't tell others about things like you misjudged someone..."

Bai Xing didn't notice anything amiss and quickly nodded in agreement.

Then, Sieg continued to show Shirahoshi some landscape photos, just to satisfy the child's curiosity.

During their casual conversation, Bai Xing inadvertently asked a question:

"Mr. Sig, what is Hades? Is he a mermaid like me?"

"Mr. Sig, are you planning to find hundreds of Hades? Remember to have them come visit me on Fishman Island..."

Sieg was taken aback, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Hundreds of Hades?

This sounds exaggerated, but it seems... to be a potentially viable approach.

"If we could really build hundreds of Pluto ships, would this chaotic era come to an end?"

"By then, will I be able to realize my ambitions?"

Sieg stroked his chin, lost in thought, and did not answer for a moment.

His reaction did not escape Bai Xing's notice.

..........

Dragon Palace.