I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

The reporters who were taking notes all looked puzzled, and they all stopped writing.

"What are you standing there for? Keep going."

Morgans lowered his voice and gave the order.

Although he didn't quite understand why Charmaco Saint would specifically publish a news article describing Sig's terror and power... the fact that a Celestial Dragon, a victim, personally recounted the criminal's brutality was definitely big news!

Specific details are not important to journalists; they do similar things on a daily basis.

Morgans drank a cup of tea, feeling extremely content.

What he likes most is this kind of sensational news.

“The bounty offered by the World Government is too low, and it’s not a round number. I don’t like it,” Charles said over the phone.

"Therefore, I have decided to place an additional reward for Sieg in the World Economic Journal in my name."

So they're going to increase the bounty... Stirring things up, I like it.

Morgans felt even more pleased.

"Alright, I like round numbers, so let's increase the bounty to 820 million."

puff!

Morgans spat out a mouthful of tea.

Morgans had long known that the Celestial Dragons had no concept of money, but the extent to which they had no concept of money still surprised him.

Is this how you round it up? Why not just round it up to 10 billion!

"Morgans, why aren't you saying anything? Is this number too low? How about we make it a hundred...?"

"No need! Saint Charmaco!"

Morgans quickly stopped him, wiping away sweat with his hand.

Making a little money from the Celestial Dragons is fine, but if you go too far, such as instigating high bounties, it will attract the attention of the World Government.

There are intelligent people among the Celestial Dragons. Underestimating them will lead to serious consequences.

After some serious persuasion, they finally convinced the Celestial Dragon Charmaco Saint, and ultimately settled on a relatively reasonable additional bounty and the content of the news.

Ultimately, Celestial Dragon Charl Marco Saint decided to add 220 million Berries, bringing the total bounty to 400 million Berries.

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

Newsbird, with its network spanning the globe, quickly spread the news about Sieg to most parts of the world.

The entire East China Sea was in an uproar! Even within the Grand Line, this news was enough to shock the world!

"The East Blue is the weakest sea. Before this, the highest bounty for a pirate was only 20 million. Now there is a criminal with a bounty of nearly 200 million who hasn't even left the East Blue?"

"Hig, the Bandit King of the East Blue? He's clearly a pirate who sails the seas, yet he retains the title of a bandit."

"He set fire to a town in the Goa Kingdom, colluded with the Revolutionary Army, and even attacked a Celestial Dragon... He's a ruthless guy!"

"Wait, if he dared to attack a Celestial Dragon, does that mean he has already escaped the Admiral's pursuit?"

The World Government, of course, did not disclose all the intelligence.

For example, the story of how naval hero Garp failed to capture Sig and was even slashed to the point of falling asleep, as well as the intelligence involving secret intelligence agencies like CP0, were not made public.

But the publicly known deeds are already enough to shock the world.

Especially... when they received the World Economic Journal the following day.

"Extra number! Extra number!"

"First-hand news from the victim, Celestial Dragon Charlmaco!"

"The ultimate technique of Higuma, the bandit king of the East Blue, is the Purgatory Unparalleled Explosive Wave Cannon. Celestial Dragon Charl Marco Saint himself stated that its power is extremely strong, easily killing an admiral. Higuma's strength may be greatly underestimated!"

"Saint Charmaco even stated that he would increase the bounty on the villain who attacked him! The amount is 220 million!"

"My God! If we kill this guy named Sig, we can get a bounty of 400 million right away!"

"The East China Sea! I want to go to the East China Sea!"

"Hey, wake up! This is a ruthless guy who managed to escape an Admiral's pursuit and dared to attack a Celestial Dragon! His special move instantly killed an Admiral, so this guy's strength must be ridiculously high!"

"Wake up! How could someone who can instantly kill a general have a bounty of less than two hundred million? You actually believe that? But his strength is certainly not weak!"

Thanks to Newsbird, which has coverage all over the world, news about Sieg became a very popular hot topic in a short period of time!

This bandit, who had just come out of the mountains, was setting sail for the first time. Before he had even entered the Grand Line, his name had already spread throughout the East Blue. In the Grand Line, he also quickly rose to fame!

On his first voyage, he became famous throughout the seas! His debut was his peak!

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

In the East Sea, amidst the mountains of the Goa Kingdom.

Three teenagers, around ten years old, were holding newspapers they had just received from the newsbird.

"Look, it's Uncle Sig! His title is the East Sea Mountain Bandit King."

Little Luffy exclaimed in surprise, counting the bounty numbers on the bounty list, his expression gradually becoming excited.

"Ten billion... hundred billion... 180 billion? Uncle Sieg is amazing!"

"Idiot, this is 180 million!"

Ace said impatiently from the side, but his eyes were also fixed on the newspaper and the bounty poster, just like Luffy's.

After experiencing and witnessing the annihilation battle and the fire at the Uncertainty Terminal together, Luffy, Ace, and Sabo gradually became familiar with each other, and the three children's impression of Higuma also deepened.

Chapter 69 Red Hair and Hawkeye

The three children sat on the hilltop reading the latest news about Sig.

In Ace's mind, the scene from that night vaguely resurfaced: him crouching on a tree branch, asking Sig those questions.

Strictly speaking, he had only met Sieg once.

However, besides Garp, Higuma was the first person Ace met who was related to the Pirate King Roger, and Ace's impression of him was not shallow.

"Has Sig, that bandit, also gone to sea in search of freedom? He just set sail and already fought a World Noble..."

"When I set sail, I'll make a splash that surpasses Higuma's, and eventually, I'll surpass the Pirate King! Sabo, do you want to join my crew then?"

Ace spoke, but found no one responding.

Looking back, Sabo had walked alone to the top of the mountain, gazing into the distance at the uncertain final destination that had turned to ashes.

This slum town has been reduced to ruins; the former mountains of garbage have long been burned to ashes, and a faint stench still lingers in the air.

Further away, the capital city of the Goa Kingdom can be faintly seen, its high walls still standing, though slightly blackened by the fire of that day.

The city gate slowly opened.

Garbage trucks drove out one after another, dumping fresh garbage haphazardly outside once again, and the small garbage mountain formed again.

In the distance, another small group of scavengers jogged over and began searching through the mountain of garbage, starting a struggle for space.

Everything seemed to have returned to its starting point.

This is a cycle that even a raging fire cannot destroy.

Sabo didn't feel particularly sad; he just clenched the newspaper in his hand.

He actually knew about the secret of the burning of the uncertain final destination in the Kingdom of Goa before the incident occurred, but he was powerless to stop or change it.

Although the man couldn't stop the fire, he almost saved all the civilians at the Uncertainty Terminal.

"The newspaper was right after all. Higuma is a bandit on the surface, but he's actually a revolutionary. That's why he attacked the Celestial Dragons."

Sabo murmured.

"Sabo, what are you looking at?" Ace walked over and asked.

"Ace, I've made up my mind. I don't want to be a pirate anymore," Sabo said, his eyes shining brightly.

"why?"

"There are limits to being a pirate. What pirates pursue is nothing more than personal freedom!"

"I want to become a member of the revolutionary army, and like Sieg, fight for the freedom of the whole world!"

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

On a sea area within the Grand Line.

The pirate ship Red, flying the double-sword skull flag, was sailing, and the members of the Red-Haired Pirates were having their usual banquet on board.

"cheers!"

"cheers!"

"Mr. Sieg has finally set sail, and now the seas are about to be in turmoil!"

"I just didn't expect that he would be connected to the Revolutionary Army, and that he would attack the Celestial Dragons as soon as he set sail!"

A smile played on the lips of First Mate Beckman as he recalled his encounter with Sieg in the East China Sea, and he murmured:

"I had already guessed that such a person, who was active in the shadows, could not possibly have remained unknown on a remote island."

"Beckman, do you really believe that Mr. Sig defeated... fifty-six Yonko-level pirates?"

The fat man, Raki Lou, wearing a green striped shirt, took a big bite of meat stick and mumbled something indistinctly.

Beckman smiled slightly:

"A half-truth is more likely to deceive people than a plain lie."

"If there were truly fifty-six Emperors on the high seas, they could easily overwhelm the Navy!"

“Mr. Sieg is exaggerating and talking nonsense while drunk. The real number is definitely not that many. He is deliberately covering up his achievements so that we have no way of knowing which ones are true and which ones are false.”

"Burp." Shanks, standing nearby, let out a burp and chuckled.

"Perhaps there really are fifty-six Emperors, but the Navy also has fifty-six Admirals hidden in the Navy, which just keeps the balance."

Shanks' joke drew laughter from the entire audience, who clinked glasses and chatted merrily.

However, a moment later, a look of surprise suddenly appeared on Shanks' face.