I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"Did it run away again? Could it be with Sun Bear again?"

"Hmm? Once could be a coincidence, but twice..."

Vegapunk frowned, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

His research field is 500 years ahead of its time; other researchers are only fit to assist him and dare not ask him any questions.

So, in private, he actually had some small projects that he was hiding from the World Government.

Stargazer One is like that, and so is that blue and white cat.

.......

"Vegapunk has traveled back in time once."

Inside the room, Higuma looked rather unwell.

Without his knowledge, Vegapunk had already used the power of the Time-Time Fruit once.

He realized this by relying on Sig's own experience: leaving a note in his inventory.

"It's a really tricky ability; it's impossible to defend against, and no one can even detect it."

"But my conversation with Vegapunk was perfectly normal, and there's no evidence yet that he activated the Time Reversal Fruit's power because my identity was exposed..."

"However, we should still be on the safe side."

The impression that Wang Sieg left on Vegapunk back then was that he could not only perceive time reversal, but also see the distant future and guess the projects Vegapunk would develop in the future.

This kind of image completely negates Vegapunk's advantage of the Time-Reversal Fruit, which is why he can be defeated later.

Once his image collapses, given Vegapunk's abilities, any powerful figure in the world, even Rocks or Roger, would find it extremely difficult to deal with him.

Higuma spread out the note from his inventory and placed it on the table.

One was a note he had just left, and the other was left by Siegfried more than 20 years ago when he was fighting Vegapunk.

Higuma has no memory of the "Wang Xige era" and had only skimmed through it before, treating it as a story.

He suddenly realized he might have to deal with Vegapunk, so he started cramming at the last minute.

What he didn't notice was...

Outside the door, the blue and white cat reappeared silently, sniffed around, and finally walked to the door of Sun Bear's room.

"Colonel Sunkuma, open the door quickly, it's me, Vegapunk." A voice rang out from outside the door.

Higuma sighed softly and ignored it.

"I really am Vegapunk. What just happened was all an act. I am the real Vegapunk."

A cat's paw emerged from under the door and waved a few times.

"I've been interrupted again. I need to get rid of this cat quickly so it won't bother me again."

Sun Bear put the note away again, stood up, opened the door, grabbed the blue and white cat, and lifted it up in one go.

But at this moment, the blue and white cat began to struggle violently.

Despite its small size, it struggled with unexpectedly great strength.

The bear wasn't paying attention and the blue and white cat broke free, jumping back onto the bear's desk and sniffing something intently.

"It seems to be just as I expected. It's not a coincidence, nor is it because it's particularly close to you."

Vegapunk's voice echoed down the corridor.

He stepped back into Higuma's room and closed the door behind him.

"Dr. Vegapunk?" Higuma asked in surprise.

However, Vegapunk did not respond to him immediately. Instead, he looked at the blue and white cat on the table and saw that it was still sniffing something on the table. Only then did he feel relieved.

"Colonel Higuma, I have a treasure to show you."

Vegapunk took a sealed safe out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

In front of Rixiong, he quickly entered the password, and with a hiss, the safe door opened.

Inside was a bottle of wine and a small bag containing hair.

Ignoring Sunkuma's questioning gaze, Vegapunk took out the bottle of wine. However, instead of opening the bottle, he put on gloves and carefully took out the bottle, placing it in front of the blue and white cat.

The blue and white cat sniffed carefully and nodded in a human-like manner:

"That's the taste, Doctor."

Upon hearing what the blue and white cat had said, Vegapunk's expression immediately became very complicated.

He stared at Higuma for a long time, then took two steps back, leaned against the wall, and raised his hands in surrender.

Higuma: ?

"Dr. Vegapunk, what are you doing?" Sun Bear exclaimed in surprise.

Vegapunk looked at Higuma with a somber expression, then let out a deep sigh.

"Looks like that's not enough?"

He took out a pair of handcuffs and a key from his pocket, slammed them onto the table, and then stretched out his hands toward Higuma.

"Here, help me put it on."

Japanese Bear: ?!

Does Vegapunk have this strange fetish?

His appearance is that of a KING, a tall, fierce, and delinquent.

Higuma never expected that someone would covet his appearance.

Seeing that Sun Bear was not making a move, Vegapunk's tone became even more somber:

"Okay, I can do it myself, it's just a bit of a hassle."

He first handcuffed one of his hands, then struggled to use his other hand to cuff it, and finally managed to do so with a snap.

But as a result, Vegapunk looked dejected and almost fell to the ground.

He struggled to support himself and said softly:

"Now you're willing to trust me, right? These are handcuffs made of sea stone."

"I surrender. I have no weapons, I pose no threat to you, and I will not use the power of the Time Reversal Fruit again, so please stop shooting me in the head."

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Higuma was surprised again.

Vegapunk stared at Higuma's face, but noticed nothing unusual in his expression. After a long while, he sighed softly.

"Absolutely flawless... Your vigilance is just too high, isn't it?"

He shook the handcuffs in his hands and explained:

"As I mentioned to you before, the experimental subject A1507 is not an ordinary cat, but a creature that has been modified by bloodline factors."

"This is an experimental subject created for you. One of its functions is to replace you."

The sun bear nodded.

In the original story, the fire-breathing dragon that guards Punk Hazard Island is Vegapunk's artificial creature.

But upon closer reflection, something doesn't seem quite right.

Born for me?

"In place of... me?" Is that what you mean?

Higuma suddenly remembered the catgirl from before, and was horrified, instinctively taking half a step back.

He never imagined that Vegapunk would be so ruthless.

Then he heard Vegapunk continue explaining:

"Subject A1507 is not an ordinary cat. It not only has vocal organs that are close to those of humans, but also has an enhanced sense of smell."

"And that bottle of wine on the table... you probably don't even remember it anymore."

"But that night was very memorable for me."

Vegapunk rubbed his temples, feeling a dull ache there again.

“27 years ago, Wang Xige broke into my laboratory on the Isle of Sien.”

“He once picked up the bottle of wine that was on the table and even tried to spill it.”

"After Wang Xige left, I sealed this bottle of wine and also collected the hair that Wang Xige left in the laboratory, which I still keep to this day."

Higuma's eye twitched slightly.

Vegapunk gestured towards the already opened safe.

Higuma's heart sank. In addition to the bottle of wine, there was indeed a sealed transparent bag in the safe containing a few strands of hair.

“Experimental subject A1507 was created specifically for Wang Xige.”

"Its sense of smell is many times more sensitive than that of an ordinary cat. In addition, I often let it smell your fur and alcohol... It can easily identify and track Wang Xige's scent within 10 kilometers."

“That’s right. Even after being rejected by Wang Xige, I didn’t give up on pursuing a collaboration with him. All I did was try to find that person and see him again.”

Vegapunk looked at Sun Bear and sighed again.

"What do you want to say?" Higuma's expression darkened slightly.

“Relax, we’re not enemies. Don’t fight. I mean you nothing.” Vegapunk, his face slightly pale, maintained his surrender gesture and continued:

"At first, when my cat found you, I thought it was just a coincidence."

“Your scent doesn’t quite match Wang Xige’s, so the cat didn’t react at all when it escorted me to Sword Mountain Island.”

"But just before that, my cat came looking for you twice."

"Either Wang Xige had contact with you in a short period of time, or something belonging to Wang Xige suddenly appeared around you."

"But the cat's reaction indicates that... the item carrying Wang Xige's scent disappeared twice after you opened the door."

"According to intelligence from the World Government, both the former King Sigurd and the current Sigurd possess a magical ability to conjure things out of thin air."

Vegapunk's gaze fell on Higuma: