I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

.........

I wonder if anyone remembers that at the end of the past chapter, I mentioned that I hesitated for a long time about whether to deal with the "death of the Pirate King" incident.

The fate of One Piece has a significant impact, so I need to adjust the subsequent outline, which may result in the deletion of an entire volume.

When I said back then that the content that might be deleted was referring to this volume.

Parallel World Chapter.

This content was finalized in my outline around the same time as the previous chapters; it's something I've wanted to write for a long time.

The outline for the parallel world arc at that time was based on the premise that "Roger was executed and died".

The death of the Pirate King would leave a void.

This volume was born from this feeling of incompleteness.

Here, Sig will encounter another timeline, where Roger and Rocks, at their peak, are not suffering from terminal illnesses, and their pirate crews are at their zenith.

What I initially wanted to write was like a popcorn movie, One Piece: Stampede, where great pirates from different eras gather on a fictional stage in a parallel world.

The Rocks Pirates at their peak, the Roger Pirates even more magnificent than in the original story, and the East Blue Mountain Bandits who collected all the Phantom Gods of the East Blue—a daydream-like existence.

And Sigurd, whose style of doing things is different from the one in this story, is letting loose and lowering his standards.

The initial outline included a grand melee and two storylines: the Mountain Bandit King and the great scientist Vegapunk, both revolving around the deceased Rocks and Roger from the main story. As the story progressed, the identity of the Mountain Bandit King Sigma was gradually revealed...

This is the initial outline of this piece, containing content that cannot be included in the main text.

But if Roger had survived in the main story... then this chapter wouldn't be as significant.

So, after I changed the ending of the past arc and One Piece came back to life, I hesitated for a long time about whether to delete this volume.

I finally decided to give it a try, but I need to make significant revisions to reduce the length of the piece as much as possible and finish it as soon as possible.

As a result, the theatrical All-Star stage was gone, and the Vegapunk storyline was also removed.

The main characters in this volume, initially five (Vegapunk, Rocks, Roger, Sig, and Sigma), eventually dwindled to just Sig and Sigma.

.

Due to excessive deletions and simplifications of the plot, some problems have arisen.

The plot can be cut, but the parts that explain the background and set the stage cannot be reduced.

Therefore, this chapter follows a pattern of: introducing the setting, advancing the plot, introducing the setting again, and then the boss battle.

In the last 10 words, there's no question of gradual progression or layered foreshadowing.

The reading experience might be a bit dry if you read it in one go; it would probably be better if you read it all at once.

After being shortened, this piece is only 10 words in total, and it took me half a month to write.

If we were to fully develop this piece and write it according to the initial outline, it would probably be 20 to 30 words long.

The Parallel World arc differs from the Past arc. The Past arc is part of the main storyline, while the Parallel World arc is a relatively independent short story, similar to DLC for the game. It's connected to the main storyline, but not in a very deep way. Writing too much about it wouldn't be appropriate, since the main storyline is still there.

The length has been reduced to 10 words, but the main storyline has been retained, the logic is consistent, there is a relatively complete background setting, and some plot holes have been filled in.

The initial purpose of this volume was to try out new content and writing styles while also filling in gaps in the story, and that has been largely achieved.

After simplification, this volume is almost purely for entertainment, without a complicated plot or too many characters—this goal has obviously been achieved.

Next, I'll take a day off and prepare the outline for the next volume. See you the day after tomorrow.

Chapter 983 (Free Chapter), 3.5K Characters, Edited

(PS: I previously posted the wrong 1K paid chapter. Here, I've changed the 2K paid chapter to free.)

It's only a matter of 5 cents, why get so worked up?

(If I do the math, you've made a killing—5 cents to 1 cents!)

With a creak.

The door to the naval officers' quarters was opened.

Then came the sound of footsteps approaching from afar, followed by low breathing.

In front of the full-length mirror in the room, Higuma, covered in sweat, was seen walking into the room, leaning against the wall.

"The day's training is finally over."

"After the Void Shattering incident a few days ago, General Zephyr and the others have been holding their breath, and their daily training is practically pushing us to the limit..."

"But to be honest, the Navy didn't really lose that battle; they achieved their strategic objectives."

After taking a hot shower and changing his clothes, Rixiong felt refreshed. He rested for a while and then sat down at his desk.

"It's time to write in the diary for the next day."

As Higuma muttered to himself, he opened his inventory, only to be suddenly startled.

The inventory has been moved.

A thought struck him, and he immediately took out his diary.

"...My foolish self, by the time you see this, I should already be a powerful expert at the late-stage Great General realm."

"Regret it, aren't you? Resent it?"

"Come before me again after you have returned."

"I'll show you that I'm the real protagonist!"

Next to these lines of text, two large characters were written in red pen.

"Read."

"Aa ...

The bear roared and jumped onto the bed, rolling around and writhing like a maggot.

If these words were spoken many years later, after Sun Bear's goal was achieved, and were seen by Sig's true form, it wouldn't be impossible.

But this has only been a day!

It felt like making a meticulously planned, self-indulgent scheme on the first day of summer vacation, only to have it read aloud by the teacher and publicly executed that same day—a strange sense of shame.

Rixiong tossed and turned on the bed for a few minutes before calming down a little and realizing that something was wrong.

"This doesn't make sense. Could it be that after the main body shattered the void, the time travel only lasted for a few days?"

"Vegapunk's artificial Time-Time Fruit doesn't seem very reliable..."

Higuma frowned and sat back down at his desk.

He then discovered that there were some more suggestive notes tucked behind his diary.

Among these are Dracula's second and third wills, as well as Sigurd's travelogue of parallel worlds, which roughly recounts what he experienced...

The Japanese bear was startled again.

Both being shadow clones, Dracula lived for a full 38 years, and even fought his way to the unprecedented Sigmund realm...

"After defeating Sigma, did Sigma spend two years living a peaceful life in Vegapunk's research facility?"

"Damn, I'm so envious!"

Two years is a limit. After about two years, the remaining power of Sigmar the Mountain Bandit King could no longer cover the East Blue and Vegapunk's research base. The World Government began to take action, and the brief balance was broken again.

Higuma didn't get involved in the commotion. Before the World Government took action, he had Blue and White Cat activate its time-travel ability again, and the two prepared to return to the pirate world...

Sieg's two-year notebook ended abruptly here, with no follow-up.

"So, the original body has returned?"

The Japanese bear looked completely bewildered.

The above only mentions that Sieg attempted to travel through time, but does not mention his condition after returning to his original world.

This doesn't make sense. Unless Sieg hasn't returned yet, he would definitely have left information about his return to this world.

But the mystery doesn't end there.

Higuma stood up, took a few steps, picked up the dumbbell in the corner of the room, and casually swung it around a few times with ease.

This is also unreasonable.

After Zephyr's training, Higuma was already exhausted and in that state, it was impossible for him to easily lift the dumbbells he usually used for exercise.

"It wasn't my imagination after all; my strength has suddenly increased... Has the card ability from my main body also synchronized with it?"

"In other words, I'm now essentially the same as a 12-year-old Gian?" Higuma muttered to himself.

The shadow clone Higuma was created after the Seven Blacks Coffin-Carrying Incident on Kenzan Island. The shadow clone's physical condition was equivalent to that of Sigurd at that time.

However, the card's ability is essentially due to the authority granted by Sig. The shadow clone is recognized as another Sig, which means that the shadow clone is sharing Sig's card ability.

Higuma speculates that, according to Sig's notes, the two worlds are out of sync.

Therefore, when Higuma left the parallel world and tried to return to the One Piece world, the [True Gian Power] was simultaneously inherited by Higuma.

Aside from Sigka's abilities, this card is essentially a status bar.

Therefore, telekinesis, as well as the Dragon Capture Hand and Bat King Ultrasonic Wave that Sigurd later mastered, were not synchronized to the Shadow Clone.

"hateful!"

"I originally wanted to secretly break through to the General realm and amaze everyone... but I didn't expect that my main body would secretly complete a DLC and not only gain telekinesis, but also live a peaceful life for two years."

The Japanese bear gritted its teeth.

Last time, when Sig broke through the void and traveled to a parallel world, only a few days passed in Sun Bear's world. Not only were the times in the two worlds out of sync, but there was also a difference between them.

Judging from the original body's previous time travel experiences... the original body is currently in a "time travel" state, neither in a parallel world nor in the One Piece world. Although the character card's abilities have been synchronized, when he will appear in the One Piece world is still unknown.

It might take a few days, a few months, or even longer.

"I don't have much time left. If I can't break through to the General realm before my main body returns, then what I wrote in the diary will become a joke."

Another shadow clone, Dracula, took 38 years to become Sigma.

Surely Xiong won't still be stuck at the colonel level someday?

Higuma took a deep breath and made an important decision.