I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Time is running out for Vegapunk.

The World Government remained largely uninvolved throughout the Infinite Land War, preserving its strength.

After the war, Sigma died, the East Blue Mountain Bandits disbanded, and the Rocks Pirates were wiped out on the spot.

Apart from the Roger Pirates, who focused on adventure and avoided direct confrontation with the World Government, no other force in the world was qualified to be the World Government's enemy.

Vegapunk was able to hold out for two years largely thanks to the lingering influence of Sigmar.

Surrender is virtually impossible; he was once a member of a bandit gang and is not an innocent person with a clean background.

At the same time, he cannot escape. He needs a relatively stable research environment, massive funding, and large-scale equipment, making relocation difficult.

So, on the surface, he only spent two years training in telekinesis and the corresponding physical conditioning... but that's not actually the case.

Vegapunk from the parallel universe is a user of the Time-Reversal Fruit.

Over the course of two years, Vegapunk would activate his time rewind ability almost every day in an effort to train more efficiently and maximize his time efficiency.

If we include the time spent rewinding and repeatedly loading save files, Vegapunk probably went through more than ten years of hard work and struggle.

At least for Siegfried, it was clearly visible to the naked eye that Vegapunk's hair turned white in just two years, transforming him from a young man into an old man...

"Fortunately, those tough times are over, and I've returned to where I used to be."

Sieg leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

"Telekinesis is so useful, from now on I can live a life where everything is done for me."

Sig sipped his milk, his gaze casually falling on the tavern owner, Makino.

This is the East China Sea Windmill Village Tavern, the place where all stories begin.

Returning to the same place, he felt a pang of nostalgia.

Of the people from back then, only one stranger, the bar owner Makino, remained—someone who wasn't very familiar with her.

"So young! You don't look ten years older than you did back then."

Sig's gaze followed the busy proprietress, a look of emotion appearing in his eyes.

Ten years have passed since the events that shattered the void.

The process of breaking through the void and leaving the world—entering a parallel world—involves a time lag.

When Sieg arrived, Sunbear had just written his first entry in his notes; about three or four days had passed in the main world.

The ratio of time flow rates between the two worlds is extremely different.

The two years that Sig spent in the parallel world may have been but a fleeting moment for Sun Bear.

And this time...

From the moment he activated the artificial time-space fruit to leave the parallel world and then re-enter the main world, this time it wasn't just three days, but a full ten years.

"It's just like switching characters in GTA, where only one character is moving at a time, but now it's my turn."

Sig was lost in thought.

A commotion arose outside the tavern, growing louder as it approached. Then came cries of pain.

"Who left such a big box at the tavern entrance?"

"Damn, it's so heavy... I can't move it."

The newcomer seemed quite angry, and then the figure at the door kicked the tavern door off to the ground.

With a loud bang.

One foot stepped on the door on the ground, making a soft thud as the door gradually cracked.

As they barged in, the bar fell silent, and the laughter stopped abruptly.

There were quite a few people, about ten or so, and each of them had a headscarf tied around their head.

The burly man at the head of the group walked with a limp, apparently having accidentally kicked a large box by the door, which had hurt his own foot instead.

"Bandits?"

Sig glanced at the headscarves on the heads of the dozen or so people and made a guess.

This kind of attire is typical of mountain bandits; his former subordinates all dressed like this.

The bandits ignored everyone else. The leader, a man with a limp, walked to the bar and waved his hand dismissively:

"Boss lady, bring all the milk from your shop!"

milk?

Sieg stared blankly at the milk in his glass.

This was the first time in all of his long journey that he had encountered anyone else ordering milk in a bar.

The proprietress, Makino, was also stunned for a moment, then bowed slightly in apology:

"I'm so sorry, we're a small tavern, so we didn't prepare much milk... We only have one bottle left."

As she spoke, Marcino placed the last bottle of milk on the bar counter.

"Huh? Are you looking down on me? This little bit of milk isn't even good enough to rinse your mouth?"

The man was furious and was about to explode when he caught a glimpse of Sieg quietly drinking milk at the bar, along with the cat beside him that was also drinking milk.

The two groups stared at each other silently, but Sieg felt a little confused.

Does this script look slightly familiar?

He hesitated for a moment, wondering whether he should follow the script and push the milk to the bandits.

The burly man at the head of the group quickly concealed his anger and smiled amicably.

"Brother, are you also a pilgrim searching for the hometown of the bandit king?"

Chapter 999 Fat Tiger's Sacred Body Achieved (Parts 2-3)

"A pilgrim searching for the hometown of the bandit king?"

Sieg was taken aback, but nodded decisively.

"That's right, it's actually a little embarrassing to say."

"Actually, I'm a fan of the Mountain Bandit King's looks. Just looking at his bounty poster photo makes me want to eat three bowls of rice."

"Ah, this..." The bandits were stunned for a long time.

The blue and white cat shuddered at the sound of this, its claws reaching out as if it had the urge to scratch the man's face.

"It seems you're quite pure...one of us, one of us."

The bandits immediately put on friendly smiles and sat down at the bar.

"Actually, we came from the Western Sea," the muscular man said with a laugh.

"Since we're on the same side... Boss lady, we're out of milk, but you should still have beer in your bar, right? A dozen, please."

Yes, of course.

In the tavern, it was the proper people who ordered drinks. Makino busied herself, placing bottles of beer on the bar and distributing them to the seated bandits.

"Didn't you just order milk? Why did you switch to beer?" Sieg asked casually.

"Heh... We're all adults here, who would order milk in a bar for no reason?"

The burly bandit glanced at the glass of milk in front of Sig and shook his head:

"It is said that the bandit king back then liked to order milk in bars because beer was bad for his health."

"But I clearly heard that the bandit king has a good capacity for alcohol?" another bandit whispered behind him.

"Who knows?"

Whether the bandit king actually liked ordering milk in bars is irrelevant; these bandits are simply imitating the bandit king of yesteryear, a small ritual performed upon arriving at the place where the bandit king rose to power.

A ceremony is just a ceremony; enough is enough.

"A pilgrimage? Besides fans like me who became acquainted with the Mountain Bandit King because of his looks, there are actually people who have come all the way from the West Sea? It seems your loyalty is quite high."

Sieg asked:

Are you guys also fans of the Mountain Bandit King's looks?

“We…” The burly man at the head of the group smiled and shook his head.

"Actually, we came here because of the mountain bandit king's great treasure, anotherpiece."

“Another piece?” Sieg paused for a moment.

"But I remember that all the treasure left behind by the bandit king is on the Red Line."

"The Red Earth Continent is not a safe place to go," the burly bandit said, shaking his head.

"Moreover, it has been ten years since the shattered void incident and the appearance of the fourth treasure map. Many people have been searching for it for a full ten years, but the treasure has not yet been found."

There must be something fishy about this.

"The mountains of the Goa Kingdom are where the Mountain Bandit King has lived in seclusion for many years; perhaps there's something related to the treasure there..."

“How is that possible?” Sieg retorted.

"Why not? The bandit king likes to bury treasure, and he doesn't just bury it all at once. If there really is a fifth or sixth treasure on this island, what's so impossible about it?"

The muscular man retorted confidently, leaving Sieg speechless.

The other bandits, having drunk their fill of wine, gradually became excited and joined the conversation:

"That's right... a lot of people think that way."

"I've also heard another rumor. It's said that the bandit king left a large force here to guard the area. A large group of bandits who came to the Goa Kingdom to search for treasure never returned after entering those mountains!"

"What heavy guard? It should be the old members of the long-lost Sig Mountain bandits stationed here!"

"I've heard that a gigantic monster lurks deep within the mountains..."

"There must be an underground city at the foot of the mountain, filled with all sorts of dangerous monsters, and the bandit king's treasure is at the very end of the underground city..."

The bandits gradually started chatting, and the atmosphere became more lively.