I the King of bandits of the East Sea

Goa Kingdom, Capital Port

A naval warship affiliated with the 73rd Branch of the Marines slowly docked. On the deck, dozens of Marines looked toward the shore with surprised expressions.

Their astonishment wasn't due to the cleanliness or beauty of the city but because they saw decorations covering more than half of the port: banners, red carpets, flags, and so on.

The city had prepared an exceptionally grand welcome ceremony.

Unfortunately, the massive banner spanning the port was obvious.

"They're not welcoming us; they're preparing for the celebration to greet the World Noble, Saint Charlos."

"Even though a large mountain bandit group with a total bounty exceeding 20 million has already appeared, the entire Goa Kingdom is still focused on preparing for the celebration to welcome the Celestial Dragons?"

"This is my first time participating in a Marine operation to eliminate mountain bandits. At first, I was a little nervous, but now I feel completely ignored..."

On the deck, the Marines were talking among themselves, their expressions less than cheerful.

"Isn't this actually a good thing?"

Marine Branch Captain Cavin stepped out of the cabin with a smile on his face.

"This suggests that our target for this operation, the 'East Blue Mountain Bandit King' Sig, isn't as dangerous as we initially thought and hasn't attracted significant attention from the Goa Kingdom."

"This mission to exterminate the bandits will be relatively easy. After all, Sig's bounty is only 8 million, which makes him the number one wanted criminal in this remote country at best."

"The Goa Kingdom even scheduled the joint army operation to eliminate the bandits for the day before the Celestial Dragon's celebration, indicating this mission will definitely be a light one."

The atmosphere aboard the warship visibly relaxed, and the Marines were no longer tense.

At the same time, from the window of a distant building, a pair of eyes captured this scene through binoculars.

The relaxed Marines on the deck, the townsfolk busy with celebration preparations—everything appeared peaceful and serene, with not a trace of tension.

"To actually underestimate that Mountain Bandit King... This kingdom is doomed..."

The revolutionary intelligence agent sighed.

........

"So, our Revolutionary Army's task is the same as last time? To actively leak this information to Sig to gain his favor?"

In the temporary conference room at the Revolutionary Army's base, a cadre proposed this suggestion.

The reaction from other cadres, however, was one of firm opposition.

"What are you thinking? Sig is such a formidable and cunning figure. That small Marine force and the kingdom's military might not even be enough to fill the gap in his teeth," someone scoffed.

"This kind of information is completely meaningless to Sig. If you want to catch Sig's attention, it'll take someone like Marine Vice Admiral Garp stepping in personally."

"Are you trying to insult Sig? This is like smugly telling a top student during an exam that the answer to 1+1 is 2—ignorant beyond belief. Do you think someone like Sig would feel grateful to us for such trivial information?"

The cadre who made the suggestion was a bit stunned. After thinking for a while, they hesitated before saying:

"Then... are you suggesting we, the Revolutionary Army, take action ourselves and help Sig's bandit group fight the allied forces?"

At these words, many people furrowed their brows.

Bang!

A Revolutionary Army cadre couldn't help but slam the table and stand up.

Seeing the surprised gazes of others, the cadre's initially agitated expression slightly calmed:

"Apologies, I lost my composure... But I simply couldn't listen to this any longer."

"This is the worst suggestion I've heard since joining the Revolutionary Army—utterly absurd!"

As the cadre continued, they grew increasingly impassioned:

"Are you planning to insult the Mountain Bandit King Sig? A powerhouse like Sig, who could eliminate that small force with just a wave of his hand, doesn't need our help!"

"A mere Marine branch captain leading a group alongside the Goa Kingdom's army? Their total numbers would at most be three or four times that of Sig's bandit group!"

"To genuinely take on Sig, wouldn't it take at least three to four hundred times their numbers?"

"With just this small force, Sig could annihilate them with a casual move—why would he need us to intervene?"

The room fell silent.

Even Dragon, who had been quietly listening to opinions, now spoke to dismiss the suggestion:

"Indeed, that's not feasible."

"Acting rashly might provoke the Mountain Bandit King, Sig. It could even result in worse consequences..."

At this point, Dragon's gaze sharpened slightly, his voice lowering to a deep tone:

"Our Revolutionary Army isn't strong enough yet. Meddling in Sig's affairs would be far too dangerous for us."

"If we were to get involved in Sig's grand plan, the consequences would be unimaginable!"

"Our only option now is to observe quietly. Acting impulsively would be the most dangerous move..."

"Exactly... Let's just sit back and watch this show unfold," the cadres nodded in agreement.

Many of them even chuckled inwardly, ridiculing both the Marines and the Goa Kingdom.

"The Goa Kingdom and the Marines are far too careless; this time, they're bound to pay a bloody price."

"It's just unclear whether the Mountain Bandit King Sig's grand plan is to overthrow this kingdom or if there's some even more dangerous scheme at play..."

In the lawless zone nestled within the mountains.

Having just completed his daily 10KM run, Sig was on his way back to the hideout.

For the past two days, however, Sig hadn't been running alone. A small boy wearing a straw hat trailed closely behind him.

"Uncle Sig, is running the kind of training you said could make me stronger?"

The panting young Luffy asked between breaths.

"Don't underestimate running. The training I'm teaching you is a method that allows one to surpass their physical limits."

Sig glanced down at Luffy and couldn't help but sweat inwardly.

At just seven years old, Luffy hadn't undergone formal training under Garp, but he had already survived plenty of Garp's "educational" methods—being thrown into jungles, off cliffs, and into wildernesses. He was far from an ordinary child.

Although only seven, the 10KM run was quite a challenge for him. Yet, he had already managed to follow far behind Sig and complete the entire course.

"Surpass my limits? Then will I be able to train to be as strong as you, Uncle Sig?"

This question made Sig pause mid-step. He looked down at Luffy with a deep gaze and said:

"No, you'll become much stronger than me."

For once, Sig spoke a rare truth. However, Luffy mistook it as encouragement, his grin stretching almost to his ears.

Sig casually opened the system interface, glancing at it. The compatibility score had increased by 0.1%! A small improvement, but better than nothing.

Over the past two days, Sig hadn't missed any chance to grind compatibility with Luffy.

Notably, the rate of increase in compatibility had slowed significantly compared to the beginning.

"The system isn't giving me any loopholes to exploit. It seems I can't repeatedly grind compatibility with Luffy to max level here."

Sig felt a twinge of regret.

While they chatted casually, the two had already approached the large wooden cabin that served as their hideout.

The moment Sig stepped into the cabin, his brow furrowed, and he stopped in his tracks.

He thought he had heard something—a child's voice coming from within the cabin. The voice was still young and tender, sounding like it belonged to a boy not much older than a kid.

"What's going on? First, there was the sudden addition of a group of subordinates, which I could tolerate since they count as combat power... but now they're even dragging in children?"

With a stern expression, Sig strode into the wooden cabin, only to be met with a scene that made him freeze mid-step.

He hadn't misheard.

Right before him, Baldy was standing there, holding a pair of children tied up like dumplings with ropes in each hand. Several mountain bandits, sporting bruised faces, were gathered nearby, watching the spectacle.

Sig narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming peculiar.

"Ace? Sabo?"

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