appearance of the newcomer Croco-Delle on Sig's ship didn't cause much thought among the vast majority of the bandits; they just assumed she was a new partner sent over by the Revolutionary Army.
Anyway, most people in this world are idiots, unable to distinguish between the fake Luffy and the real Luffy, even allowing the fake Luffy to deceive everyone and gather a large group of pirates with bounties over 100 million and Supernovas.
The name Croco-Delle, naturally, had no flaws either.
Whale Laboon and Sig's ironclad pirate ship moved rapidly towards Mousse Island, following the direction of the Eternal Pose.
Although this route was long, they encountered no obstacles.
Sig was already a great pirate with a bounty of one billion. In the first half of the Grand Line, the number of people whose bounties could match his was negligible.
And the sea storms, giant waves, etc., that ordinary pirates avoided, were mitigated by the island-sized whale Laboon.
Sig's ship had been changed to an ironclad ship, allowing them to stay inside Laboon's stomach for extended periods—the original pirate ship, being primarily wood, would have been slowly corroded by stomach acid inside Laboon.
Time passed day by day.
As Sig's ship neared its destination, Mousse Island, he received a call.
The call came from Whole Cake Island, from Gilman, the person in charge of the local base.
"What? A new Devil Fruit has appeared on the Whole Cake Island black market?"
Sig asked in surprise.
That trip to Whole Cake Island alone had netted Sig two Devil Fruits.
Although both actually came from the various powers on the island and weren't part of normal market circulation...
But the appearance of a new Devil Fruit so quickly still surprised Sig.
"Boss, Whole Cake Island is one of the major commercial hubs in the first half of the Grand Line, and it's adjacent to Reverse Mountain. It's really not strange for Devil Fruits to appear here. Otherwise, why would it be occupied by so many underworld forces?"
Gilman explained on the other end of the phone.
Sig thought for a moment.
One of the reasons he left Gilman on Whole Cake Island was to collect Devil Fruits.
But the timing of the Devil Fruit's appearance was a bit early; Sig didn't have many savings on hand.
Last time at the auction, Sig had earned about 240 million Beli from the two treasure maps.
But subsequently, including purchasing the ship, hiring maintenance personnel, customizing equipment, etc., he had spent quite a bit.
Now, Sig only had a little over 100 million left.
Sig was different from the other forces on Whole Cake Island; his subordinate businesses only included the Forum News Agency.
Although newspaper sales were good, it hadn't been long, and he couldn't make big money yet.
"The market price for a Devil Fruit is at least 100 million, and that's if it's even available. The money I have left is probably not enough."
Sig frowned, thinking.
To buy the new Devil Fruit, he would have to come up with other ways to make money.
"By the way, what kind of ability does the Devil Fruit that appeared on the island have?"
"Current intelligence can only determine that it belongs to the Zoan type, but we can't confirm which specific type of Zoan it is," Gilman replied.
Sig's furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
The market price for this type of Devil Fruit was generally lower than Logia and powerful Paramecia types.
Of course, this excluded Ancient Zoan and Mythical Zoan fruits.
"I understand. Keep an eye on the Devil Fruit matter. I'll inform you later how to proceed."
Hanging up the phone, Sig once again fell into deep thought.
He had a vague plan in mind, but...
"Although it can make money, it's a bit dangerous...."
"And, I still have to see if that damn Angel Fruit is real or fake..."
If possible, he didn't want to rack his brains with various schemes.
But the Sea Bandit King already had a great reputation, while Sig himself ultimately lacked the substance. He was always teetering on the edge of failure, forced to painstakingly think of countermeasures every day, hoping to survive a few more times.
"This is too hard for me. When can I complete my grand plan and change my identity!"
Just as Sig was sighing, a system notification sounded.
"Main Quest Triggered."
"Main Quest: I Am the Man Who Will Become the Bandit King
Quest Requirement: Become the true Bandit King.
Quest Reward: Unknown."
After glancing at the quest panel a few times, Sig immediately closed it again, deciding to ignore the prompt.
"Damn system, trying to mess with me again."
"Become what true Bandit King? Such a vague requirement, and the reward is unknown? I'd rather die than become some Bandit King..."
Sig grumbled inwardly.
This so-called main quest didn't have any failure penalty or anything, so Sig just treated it as non-existent.
Far away at the midpoint of the Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago.
Blackbeard Teach arrived silently on this island.
"The auction for the Angel Fruit starts in three days..."
Blackbeard muttered inwardly, but he didn't head straight for the auction house.
He still had to figure out how to escape after obtaining the Angel Fruit....
Spending three days, Teach traversed nearly half of the Sabaody Archipelago, familiarizing himself with the terrain before formulating several escape plans.
When the day of the auction arrived.
Teach entered the auction house along with the other customers.
After taking his seat, Teach immediately, without attracting attention, observed the other pirates present.
"Hmm? Doesn't seem like there are any famous big shots..... The highest bounty is only around two or three hundred million."
Teach was slightly surprised at first, but after thinking about it, he understood.
"It seems those big figures on the sea, like Whitebeard, didn't take the Angel Fruit matter seriously, so they didn't pay enough attention."
"Now, my chances of obtaining the Angel Fruit have greatly increased."
Teach chuckled inwardly, feeling somewhat smug.
Although he had been in Whitebeard's pirate crew for many years, he was unknown, and his bounty was zero. The outside world had no idea about his strength.
He was in the shadows, while the visible enemies only included one major pirate with a bounty of three or four hundred million who could be considered a rival.
This situation was much better than Teach had imagined!
Before long, the auction officially began.
Unlike other auctions, the only item in this auction was the Angel Fruit.
After the auctioneer came on stage, he gave a brief introduction and went straight to the point:
"I know everyone present is wondering whether the rumored Angel Fruit is real or fake..."
"Well then, next, let's welcome the owner of the Angel Fruit, the world's only dual-fruit ability user, to appear and explain!"
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