Many years later, upon reaching Laugh Tale and becoming the Pirate King, Luffy would recall a distant afternoon at a small tavern in Windmill Village, where Sig placed the straw hat on his head.
On that afternoon, the legendary Mountain Bandit King Sig placed Roger's straw hat on Luffy's head.
This simple gesture changed the course of a young boy's life.
It was where the dream began.
The starting point of the Pirate King's journey, the dream setting sail.
"No, no! What the hell am I thinking?"
Sig desperately tried to push the image in his mind away.
Damn it, he must have drunk too much. He got too caught up in the moment.
He had only intended to warn Luffy not to go down the wrong path... so why the hell was this happening?
Could it be that he had somehow taken the place of Shanks in Luffy's memory?
Sig gave a dry laugh, a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, Shanks, this is your straw hat. I acted impulsively and put it on him."
The laughter and words, however, carried a deep, powerful tone, completely in line with King's style.
It didn't sound like an awkward apology at all, but rather, it was a serious matter.
"No... so Sig-sensei has also seen Luffy's potential..."
Shanks smiled and complimented, quickly easing the slightly tense atmosphere.
Sig nodded, feeling somewhat guilty.
"He's Garp's grandson. Maybe in the future, he'll stir up the world like Roger did."
Once again, the name "Garp" appeared from Sig's mouth.
At this point, Beckman and the others were no longer surprised.
Sig knew Shanks, knew Pirate King Roger, and even had a good understanding of the Rocks era.
For someone of his seniority, knowing the Marine hero Garp wasn't something hard to imagine.
However, the image of Sig placing the straw hat on Luffy's head lingered in Beckman and the others' minds for a long time.
"This Sig-sensei is truly someone not to be underestimated. He has a rare, extraordinary aura!"
Beckman couldn't help but feel moved, and the words Sig had spoken earlier echoed in his ears.
A man's dream will never end.
Every man with a dream should head towards the sea.
How could a person who could speak such words be an ordinary mountain bandit?
Beckman squinted his eyes.
He originally thought Sig's earlier bragging about having defeated 56 sea emperors was just drunken nonsense.
But now, it seemed...
"Maybe some of it was exaggerated, but Sig-sensei, perhaps truly has defeated many great pirates with his own hands."
Beckman was very familiar with the world government's methods.
It was a common occurrence for defeated pirates to be picked up by the Marines, who then took credit for their capture.
"The Red Highness, Devil's Heir... those infamous great pirates were probably defeated by Sig-sensei, and then the world government took credit for it and sent them to Impel Down."
"Sig-sensei is a retired elder with a bounty of only 8 million. He doesn't care about these false reputations, so he has never publicized his accomplishments... until now, when he's run into old friends from Roger's crew, our captain."
At this thought, Beckman couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart.
He raised his glass, gazing at Sig, who was drinking with Shanks at the bar.
Sig was tall but somewhat lean.
Yet, it was this lean figure that had shouldered the weight of the world.
Over the years, he had quietly maintained the world's order, silently taking care of those notorious pirates.
If Pirate King Roger had founded the Great Pirate Era,
then Sig, standing before him, was the one protecting the order of that era.
"Such a person, living in obscurity!"
Looking at Sig's lean figure from behind, they seemed to see a solitary figure, carrying the weight of the world alone, quietly moving forward.
He had no companions.
He maintained the order of the entire world behind the scenes, yet no one knew.
He was the world's watcher!
A few hours later, as night fell, the pirates and bandits' feast finally ended.
Under the night sky, Sig walked out of the tavern alone, facing the sea breeze and standing by himself.
He had just crossed over and bumped into Shanks, along with several of his excellent bandit subordinates helping out. In these few hours since crossing over, Sig's life had been extremely exciting.
"Finally fooled them..."
At this moment, Sig finally let out a sigh of relief.
As his thoughts moved, a semi-transparent panel quickly unfolded before Sig.
Source: One Punch Man
Ability: Emperor's Engine — A powerful heartbeat sound that bursts forth, known as the Emperor's Engine. It strongly stimulates the imaginations of others.
Compared to the previous panel, there was an additional line showing the compatibility value.
"31% compatibility already?! (MISSING) As expected of me!"
Sig felt a little pleased.
"Looks like my performance in front of the Red-Haired Pirates has had a pretty good effect on my compatibility with KING."
According to the system's description, there were two ways to increase the compatibility with a character card.
One was to continue acting as the character KING, imitating his behavior and speech.
The second was to practice the character card's special ability, the Emperor's Engine.
Both methods could increase the compatibility with KING.
"Emperor's Engine essentially relies on the heartbeat sound."
"In other words, to quickly raise the compatibility, I need to do some... heart-pounding stimulating things?"
"Wait... I have a bold idea."
As soon as this thought crossed Sig's mind, a prompt appeared on the system panel in front of him.
System prompt: This behavior is prohibited.
"Not allowed... does this mean I have to go and perform wildly in front of the big shots in the pirate world, to practice the Emperor's Engine?"
"No, that's too dangerous."
Sig's heart immediately rejected the idea.
He was just an ordinary man, a mountain bandit with a bounty of 8 million Berries—Sig, who was only slightly stronger than the average person.
Even in the weakest East Blue, Sig's strength could probably only be considered mid-to-low tier.
"In this dangerous pirate world, to grow stronger faster, I still can't do without the system."
"After all, once my compatibility reaches 100%, I'll be able to gain the full combat power of a strong person."
At this point, Sig had initially felt quite pleased.
But when he thought about it, the only character card he had was KING, his smile gradually faded.
Gaining KING's full combat power? Emperor's Engine at full power?
What use would that be?