I the King of bandits of the East Sea

Silence.

After hearing Dragon's speculation, the room instantly fell into dead silence. Many present began to break out in a cold sweat.

The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed.

"Horrifying. Absolutely horrifying."

"Sig... This person is deeply cunning, far-sighted… The most dangerous thing is, we still don't truly know his real objective."

Someone let out a bitter laugh.

"What if… we're overthinking it? What if all these events are just coincidences?"

"You're just trying to comfort yourself. Look at everything Sig has done so far. For such a powerful individual to lay low in the East Blue for so many years, how could he not be plotting something?"

"Not to mention, he outright admitted that he has a grand plan!"

This shred of wishful thinking was instantly crushed, and the expressions of all the officers grew even grimmer.

"Hey, hey, could it be that all these events are part of Sig's grand plan?"

"Approaching one of the Four Emperors of the pirates, as well as the Navy's hero Garp—these are all part of Sig's plan... He's trying to simultaneously collaborate with both a Yonko and the Navy!"

As someone pointed this out, the room's atmosphere shifted dramatically once again.

This speculation was truly too shocking.

The officer who proposed the idea seemed emboldened by the reaction and continued to make bold assumptions:

"Why did the Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, come to the East Blue and stay in a remote village like Foosha Village in the Goa Kingdom? And why did he leave immediately after meeting Sig?"

"Could it be that his purpose was Sig all along?"

"And Garp's actions are also highly suspicious… His status is unique. Nominally a Vice Admiral, his reputation and influence are on par with an Admiral. He's someone who can represent the Navy while avoiding drawing too much attention from other powers."

"After all, if an Admiral were to come to the East Blue, it would attract too much attention. But Garp coming here, representing the Navy, could have the same purpose—Sig!"

"I think we should investigate that child's identity. There's a high chance that he's a hostage the Navy handed to Sig to ensure their collaboration."

"This…"

The entire room of officers was shocked by this suggestion.

If it were true, it would mean the Revolutionary Army had greatly underestimated Sig…

"No, that's not it."

Dragon quickly refuted this terrifying conjecture.

"Although Garp is not entirely impartial and incorruptible, to say that he would collaborate with bandits and criminals is highly unlikely."

"Moreover, given Garp's personal style, it's impossible for him to engage in schemes or conspiracies like this. Any high-ranking Navy officer could represent the Navy in negotiations, but Garp simply wouldn't."

Hearing this, the officers' expressions relaxed slightly.

They didn't notice, however, that Dragon's own expression was far more grim than any of theirs as he spoke.

While he didn't believe that Garp had conspired with Sig… the fact that Garp had entrusted his grandson, Luffy, into Sig's hands was undeniable.

The situation remained shrouded in mystery.

After another round of heated discussions, the officers proposed various hypotheses.

But in the end, every single one was either self-contradictory or full of flaws, and the strategists present would dismiss them one by one.

After nearly two hours of discussion, Sig's grand plan was still an impenetrable fog. No one could guess it.

This only deepened the chill in the hearts of the Revolutionary Army's officers.

"Sig… To think that this man could be so terrifying… What kind of move is this? I can't understand it at all!"

"It doesn't make sense… It just doesn't make sense! Why?!"

"We have so many officers in the Revolutionary Army, and yet not a single one of us can come up with a reasonable hypothesis…"

These Revolutionary Army officers began to feel an overwhelming sense of defeat and powerlessness.

The colossal web that seemed to enshroud everything had begun to faintly take shape, but the Revolutionary Army couldn't even find a starting point to unravel it. They couldn't even come up with a plausible guess.

This only deepened their reverence and fear for the mysterious Sig.

The Revolutionary Army had grown significantly in strength. While their overt combat power was still far from being able to directly challenge the World Government, they had already deeply rooted themselves in countless nations across the four seas and the Grand Line.

The Revolutionary Army was a truly global force, seen by the World Government as its greatest enemy.

Their expertise lay in hiding in the shadows, quietly growing, spreading like wildfire, and then rising up to overthrow governments.

By that logic, no one in the world should understand these tactics better than the Revolutionary Army.

Yet now, they found themselves staring at a terrifying behemoth hidden in the shadows—Sig.

"Our Revolutionary Army's intelligence system has been investigating Sig's past, but we've come up with absolutely nothing. For decades, it's as if he's been an invisible ghost, quietly walking through the years without leaving a single trace!"

"If he hadn't suddenly drawn attention by contacting the Red-Haired Pirates, we might have remained completely in the dark!"

"Even if we can't make sense of his actions, his grand plan must be earth-shattering!"

"Has his cunning reached a level beyond what ordinary mortals like us can comprehend?"

"Is this the gap between us, the Revolutionary Army, and the Bandit King Sig?"

"We still don't know what Sig's grand plan really is…"

"Terrifying. Truly terrifying."

The Revolutionary Army strategists stared blankly, utterly convinced of his power.

They had once conspired to overthrow nations, but compared to Sig's grand plan, they were all at a complete loss.

In the end, the room fell into another strange silence. No one tried to make any further guesses.

A mix of defeat and reverence stirred within them, leaving them with complex emotions.

"Chief, perhaps we should re-evaluate our relationship with the Bandit King Sig…"

One officer wiped the sweat from his brow and said:

"We thought we were taking Sig seriously enough, but now it's clear we've vastly underestimated him!"

"I propose that we establish contact with Sig again. If long-term cooperation isn't possible, then short-term collaboration should be pursued. A figure as terrifying as him—even if he can't be an ally, we must at least maintain friendly relations to avoid becoming his enemy."

The officers nodded in agreement.

"I think our Revolutionary Army should learn from Sig's advanced methods—how to act quietly without drawing the attention of the World Government…"

At this point, the officer who had made the suggestion showed a look of guilt.

"The Revolutionary Army is considered the greatest enemy of the World Government, but this doesn't mean we're that strong or deserving of their attention. On the contrary, it shows that our covert operations aren't good enough!"

"A truly hidden force should be like the Bandit King Sig. He's moved quietly for decades without leaving a single trace! If we could learn to operate like that, perhaps after decades of stealth, we could topple the world in one strike…"

________

Hey everyone! I've bumped up the advanced chapters from 40 to 60! Since the word count isn't super high and the pace is a bit slow, I figured you'd enjoy having more chapters to dive into. Hope you love it!

https://www.patreon.com/c/Tetsuya12