I the King of bandits of the East Sea

Sig pointed at the Panda Man in the newspaper, feeling slightly nervous as his heart rate increased.

This was his attempt to probe.

The existence of Panda Man was undeniably strange. He wanted to use Crocus to guess Panda Man's true identity.

But the other party's reaction was unexpected.

Crocus adjusted his glasses and carefully examined the Panda Man Sig had pointed out in the newspaper.

"What's wrong with this person? Is there something special about him?"

Crocus looked for a while, then turned to Sig with a puzzled expression.

While Crocus was looking at the photo of Panda Man, Sig had been observing his reaction.

There were no flaws—his confusion didn't seem feigned... Did Crocus really not know Panda Man? Or was he also an acting genius?

"Look at this person. He has a panda head. Isn't that special? The people around him are all ordinary humans."

Sig continued probing, comparing Panda Man to the surrounding crowd.

"And then? Is that strange?"

Crocus's matter-of-fact left Sig momentarily speechless.

Damn, that's a good point.

This world was filled with a variety of races, and oddities were everywhere.

Not to mention other races, even ordinary humans came in all shapes and sizes.

Take the Monkey family, for example. Garp was 2.8 meters tall, Dragon was 2.5 meters tall, and by the time it got to Luffy, he was a normal 1.7 meters tall.

Panda Man's appearance... really didn't seem that special?

Failing to uncover anything about Panda Man, Sig still couldn't let it go.

After some thought, he finally decided to lay his cards on the table.

"Don't you realize that this Panda Man was on Roger's ship?"

These words caused Crocus's expression to change slightly. He frowned and thought carefully for a while before slowly and firmly shaking his head.

"What are you talking about? There was no such person on Roger's ship."

Sig fell silent.

Panda Man, it seemed, was truly not a member of Roger's crew.

This probe had revealed something astonishing.

Panda Man had indeed deceived Roger and the others, silently infiltrating the world's greatest pirate crew.

Sig's heart raced even faster.

"Think about it again."

Sig couldn't help but say.

But these words only deepened the confusion on Crocus's face.

"Did I just make Crocus suspicious of me?"

This thought crossed Sig's mind.

Now that he had probed halfway, there was no turning back.

If he stopped here, it would only make Crocus doubt him, thinking he was a fraud.

So, Sig decided to lay it all out.

"Crocus, do you really not remember?"

"When Oden first joined the Roger Pirates, he once hosted a hot pot feast..."

Sig recounted the story, stirring up Crocus's memories. The old man's mind drifted back to that time many years ago, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Oden hadn't been accepted by the Roger Pirates at first, but he won over the crew's foodies with his hot pot feast...

It was a warm memory, and even though more than a decade had passed, Crocus still remembered it vividly.

But then Sig abruptly interjected:

"During that hot pot feast, Panda Man was sitting quietly in the corner. You have no memory of that?"

This sudden statement interrupted Crocus's reminiscence, and his expression changed dramatically.

Wait... now that you mention it... was there really such a person?

Crocus's eyes widened, and he tightly gripped the newspaper in his hand, his mind in turmoil.

Sig, however, felt slightly reassured. He had gotten the answer he wanted from Crocus's reaction.

He was prepared... to turn up the intensity!

"The hot pot feast wasn't the only time Panda Man infiltrated the Roger Pirates..."

Sig smiled slightly and recounted several instances when Panda Man had appeared among the Roger Pirates.

In his past life, Sig had enjoyed hunting for Panda Man Easter eggs in the manga. Who would have thought it would come in handy now?

Slowly, the look of astonishment on Crocus's face grew deeper.

Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

Memories from over a decade ago were a bit hazy... but in his recollection, there really did seem to be such a strange Panda Man?

When had he infiltrated the Roger Pirates?

There was no such crew member on the ship, yet his presence had gone completely unnoticed!

If it weren't for Sig pointing it out, Crocus might have remained in the dark for the rest of his life.

What made Crocus even more uneasy wasn't just Panda Man—it was also Sig.

If Panda Man had been secretly observing the Roger Pirates...

Then what about Sig, who was standing right in front of him?

Was Sig secretly observing Panda Man, who was secretly observing the Roger Pirates?

The amount of knowledge Sig had was terrifying...

The mystery of the Rumbar Pirates' downfall during the Rocks era—Sig knew about it.

The various events on the Roger Pirates' ship—Sig knew about them too.

Even Panda Man, whom Roger and Rayleigh were unaware of—Sig knew about him?

"Ahem."

Sig coughed lightly, his smile growing even more mysterious:

"I mentioned Panda Man to you just to say that the sea is vast."

"There are indeed people who can deceive even Roger."

"And my grand plan is related to this mysterious and terrifying Panda Man. I can only say this much."

Sig said this.

No... I think you're even more mysterious and terrifying than Panda Man...

Crocus remained silent, no longer questioning.

"Alright, now you can believe that the news I shared about Brook is true, right?"

Sig's expression was calm.

To explain how he knew Brook was trapped in the Florian Triangle, he had dropped an even more shocking revelation.

Along the way, he probed into Panda Man's existence and spun a third version of his lie...

Damn it... one lie requires countless more to cover it up.

I shouldn't have taken that sip of wine at the bar in Windmill Village...

The first version of the lie was when he met Shanks.

The second version was when he met Garp.

Now, meeting Crocus, he had an even more polished 3.0 version.

Would there be even more detailed 4.0 and 5.0 versions in the future?

All Sig knew was that he was gradually digging himself into a bottomless pit... sooner or later, it would all come crashing down.

Crocus could only nod slowly.

"I believe you."

What else could he say?

Compared to the revelations about Panda Man and the Roger Pirates, the news about Brook seemed almost trivial.

"So, Crocus, what do you plan to do next?"

Sig asked.

He had a bold idea.

To try and recruit this former member of the Roger Pirates!

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