"Excellent. This small favor shouldn't be too difficult for the Queen of the Underworld, right?"
Sig said.
Since the confrontation with Stussy, the dynamic between the two had changed. Sig felt less anxious around her now that they had established a cooperative relationship.
Regardless of Stussy's true intentions, it was unlikely she would turn against him in the short term.
At the very least, Sig didn't have to worry about Stussy pulling any sudden nighttime ambushes anymore.
"Think about it. The reporter from this tabloid was on Loguetown at the time and was able to send out messages."
"This is an extremely dangerous signal!"
"If what he had transmitted wasn't this false news about me, but the truth about the Doflamingo incident, Doflamingo's reputation would have been severely damaged!"
"He might even have been stripped of his Warlord title by the World Government!"
"By extension, Loguetown, without the protection of the Warlord title, would be in danger!"
Sig spoke with a serious expression.
This line of reasoning made Stussy pause and think for a moment.
It... kind of made sense?
After the treasure map incident, the various forces on the island had captured all the pirates who had tried to intercept Sig, but they had missed one reporter who had left early.
This indeed indicated a flaw in the island's information blockade plan...
However, Sig claimed that the accusation of him being a lolicon was false?
"Is Sig just lashing out because he's been exposed, or is it truly untrue?"
After some consideration, Stussy agreed without hesitation.
........
A few days later.
On an island in the Grand Line, Doflamingo looked at the newspaper in his hand and grinned.
The tabloid he was holding had published an apology statement and announced the dismissal of the reporter who had written the false report.
Doflamingo suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
The previous "bean-shaped eyes" report was exactly the same as this!
"Is this apology statement here because the newspaper was threatened by Sig?"
Doflamingo's smile grew wider.
Given his status, he had never paid much attention to the newspaper industry.
But not long ago, he had experienced firsthand the terrifying power of media and public opinion through Sig...
"Sig, I've finally found your weakness."
"However, this newspaper's influence still seems a bit weak."
Doflamingo grinned and instructed one of his family executives:
"Contact this newspaper and tell them... to step it up!"
........
During the days when Doflamingo was secretly exerting his influence, Sig was busy shopping extravagantly on Loguetown.
Loguetown was known as a commercial hub where you could buy anything, gathering goods from all four seas.
Previously, Sig hadn't had much money and hadn't done much shopping.
But now, with over 240 million berries in hand, he went on a shopping spree.
He bought a larger ironclad pirate ship, various types of firearms circulating on the black market, nautical charts from different seas, and Eternal Poses to various islands.
Especially the nautical charts and Eternal Poses—these were considered important resources by major forces and weren't something you could just buy with money.
Now, as one of the recognized leaders of Loguetown's underworld, Sig was treated with respect wherever he went.
During this time, Sig also finally received his share of the profits from the Tieba Tabloid... as well as a request for the next issue.
The Tieba Tabloid had only published three issues so far, but even after splitting the profits with the World Economic Times, it had earned Sig 8 million berries.
This made Sig view the newspaper in a new light.
"Only three issues, and after splitting the profits, I still earned 8 million. It seems the sales are higher than I expected..."
This made Sig start to think.
He still had the mission to earn 10 billion berries.
Loguetown was indeed a treasure trove for Sig, and he couldn't afford to give it up.
"It would be best to leave a few people here as representatives of my mountain bandit group, serving as a bridge to communicate with the World Economic Times branch, the Pleasure District, and other forces."
"At the same time, they could purchase various resources here, including Devil Fruits..."
"The question is, who should I leave behind?"
Sig first ruled out the bald man.
Given the bald man's way of thinking, if he were left to develop freely on Loguetown, Sig couldn't predict what might happen...
It also couldn't be Kuro, Morgan, Johnny, or Yosaku—these were potential key fighters for the mountain bandit group.
The ideal candidate in Sig's mind had to be trustworthy, but not too ambitious. They absolutely couldn't misinterpret his intentions, and the desire for expansion was out of the question.
What he wanted was a mouthpiece, a bridge to communicate with various forces. They couldn't be too clever, but they also couldn't be too dumb.
"Overall, I need someone without ambition, who won't cause trouble, and is content to just be a mouthpiece—a slacker."
After some thought, Sig's mind stirred.
He thought of someone.
The original Mountain Bandit King of the East Blue, Gilman!
Back in the Kingdom of Goa, this burly mountain bandit had once led his men to intercept Sig, declaring that he would challenge Sig and achieve the title of Mountain Bandit King of the East Blue.
Later, Gilman had joined Sig's crew and had been with him ever since.
From the East Blue to the Grand Line, Gilman had indeed faded into the background, with no standout moments.
To be honest, Sig had almost forgotten that he had such a person in his crew.
"Isn't this exactly the kind of talent I need?"
"Gilman seems ambitious, but in reality, he's not steadfast. Otherwise, he wouldn't have joined my crew so easily."
"He also can't be some kind of scheming ambitious person, or else he wouldn't have had such a low profile for so long!"
Sig was excited.
"Isn't this the slacker I've been looking for?"
There was one more important point.
Gilman wasn't a canon character. In the original One Piece world, he was a nobody, not a famous pirate.
This meant that in the original timeline, this person hadn't done anything noteworthy.
A true slacker!
But he was also slightly different from the ordinary mountain bandits under Sig.
After all, Gilman had once been the leader of a mountain bandit group and was a somewhat notorious criminal in the Kingdom of Goa. He had basic leadership skills... right?
He met every criterion Sig had in mind!
Once he figured this out, Sig immediately gathered his subordinates and explained his plan.
"Boss Sig plans to establish a base on Loguetown and wants me to be in charge of it?"
When Gilman heard this, he was shocked.
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