After staying in Cocoyasi Village for several days, Bane, Zoro, and Nami boarded Arlong's Shark Super.
Of course, it should have been called Bane's Shark Super now. Bane had no intention of renaming the ship; there was no need. He did not even know how long it would remain usable.
After leaving Cocoyasi Village, Bane's group headed to the Baratie, where they met Sanji.
However, after talking with him, Bane confirmed that Sanji had no way of contacting Germa. After enjoying a lavish meal at the Baratie, they quickly departed.
Bane was not particularly surprised that Sanji had no means of contacting Germa. He would think of another way later.
At this point, Bane had nothing left to do in the East Blue, so he planned to go to Loguetown to restock supplies, recruit some sailors, and meet Smoker, who should have returned to Loguetown by now. He would see if he could get something like a Log Pose from him.
Once those matters were settled, they could set off for the Grand Line.
Momoo was fast at pulling the ship, and Nami's navigational skills were beyond question. Besides, the Baratie had happened to sail into waters not too far from Loguetown this time. As a result, it took Bane and the others less than three days to reach Loguetown.
The moment they docked at the harbor, local Marines surrounded them.
"Pirates!?"
"Drop your weapons!"
The Shark Super simply looked too vicious. Furthermore, Bane had not had time to deal with its sails and flag, so it was still flying a pirate flag.
"Pirates aboard the ship, surrender your resistance and behave yourselves." Tashigi stood on the dock, Shigure in hand, watching the ship warily.
"Hey, hey, this is a misunderstanding, Tashigi." Bane poked his head out from the deck and waved at Tashigi with a smile. "It's me. I captured this ship from the Arlong Pirates. I mentioned it to Smoker."
Tashigi adjusted her glasses and examined him closely before exclaiming in surprise, "Mr. Bane!?"
It was not just her. The surrounding Marines enthusiastically greeted Bane as well. "Lord Bane! You've come back?"
"As expected of Lord Bane! You actually captured such a huge pirate ship!"
"The Arlong Pirates had the highest bounty in the East Blue, and Lord Bane took them down too."
With the misunderstanding resolved, Nami and Zoro had just finished lowering the gangplank. Zoro crossed his arms and walked over to Bane. "I didn't expect you to be this popular with the Marines."
As he spoke, his gaze swept across the crowd of Marines. Then his expression changed drastically, and he nearly toppled headfirst off the ship!
"Kuina!?" Zoro cried out, pointing at Tashigi. "Hey, isn't that Kuina? You know, right? You've seen the photo at the master's place, haven't you?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Her name is Tashigi, and she's a chief petty officer from Marine Headquarters." After stroking his chin in thought, Bane gave a mischievous grin. "But she really does look exactly like Kuina. Maybe the master was quite the ladies' man in his younger days."
"Huh?" Zoro stared at Tashigi uncertainly, before a trace of realization appeared in his eyes.
So this is the kind of man you were, Master!
Soon, Bane, Zoro, and Nami came down from the ship. Tashigi warmly stepped forward to greet them. "Mr. Smoker only returned a couple of days ago. He'll definitely be happy to know you're here. After all, it was thanks to you, Mr. Bane, that he was promoted to commodore of the East Blue."
Before Tashigi had even finished speaking, her gaze fell upon the swords hanging at Zoro's waist.
As a sword fanatic, she instantly recognized Wado Ichimonji. Her eyes lit up as she rushed excitedly to Zoro's side. "Wado Ichimonji! This is Wado Ichimonji, one of the 21 Great Grade swords, right!? A famous blade worth more than ten million Belly!"
Tashigi's sudden movement startled Zoro. It was not just Zoro; Nami also cried out in surprise, "A famous sword worth over ten million Belly?"
Could Zoro be a secretly wealthy tycoon too?
"Ten million is only a modest estimate. In reality, famous blades like these are priceless and rarely appear on the market. At the most recent auction, Nagasone Kotetsu, which is also one of the 21 Great Grade swords, sold for an astronomical price of six hundred and forty million Belly!" Tashigi first gave an excited explanation, then continued, "And Wado Ichimonji ranks even higher than Nagasone Kotetsu. If it went up for auction, this sword would be worth at least eight hundred million Belly!"
"Eight hundred million!?" Nami's eyes began to shine. She had thought Bane was already rich, but she had not expected even the sword Zoro carried around to be worth eight hundred million Belly!
"Eight hundred million, one billion, even ten billion Belly—I wouldn't sell it." Zoro gripped Wado Ichimonji, frowning slightly as he spoke with some displeasure.
"Of course!" Tashigi agreed wholeheartedly. "How can a famous blade like this be measured in money?"
She also had a dream: to gather every famous blade scattered among evildoers.
"What's your name?" After calming her excitement a little, Tashigi looked at Zoro and asked.
"Zoro. Roronoa Zoro," Zoro introduced himself.
"I'm Chief Petty Officer Tashigi from Marine Headquarters!" Tashigi introduced herself as well, then said, "I'm only here in passing. I was originally planning to visit the local sword shop. I heard they just received a new batch of swords. Would you be interested in taking a look with me?"
Zoro was somewhat tempted by her words. He touched the two swords at his waist. How should he put it? They were just ordinary swords. As his strength had steadily increased recently, Zoro had begun to feel that the two swords could no longer keep up with him. They were not very convenient for cutting people anymore.
But his pockets were empty. Although he carried a famous sword, he was poor as a church mouse.
Just then, a streak of black light appeared in Bane's hand. He slashed through the air as though cutting open space itself, then reached inside and pulled out a paper bag. He casually stuffed it into Zoro's hands. "Go take a look. There's nothing else to do right now anyway. I'll go have some tea with Smoker. Just come find me with Tashigi afterward."
The paper bag contained roughly five or six million Belly. Zoro did not hesitate in the slightest as he took it. "If there are any good swords, I'll pick one out for you too."
"Hahaha, then I'll leave it to you." Bane laughed.
At that moment, Nami eagerly moved closer and wrapped herself around Bane's arm, nearly burying it in her Nami Valley. Then she said ingratiatingly, "Lord Bane, I want to buy some new pretty clothes too, as well as some navigation equipment that needs replacing. What do you think?"
After enjoying Nami's attentiveness for a moment, Bane gave her a paper bag of Belly as well. "Go on, go on. We'll meet up at the Marine base later."
And so, the three separated right at the harbor. Nami happily went shopping, Tashigi took Zoro to buy swords, while Bane made his way toward the Marine base with familiar ease.
Meanwhile, at the Tower Restaurant in Loguetown, Ace and Teach were stuffing themselves. Teach frantically crammed cherry pie into his mouth, while Ace was demolishing grilled meat.
However, just as Ace was about to stuff a huge chicken leg into his mouth, his peripheral vision caught sight of something on the street outside. He froze on the spot.
"What's wrong?" Teach asked while eating cherry pie.
"It's Bane!" Ace suddenly slammed his hand on the table and roared, "The guy who killed Thatch! Look, Teach, isn't that him!?"
Teach jolted at those words and hurriedly stood up, pressing himself against the window to look outside. Then he saw the figure he had long dreamed of—the man swaggering straight into the Marine base!
"It's him! It's that bastard! I'd recognize him even if he turned to ash!" Teach said through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with viciousness and hatred.
Before you continue