Zoro's Shocking First Punch!

At the ruins of the Loguetown Marine base, a large number of Marines were busy with cleanup operations. Unexpectedly, the earth-shattering punch previously delivered by Vice Admiral Garp had not caused many casualties among the soldiers; it could only be said that a top-tier powerhouse's control over his own strength was truly precise.

Perched on a pile of rubble, Smoker chewed on three cigars, puffing away, while Bane leaned against a nearby stone, chatting with him.

"So, you didn't kill Thatch?" Smoker asked, looking at Bane with a hint of disbelief.

"Does it even matter at this point whether I was the one who finished him off?" Bane replied casually, then, as if remembering something, he looked at Smoker with a wary gaze. "You aren't planning on asking me to return his bounty, are you? No way, absolutely not. It's enough that I haven't asked you for Ace's bounty yet."

"We've completely locked down the news regarding Ace, so naturally, there won't be any bounty for you. Besides, if we Marines hadn't stepped in, you might not have been able to take him down," Smoker said, casting a disdainful glance at Bane.

Thinking back to their first meeting, he had actually appreciated Bane. Now, he felt his judgment must have been blinded back then. Whether this guy was righteous or not was unclear, but he was undeniably cunning.

Bane knew there was no chance of collecting the bounty for Ace. Before the battle had even ended, the Marines had initiated emergency protocols, cutting off all signal waves in Loguetown and sealing the port immediately.

This meant that what had happened here could not reach the outside world without the Marines' permission.

According to Smoker, the entire Loguetown would now enter a three-month lockdown period. During this time, news of Ace would be suppressed until the Marines were ready for their next move.

There were many things Smoker didn't elaborate on, but Bane wasn't a fool. The actions the Marines were taking undoubtedly meant that this matter was far from over; in fact, it had only just begun.

Perhaps the Marines had already made up their minds to move against the Whitebeard Pirates. A Summit War—a major event capable of affecting the entire world's landscape and the trajectory of its future—would clearly not be something that could be settled in a rush.

The reason the Marines could win such a war was not just because their comprehensive strength was superior, but also because they had made full preparations well in advance.

Just as Smoker and Bane were discussing these matters, Tashigi approached from not far away, leading Zoro and Nami toward them.

With Loguetown under martial law, the Marine base wouldn't just let anyone in, even if it were a ruin. It was clearly Tashigi's help that allowed Zoro and Nami to enter.

As soon as they arrived, Zoro asked, "Didn't we agree to meet at the Marine base? Where is it?"

At his question, Nami burst into laughter, then quickly covered her mouth, looking slightly embarrassed.

Bane looked at Zoro with a surprised expression and said, "I didn't expect you to be capable of telling a cold joke!"

Zoro ignored Bane's teasing and asked curiously, "What exactly happened? I was on the other side of town and could see a massive explosion here. The whole island shook several times because of it. Did something happen to the armory?"

"That wasn't an explosion. Some old man just got angry and punched the place, that's all," Bane said, curling his lip.

"Huh?" Zoro stood frozen at these words, then looked around at the ruins of the base, his gaze finally resting on the terrifying abyss in the ground in the distance. He then said, "Are you sure you aren't joking with me?"

"Of course," Bane said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Impossible. How could such an absurd thing exist?" Zoro looked completely unconvinced.

"Frog in a well," Bane said, looking at Zoro with a serious expression. "What I said is the truth. The old man who threw that punch is Vice Admiral Garp, known as the Hero of the Marines. He is also recognized as one of the world's top powerhouses. Now, take a good look at these surroundings. Experience this gap, feel this despair, and finally... strive to become a powerhouse like him, Roronoa Zoro."

Seeming to sense the expectation in Bane's tone and the seriousness in his eyes, Zoro stopped arguing. He took another earnest look at the surrounding ruins before asking, "Can the World's Greatest Swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, also reach this level?"

"As far as I know, he could probably split the island where Loguetown sits in two with a single slash. That is the strength of the top-tier players," Bane said after a moment of thought.

Watching Zoro fall into deep contemplation, Nami asked from the side, "What exactly happened here? Why would Vice Admiral Garp appear here?"

Bane then explained, "The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist Ace, came to Loguetown with his men to hunt me down. We ended up in a conflict and had a fight here."

"And the result? What happened to that Ace?" Nami asked, very curious.

Even now, Nami maintained a fair and impartial hatred for all pirates, so naturally, she had no good impression of Ace, and her tone carried a hint of anticipation.

"We caught him, of course," Bane laughed.

Just then, Smoker spoke up from the side, "Don't go spreading this news around. At least, don't talk about it until you see it published in the newspapers, so as not to interfere with our Marine plans."

"Understood, don't worry," Bane agreed.

"Do the Marines have any follow-up actions?" Nami asked, looking like a curious child.

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that. After all, it concerns Marine secrets," Smoker said, shaking his head, appearing unwilling to say more.

Bane, however, showed no respect and said, "What's there to be inconvenient about disclosing? At this point, we're practically participants. I could guess with my toes that the Marines' next step will be to use Ace to formulate a targeted plan against the Whitebeard Pirates. In other words, the Marines are going to war with the so-called strongest, the Whitebeard Pirates."

Hearing Bane's words, Nami looked completely shocked. If you asked Zoro who Whitebeard was, he would likely say he didn't know; he didn't pay much attention to such things, his mind was filled with Sword Arts, and at most, he knew of the greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk.

But Nami was different. She paid close attention to the news and the situation on the sea. Once she heard the Marines were going to war with Whitebeard, she knew this was definitely a major news story that could shake the world.

What made her even more excited was that she seemed to be one of the first members to know this news, and could even be considered a participant in the event.

However, after the brief excitement, she felt a lingering fear. The Whitebeard Pirates were known as the world's most powerful pirate crew, and their captain, Whitebeard, was not only called the strongest man but was also widely recognized as a powerhouse who "possessed the power to destroy the world."

They were just small fries who hadn't even left the East Blue, and suddenly they were enemies of such terrifying powerhouses. Just thinking about it made her worried.

But seeing Bane's relaxed expression, and noticing that Zoro didn't care at all, and even Colonel Smoker of the Marines felt no pressure, she felt she was overthinking it. If the sky fell, the Marine powerhouses would be there to hold it up; it wouldn't crush them for the time being.

"Alright, I was planning to stay here for a few days, but it seems there's no chance now," Bane said, looking at the ruins, then turned to Smoker. "Do you have a Log Pose for the Grand Line on you? Give me one; it'll save me some trouble."

A Log Pose wasn't exactly a precious item; if Bane wanted to find one, he could get it from the market, but it would just waste more time.

Smoker looked at Bane's brazen attitude and sighed helplessly, saying to Tashigi, "Go find him a Log Pose."

After saying this, Smoker continued to Bane, "Perhaps our Marine plans will need your cooperation later."

Before he could finish, Bane smiled and said, "Contact me whenever you need to. After all, we're friends."