Nami: I never thought I'd end up walking Bellemere's path too?

"The Navy isn't as righteous as you think," Zoro suddenly spoke up.

"Are you trying to say there are many scumbags in the Navy? I know that much, of course. Our village was previously targeted by a guy named Nezumi—" Nami started to say.

However, Zoro cut her off: "I'm not talking about things like that, but something more..."

At this point, Zoro glanced at Bane. Seeing this, Bane sighed and said, "Fine, I'll say it. The Navy is backed by the World Government, but the World Government is nothing good. It is rotten, corrupt, cruel, and dark. In short, Nami, you think pirates are heinous bastards, but if you truly understood the inner workings of the World Government, you would realize that pirates are actually quite naive and adorable."

Nami swallowed hard, looking somewhat skeptical: "Is it really that exaggerated?"

"Hmph!" Zoro let out a cold snort: "I've heard that the Celestial Dragons at the very top of the World Government often slaughter civilians just for entertainment, sometimes even destroying an entire country because of it."

"Where did you hear that?" Nami asked, finding it hard to believe.

She was from the East Blue, and the East Blue, how should one put it, could be considered the bedrock of the World Government. Most countries in the East Blue were member states of the World Government and were staunch supporters. Consequently, the public opinion and social environment in the East Blue were generally inclined to support the World Government.

Although Nami's life had been very unfortunate, her misfortune was primarily caused by pirates, with a portion due to internal corruption within the Navy. It hadn't really touched upon the behemoth that was the World Government. Furthermore, her exposure was limited, and having grown up in such a social environment, she was unaware of the darkness of the World Government hidden behind the East Blue.

Originally, she had been somewhat disgusted with the Navy, but after meeting Smoker and the others, and given that her adoptive mother Bellemere had been a Marine herself, she was quite supportive of her future plan to join the Navy.

"I... I..." Zoro hesitated for a moment, then felt that since Nami was now their companion, he should trust her. Plus, Bane had said earlier that his master was tough as nails, and if any trouble arose, he could just blame it on him.

So, after a moment of hesitation, Zoro said: "I once saw people from the Revolutionary Army. I heard it by chance once."

Koushiro had tangled with Dragon quite a bit in the East Blue over the years. Having grown up at the Isshin Dojo, Zoro had seen the Revolutionary Army a few times, so Bane wasn't surprised by this situation; they had discussed these things before.

At this point, Bane took over the conversation: "What Zoro said is true. Every three years, those Celestial Dragons on Mary Geoise randomly pick a country they don't like and hold a 'Human Hunt' competition there to see who can kill more people. And often, after this event, they completely destroy the country to eliminate the evidence. The Navy plays a rather disgraceful role in all of this."

"The Navy is actually that beastly!? It's impossible to tell that Colonel Smoker and the others would do such things," Nami said, shocked.

"Given Smoker's current rank and his past experiences, he shouldn't be exposed to this kind of darkness," Bane thought for a moment and defended Smoker.

"Then, knowing that such terrifying darkness is hidden behind the Navy, why are you still considering joining them?" Nami asked seriously.

Bane rubbed his chin: "That's exactly why I need to build my own foundation before joining the Navy. I want to become a high-ranking official in the Navy, or even take control of the entire Navy, and then change this terrible world."

"Following your earlier claim about becoming the King of the World, you want to rule the world, right?" Zoro quipped.

"Hahahaha, you could say that too," Bane replied with a loud laugh, not feeling embarrassed at all.

As Zoro and Bane teased each other, Nami pondered for a long time before asking with some confusion: "Since the Navy isn't a good thing, and you two happen to have some connection to the Revolutionary Army, why not just join them? They sound quite righteous."

Bane paused, his face twitching: "If you're asking why, it's because I don't think they have a future."

Dragon had been running the Revolutionary Army for so many years and had accumulated quite a bit of substance, but for some reason, Bane always felt that the guy wouldn't amount to much. Recalling the stories he remembered, it seemed like the Revolutionary Army never made any big headlines or did anything that truly changed the world's landscape and trends from start to finish.

In fact, their achievements in the cause of overthrowing the World Government might not even be as significant as those of the Straw Hat pirates.

"I don't like them. They hide and scurry around all day like rats that can't see the light," Zoro added, hitting the nail on the head.

Logically, if Zoro had any interest in the Revolutionary Army, given the friendship between Koushiro and Dragon, he could have joined long ago. He wouldn't have ended up as a bounty hunter after setting sail, and later joining the Straw Hat crew as a pirate.

"The Navy isn't a good thing, you don't like the Revolutionary Army, and I don't want to be a pirate. This world is too troublesome. How come it feels like there isn't a single good person? Isn't there a Navy that just purely wants to eliminate pirates?" Nami slumped onto the table in frustration, lazily holding her fruit wine and complaining.

Hearing this, Bane paused. He suddenly thought of Zephyr, the former Marine Admiral. He should currently be in the background of the Navy, training the next generation. However, it seemed that in two years at the latest, he would take a group of Marines and break away from the current Navy to form the 'Neo Marines,' with the ambition of eliminating all pirates in the New World.

Of course, his later methods were a bit extreme, which led to his failure, but now that Bane thought about it, it wasn't a bad path to take.

If these Neo Marines could get on the right track and develop for a few years on a normal path, with Zephyr's charisma and influence, he could completely split the entire Navy!

For example, if someone like Smoker learned about the darkness behind the Navy, and Zephyr's Neo Marines weren't so extreme, Bane felt that Smoker would likely defect to Zephyr after a period of normal development.

And within the entire Navy, there shouldn't be a shortage of people like Smoker.

However, Bane had no friendship with Zephyr, and the gap in their status was too large; even if Bane wanted to see Zephyr, it was unlikely.

Therefore, after some thought, Bane suddenly slapped the table: "I've decided. Once the Navy's..."

As he reached this point, he suddenly remembered that this was classified information and couldn't be spoken of lightly, so he quickly lowered his voice: "Ahem... once this big event for the Navy passes, we will go and join the Navy. After all, whether the Navy wins or loses, they will need fresh blood. If we grow properly before then, we should be able to get a good position."

"And then? Change the Navy?" Zoro asked, looking at Bane.

"Can't I?" Bane countered.

"There's nothing that says you can't, as long as it doesn't affect me becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman." Zoro suddenly smiled and offered his support.

He only had one goal for setting sail, and that was to become the World's Greatest Swordsman. As for what identity he would use to ascend to that throne, he had no requirements. Whether it was the Navy or being a pirate, it didn't matter, so he had no demands of Bane in this regard.

Seeing this, Nami also pretended to be very heroic and slapped the table: "Then let's do it! I'm sure Bellemere wouldn't want to see the Navy become the ghost of what it is now! I want to take her place and become the pride of the Navy, and make the Navy something she could be proud of!"

After saying that, she smiled again: "I really didn't expect to walk the path Bellemere once took and become a Marine. Now that I think about it, it's quite interesting!"