I Will Be the Little Tyrant of the Little Garden!

Ancient Island, Little Garden.

A natural harbor within the island's inland river currently hosted the ship belonging to Bane and his crew. A professional-looking temporary camp had long been established; after all, bounty hunters must possess some degree of wilderness survival skills, and among these hundreds of men, there were always specialists in various fields.

The camp was not only spacious and professional, but cannons salvaged from the ship were also mounted at several critical points. Two patrols, each consisting of thirty men, circled the perimeter of the camp.

There was no helping it; Little Garden was an undeveloped island, and everything on it was saturated with a primitive and wild aura, leaving no room for negligence.

Just yesterday, while navigating the path in from the inland river, Momoo was nearly devoured by two Mosasaur, and it was only thanks to Bane discovering the situation in time that Momoo was saved.

After landing, they also encountered a series of attacks from dinosaurs, which caused quite a bit of chaos.

Of course, those dinosaurs that had attacked them had now been turned into barbecue ingredients.

In the very center of the camp stood a massive grill. A Tyrannosaurus Rex had been cut into several sections and placed upon it, sizzling with rendered fat under the intense heat of the flames.

Not far away sat a super-sized iron pot—originally equipment used by Arlong's crew to feed Momoo—which had now been repurposed as a giant stew pot.

A Mosasaur had been cleaned thoroughly and chopped into pieces suitable for the pot, where it was now bubbling away. The fragrant aroma of the food made everyone in the camp salivate.

Meanwhile, an ancient tree had been felled and fashioned into a long wooden stump that served as a dining table. A large group of bounty hunters sat there, gorging themselves on fine wine and roasted meat.

At the heart of this long table sat Bane, Zoro, and Nami.

Zoro was already reaching his limit. He sipped on "Mosasaur fish soup," his gaze distant, as if he were preoccupied with some heavy thoughts.

Nami, however, had long since stopped eating. Her appetite was naturally small, and to maintain her figure, she practiced strict dietary management.

Her side of the table was cleared, covered with a tablecloth and adorned with many books on navigation. She was currently sipping fruit wine while reading.

These books had, of course, been gathered from Whisky Peak; some were gifts from the bounty hunters, while others she had purchased in town herself.

The origins of the books were complex, spanning the four seas of East, West, North, and South. They were essentially loot plundered by pirates that had eventually fallen into the hands of these bounty hunters.

Zoro and Nami had finished their battle with the food, but Bane had not. He had been sitting there eating from the moment he woke up and washed until the afternoon. The surrounding plates and skewers were piled high like mountains, and seven or eight burly men had to take turns clearing his table and bringing him fresh ingredients. It was no exaggeration to say that he had consumed at least half of that Tyrannosaurus Rex.

This incredible sight left the bounty hunters in the entire group feeling shocked, and they increasingly felt that Boss Bane was not an ordinary man.

If nothing else, the digestive capacity of this body alone was unreasonable. For a man over two meters tall to eat the majority of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a single morning—was that even logical?

Just as Bane was frantically devouring the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Zoro seemed to put his worries aside and asked, "How is it? Do the dinosaurs here have a better effect on your physical growth?"

The primary goal of their trip to Little Garden was to test whether the ingredients here provided a stronger boost to Bane. They had already decided that if Bane truly benefited here, they would stay for a while.

However, after Zoro finished asking, he found that Bane merely glanced at him with annoyance, let out a cold snort, and without any intention of replying, continued to gorge himself.

Under other circumstances, Zoro would certainly have picked a fight with Bane, but this time was different. After Bane displayed such a dismissive attitude, Zoro instead scratched his neck in embarrassment before continuing, "It's been several days, why are you still angry? Can't you be a bit more magnanimous?"

"You have the nerve to ask me!?" Bane's temper flared. He slammed the Tyrannosaurus Rex leg bone in his hand onto the table with such force that it snapped, startling the nearby men into backing away several steps.

Before Zoro could speak, Bane retorted angrily, "Even though no tragedy occurred in the end, do you have any idea that your impulsiveness at that time nearly got all my hundreds of men killed!"

This encounter between Zoro and Mihawk was not the calm meeting and standard challenge seen in the original story.

This time, they had run into him directly on the open sea, and Mihawk had attacked their ship the moment he saw them. No one could guess what the World's Greatest Swordsman was thinking; normally, one should have fled immediately to avoid his edge.

But because of Zoro, Bane and the others were forced to face Mihawk head-on. Fortunately, Mihawk truly appreciated Zoro, and after one exchange, he lost the desire to finish off Bane and his crew, sailing away gracefully on his small boat with the ocean currents.

"As a swordsman, when encountering the World's Greatest Swordsman, who could resist drawing their blade?" Zoro said with some helplessness.

Although he had his own thoughts, he knew he had truly been in the wrong this time. So, before Bane could continue scolding him, he quickly added, "I was wrong, let's say I was wrong, okay? From now on, I'll listen to you, Senior Brother!"

Bane had wanted to snap back at him, but seeing the kid take the initiative to call him Senior Brother and looking like he knew he was wrong, Bane finally hummed twice, stopped dwelling on it, and went back to eating meat in large mouthfuls.

The surrounding subordinates breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. Only Nami paid them no mind; it was clear that she had felt from the bottom of her heart that Bane would definitely forgive Zoro.

Seeing that Bane had stopped raging, Zoro asked again, "So, you still haven't given me an answer. How does it feel?"

"Look at me eating from morning until night without stopping; isn't the answer obvious?" Bane tore at the roasted meat, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile. "This place is too good. These dinosaurs, which have evolved and survived since the ancient era, possess richer nutrition than Sea Beasts. They are even more satisfying than the few Sea Kings I've eaten before. And you have to realize, this is feedback based on a body that has already grown much stronger than it used to be!"

After a brief pause, Bane held the bone high and laughed, "So we must stay here for a long time. I'm going to eat the dinosaurs here into extinction!"

Bane felt this place was his lucky land, so he was going to eat his way to becoming a little tyrant on Little Garden!

"That works out well. I can take this time to properly learn about the Grand Line; these books are very useful, too," Nami said, looking up in support.

Seeing this, Zoro added, "That's fine, too. Mihawk gave me a few pointers, and I've been restless these past few days. It's a good time to calm down and practice here."

"However, these living histories that have been passed down since the ancient era are quite rare nowadays. On this vast sea, you can only find them on a few such ancient islands. If you were to eat an entire island into extinction, wouldn't that be a bit too extravagant?" A voice, both alluring and intellectual, suddenly reached their ears.

Nami hadn't even reacted yet, and upon hearing this, she agreed, "That's right, we should leave some of them to continue their lineage. Hm? What's wrong with you guys?"

She looked up just in time to see the solemn expression on Zoro's face, his hand already resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist.

It was only then that Nami clearly saw that on the tree Bane was leaning against, a woman had grown out of it as if she were blooming like a flower!

Bane didn't even turn his head, continuing to eat the meat in his hand. In this eerie atmosphere, he finished the meat completely before slowly speaking, "Nico Robin, have you considered what the outcome will be for a woman with a bounty of 79 million Belly like you to appear in the camp of us bounty hunters?"