You're a Good Man, Crocodile!

Forty minutes later, Crocodile was already fuming inside.

At last, he could no longer suppress his restlessness. He spun his executive chair around, dropped the pretense of being profound, and rose to go upstairs and see what that damned Bane was doing.

If Bane wanted to provoke him, then fine—he had succeeded.

But just as Crocodile got up and walked to the door, it flew open with a bang, and a tall figure strode inside.

Tall was only relative to ordinary people. To Crocodile, that figure was nothing special; he was even a head taller.

That was right. Crocodile stood over two and a half meters tall, while Bane, who had entered, was only two point three meters. In this world, that height really amounted to nothing.

Since Bane had not knocked and had arrived so abruptly, Crocodile froze for a moment.

Before he could speak, Bane wore a delighted smile, his tone as warm as if he had met a sworn brother or beloved relative. Laughing heartily, he extended a hand. "Mr. Crocodile, I've finally met you. I'm terribly sorry. I'm just a country bumpkin who hasn't seen much of the world. The buffet upstairs was simply too delicious, and I couldn't help eating a little more. Sorry to have kept you waiting."

Crocodile had originally expected Bane to be full of swagger, since that was how Nico Robin had described him.

Yet Bane was exceedingly polite from the start, even putting himself down as someone who had never seen the world. Crocodile's stomach full of anger had nowhere to go. After all, one did not slap a smiling face.

At that instant, he suddenly realized something. This might all be Nico Robin's scheme!

She had intended to drive a wedge between him and Bane. All this time, he had only considered that she might provoke Bane against him, yet he had failed to notice that the woman could provoke him as well!

Whether it was her previous descriptions of Bane or her going to call Bane downstairs just now, both could have been little tricks of hers. Perhaps she had deliberately delayed for a while before telling Bane that he was waiting?

Crocodile's mind was indeed deep and calculating, so he naturally had more thoughts than most.

And this thought of his seemed to make perfect sense!?

Having realized all this, Crocodile naturally could not continue following Nico Robin's plan. He had originally intended to put on airs and show Bane some of his anger, but now he restrained his emotions. A fairly genial smile appeared on his face as he used his one remaining hand to clasp Bane's. "It's nothing. I have always been very patient with worthy talent, and Bane, you are precisely the worthy talent I have been waiting for."

Bane gripped Crocodile's hand firmly, his expression extremely moved. "What a good man! You really are a good man, Mr. Crocodile! Not only did you not disdain my rudeness, you even shook my hand so sincerely. I don't even know what to say!"

Crocodile was somewhat puzzled. Had this guy never been respected before? Was there really any need to get this excited over a handshake?

Before he could figure it out, Bane continued, "To tell the truth, I'm also a Logia user. I came to visit you because I wanted to discuss many tips about being a Logia user with you. Especially one question that has always troubled me."

Crocodile felt that this guy was overly enthusiastic and had no sense of occasion. They had only just met, and Bane was already asking for guidance. Was that appropriate?

Still, he patiently asked with a smile, "Oh? What question? I'd be happy to answer it."

"Us Logia users, aren't we all supposed to be able to turn into elements? But why can't I? So I especially want you to demonstrate it for me." Bane grinned, revealing a dangerous smile.

Seeing that dangerous smile, Crocodile instinctively felt that something was wrong. He immediately tried to pull his hand back, but when he exerted force, he discovered that the other man's strength was astonishing!

He could not break free!?

At the same time, Crocodile intended to use his ability to escape. But as soon as the thought arose, his heart sank—his power did not respond!?

"What did you do!?" Crocodile glared at Bane, his expression shocked and furious.

Only then did he notice that faint wisps of black smoke were drifting from the hand Bane used to grip him.

"Ahahahahaha." Bane laughed as he patted Crocodile on the shoulder. "When I praised you as a good man just now, I meant it from the bottom of my heart. Ever since I became the user of the Dark-Dark Fruit, you're the first ability user willing to shake my hand."

A fierce sense of danger exploded in Crocodile's heart. He did not reply, instead raising his other arm and swinging his poison hook at Bane, intending to kill him.

But the instant his arm rose, Bane moved first. Bane flexed his arm and yanked Crocodile straight off the ground, then slammed him viciously into the floor!

With a bang, the sturdy floor tiles Crocodile had spent a fortune laying shattered beneath his body. At the same time, piercing pain made blood seep from the corner of Crocodile's mouth.

He felt as if he had just been struck by a giant!

To be honest, since coming to the first half of the Grand Line over twenty years ago, Crocodile had not felt pain in all that time.

After being smashed into the ground so suddenly, he was actually dazed!

He was dazed, but Bane had no intention of indulging him. One hand still held Crocodile's wrist down while he raised his foot and stomped hard on Crocodile's golden hook, crushing the hook filled with deadly poison beneath his foot. Then he shifted his footing and firmly pinned Crocodile's severed arm to the ground.

Only then did Crocodile finally come to his senses, fury erupting in his eyes.

But before he could turn his gaze toward Bane, an iron fist wrapped in Armament Haki appeared in his field of vision and smashed brutally into the bridge of his nose!

That blow broke Crocodile's nose, twisted his features out of shape, and slammed the back of his head hard against the broken tiles, sinking it slightly into them.

It was not over. Bane had no intention of giving Crocodile a chance. He unleashed a barrage of heavy punches, striking nowhere but Crocodile's head.

Outside the door, Robin was utterly dumbfounded. This was completely different from what they had agreed on!?

Hadn't Bane said he would go in and exchange a few pleasantries with Crocodile? Then, while he distracted Crocodile, she would activate the mechanism and let seawater flood in, defeating Crocodile that way?

How had it turned into Bane storming through the door and savagely beating Crocodile?

Most importantly, Crocodile—the Sand Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai known as one of the three great powers of the sea, and the longest-serving Shichibukai, a vicious pirate who had run rampant through Alabasta for over twenty years—was being beaten by Bane without the slightest ability to fight back!

Every punch Bane threw made the entire office tremble. From the moment he raised his fist, Crocodile's head had already sunk beneath the floor. The only thing still visible was the blood flowing and dripping from Bane's knuckles whenever he lifted his fist.

After Bane smashed down another punch, his movements paused slightly. Raising a brow, he said, "Haki?"

That was right. Crocodile had finally remembered his former self. He had once been a great pirate who roamed the New World—he was no second-rate pirate!

He was a man who knew Haki!

"But remembering to use that power only now is already too late!" Bane said with a savage grin.

Then the muscles throughout his body surged, and a current of force seemed to climb up from his tailbone. In the blink of an eye, it gathered in his fist, which was covered in blood.

"Feel the warmth of a giant! Elbaf Power: Sett's Haymaker!!!" Bane roared.

As mentioned before, what Bane had learned from Dorry and Brogy was not merely Hakoku, but Elbaf's combat techniques. Most of them were unusable with his physique, so he had not learned those, but he had thoroughly mastered the techniques for exerting force!

Whether Hakoku or Ikoku, their core lay in the technique of exerting force.

This punch was the same!

The Haki-coated heavy fist crashed down. Perhaps Crocodile's Armament Haki was stronger, but he had not used it for many years. Faced with such an overwhelmingly powerful blow, that Haki failed to protect his head.

With a tremendous bang, all of Rain Dinners shook several times. The guests upstairs thought it was an earthquake, and panic spread among them.