You're a Good Person, Crocodile!

Forty minutes later, Crocodile was already seething with rage.

He could no longer suppress his restlessness, so he spun his executive chair around, dropped the brooding act, and stood up, ready to head upstairs and see what the hell Bane was actually doing.

If the man wanted to provoke him, well, he had succeeded.

However, just as he reached the door, it was yanked open with a loud bang, and a tall figure strode inside.

"Tall" was relative; compared to the average person, perhaps, but to Crocodile, it was nothing—he was actually a head taller than the newcomer.

That was right; Crocodile stood over two and a half meters tall, while Bane was only two point three. In this world, that height really wasn't anything special.

Because he hadn't knocked and had arrived so abruptly, Crocodile was momentarily stunned.

Before he could even speak, a bright, pleasant smile spread across Bane's face. His tone was as warm as if he were greeting a long-lost brother or a dear friend. He laughed and reached out a hand, saying, "Mr. Crocodile, I've finally met you! I am terribly sorry. I'm just a country bumpkin who hasn't seen much of the world, and the buffet upstairs was so delicious that I couldn't help but overindulge. I hope you'll forgive me for keeping you waiting."

Crocodile had expected Bane to be arrogant—that was how Nico Robin had described him, after all.

He hadn't expected the man to be so polite, even belittling himself as someone who hadn't seen the world. It left Crocodile with a belly full of fire and nowhere to vent it; after all, one doesn't strike a smiling face.

In that same instant, a realization struck him: this might all be Nico Robin's scheme!

She had intended to sow discord between him and Bane all along. He had only ever considered that she might be manipulating Bane, but he hadn't realized that the woman could just as easily manipulate him!

Whether it was her previous description of Bane or her being the one to tell him to come down, it could all be her little tricks—perhaps she had intentionally delayed telling Bane that he was waiting for him?

It had to be said that Crocodile was a deep thinker, which made him prone to overthinking.

And yet, his theory didn't seem to have any flaws!

Having reached this conclusion in a flash, Crocodile naturally wouldn't play into "Nico Robin's plan." He had intended to put on airs and show his anger, but now, he reined in his emotions. A smile that could be considered kind appeared on his face as he used his only remaining hand to grasp Bane's, saying, "It is nothing. I have always been very patient with men of talent, and you, Bane, are the talent I have been looking forward to."

Bane gripped Crocodile's hand tightly, his expression one of extreme excitement. "You are a good man! You truly are a good man, Mr. Crocodile. Not only did you not mind my rudeness, but you even shook my hand so sincerely—I don't even know what to say!"

Crocodile was a bit puzzled. Had this guy never been treated with respect before? Was a handshake really worth getting this excited over?

Before he could figure it out, Bane continued, "It is quite shameful to admit, but I am also a Logia user. I came to visit you hoping to discuss some tips regarding Logia abilities, especially since there is one problem that has been bothering me."

Crocodile felt the man was being overly enthusiastic and lacked a sense of decorum. We're meeting for the first time, and you want me to tutor you? Is that appropriate?

Still, he held his patience and asked with a smile, "Oh? What problem? I would be happy to help you solve it."

"We Logia users can all turn into our elements, right? But why can't I? I was hoping you could demonstrate it for me," Bane said, the corners of his mouth curling into a dangerous smile.

Seeing that dangerous grin, Crocodile felt an instinctive sense of dread. He immediately tried to pull his hand back, but as he exerted force, he discovered the man's grip was shockingly strong!

He couldn't break free!

At the same time, Crocodile intended to use his ability to escape, but as the thought crossed his mind, his heart sank—his power wasn't responding!

"What did you do!?" Crocodile glared at Bane, his expression a mix of shock and fury.

It was only then that he noticed, at some point, faint black smoke had begun to emanate from the hand Bane was using to hold his.

"Ahahahahaha!" Bane laughed, patting Crocodile on the shoulder. "I meant it when I called you a good man. Ever since I became a user of the Dark-Dark Fruit, you are the first ability user who has been willing to shake my hand."

A violent sense of crisis erupted in his heart. Crocodile didn't reply; instead, he raised his other hand, swinging his hook in an attempt to finish Bane off with his poison.

But just as his arm lifted, Bane moved first. With a surge of strength, Bane yanked Crocodile off the ground and slammed him down with a brutal, crushing force!

Boom! The solid floor tiles that Crocodile had spent a fortune on were shattered to pieces by the impact. At the same time, a piercing pain caused blood to spill from the corner of Crocodile's mouth.

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

Truth be told, it had been twenty years since he first entered the Grand Line, and Crocodile hadn't felt pain like this in a long time.

Being slammed into the ground so suddenly left him momentarily dazed!

He was dazed, but Bane wasn't about to go easy on him. While one hand kept Crocodile's wrist pinned, Bane lifted his foot and stomped down hard on Crocodile's golden hook, shattering the poison-laced weapon into fragments. He then stepped down, pinning the severed arm firmly to the floor.

It was then that Crocodile finally snapped back to his senses, his eyes burning with rage.

But before he could even look at Bane, an iron fist wrapped in Armament Haki appeared in his vision, slamming directly into the bridge of his nose!

The blow shattered his nasal bone and distorted his features, while the back of his head slammed into the broken floor tiles, leaving a crater.

It didn't end there. Bane gave Crocodile no chance to recover, unleashing a barrage of heavy punches—he didn't hit anywhere else, only the head.

Outside the door, Robin was stunned. This was completely different from what they had agreed upon!

Wasn't the plan for him to go in, exchange pleasantries, and distract Crocodile while she activated the mechanism to flood the room with seawater to defeat him?

Why, the moment he walked in, was he already beating Crocodile to a pulp?

Most importantly, the man known as one of the three great powers of the sea, the longest-serving of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the "Sand Crocodile," the vicious pirate who had run rampant in Alabasta for twenty years—was currently being beaten by Bane with absolutely no way to fight back!

With every punch Bane landed, the entire office trembled. From the moment he raised his fist, Crocodile's head was already buried into the floor; the only thing visible was the blood dripping from Bane's knuckles as he raised his fist again.

Just as Bane brought his fist down once more, he paused slightly, his brow arching. "Haki?"

That was right; Crocodile had finally remembered his true caliber. He was a great pirate who had rampaged through the New World, not some second-rate thug!

He was a man who could use Haki!

"But it's too late to start using those powers now!" Bane sneered.

Muscles rippled across his entire body, and a surge of energy seemed to climb from his tailbone, gathering in an instant into his blood-stained fist.

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

As previously mentioned, what Bane learned from Dorry and Brogy was not merely Hakoku, but the combat techniques of Elbaf. While he could not utilize the vast majority of them due to his physique, he had mastered the techniques of force exertion that he had not learned!

Whether it be Hakoku or Ikoku, the core of both lies in the technique of force exertion.

At this moment, this punch was no different.

The heavy fist, shrouded in Haki, came crashing down. Perhaps Crocodile's Armament Haki was stronger, but having not utilized it for many years, that Haki failed to protect his head against such an extremely ferocious critical strike.

With a loud bang, the entire Rain Dinners trembled a few times, and the guests upstairs, thinking it was an earthquake, were thrown into a state of panic.