Garp: What? He killed Crocodile?

Bane had no intention of collecting Crocodile's corpse, leaving him to lie on the floor just as he was.

It was at this moment, having received notification from Nami, that Zoro and Issho arrived in the office.

As soon as they entered, they saw the deep crater in the floor, the lifeless body of Crocodile, and Bane sitting in the boss's chair, enjoying one of Crocodile's cigars.

"You have to admit, these cigars pack more of a punch than mine," Bane said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

He didn't know if others inhaled their cigars, but he certainly did; that was the only way to get a real kick out of it, and given his physical constitution, he didn't have to worry about any negative consequences.

Issho looked at Crocodile's corpse with a hint of surprise, then remarked softly, "It seems Bane's strength is even greater than I had imagined."

Issho was a true top-tier expert; a single glance at Crocodile's body was enough to glean a wealth of information.

For instance, this Seven Warlords of the Sea appeared to have been on the receiving end of a one-sided beating. In other words, he had posed almost no threat to Bane, and the injuries were localized entirely to his head—meaning Bane had dispatched him with absolute ease!

Furthermore, the timeframe was incredibly short; he had only been upstairs having tea with Zoro, and after feeling a few tremors, it was already over down here!

What did that imply? It meant fast, accurate, and ruthless!

Having witnessed such an overwhelming display of power to take down Crocodile, regardless of the method, Issho had fully acknowledged Bane's strength.

"Just a bit of trickery," Bane said, waving his hand modestly.

Just then, Nico Robin walked in from outside and looked at Bane, saying, "I have already notified the officers to assemble here; they will arrive shortly."

The reason she could gather the high-ranking officers of Baroque Works so quickly was that, long before Bane arrived in Alabasta, Robin had already issued a summons as the Vice President. At this moment, those officers were already waiting in Rainbase.

"Understood." Bane nodded, then looked at Nami. "Nami, my Den Den Mushi."

"Coming." Nami quickly retrieved the Den Den Mushi from her cleavage and handed it to Bane.

Come to think of it, besides being the navigator, she was now moonlighting as Bane's secretary, and so far, she had been performing exceptionally well.

Because of this, she had strongly demanded that Bane pay her two salaries.

Taking the Den Den Mushi, Bane dialed Smoker directly.

But after it rang for a while, no one picked up. This left Bane feeling a bit puzzled.

He didn't give up and tried several more times, but there was still no answer, as if Smoker were currently very busy.

"Strange, why isn't this guy answering the Den Den Mushi?" Bane muttered in confusion.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Smoker called back.

"Bane? What is it?" Smoker's tone was heavy and breathless, as if he had just been engaged in physical exertion.

"Why couldn't I get through? Did you run into some trouble?" Bane inquired.

"We did run into trouble, but it's already been resolved," Smoker replied first, then explained, "We were supposed to set off for Headquarters a few days ago, but Garp discovered his other grandson."

"I saw it in the papers. Monkey D. Luffy, right? That surname, and the 'D'—you can tell just by hearing it that he's part of Garp's family," Bane teased with a laugh.

"Right. Anyway, his other grandson became a pirate and caused a scene at one of our East Blue naval bases. Garp decided to wait for him in Loguetown; after all, if that guy wants to leave the East Blue, there's a high probability he'll have to pass through here," Smoker said.

"And you caught him just now?" Bane asked curiously.

He was very interested in what kind of state Luffy was in right now.

"We caught him, I moved in to take him down, but then Dragon of the Revolutionary Army actually appeared and almost snatched the kid away. Fortunately, Garp was also in Loguetown; he clashed with Dragon, and they ended up tearing half of Loguetown apart," Smoker said through gritted teeth.

His naval base hadn't even finished being rebuilt, and now half of Loguetown was destroyed again!

It was a good thing he didn't have to pay for the repairs himself, or the two hundred million Bane had given him wouldn't have been enough.

"So, did Garp capture Dragon too!?" Bane asked, slightly excited.

"Not quite, Dragon got away. But we did capture the kid in the straw hat. Garp's intention is to take him back to Headquarters to properly discipline him. How should I put it? We looked into this guy; although he caused a ruckus at the naval base, he didn't do anything too egregious. The naval commander he took out was a corrupt individual I hadn't been able to expose before. Even though he calls himself a pirate, it seems he might not be beyond saving," Smoker said.

"Hahahaha, if he weren't Garp's grandson, he wouldn't get such preferential treatment!" Bane laughed heartily.

Smoker didn't deny it, shifting the topic. "Anyway, enough about that. Why did you suddenly contact me? Have you reached the Sabaody Archipelago? I can't make it there right now, and even going through Mary Geoise takes time. Shall I have a friend pick you up? Why don't you wait for us at Headquarters?"

Smoker's words were overheard by Issho, which only solidified his belief that Bane had deep connections within the Navy.

"Not quite, I'm in Alabasta. I contacted you to inform you that Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, has just been killed by me. This news hasn't spread yet; if your Navy has any need, you might want to plan ahead and see if you can reap some benefits," Bane said cheerfully.

On the other end of the line, Smoker, who was sitting on a pile of rubble in Loguetown, was stunned into silence upon hearing this.

It was then that Garp, holding the back of Luffy's neck and ignoring his struggles, walked over and asked, "What's wrong? Why do you look so shocked?"

Smoker finally snapped out of it, looked at Garp, and said in disbelief, "Bane just killed Crocodile in Alabasta!"

Garp: "???"

"What?" Garp snatched the Den Den Mushi from Smoker's hand and shouted into it, "Bane, kid, did you really take down Crocodile?"

"Garp?" Bane paused for a moment, then replied, "Could this be a lie?"

"Why did you suddenly go and cause trouble for him?" Garp asked, deeply puzzled.

"Cough, it's not convenient for me to say, but you'll understand eventually. Regardless, it's very important—important for your Navy, too," Bane said, playing it mysterious.

Listening from the side, Issho thought to himself that it seemed Zephyr, that senior of the Navy, had indeed entrusted Bane with a secret mission.

"Of course it's important to the Navy!" Garp said in a low voice. "Are there many witnesses?"

"Almost none. I can completely seal off the news," Bane responded.

"That's good. Don't leak this news yet. We're planning to summon the Seven Warlords of the Sea to join the war this time. If you kill one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea at such a critical juncture, it won't be convenient if word gets out; it will make the other Seven Warlords of the Sea wary," Garp said hurriedly.

"I see." Bane nodded in understanding and said, "I understand. I will seal this news. As for what follows, let's discuss it once we reach headquarters."

Upon hearing this, Garp responded, "Fine, we'll talk more at headquarters. I'm starting to appreciate you more and more, kid. Hahahaha, well done!"

"Don't just say it; give me some actual action. Crocodile's bounty is supposed to be 81 million Belly, right? That's really low," Bane said with some disdain.

In the original story, this guy had an epiphany in Impel Down, found his true self, and then shone brilliantly during the Summit War. Two years later, his bounty soared to 1.965 billion Belly. Yet now, it was a mere 81 million Belly, which made Bane's heart ache.

But on second thought, if he had his strength from two years later right now, Bane definitely wouldn't be able to beat him here in Alabasta. Forget it, forget it.

"You brat, you're obsessed with money. Since the news can't be made public, I naturally can't give you the bounty. Besides, you're going to join our Marines later anyway; we're all on the same side. How about I count it as merit? I'll guarantee your promotion when the time comes!" Garp said, acting shamelessly.

However, Bane was about to inherit Crocodile's vast fortune, so he didn't really care about these peanuts. After bickering with Garp for a few moments, he hung up the Den Den Mushi.

But his performance, along with the familiarity in his conversation with Garp, completely dispelled the doubts in Issho's heart. Hmm, this Bane really has a strong background in the Marines!

Didn't you see Garp, the Hero of the Marines, even promise to guarantee his promotion?