Subduing Baroque Works!

A lean man walked into the Rain Dinners casino.

He scanned the room casually upon entering, seemingly spotted his companions, and quickly headed in that direction.

This man was none other than Mr. 1, Daz Bonez.

His companions were, of course, the high-ranking officers of Baroque Works.

After walking over, Bonez glanced at the man sitting at a tea table and asked, "Galdino, why did the boss call us here?"

Galdino, also known as Mr. 3, looked at Bonez with a hint of wariness before shaking his head. "I don't know. It was an order from the vice president. Aren't you close with the boss? You don't know either?"

Bonez did not respond to this, instead shifting his gaze toward another figure. That figure was gaudy, looking like a Mr. 2, and in fact, he was indeed a Mr. 2, Bon Clay.

"Don't look at me with such a burning gaze!" Bon Clay waved his hand with an exaggerated gesture. "I don't know why the boss gathered us either!"

Hearing this, Bonez withdrew his gaze, feeling a bit puzzled, but said nothing more.

Soon, the remaining high-ranking officers arrived one after another, including the bomb user, the weight user, the mole pair, as well as Cobra's head steward, Igaram, who was lurking in Baroque Works, and Princess Vivi.

Clearly, no one knew the reason for this assembly, and they weren't actually very familiar with one another; the lower-ranked high-ranking officers had barely even met each other a few times.

Just as everyone had arrived, the figure of Nico Robin slowly emerged from the shadows of the stairwell corner, swept her gaze over the group, and said, "Since everyone is here, come on down."

"The boss wants to see all of us at once?" Bonez asked, feeling puzzled.

He had followed Crocodile for a long time and was quite familiar with him; this was the first time Crocodile had ever summoned all the officers at once!

It was worth noting that not all high-ranking officers were qualified to see Crocodile. In the past, only the top five had that privilege, and only those five knew Crocodile's true identity. The so-called high-ranking officers below them had almost never seen Crocodile, at most only seeing Nico Robin!

Something big had happened.

This was the first thought in Bonez's mind.

Nico Robin, fully maintaining the air of a vice president, did not answer Bonez's question at all and turned to melt back into the shadows.

Seeing this, Galdino and the others didn't waste words, rising to follow her. After a moment of hesitation, Bonez followed suit.

Soon, the group arrived in the hallway on the second basement level, where they saw three unfamiliar faces in front of the office door.

Naturally, they were the green-haired Zoro, Nami, and Issho.

The officers were not overly surprised; Galdino even muttered, "Are there new recruits joining? Is this why we were all summoned, to reorganize the rankings?"

However, no one answered him.

Nico Robin knocked lightly on the door and said, "Boss, everyone is here."

"Come in," Bane's voice came from inside.

At the sound of his voice, the top five who had met Crocodile, including Galdino, had their expressions shift slightly, with Daz Bonez's reaction being the most pronounced.

This voice was absolutely not Crocodile's!

As for those who had never met Crocodile, their expressions remained normal.

Nico Robin ignored their internal shifts, pushed the door open naturally, gestured for them to enter, and stepped aside.

Galdino, standing at the front, felt panicked. He was now regretting why he had walked in first.

But there was no choice now. He swallowed hard and stepped into the office, where he saw a large crater in the floor and a corpse beside it.

At the first sight of that corpse, Galdino was struck with terror. It was Crocodile's corpse!

It was the body of the big boss of Baroque Works, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Sand Crocodile, Crocodile!!!

By now, anyone who wasn't a fool knew what was happening!

Forcing himself to steady his emotions, Galdino hurriedly looked at the figure behind the desk.

His first impression was that he was very young, and then... he felt nothing special; he seemed quite approachable?

He was nowhere near as imposing as Crocodile had been the first time he met him!

However, Galdino dared not underestimate the man before him, as the former boss's corpse was still lying on the floor.

He didn't dare speak, but someone else did. A flash of shock and anger crossed Daz Bonez's eyes as he directly demanded, "Who are you!?"

He had naturally seen Crocodile's corpse, which only fueled his fury.

He admired Crocodile deeply and could be considered his most trusted subordinate. Bonez had already decided to pledge his loyalty to Crocodile until death, only to arrive today and find that the object of his loyalty had been killed?

How could he not be furious?

He wasn't the only one trembling in fear; Igaram and Princess Vivi were also stunned. What was going on?

They naturally knew that the bastard Crocodile had plotted many conspiracies in Alabasta, wanting to seize power in the country. They had joined Baroque Works specifically to uncover their plans from within the organization and counter Crocodile.

To find that Crocodile had already been taken out the first time they got this close to him—how could they not be shocked?

"My name is Bane," Bane said with a smile on his lips. "As you can see, after a cordial exchange between Mr. Crocodile and myself, he decided to entrust Baroque Works and all his assets to me."

A flash of rage crossed Daz Bonez's eyes. He instantly activated his ability, his arms transforming into sharp blades, ready to decapitate Bane.

But before he could act, an invisible gravity instantly pressed down upon him. With a loud bang, Bonez was forced to his knees, and the ground around him shattered as if bearing an incomparable weight!

This left Bonez unable to move a muscle. He understood clearly that he was only kneeling because the other party wanted him to; otherwise, he would have already been crushed to death!

"It seems someone has an objection to this?" Bane said, looking troubled as he rubbed his chin.

Galdino and the others cast their peripheral vision toward the tall Blind Swordsman standing in the corridor behind them; it was clear that the gravity suppressing Daz Bonez was erupting from him.

To suppress a top executive like Daz Bonez so effortlessly proved his strength was peerless, and there were two more experts like him waiting outside!

Indeed, in that instant, everyone mistook Zoro and Nami for powerhouses on the same level as the Blind Swordsman.

Most importantly, such formidable experts were subservient to the man before them who called himself Bane, while Crocodile's corpse lay discarded on the floor nearby—this was an irresistible, overwhelming power!

Consequently, Galdino was the first to speak: "I would be more than happy to serve you, Lord Bane."

Without needing to be forced down by gravity, the man dropped to one knee and offered his loyalty.

Following his lead, Mr. 2 was the next to react; having no real loyalty to Crocodile himself, he knelt as well and said, "Same here, Lord Bane!"

Once those two bowed their heads, the rest followed suit, kneeling one after another to swear their allegiance.

Bane nodded in satisfaction at the sight, then turned his gaze back to Daz Bonez and asked, "Daz Bonez, what about you? What is your answer?"

"Don't think you'll get a single thing from me," Daz Bonez spat through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with resentment as he struggled against the gravity.

"That is perhaps the only thing I envy about Crocodile," Bane said, shaking his head with a sigh. "In that case, I shall grant you the favor of seeing your loyalty through to the very end."

The moment his voice fell, a terrifying power of darkness surged from beneath Bane's feet, instantly engulfing the figure of Daz Bonez.

Bane then stood up, picked up the fruit from the table, and walked over to where Daz Bonez stood shrouded in darkness.

A few minutes later, under the horrified gazes of the various ability-user executives, the corpse of Daz Bonez slumped down beside the body of Crocodile, while a new Devil Fruit now rested in Bane's hand.

Bane tossed the Dice-Dice Fruit casually to Nico Robin, who was standing by in respectful obedience, and said in a nonchalant tone, "Reward it to whoever performs the best later on."