Killing a Devil Fruit user and taking their ability for oneself—obviously, none of them had ever seen such a thing. Forget seeing it; they had never even heard of it!
And now, this horrifying event was unfolding right before their eyes!
At the same time, Galdino spotted the cactus-like Devil Fruit sitting on the table and instantly understood. That was Crocodile's power—the Logia-type Sand-Sand Fruit!
Clearly, Crocodile had truly left all his "inheritance" to Lord Bane!
Nico Robin naturally accepted the Devil Fruit and nodded. "I understand."
Bane then returned to his seat and tapped the tabletop with his fingers, drawing everyone's attention to himself before speaking. "Some of you know the corpse on the floor, while others do not. Let me introduce him to you today. He was your former boss, one of the Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile."
After a brief pause, Bane continued, "The boss of Baroque Works is now me. I need all of you to understand that. However, I do not want anyone spreading news of Crocodile's death. At least until I announce that the information lockdown has been lifted, it is absolutely forbidden."
As he spoke, Bane's gaze swept across the face of every Baroque Works officer. Only after a moment did he continue, "If any related information gets out from us, I will not investigate who leaked it. You do not need to explain yourselves to me either. You will all die. Understood?"
The others listened to this unreasonable order, yet no one dared to object.
As for running away, they were all senior officers of Baroque Works and naturally understood just how extensive the organization's influence and intelligence network were. Coupled with the terror of their new boss, it was clear that running would be useless.
"Understood!" everyone hurriedly answered.
Only then did Bane