Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 197 Bane's Prestige Shakes the Navy Headquarters!

Three days later, on the warship, Bane woke up in bed, feeling sore all over, but the excruciating pain he had felt over the past two days had subsided.

"The side effects of the Dark-Dark Fruit are truly terrifying," Bane muttered.

The pain was twice as intense, which he wouldn't normally notice, but this battle with Kaido was exhilarating.

Fortunately, the double pain wasn't without its benefits, namely his extremely strong recovery ability. He was already able to get out of bed and walk freely yesterday, and after waking up today, he felt that his bones had completely recovered.

Moreover, thanks to the repairing power of the Devil Fruit, there's no need to worry about any hidden injuries, which is what Bane is most satisfied with.

After washing up and tidying himself up, Bane dressed, opened the door, and went out.

He found it strange that there was no one in the cabin. When he got to the deck, he found it incredibly crowded, as if everyone on the warship had rushed onto the deck.

"Lord Ben!"

Are you feeling better?

"Make way for Lieutenant General Benn!"

Amidst the greetings and courtesies of a group of sailors, Bane finally reached the front of the deck, where Zephyr and the others stood, their attention focused on the distant sea.

Dressrosa, a country steeped in history, an ancient kingdom that once gave birth to twenty kings, has today come to the end of its fate.

The island's geological ley lines completely fractured, resulting in insufficient support, and the island is now slowly sinking below the sea surface.

The death of an island is indeed a rare sight. Bane walked to Zephyr's side and looked at the scene, feeling quite emotional.

He was the one who sank the island, which made Bane's feelings quite complicated.

On the one hand, he was somewhat pleased with his own strength, but on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel saddened by the dangers of the sea and the misfortune of Dressrosa.

As Bane was pondering these thoughts, he suddenly caught sight of a figure dressed as a maid out of the corner of his eye, and asked with a surprised expression, "What's she doing here?"

Seemingly having heard Bane's voice, the maid looked at him with some fear, took two steps back, and hid behind Nami. Nami noticed this and explained with a smile, "This is Baby-5, a former member of the Donquixote Family, and now my personal maid."

"What exactly is going on?" Bane asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Zoro previously discovered that there were still a large number of survivors in the underground pits of Dressrosa, so after sending you back to the warship, we went to rescue you and found her there," Nami explained.

Baby-5 has a very strange personality. She has an extreme people-pleasing and selfless personality and can't refuse other people's requests. When the war first broke out in Dressrosa, she was ordered to go to the battlefield to provide support. However, as soon as she left the King's Highlands, she encountered a large number of people who wanted to flee. Naturally, those people asked Baby-5 for help. On the spot, she forgot her mission and excitedly led these ordinary people to find a good place to take refuge in Dressrosa.

Because she was a member of the Donquixote Family, she knew the location of the underground pit very well. So she led a large group of Dressrosa refugees there for refuge. As a result, she inadvertently avoided the great battle between Kaido and Bane and survived!

When Nami was helping the refugees, she found her. The cunning little thief immediately noticed Baby-5's inability to refuse, and after a few tricks, the silly girl became Nami's maid.

"I've spoken with many survivors of Dressrosa and confirmed that although Baby-5 is a member of the Donquixote Family, she has hardly committed any crimes. She doesn't usually handle pirate matters and mainly serves as the head maid of King's High. I think she's a rather pitiful person. The reason she became a pirate is not because she wanted to be a pirate, but because she can't refuse. For example, when I tried to invite her to join the Marines, she excitedly agreed." Nami explained, linking arms with Bane.

Before Bane could even speak, Nami, as if afraid he'd kill the silly girl and steal her power, shook his arm and pleaded, "Master Bane, I'm a colonel now, I have the authority to invoke the headquarters' pacification laws, right? Let Baby-5 stay, okay?"

The Amnesty Act is a special policy of the Navy Headquarters. Starting from officers at the rank of colonel, they have the authority to initiate this act to amnesty certain "suitable" pirates.

As for how to define "suitable", it is very broad. If they say you are suitable, then you are suitable. If they say you are not suitable, then no matter how much you argue, you will have to go to Impel Down to serve your sentence.

Bane found it somewhat amusing after hearing this, but he didn't actually dislike Baby-5; in fact, one could say he quite liked this silly girl.

So after thinking about it for a moment, he nodded and agreed, "In that case, you have to take responsibility. You know her personality and weaknesses. Don't let her cause any farce where she gets the enemy's help and turns around to sabotage things. If that happens, I'll hold you accountable."

"I understand, I understand, don't worry, leave it to me!" Nami said happily.

Without inquiring further about the matter, Bane quickly asked, "What about the rest of the Don Quixote family? Have they been found?"

"Apart from Diamante, who was dug out of the ruins by Zoro and is still half alive, all the other executives are missing. Considering that we have been sealing off Dressrosa, they probably didn't escape, so their fate is obvious," Nami said, looking at Dressrosa, which was almost completely swallowed by the sea.

The island is going to be gone, need I say more about what will happen to those people?

It's highly likely that it got caught in the crossfire during the battle between Bane and Kaido, and before it could even make a splash, it was gone. No, a more accurate guess is that it was burned to ashes.

"Including this final rescue, how many survivors are there in total?" Bane asked again.

"More than nine thousand six hundred," Nami said, her expression slightly somber.

This final answer also means that nearly 100,000 people sank into the sea along with Dressrosa.

Bane's expression remained unchanged, and Nami didn't ask what he was thinking. After a moment of silence, Bane asked again, "Among the survivors, is there anyone noteworthy?"

"We've checked everything, and there's nothing there," Nami confirmed.

Bane sighed softly. This also meant the complete annihilation of the Riku clan. It was likely that Rikudold III, Rebecca, Violet, and even Cyrus had not survived.

As royalty, he perished along with Dressrosa. Perhaps this was fate?

What made Bane a little regretful was that the remains of the other Donquixote Family executives were nowhere to be found, which meant that he could not take their abilities as planned. Speaking of which, he had been quite interested in and looking forward to Sugar's Hobby-Hobby Fruit, but unfortunately, plans can't keep up with changes. Kaido's interference and Bane's decision to fight back affected the fate of tens of thousands of people.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

After Bane finished talking with Nami, Ain quickly squeezed next to Bane and said, "Young Master, I need to report to you about the situation at headquarters."

"You say it," Bane immediately said in a serious tone.

"The Sengoku Grand Inspector, who was originally scheduled to come to provide support, returned to G-5 Naval Base three days ago. Headquarters has already learned of your battle with Kaido. Since the three admirals are not at headquarters, the Chief of Staff, as the highest commander of headquarters, has offered some suggestions," Ain said.

"A suggestion?" Bane stroked his chin. "Not an order?"

"No, it's a suggestion," Ain said. "Given your current performance and strength, I'm afraid no one in headquarters, except for generals and marshals, would dare to give you orders easily."

Theoretically speaking, as an admiral candidate, Bane should be on par with the Grand Chief of Staff and the Grand Inspector. In the headquarters, the only ones truly above him are the Admirals and the Fleet Admirals. However, the Navy currently has no Fleet Admiral, and the three Admirals are all tied up with other duties.

Borsalino fled to avoid trouble and disappeared from the Sabaody Archipelago, after which he could not be contacted at all.

As for Kuzan and Sakazuki, they haven't decided a winner yet. They've been fighting fiercely in Punk Hazard for seven days now. If nothing unexpected happens, they should finish their fight in three more days. I wonder if Kuzan can save his leg this time.

In this situation, no one at headquarters was qualified to give Bane any orders. In the past, the chief strategist, Tsuru, would have given him some guidance as a senior, but on this high seas, strength is ultimately paramount. The first thing affected by Bane's battle with Kaido was the Marine Headquarters.

So even Chief Advisor A-He can only offer advice to Bane now, rather than issuing any orders.

"Is the impact really that big?" Bane asked in surprise.

"Just as the teacher said, before Whitebeard died, Kaido was widely praised as the strongest creature in the three realms of sea, land, and air, and was generally recognized by the sea as the 'King of One-on-One Battles'. After the Marineford War, Whitebeard died in battle, and Kaido's title of the strongest was no longer in dispute. Since then, he has been considered the strongest person on the sea." Ain said softly.

"Even so, I didn't beat him. I only fought him for two days and three nights. If we continued, I would definitely lose," Bane said, still somewhat puzzled.

"No, that's just your own perception. In reality, objectively speaking, you single-handedly defeated and killed the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo, and fought a fierce battle with the Yonko Kaido for two days and three nights, ultimately forcing Kaido to withdraw from Dressrosa. This is the general consensus of the headquarters regarding your performance." When Ain said this, his tone was somewhat excited and agitated, as if he wanted to cheer for Bane.

What does it mean to be "awe-inspiring to the Navy Headquarters"?

Bane only realized this belatedly!

Yeah, damn it, before his fierce battle with Kaido, he casually killed one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!

Although he himself knew how easily he killed Doflamingo, the meaning to the outside world was completely different. After all, Doflamingo was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, one of the three major powers at sea, and a very powerful figure in the New World.

In terms of overall record in Dressrosa, Bane's performance was extremely strong and dazzling, first killing a Shichibukai and then fighting a Yonko!

The news hasn't spread yet; it's only circulating among the high-ranking officers at the Navy Headquarters. Otherwise, the entire ocean would tremble because of it!

Today, Bane can definitely be called a top expert who can influence the situation on the high seas!

Not to mention the Marine Headquarters, even the five on the Holy Land of Mary Geoise have to readjust their attitude towards him and give him enough attention!

(End of this chapter)