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

Chapter 234 Bane angrily rebukes the Warring States, "My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and all my deeds are righteous!"

In Melville, in Benn's office.

A heated argument is currently taking place here.

"I shouldn't have let you join the Navy in the first place! Look at what you're doing now! Are you trying to undermine the Navy? You're practically splitting the Navy! How can you live up to the title of Admiral?!" Inspector Sengoku slammed his fist on the table in anger, berating Bane.

"Precisely because I am a Navy Admiral, I know better how to get the Navy out of that quagmire. Haven't you thought about that, Inspector General?! You must have!" Bane retorted, his face flushed.

For a moment, the old man from the Warring States period was speechless, wanting to refute but not knowing what to say.

When he was marshal, did he ever think about going it alone with the navy?

He must have thought about it. Not just him, but given the nature of the world's governments, any marshal must have fantasized about quitting and taking the navy to independence.

However, thinking about it is one thing, doing it is definitely not that simple.

Sengoku spent most of his life in the navy, but in the end, he never really managed to raise the banner high.

Seeing that Sengoku was speechless, Bane pressed his advantage, angrily questioning, "What do those beasts on Mary Geoise think of justice during their triennial human hunt? What do they think of humanity? What do they think of life? Are the people we, the navy, have worked so hard to protect just to be used as their hunting pleasure?"

When this matter was brought up, Sengoku was speechless. He opened his mouth several times as if he wanted to refute something, but he was silenced by Bane's angry eyes.

Honestly, no one can defend this. Whenever Bane is mentioned, he immediately stands on the high ground of justice and morality.

"Every three years, for hundreds of years, the countless corpses behind this have almost filled this sea, haven't they? When you go to Mary Geoise and report your so-called justice to those people, don't you feel ashamed? Don't you hear the vengeful spirits of Mary Geoise roaring in your ears? Don't you feel that the word 'justice' you wear seems so ironic? Is this what the Navy should be doing?" Bane asked through gritted teeth.

Before Sengoku could even process this, Bane erupted in fury again: "Forget about the Navy! Is this something a human being should do? Everyone says Charlotte Linlin is ruthless and cruel, willing to massacre entire cities and destroy nations if she can't have her favorite desserts. She can at least give herself a reason: she's sick, she has food cravings, she goes mad when she can't get what she wants, and she even beats her own son to death because of it. But what reason do those beasts on Mary Geoise have? They don't even bother with reasons. They're just looking for fun, just trying to show off their superior status as descendants of gods. For that, they can commit such atrocities. It's utterly outrageous! The crimes of Mary Geoise are countless, am I right?!"

Watching Bane angrily rebuke the Sengoku period, looking like he was turning against the Heavenly Gang.

Zeff and Kuzan, sitting on the sofa, exchanged a silent glance. Neither of them spoke, and they tacitly picked up their teacups, each drinking tea and calmly watching the show.

"I'm not splitting the Navy, I'm upholding justice. If the Navy is just there to help the world's government maintain this damned, inhumane rule, then it's better if it doesn't exist at all, and doesn't even deserve the name of justice. It's a disgrace to justice, to all of us Navy members who uphold justice. I think the Navy should just be called watchdogs. We bite whoever our master tells us to bite. When those beasts on Mary Geoise say they want to hunt, we just howl and pounce. What kind of justice is that?!" Bane was equally blunt, pointing his finger at Sengoku and launching into a tirade.

However, Sengoku couldn't refute a single one of his arguments. His expression froze, his eyes were filled with complex emotions, and he was extremely ashamed.

"You've been a marshal for so many years and haven't been able to change this situation. It's simply dereliction of duty, it's simply..." Bane wanted to say something harsher, but seeing Sengoku's somewhat broken state of mind, he was afraid that if he continued, the old man would be so ashamed that he would commit suicide. So he stopped talking.

"Hmph!" Bane plopped down on the sofa, snorted coldly, and then softened his tone, saying, "In short, I will not repeat the same mistakes. I said it in the newspapers: I came to the Navy for three things—justice, justice, and justice, damn it! I don't deny that I've been using the slogan of justice to realize my own ambitions, but did I do anything wrong?"

"You're using the name of justice to do this kind of thing; it's not based on justice at all. Your actions..." Sengoku instinctively wanted to defend himself.

But the next second, Bane declared without hesitation: "My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror; all my deeds are righteous!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Bane stood up again, patting his chest and saying, "Since I set sail, everything I've done has been done with a clear conscience. What is this? This is justice! Grand Inspector, if you think I'm wrong, then point it out to me. Tell me, what did I do wrong? Was it not something a navy officer should do? Did I betray justice?"

"You," Sengoku pointed at Bane, his body trembling slightly, but he carefully recalled everything up to now and couldn't find anything to criticize Bane for.

As Bane said, his actions may have been driven by selfish motives or other intentions, but they never violated justice; in fact, one could say that he was walking alongside justice!

My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror!

Everything we do is just!

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'? Since I dare to say this, I'm not afraid of being questioned. I, Bane, have always acted with integrity and uprightness." Bane retorted domineeringly to Sengoku, then continued, "As for you, let's not talk about seniority or favors between us today. I acknowledge all of that. Grand Inspector, you've taken great care of me, and I, Bane, owe much of my success to your help. But that doesn't change the fact that you're weak and incompetent, causing the Navy's justice to be disgraced. If you could truly lead the Navy out of this quagmire, I, Bane, might praise you for your forbearance and resilience. But the problem is, you haven't. In short, you haven't accomplished anything; you're just incompetent and weak. Why don't you dare to fight the Five Elders in a real battle?!"

Looking at Zhan Guo, he was trembling with cold, his face was pale, his lips were shaking, and he looked like he might have a heart attack at any moment.

Kuzan took a sip of tea and whispered to Zephyr, "Teacher, isn't that enough? If Bane keeps hurling insults, I'm really afraid Mr. Sengoku won't be able to take it and will commit suicide."

Zephyr, however, remained unfazed, as if deliberately letting Sengoku hear him, and scoffed, "What? You dare to do it but not admit it? Just because you've done something wrong doesn't mean others can't mention it? Did Bane say something wrong? If some people can't accept others pointing out the stains on their bodies that can't be wiped clean, then they shouldn't have done it in the first place. Since you've done it, you should admit it. If you're truly ashamed, then find a way to make amends. If you commit suicide, wouldn't that just prove Bane was right—weak and incompetent!"

Zephyr and Sengoku were old comrades-in-arms, and it was precisely because they were old comrades-in-arms that his words could hit Sengoku's heart.

Zephyr put down his teacup, snorted coldly, and said, "Some people hang up some kind of 'Rule of Justice' sign in their offices. When they were young, they were hot-tempered and fierce, saying they wanted the Navy to stand at the highest point of the sea and let justice rule the world. But after they become Fleet Admirals, I wonder if they can still unleash their Conqueror's Haki? I haven't seen it in many years."

"What are you going to say?!" Sengoku exploded, glaring angrily at Zephyr. "Do you think I've had an easy time all these years?"

"Of course you have it tough," Zephyr scoffed. "You talk about justice on one hand, and then you go and get involved in human hunting. It's no wonder you have it tough. I find it terrifying just thinking about it."

"Now I'm giving you a choice. You have two paths before you. The first is to embrace your sins and darkness, live with guilt, and run away until death, spending your life as a pathetic admiral. In that case, I'll let you go now. Melvure doesn't welcome people like you. From now on, we'll pretend we don't know each other. Go out and say whatever you want. If you want to inform on others, go ahead. If all else fails, we'll just go to war. Anyway, I, Bane, am going to build a new navy! Even the King of Heaven can't stop me, that's what I said!" Bane slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

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

Upon hearing this, Sengoku did not respond, but instead sat on the sofa with a gloomy expression.

In fact, this was something Bane had already anticipated. Although he had just arrived in Melvure today and hadn't even had a sip of hot tea, Sengoku suddenly showed up at his door and started arguing with him. Sengoku looked irritable and angry, as if he might turn on him at any moment and have a big fight to the death.

But it was precisely because of this that Ban realized that Sengoku had already made his choice.

However, over the years, he has suppressed too much in his heart, too much, and it is difficult to change in a short time. So he also wants someone to tear apart his weakness and hypocrisy in a bloody way, so that he has no way to escape and can only grit his teeth and move forward!

So he came to argue with Bane, or more accurately, he came to get yelled at.

Bane understood this, and thus satisfied Sengoku, using the sharpest and most cutting words to hurt him deeply. Perhaps only such humiliation and pain could make Sengoku feel a little better.

"The second path is to confront your sins and darkness, and think about all the things you failed to stop over the years, and the innocent people who died because of them. Then, bearing this shame, this sin, this darkness, join us in washing away this disgrace with blood, until you can stand tall again and say that justice will reign supreme!!!" Bane was even somewhat out of control at this moment. He grabbed Sengoku by the collar, pulled him face to face, and angrily rebuked him.

At this moment, Sengoku and Bann looked at each other. His eyes held shame, evasion, and many other emotions. He tried to look away several times, but eventually, his gaze became clear.

He slapped Bane's hand off his collar and said in a deep voice, "You're right, I should be ashamed. I've been a naval officer my whole life, and I'm not as enlightened as you have in just two and a half years. I've spent my whole life making mistakes and constantly making excuses for myself, talking about the big picture, about prioritizing order. In the end, I'm being scolded by a brat like you, and I can't even utter a single word in rebuttal. This is truly my own doing. Now, I'm halfway to the ground, with sand covering my throat. I don't know how many more years I have left. If I'm buried like this, I probably won't be able to rest in peace. Since that's the case, then I'll have a real fight with Mary Geoise! ​​Let me see what kind of trouble this new navy you're trying to create really can cause!"

"Hahahaha," Bane laughed loudly upon hearing this, "As for the climate, this is my first time doing something like this, I don't have much experience, so I wouldn't dare to make any boasts. But if we compare it to the world's major governments, to Mary Geoise, then it's a piece of cake! If you replaced five pigs in Pongel Castle, they would be better than these beasts who look like humans, wouldn't they?"

(End of this chapter)