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

Chapter 253 The Nine Snake Island Incident is Resolved.

A wide square is now filled with stone statues of the navy; one might mistake it for some kind of special worship.

Looking at the four statues—Burning Mountain, Doberman, Storobelli, and Wild Shepherd—placed at the front, Bane remarked with some emotion, "You guys really have the strength to move these statues around like that."

Hearing this, Hancock said with some pride, "What we Amazon Lily have in abundance is warriors."

Bane nodded upon hearing this and said, "That's why I have high hopes for you guys."

After a slight pause, Bane said, "Then, I'll leave it to you, Hancock."

Hancock didn't waste any time. She snapped her fingers, and with a snap, nearly ten thousand marine statues in the square came to life. However, their thoughts and consciousness seemed to remain in the moment before they were petrified. After recovering, each of them had hearts in their eyes.

"Pirate Empress!" Huang Mu suddenly came to his senses and shouted angrily. Just as he was about to say something, Bane kicked him.

This kick sent Huang Mu staggering, almost causing him to fall to the ground.

Before he could speak, Bane pointed at him and the other vice admirals, including Doberman, Firemountain, and Storobelli, and yelled, "What's all the fuss about? Haven't you embarrassed us enough? You've ruined the reputation of the Navy!"

"General Bane!?" Fire Mountain looked at Bane with a mixture of shame and surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Of course I'm here to clean up your mess. Once the battle is over, everyone return to the warship in an orderly manner immediately." Bane glared at Fire Mountain and then gave the order.

Although the navy personnel were not quite clear about what had happened, they still followed Bane's orders and quickly reorganized their formation. Vice Admirals such as Fire Mountain awkwardly directed them, and under the leadership of Amazon Lily's warriors, they orderly left the square and headed towards the coast.

After arranging things with the navy, Bane turned to Hancock and the others and said, "Then I won't bother you any longer. Now, enjoy this hard-won membership."

"I will make the necessary arrangements and await your news. I hope you will not disappoint me, General Bane," Hancock said with a hint of seriousness, nodding gently.

"I don't think any man would disappoint the world's most beautiful woman," Bane joked with a smile.

Since learning of Bane's plan, Hancock stopped making things difficult for the Navy. In any case, she had to accept this expedient measure and let the Navy leave. It was just that she now had an extra guarantee from Bane, the so-called "new Navy".

Of course, she didn't completely trust Bane so easily. Their so-called cooperation was just lip service. She believed that after Bane left with the navy, Hancock, as the Empress of Amazon Lily, would have a second plan.

As for what this arrangement was, Bane didn't ask any further questions, and Hancock naturally didn't explain either.

On the shore, watching the navy orderly board the warships, and then the warships gradually starting up and beginning their return voyage, leaving Amazon Lily, Sandersonia stood beside Hancock and said, "Sister, do you think that admiral really does what he said he would do?"

"Perhaps, but this is merely an opportunity for us to take revenge. It is foolish to place our hopes on others. So what we need to do now is to be prepared to relocate the country at any time, lead our people away from Amazon Lily to a new home, and then, whether by plundering, building our own, or buying, we must gather as many ships as possible in the shortest amount of time," Hancock said in a deep voice.

Gloriosa, standing nearby, said, "Back in the New World, I discovered an island without a magnetic field. That island was originally intended to be a secret base for the Rocks Pirates, but we disbanded before it could be realized. Once we've built enough large ships, let's go there together."

Meanwhile, on the warship, Bane and Borsalino sat on the deck, drinking tea together.

The four rescued vice admirals stood awkwardly in front of the two men, somewhat at a loss for what to do.

"How is it? Isn't the tea from Amazon Lily pretty good?" Bane asked Borsalino beside him while sipping his tea.

Before leaving, Bane shamelessly asked Hancock to pack some tea for him.

Borsalino took a sip with relish and nodded, saying, "It certainly has a unique flavor. If trade could be developed, it would likely become a top-selling product."

"Hahaha, I wish it could come true." Bane laughed in response, then his smile vanished, and he looked at the four men with great displeasure, saying, "You lot are utterly disgraceful! You brought so many elite troops to the island, only to have them all petrified by Boa Hancock in a single encounter. In the end, headquarters was forced to sign this ridiculous treaty with Amazon Lily. How will you face Marshal Sakazuki when we get back?"

Before they could speak, Bane pointed at Huang Mu and said, "Especially you, Huang Mu. You were in charge of this operation, and you've suffered such a huge failure. Humph."

Aramu was furious. He looked at Borsalino, only to see Borsalino calmly drinking tea, showing no intention of saying a word in his defense. Aramu felt somewhat helpless.

He was clearly in charge this time, wasn't he? How did it end up being attributed to me?

But since the operation had indeed failed, he went to the island, he was in the wrong and had no way to refute it. Moreover, Bane was a naval admiral, how could a vice admiral like him argue with his superior?

So after being scolded by Bane, Aramaki could only swallow his anger and said with great shame, "Yes, I am very sorry for losing my composure. When I return to headquarters, I will personally apologize to Marshal Sakazuki and reflect on this failure. I also thank you, General, for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to Amazon Lily to help us handle the aftermath."

Look, Bane scolded him, and he even thanked us.

Bane wasn't the type to hold a grudge. Although he didn't like Huang Mu, Huang Mu hadn't offended him so far. Seeing that the guy had backed down, Bane stopped humiliating him and waved his hand, saying, "It's good that you know you're wrong. You guys have all worked hard these past few days. Go and rest."

After these irrelevant people left, the deck became much cleaner.

Weber, very curious, leaned closer and asked, "How about the world's number one beauty? Is she really as beautiful as the legends say? Does she match the photos?"

When Waver spoke, Fubuki, Nami, and Ain all looked at Bane with great curiosity. Even Zoro, who usually didn't pay much attention to these things, came over to listen to the excitement.

Bane clicked his tongue upon hearing this, as if still savoring the moment, and exclaimed, "She's truly beautiful, even more beautiful than in the photos. I can't quite describe her beauty. Actually, in terms of looks, Nami, Fubuki, and Ain are all top-tier beauties, but how should I put it? Is it her aura? Or something else? Hmm... In short, within the realm of beauty, you simply can't find any flaws in Hancock, right? She's like an exquisite and perfect work of art; in every aspect, she represents the concept of beauty. That's about the level she's at."

Hearing this, Fubuki said sarcastically, a hint of jealousy in her voice, "Really? To receive such praise from you, it seems that the Pirate Empress truly deserves to be called the world's most beautiful woman."

"You've only just met, and you're already calling each other 'Hancock, Hancock'? You two are really close," Nami said, her voice tinged with jealousy.

"You heartless radish." Ain said expressionlessly, her lips barely moving, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.

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

Bane?

"It's all your fault, Weber. Why did you have to ask me such a question?" Bane glared at Weber angrily.

Waver rolled his eyes and said, "Although I was curious too, it was Nami and the others who encouraged me to ask."

Watching Bane and the others bickering, Borsalino chuckled and shook his head, saying, "Youth is truly wonderful."

Just as Bane was being verbally attacked by Nami and Fubuki, two Den Den Mushi suddenly came through almost simultaneously. Ain looked at Bane's Den Den Mushi in his hand, and then at Borsalino, who had also taken out a Den Den Mushi.

"Contacting both of you at the same time, it seems something big has happened at headquarters again?" Ain said with a furrowed brow.

Borsalino didn't waste any time and immediately answered the Den Den Mushi, saying, "It's me. Bane's right here. What's up?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the headquarters reacted quickly, and Bane's Den Den Mushi immediately stopped ringing.

"Although I guessed you were together, I was worried that you were on different warships, so I tried to contact you both." Chief Advisor A-Tsuru's voice came from the Den Den Mushi.

After a brief pause, Chief Strategist A-Tsuru continued, "The operation on Kuraigana Island failed, and Admiral Fujitora failed to capture Dracule Mihawk. I wanted to inform you of this news. In this operation regarding the Seven Warlords of the Sea, only Gecko Moria was successfully defeated. After that, Headquarters will announce this information to the public. The Amazon Lily incident will be defined as Headquarters dispatching Borsalino to conduct friendly negotiations and ultimately reach a cooperation agreement. Amazon Lily will immediately become a member state under the World Government."

In other words, in the subsequent announcements to the outside world, the Navy never intended to settle scores with Amazon Lily from the beginning. Instead, it sent Borsalino to discuss matters concerning member states.

There were only two real battles: the first was against Moria, and the other was against Mihawk.

The battle against the world's greatest swordsman was a failure, though it can't really be considered a complete failure. It was just that we failed to capture him, so it's nothing to be ashamed of. Announcing it to the public won't have any impact.

This was a pre-arranged plan, so there's no need to worry about it.

With the successful defeat of Moria, the Navy has at least submitted a satisfactory report card, which can be considered barely acceptable.

Thus, the turmoil caused by the abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea Act has temporarily come to an end.

(End of this chapter)