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

Chapter 256 Garp's Wrath!

Bane hadn't really visited Garp's house much, especially after they moved to the new Marine Headquarters.

However, he acted as if he were back in his own home. He walked through the courtyard, went into the house, and sat down on the sofa as if he knew it well. He even said shamelessly, "Quick, have a cup of tea, I'm so thirsty."

Garp didn't mind Bane's attitude. On the contrary, it was probably because of Bane's casual attitude that he and Bane got along so well.

"Don't young people these days know any manners?" Garp grumbled.

But he still quickly brewed a pot of tea and poured it for both Bane and Ian.

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Karp," Ain said respectfully as he accepted the teacup.

Bane, that shameless guy, took a bite and said, "So-so."

Before Garp could even react, Bane chuckled and placed a packet of tea on the table, saying, "I smuggled this from Amazon Lily. It's definitely a rare find. Even the Empress said it was good. Don't say I didn't think of bringing you a gift."

This series of actions left Garp somewhat helpless, and he couldn't say anything more about Bane.

"I didn't expect Borsalino to capsize this time. It seems that the Pirate Empress of Amazon Lily is really not simple." Garp clicked his tongue.

"That's really impressive," Bane responded.

The two chatted casually for a while, and after five or six minutes, Bane asked, "So? Did you find your good grandson?"

"We didn't find him, and not only that, things got even stranger." Garp's expression turned serious as he spoke about the topic. "Afterwards, I specifically contacted that bastard Dragon. He was quite surprised when he heard about Luffy's disappearance, and I've confirmed that the Revolutionary Army didn't do it."

"You can still contact Dragon!?" Bane asked Karp in surprise.

He thought the father and son had long since severed ties.

"It was only a couple of years ago, during that time in the East Blue, that we re-established contact. Why are you so surprised? Although that guy is a rebellious son, he is still my own son after all. But don't even think about getting any information about the Revolutionary Army from me. That guy won't reveal a single word." Garp said calmly.

"Although the Revolutionary Army's affairs have now fallen to our navy, I have absolutely no interest in them, don't worry." Bane shook his head, then said, "If it wasn't the Revolutionary Army, then there must be a mole within the ranks, right?"

Upon hearing this, Garp's face darkened. "At first, I also suspected the same thing. The fact that Luffy could be taken away from headquarters without anyone noticing suggests that it was an inside job. But so far, I haven't found any clues. More importantly, these kinds of kidnappings or abductions usually involve some kind of demand. I've been waiting for someone to contact me and make some requests, but nothing has happened. Now I'm completely at a loss."

A while has passed since the World Conference. At first, Garp thought someone was going to use his grandson to threaten him into doing something, but so far, no one has contacted him, as if the whole thing never happened. He is now extremely puzzled.

"Couldn't that kid have just run away on his own?" Bane raised an eyebrow.

Although he asked that question, Bane actually thought it was unlikely. With Luffy's style and thick skin, how could he possibly escape from the heavily guarded Marine Headquarters without anyone noticing?

Even though most of the Navy's elite went to Mary Geoise at the time because of the World Conference, Bane still thought it was unlikely.

Judging from that guy's style, he'll cause some trouble as soon as he leaves this courtyard. Even if he's managed to escape to the sea and become free, he should be raising the pirate flag now, shouting that he wants to be the Pirate King, starting to call on his friends, and even making a fuss.

In this situation, how could Garp possibly not find a single clue?

"Unless he drowned at sea, it's impossible that there's been no movement until now. I even checked his Vivre Card. It was intact, but it lost its navigation function. That alone is enough to prove that he was taken away," Garp said in a deep voice.

The life card shows normal vital signs, but it cannot be tracked. This means that the other party came prepared and used special methods to disable some functions of the life card.

"The technology to shield life cards is very advanced; only a few major powers possess it," Bane said softly upon hearing this.

This thing is like a Devil Fruit encyclopedia; it has a learning curve, and most people can't get their hands on it.

This shielding technology was actually developed just a few years after the birth of the life card technology, which is quite normal. The battlefield is extremely chaotic, and no big shot can say that he has never been injured.

If you get injured, there's a chance that body tissue will be left behind. If your opponent gets hold of that tissue and gives you a life card, they can study your situation and movements all day long, and nobody can stand that.

Especially someone like Kaido, who has been captured and studied by the World Government many times before, and even his Devil Fruit ability has been copied, so how could they not take the opportunity to get a Vivre Card for him?

Putting aside everything else, as a Marine Admiral, Bane had seen Kaido's Vivre Card at Marine Headquarters, but it was of no use. Not only could it not guide the tracking of Kaido's movements, but even the display of his vital signs was blocked.

Unless Kaido dies, this Vivre Card will not react.

Before Karp could reply, Bane continued, "So, setting aside the possibility that he escaped on his own, it's almost certain that this was a kidnapping or abduction. And yet, no one contacted you afterward. What about Dragon? Did someone use this to threaten him?"

"No, so it's neither aimed at me nor at Dragon," Garp said in a deep voice.

"That's simply targeting him personally," Bane nodded.

"This is even more puzzling to me. What special value does Luffy still possess? Who would specifically target him? Or is it a powerful force? If the Red-Haired Pirates were still around, I might have some doubts. But now even they've been sent to Impel Down. There's no reason for a kid from the countryside in the East Blue to be sent there," Garp said, quite perplexed.

If all other possibilities are eliminated, then the remaining answer, no matter how absurd, may be the only correct result.

In particular, in Bane's view, this was not absurd.

"Mary Geoise," Bane said immediately.

Garp paused, then frowned and asked, "Why?"

This is his home, and even if Garp is careless, he will definitely take good care of his own base, so Bane is not worried about being spied on or anything like that.

He took a sip of tea and looked at Garp, saying, "It seems you really don't know anything about the Gum-Gum Fruit."

"What's wrong with the Gum-Gum Fruit again?" Garp asked, looking completely bewildered.

But after raising the question, he immediately realized that Bane had likely deduced something and knew some secrets that even he didn't know!

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

"Actually, the Devil Fruit your great-grandson ate wasn't a Paramecia type," Bane said, delivering a thunderous remark that left Garp utterly astonished.

"From the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia," Garp said, then stopped mid-sentence, his tone turning serious as he continued, "explain this to me properly."

"That was a smokescreen released from Mary Geoise. The Gum-Gum Fruit is actually connected to secrets from hundreds of years ago. Although you probably haven't studied the Poneglyphs or anything like that, as a veteran of the Navy, you should have heard something about Joy Boy, right?" Bane asked.

"Forbidden knowledge." Garp nodded slightly, then said, "I don't know much about figures from eight hundred years ago. I've only heard of them by chance. They seemed to be great enemies of the world's righteous government, the warriors of liberation or something?"

"Pretty much. He's the so-called 'Rubber Fruit' user." Bane didn't keep anyone in suspense and continued, "The Rubber Fruit isn't actually a Paramecia type. It's just a rudimentary manifestation of rubber before awakening. It's a very special ability. Its true effect is that of a Zoan type, Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, or... cough, sorry, slip of the tongue, Nika form. You might not be familiar with Nika, but to put it simply, it's the sun god that's been around for hundreds of years."

"What? A Mythical Zoan!?" Garp looked incredulous.

"Yes, only by awakening this ability can one truly perceive its change in nature. In the past few hundred years, no one has been able to do this since Joy Boy. In order to avoid a situation similar to Joy Boy's, the World Government has blocked the true information about this fruit from various information channels. They even marked it as a Paramecia-type ability in the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. At the same time, in the past few hundred years, the World Government has been trying to find a way to reclaim this Devil Fruit, but they have never truly succeeded," Bane explained the situation briefly.

Garp's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened.

"Redhead," Garp muttered through gritted teeth.

"I'm not sure if the Red-Haired Pirates know about this, so I can't tell if this is something they planned long ago. But there's no point in talking about it now. Back then, the Red-Haired Pirates 'accidentally' stole this Devil Fruit from the CP agency in the East Blue. It was supposed to be transported to Mary Geoise. Later, by some twist of fate, your grandson ate it. If he had stayed in that rural area and never come out, the World Government probably wouldn't have been able to find any trace of it. But..." Bane said softly.

"However, I brought that brat Luffy to Marine Headquarters, right under Mary Geoise's nose. Given my status, they were bound to pay some attention, and that's when they discovered Luffy's ability," Garp said grimly, then looked at Bane and said, "To obtain this ability, they seized the opportunity when I was off guard and brought Luffy to Mary Geoise?"

"There's no real evidence; these are all just my speculations," Bane said.

"I won't ask any more questions about this rubber and Nika stuff, since it's your secret. But how did you come up with the idea of ​​suspecting Mary Geoise?" Karp asked, somewhat puzzled.

"During the World Conference, the Five Elders invited me to meet. During that meeting, they mentioned something that was very important, but they didn't say a word about it. They said that I needed to do it after the pirate calamity in the New World was over. At the time, I was very curious. What could be so important that they couldn't reveal any information about it beforehand? Of course, I was just curious for a while and didn't think much of it until you contacted me and said that your good grandson was gone." Bane said, extending a finger with a dark aura surrounding it.

Garp was taken aback for a moment, then a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes as he said, "They want to use you to extract that fruit from my grandson's body!?"

"It's still just my speculation," Bane nodded.

"But... now it seems to be the only reliable and correct direction." Garp took a deep breath and calmed his excited emotions.

If that's the case, then at least before Bane makes his move, his great-grandson should be safe from harm.

Otherwise, the Devil Fruit will randomly regenerate and disappear from the hands of the World Government.

(End of this chapter)