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

Chapter 258 Undercurrents, Bane's Conspiracy.

New World, G-5 Naval Base.

At this moment, three lieutenant generals gathered in Smoker's office.

Lieutenant General Dol sat on the sofa, chatting with Major General Tina and Colonel Tashigi, while Smoker sat at his desk, processing some documents. Penn, on another sofa, was intently looking at the intelligence about the front lines in his hand.

Seeing that Smoker had finished his work, Dole finally spoke up: "The Admiral is arriving today, right?"

"Yes, it's supposed to be today." Smoker nodded, leisurely lighting three cigars and putting them in his mouth at the same time.

"I wonder what the general has summoned us for this time? Is it a relocation at the front?" Peng En asked his colleagues with great curiosity.

"He didn't say it explicitly, but he told us to prepare for departure. It's probably really related to the front lines. And Vice Admiral Fubuki and Vice Admiral Zoro will be coming with the Admiral. Judging from this, things are definitely not simple," Smoker said with a hint of excitement. "Perhaps there will be a major battle?"

"I'm actually looking forward to it," Dol said with a smile, lighting a cigarette as well.

Meanwhile, in the waters near G-5, several warships were anchored, and around the flagship was an ordinary three-masted sailing ship without any flags or markings.

The three-masted sailing ship was moored alongside the fleet's flagship, forming a passageway.

Soon, two mysterious figures, their faces obscured by cloaks, boarded the warship.

Nami seemed to have been waiting there for a long time, and immediately led the two figures into the cabin.

Once inside the enclosed cabin, the two figures removed the cloaks that concealed their forms and faces. The one walking in front was none other than Nicole Robin, the vice president of Baroque Works, currently the largest middleman and distributor in the underworld.

The other one is an unknown nobody, a transvestite named Bon Clay.

Bon Clay followed behind Robin with an extremely cautious, even trembling, demeanor, like a little follower, not daring to make any unnecessary movements, and was extremely respectful.

Robin, on the other hand, relaxed considerably. She asked with a hint of curiosity, "Nami, what's wrong with Bane this time? Why is he being so mysterious? He can't tell us over the Den Den Mushi, and he insists we come here to meet him?"

At first, Nami treated Robin as an opponent and guarded against her closely, but in the end she still couldn't stop Robin from having a relationship with Bane. Later, she formed an alliance with Fubuki, wanting to work together to fight against Robin and prevent Bane from being taken over by Robin.

But clearly, Robin's skills are far superior. During her time in Melvyn, she used her exceptional emotional intelligence to "win over" both Nami and Fubuki, and their relationship is now quite good.

Upon hearing Robin's question, Nami mysteriously replied, "We're about to cause a big incident involving those five people on Mary Geoise. I can't explain it clearly in a short time, but he'll explain it to you personally later."

Soon, Bane met the travel-worn Robin and Bon Clay in his cabin.

"Haha, long time no see, Robin. Have you missed me lately?" Bane stood up and greeted him with a smile.

Robin rolled her eyes at Bane and said, "Some people never contact me when they have nothing to do, but as soon as they need something, they immediately put on a warm and friendly face. Those kinds of men are the most unreliable, don't you think, Nami?"

"You're right, men like that are definitely unreliable!" Nami chimed in, seemingly agreeing with him.

Bane was also a little embarrassed. Well, what Robin said was indeed correct, because he always made the same mistake.

After scratching his head somewhat awkwardly, Bane immediately looked at Foncray and said, "You're here? This time it's something important, and we need you to do your best."

Although Bon Clay was also a senior executive of Baroque Works, he had actually only met Bane once so far, when Crocodile died in Alabasta.

Since then, Bane has risen rapidly to become a very important figure on the sea, holding the rank of Admiral in the Navy Headquarters. Because of this, the senior officers of Baroque Works, including Bon Clay, have great respect for him, and because of this distance, they also have a deep-seated fear of him.

So when his boss greeted him so warmly, Feng Kelei immediately responded with unwavering loyalty, "I would serve you to the death!"

He was usually flamboyant and spoke in a strange tone because of his transvestite identity, but in front of Bane, he behaved very seriously and dared not be negligent in the slightest. He also did not have any of those strange makeup on his face.

"Don't be so nervous," Bane said. "Please have a seat."

At this moment, Ain thoughtfully poured tea for the group.

Bane boasted, "Robin, try this! It's a specialty of Amazon Lily, and it's quite good."

"That's true. Some people went to Amazon Lily and must have seen the world's most beautiful woman. No wonder they haven't been able to contact me. Sigh. Sure enough, men don't cherish what they have." Robin sighed again, then picked up her teacup and took a small sip.

Seeing that the matter was beyond repair, Bane quickly apologized, saying, "I'm so sorry, I've just been incredibly busy and under a lot of pressure lately."

Robin wasn't really being unreasonable. Seeing that Bane had backed down, she stopped causing trouble and put down her teacup, saying, "But what can I do? I just like you. I can't help it, so I'll forgive you this time."

Ain, standing to the side, was intently jotting down some notes in a small notebook with a very serious expression. Nami, looking curious, leaned closer to Ain and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Learning." Ain said seriously, "Looking at the beauties around the young master, that is, you, Fubuki and Miss Robin, only Miss Robin can always have the young master completely under her control, so I am learning from her."

Nami paused for a moment after hearing this, then said with dissatisfaction, "Don't Fubuki and I deserve to learn from you?"

"You and Fubuki are completely controlled by the young master, there's no need for you to learn from him," Ain said mercilessly.

Nami?

Are we really that bad?

Then, Nami suddenly realized what she meant, a mischievous grin spreading across her face as she teased in a low voice, "Speaking of which, why are you learning this? Do you also want to take your relationship with your young master to the next level?"

Ain, who had been earnestly studying Robin's techniques, blushed instantly. A shy blush bloomed on her pretty face, and she stammered, "No, no, I'm just... just learning these skills to better fulfill my duties as an assistant. You know, sometimes the young master doesn't listen to advice."

"I understand, I understand, hehe." Nami chuckled mischievously, but showed no intention of continuing to tease Ain.

Meanwhile, Bane, Robin, and Bon Clay also got down to business.

"Robin has mentioned you to me many times. You've completed many missions excellently and are her capable assistant. Hearing her say this makes me very happy that you've performed so well," Bane praised with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Bon Clay was incredibly excited, appearing ready to die for Lord Bane.

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

Robin smiled on the surface, but inwardly he couldn't help but complain: This guy rarely even contacts me with Den Den Mushi, and he always denies everything after he's done with his pants down. When has he ever listened to what I'm saying?

But of course she couldn't expose Bane's true colors; instead, she nodded in approval from the side, looking quite serious.

"Your Devil Fruit ability allows you to imitate others, right? From appearance to voice?" Bane asked.

"Yes, boss," Fung Clay replied immediately.

At the same time, he quickly demonstrated his abilities to Bane, changing into many different forms and imitating many people. However, perhaps because he was not skilled enough, Bane did not recognize who he was imitating, but still praised him as "lifelike".

"I have an important task for you. Use your ability to replicate my image, and then for the next few days, follow me as an ordinary naval soldier. Try your best to remember my little gestures, details, way of speaking, and so on," Bane instructed.

Feng Kelei was stunned for a moment, then cold sweat poured down his forehead, and his eyes showed some fear.

He never dared to casually record what important people looked like, partly because he rarely had the opportunity to interact with them, and partly because of fear.

Because this kind of thing is too risky, it might become a disposable item, used up by those big shots and then "closed."

For example, he never dared to record Robin's appearance, lest he be killed.

At this moment, Bane, the big boss, asked him to imitate, which was obviously to "perform" at some point. This undoubtedly meant that the real Bane wanted to use this gap to do something else important, and he was the so-called "alibi". After that, in order to prevent the news from leaking out, he might be silenced!

Moreover, although he could completely delete his recorded image, these big shots might not believe it. They might suspect he was using this image to seek personal gain, or they might simply close his account!

In short, Funker really didn't dare.

Bane seemed to sense his fear and said softly, "Don't worry, I wouldn't harm my loyal subordinates. Delete this record from your image afterward, and I'll contact you again if needed."

Funker could not fully trust Bane's explanation, but the reality was that he had no choice.

Are we to ask him to refuse Bane here?

That might mean being killed immediately. In contrast, completing the mission might save your life because of the boss's integrity, and you might even be valued and promoted to a higher position.

Although Funker wasn't particularly clever, he still understood this principle.

From the moment he was summoned, he had no other choice.

Fear or awe cannot change this fact.

So after a brief moment of panic, he quickly composed himself and said, "Yes, I will obey your will, Lord Bane!"

The more secrets that followed were clearly not something Bon Clay should hear, and soon Nami led him away.

After he left, Bane turned to Robin and said, "I plan to kill Satan, one of the Five Elders, in the New World. I don't know if I can really keep it a secret, but I still need to cover it up. So first, I need to create an alibi. When I start to act, you have Bon Clay impersonate me and hold a press conference in Melvure to announce a formal declaration of war against the New World pirates. Make as many appearances as possible."

"Kill the Five Elders!?" Even the usually composed Robin was incredibly surprised, then exclaimed excitedly, "Are you finally going to make your move on Mary Geoise?"

"You could also call it a probe," Bane said with a smile. "To prepare some intelligence for the final offensive."

(End of this chapter)