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

Chapter 26: Zoro's Shocking First Punch!

At the ruins of the Loguetown naval base, a large number of naval personnel are currently carrying out cleanup work. Surprisingly, Garp's earth-shattering punch earlier did not cause many casualties among the naval soldiers, which can only be said to show that top-level powerhouses have excellent control over their power.

On the rubble of a ruin, Smoker was puffing on three cigars, while Bane leaned against a rock and chatted with him.

"So you didn't kill Satchel?" Smoker asked Bane with a somewhat incredulous look.

"Whether I killed him or not, what's the point now?" Bane replied casually, then looked at Smoker with a wary gaze as if he had thought of something. "You don't mean you want me to return his bounty, do you? Impossible, absolutely impossible. I'm being lenient by not asking you for Ace's bounty."

"We've completely blocked any information about Ace, so naturally we can't give you any bounty. Besides, you might not have been able to take him down without our navy's intervention," Smoker said, giving Bane a disdainful look.

Back when he first met Bane, he admired him. Now he felt he must have been blind. He didn't know if Bane was righteous or not, but he was definitely cunning.

Bane knew that Ace's bounty was impossible to obtain. Before the battle ended, the Navy had already activated its emergency plan, cutting off all signal waves in the entire Loguetown and immediately sealing off the port.

This also means that what happens here cannot be reported to the outside world without the Navy's permission.

According to Smoker, the entire Loguetown will be under lockdown for three months, during which time news of Ace will be blocked until the Navy is ready for the next step.

He didn't go into details about many things, but Bane wasn't stupid. The Navy's actions undoubtedly meant that this matter was not over yet; in fact, it was just beginning.

Perhaps the Navy has already made up its mind to take action against the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Marineford War, a major event that could affect the entire world's格局 and situation, obviously cannot be resolved hastily.

The navy was able to win this war not only because of its superior overall strength, but also because it made thorough preparations in the early stages!

Just as Smoker was talking to Bane about these things, Tashigi, along with Zoro and Nami, walked over from a distance.

Currently, Loguetown is under martial law. Even though the Marine base has been reduced to ruins, it's impossible to let just anyone in. It's obvious that Tashigi helped Zoro and Nami get in.

As soon as he arrived, Zoro asked, "Weren't we supposed to meet at the Marine base? Where is the Marine base?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Nami burst out laughing, then covered her mouth somewhat embarrassedly.

Bane looked at Zoro with surprise and said, "I didn't expect you to be able to tell corny jokes!?"

Zoro didn't respond to En's teasing, but asked curiously, "What exactly happened? I was on the other side of town, and I could see a huge explosion here. The whole island shook several times because of it. Was there something wrong with the armory?"

"That wasn't a big explosion. It was just some old man who punched this place in a fit of anger, that's all," Bane said, scoffing.

"Huh?" Zoro froze, stunned by the words. He looked around at the ruins of the base, his gaze finally settling on the terrifying-looking abyss in the distance. "Are you sure you're not kidding me?" he asked.

"Of course," Bane said, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Impossible, how could such an absurd thing happen?" Zoro looked completely incredulous.

"A frog in a well." Bane looked at Zoro with a serious gaze and said, "What I said is true. And the old man who threw this punch is none other than Vice Admiral Garp, who is known as the hero of the Navy. He is also recognized as one of the world's top strongmen. Now, take a good look around you, feel this gap, feel this despair, and finally, strive to become a strongman like him, Roronoa Zoro."

Seemingly sensing the expectation in Bane's tone and the seriousness in his eyes, Zoro stopped arguing and instead took another serious look at the surrounding ruins before asking again, "Could even the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, achieve something like this?"

"As far as I know, he could probably split the entire island where Loguetown is located in two with a single strike. That's the strength of the strongest fighters," Bane said after thinking for a moment.

Seeing Zoro lost in thought, Nami asked, "What exactly happened here? Why is Vice Admiral Garp here?"

Bane then explained, "The second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Fire Fist Ace, came to Loguetown with his men in order to hunt me down, and then we had a conflict and fought here."

"And what happened? How did Ace fare?" Nami asked, very curious.

Even now, Nami still fairly and impartially despises all pirates, and naturally doesn't have a good impression of Ace either, her tone carrying a hint of expectation.

"We caught him, huh?" Bane laughed.

Just then, Smoker spoke up from the side, "Don't spread this news around, at least not until you see it in the newspapers, so as not to affect our naval plans."

"Understood, don't worry," Bane replied.

"Is there any further action from the Navy?" Nami asked, looking like a curious child.

"Then I can't reveal it, since it involves our navy's secrets." Smoker shook his head, looking unwilling to say more.

Bane, however, bluntly stated, "Is there anything else we can't reveal? Now that things have come to this, we're practically participants ourselves. I can guess with my toes that the Navy's next move will be to use Ace to develop a targeted plan against the Whitebeard Pirates. In other words, the Navy is about to go to war with the Whitebeard Pirates, who are known as the strongest."

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

Hearing Bane's words, Nami looked extremely shocked. If you asked Zoro who Whitebeard was, he would answer that he didn't know, since he doesn't pay much attention to such things and his mind is full of swordsmanship. At most, he knows about the world's greatest swordsman, Mihawk.

But Nami is different. She pays close attention to news and events on the high seas. As soon as she heard that the Navy was going to fight Whitebeard, she knew that this was definitely big news that could set the world on fire.

What excites her even more is that she now seems to be one of the first members to know the news, and could even be said to have personally participated in the event.

However, after a brief moment of excitement, a sense of lingering fear set in. The Whitebeard Pirates were known as the world's most powerful pirate crew, and their captain, Whitebeard, was not only called the strongest man but also widely recognized as a powerful figure with the ability to destroy the world.

These few small fry who had never even left the East China Sea suddenly became the enemies of such a terrifyingly powerful figure. Just thinking about it makes one feel worried, okay?

However, seeing Bane's relaxed demeanor, Zoro's complete lack of concern, and even the Navy's Captain Smoker's apparent lack of pressure, she realized she was overthinking things. Even if the sky were to fall, the Navy's powerful figures would be there to hold it up, so it wouldn't hit them for the time being.

"Alright, I was planning to stay here for a few days, but it looks like that's not going to happen now," Bane muttered, looking at the ruins around him. Then he said to Smoker, "Do you have any Log Pose from the Grand Line? Give me one, it'll save me some trouble."

Record pointers aren't anything particularly valuable; Bane could find them on the market if he wanted, though it would take a bit more time.

Seeing Bane's self-righteous demeanor, Smoker sighed helplessly and said to Tashigi beside him, "Go and find him a Log Pose."

After saying this, Smoker continued to Bane, "Perhaps our Navy's plans will require your cooperation in the future."

Before he could finish speaking, Bane said with a smile, "Contact me anytime if you need anything, after all, we're friends."

(End of this chapter)