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

Chapter 318 Strength is temporary, but handsomeness lasts a lifetime.

Bane pushed open the hotel door and stepped inside.

"I'm back." I greeted him casually, and when I looked inside, I was surprised to find that everyone was there today.

Zoro and Issho, who had been searching for intelligence outside for the past few days, have returned, along with Fubuki, who said she was going to gather some followers outside.

The group seemed to be organizing intelligence and chatting with Zephyr and Garp.

Upon hearing Bane's commotion, Karp instinctively responded, "Any gains today?"

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Bane, then paused, surprised, and asked, "Who are you?"

"If your eyes aren't good, go get them treated, Mr. Garp," Bane muttered, grimacing.

"It's not that my eyes are bad! Why do you suddenly look so different?" Garp exclaimed in surprise.

This caused everyone else in the room to look at Bane, and they all looked somewhat surprised.

"Being corrupted by the power of another world, gradually revealing its true nature, turning into a demon? As expected, those who wantonly manipulate the power of darkness and souls will eventually be devoured by this power and fall into the abyss," Robin said thoughtfully, touching her chin as if she were very serious.

After carefully observing Bane, Zoro said with a serious expression, "He has indeed changed a lot. What happened to your sword? Why has it turned into a dragon's head?"

"Hey, you confirmed my heart before my appearance, bastard!" Bane glared at Zoro.

"Ah, sorry, I have face blindness." Zoro said this in a serious tone, making up nonsense.

"It seems you've gained a lot? Did you acquire some new source of power? Did you travel through another world? Or did you encounter a randomly opened portal?" Teacher Zephyr asked with some curiosity.

Walking to the table, Bane picked up Nami's teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then said, "No, I just discovered a new application for the Soul-Soul Fruit."

With that, Bane took the hand cannon and sword from his waist and placed them on the table, saying, "See if there's anything different?"

After observing for a moment, Fubuki raised an eyebrow and said, "Homies?"

"You're half right," Bane grinned. "It's a Homie who ate a Devil Fruit."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone else was stunned for a moment, and then quickly asked about the situation, all of them looking very curious.

Bane then took the opportunity to tell them about his sudden inspiration that day and the reason for the change in his appearance.

After Bane finished speaking, Garp remarked with a sigh, "I see. So it's some subtle feedback from the Azure Dragon Fruit to your body?"

"To be honest, you're becoming more and more to my liking, a little bit..." Robin said, her expression slightly shy, and she didn't continue.

However, judging from her expression, her eyes were almost drooling.

Speaking of which, due to her childhood experiences, Nicole Robin's aesthetic sense is somewhat distorted compared to the general public; she's a bit eccentric and likes dark, gloomy, and eerie things.

Just then, after Bane grew horns on his head, his physique and appearance gave him the look of a hellish hunk, which greatly appealed to Robin. If there hadn't been so many people around, she probably would have dragged Bane along to investigate the development progress of the Flower Flower Fruit and the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"It certainly has a unique charm~" Nami said with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

"Hey, isn't your focus a bit weird?" Bane couldn't help but complain as he looked at the two guys.

Yi Xiao asked with some curiosity, "So, you can now use four abilities?"

"That's true in theory, but the Azure Dragon Fruit and the Impact Fruit don't offer me much of a boost personally. It's better than nothing, so there's no need to have too high expectations," Bane said calmly.

"That's already very good," Professor Zephyr nodded in praise.

Weber, a cigarette dangling from his lips, pondered for a moment and said, "Irrecoverable? In your current state?"

"Of course," Bane said. "I just wanted to show you what I look like."

As he spoke, his expression turned serious, as if he were adjusting his state. Then, under everyone's gaze, the pair of dragon-like horns on his head quickly retracted, and in no time, he was completely restored to his original appearance.

"Aside from the horns, the power of the Azure Dragon Fruit is that it allows me to transform my skin into scales, further enhancing my defense and giving me an extra tail. That's all. Things like breathing fire or striking lightning are completely impossible for me. I've already tried it," Bane explained.

After a slight pause, he patted the swaying flower spikes and said with apparent delight, "But Xin Du can do it. Xin Du can even fully transform into a dragon. However, it says that it still needs some time to familiarize itself with the power of this Azure Dragon Fruit."

"It seems quite interesting," Garp said, looking like he wanted more.

"Most importantly, my image has become more intimidating. Combined with the Soul-Soul Fruit, it allows me to use this demonic appearance to instill fear in my enemies and harvest their souls. Watch closely," Bane said in a boastful tone.

The moment he finished speaking, his entire appearance began to change drastically.

First, indigo scales appeared on the arms and some of the skin exposed outside the clothing. Then, they merged together, and the dark soul power, like evil energy, transformed into flames, which emerged from the gaps in the scales and burned fiercely.

Immediately afterwards, a thick dragon tail grew out from Bane's coccyx, also with an effect like fel flames. Bane's entire body seemed to have grown half a size larger, becoming extremely imposing. At the same time, a pair of horns on his head shot into the sky, and in the very center of the horns, a ball of soul fire emitted dark energy, like some kind of evil core, hovering between the two horns.

Combined with the Conqueror's Haki and murderous aura that Bane deliberately revealed, his image at this moment was as evil and demonic as could be.

"The black flames of hell will burn everything; offer up your souls, mortals!" Bane roared at the crowd in a deep, affected tone.

As a result, Garp and the others watched as if it were a performance, offering their opinions with great interest, completely unafraid.

"They really do look quite alike."

"Yes, most people would be terrified, right?"

"That definitely gives his Soul-Soul Fruit a huge boost, given his appearance."

"But come to think of it, aren't we on the side of justice?"

"Although we are forced to do so for survival, ultimately we are going to invade this world. If we have to argue about it, it can't really be called justice, can it?"

"I knew something was missing—wings! He's missing a pair of demon wings, burning with raging flames!"

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

"Isn't there a concept of 'feathered kagune' among the kagune classifications in RC cells? Dr. Genus, why don't you give him an injection? Give him extra wings?"

"Low-level potions will only become a hindrance to evolution in the end. I advised you a long time ago not to make yourselves 'mixed and impure'. Devil Fruit abilities are a kind of external erosion. Although they don't seem to be a hindrance at the moment and can be perfectly integrated with you, they might become..." Dr. Genus started talking non-stop, as if he had opened a floodgate.

But everyone seemed to have grown tired of his "lectures," and after giving a few perfunctory replies, they pretended not to hear him.

Watching wasn't enough, so Nami and the others quickly started to touch it, making Bane a little embarrassed. He then quickly ended the useless "demon transformation" that only slightly enhanced his physique.

"So you spent the whole day developing this kind of transformation that has no practical use?" Zoro said with some disdain, "All show and no substance."

"Whether you're strong or not is a matter of time, but whether you're handsome or not is a matter of a lifetime. What do you know?" Bane retorted to Zoro with great disdain.

Didn't you see the look in Robin and Nami's eyes just now, like they wanted to devour me? A fierce battle is definitely waiting for me tonight, and you still say that's useless?

But after his initial outburst, Bane paused, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "No, I forgot. You really do understand. After all, some people, just to look cool, spend all their time studying poetry, Buddhist scriptures, and Asura diagrams, even though they have little to do with swordsmanship, just so they can mutter some nonsensical things when they make a slash, like..."

As soon as Bane finished speaking, Weber, who was standing next to him, readily took out his greatsword and said in a deep tone, "To cleave the decadent self in the world in two, Dual-Sword Style: Iaijutsu: Rashomon."

With Waver leading the way, Nami beside him also made a show of swinging her hand as if she were holding a sword, striking a swordsman's pose and saying, "One lifetime, thirty-six troubles; two lifetimes, seventy-two troubles; three lifetimes, one hundred and eight troubles; Three-Sword Style: One Hundred and Eight Troubles Wind!"

Fubuki, not to be outdone, darkened her expression, placed her hand on her waist (which was unadorned), and looked as if she was about to unleash an Iaijutsu, saying: "Nine mountains and eight seas, one world; a thousand worlds together, a small thousand worlds; this world multiplied by three, none can be broken by me, the secret of the Three-Sword Style. The Great Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds!!!"

Watching their performance, Ain, Garp, Zephyr, and the others burst into laughter.

Zoro's expression was extremely gloomy, his lips twitched involuntarily a few times, and sparks flew from the hair at his temples. After a moment, he suddenly placed his hand on the Wado Ichimonji at his waist, as if he had broken down, and shouted, "I'm going to cut all of you bastards down right now!!!"

The lively atmosphere lasted for about ten minutes. Zoro ultimately failed to hit anyone, and grumbled as he sheathed his sword, though he wasn't really angry.

The rest of the people were laughing so hard their stomachs hurt, and some even felt like they were about to convulse.

Once they had calmed down enough, Bane sat down on a small, shabby chair and asked, "You're all back today, so that means you've gained something, right?"

Zoro opened his mouth, just about to talk about what he had gained, but suddenly became arrogant, snorted unhappily, and didn't say anything.

Seeing this, the mature older brother smiled and shook his head, saying with a smile, "We did indeed gain something. In another city, which is normally a sixteen-day drive from us, there is a city called Xindaer."

"New Dahl City?" Bane looked somewhat dazed upon hearing the name.

"Have you heard of that place?" Yixiao asked curiously upon seeing this.

"Yes, I used to live there. It was originally a frontline logistics hub in the western part of the empire. Before I left, I heard that there had been a breakthrough on the front lines and that Newdale City was supposed to be transformed, but I don't know the specifics now," Bane nodded.

"That place is now occupied by a noble family called 'Orantock' because about half a year ago, a portal appeared there, attracting the attention of the Orantock family," Yixiao added.

"A portal to another realm?" Bane raised an eyebrow. "I vaguely remember Orantock. He seems to have become a pioneering noble family several decades ago due to the westward expansion. He doesn't seem to be very powerful, does he? He doesn't seem to have much of a foundation?"

"Yes, according to my and Zoro's rough investigation, the Orantock family's noble rank is baron, but we haven't found out the specifics. Next, it's up to Miss Robin." Yixiao nodded and said.

"Judging from the fact that they have occupied the interdimensional gate for almost half a year and it has not been swallowed up by the more powerful forces around it, this interdimensional gate should not have much strategic value? It is just right for us to use it for research," Robin pondered for a moment and said.

"A high-profile robbery is probably not appropriate. After all, we're new here, so it's better to keep a low profile. Ideally, we should take control of the entire Orantok family and continue to occupy the area in their name, while we remain hidden as the masterminds behind the scenes, waiting for further developments," Zephyr said in a deep voice.

(End of this chapter)