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

Chapter 38: Crocodile, the Boss of the Guild!

In just a short conversation, the woman inexplicably switched sides and addressed Bane as "Sir," appearing ready to pledge her allegiance to him.

Zoro was extremely puzzled!

"Why are you so surprised?" Nami nudged Zoro and said, "That's the power of language and information."

"Of course I know, I'm not really an idiot," Zoro retorted to Nami, clearly annoyed.

He always felt that the navigator was looking down on him!

After a moment, Zoro said with some emotion, "I'm just curious, where did Bane get this information from?"

Previously, when they were in Shimotsuki Village, when discussing the Revolutionary Army, Bane was able to keep up with his pace, and even with his master's pace. Moreover, without leaving the house, he reported a large number of pirates and marines in the East Blue.

After setting sail, before even reaching Cocoyasi Village, Bane had already learned almost everything about Nami's past and was quite familiar with the situation there.

Now that they've just arrived at the Grand Line, they've already won over this woman named Nico Robin with just a few words.

Is this even reasonable?

"Didn't he already say? Don't pry into other people's business, just focus on honing your swordsmanship," Nami retorted, then smiled and added, "Anyway, the more he knows, the better for us, isn't it?"

On the other hand, Robin expressed her willingness to cooperate in taking down Crocodile and to join Bain's forces.

Bane stopped resting and started eating and drinking voraciously again, devouring the food on the table.

However, he didn't delay things. While eating, he said, "Now that you believe I can directly order you around and threaten you to do things for me, let's talk about what I need you to do for me."

Nico Robin watched the man before her devour his meat, his movements utterly lacking in elegance, yet he showed no sign of disgust. Instead, she relaxed considerably, a hint of a smile creeping onto her lips as she said, "Of course, I'm also very eager to know what I can do for Lord Bane, and I look forward to receiving some small reward from you after I've perfectly completed your task, perhaps..."

“I told you, I admire you, so I don’t want to drive you this way.” Bane chewed on the dinosaur meat in his mouth, then said, “The New World, the land of giants, Elbaf, Haguval D. Sauro is there. That’s my first answer to you.”

Upon receiving this answer, Robin's expression clearly revealed a hint of excitement.

Before she could speak, Bane tossed a bone onto the table and said, "However, while we may admire each other, we haven't truly built trust yet. So, let's postpone the answer to the second point for now. I'll tell you when we've established a certain level of trust."

"You've already told me the second answer, haven't you?" Robin said softly after calming down.

This time, when she looked at Bane, there was more sincerity and goodwill in her eyes, and less hypocrisy.

Where is Sauro? The books of Ohara should be in the same place, which means they are all in Elbaf!

Bane was showing her goodwill and demonstrating his trust.

Bane didn't deny anything, but he didn't respond either. Instead, he changed the subject and said, "In the years that followed, I had a rather large project, and to make it a reality, I needed a lot of funding. That's the first reason I'm asking you to cooperate with me."

"You want to swallow up Crocodile's achievements of nearly twenty years?" Nico Robin asked after thinking for a moment.

"That's right. Your biggest advantage in this plan to take down Crocodile is that you are the vice president of his massive Baroque Works. Moreover, as far as I know, Crocodile has basically entrusted you with managing all the affairs of this organization. In other words, after I eliminate Crocodile, with your help, I can completely take over everything that belongs to him. Are you confident that you can do that for me?" Bane looked at Nico Robin with a hint of pressure in his eyes.

Nico Robin nodded without hesitation and said, "Absolutely no problem, you will get everything Crocodile has."

"Very well, then I have one more small question: Is Crocodile really as wealthy as my investigation suggests, with a fortune that rivals that of a nation?" Bane asked.

If I remember correctly, this guy's so-called plan to steal the country is already in its final stages this year. It would be terrible if this bastard had already spent all his money.

"Yes," Nico Robin immediately affirmed, then continued, "Baroque Works has a vast organizational structure spanning the first half of the Grand Line. The number of high-ranking officers is kept to around thirty, and a bottom-ranking elimination system is implemented, so there are some rotations every now and then. The middle-ranking officers are called 'Billionaire Elders,' and there are two hundred of them. To obtain this position, one not only needs to have a certain level of strength, but also needs to contribute at least one hundred million Berries to the organization. Under the Billionaire Elders, there are also 1,800 low-ranking officers, collectively known as 'Millionaire Elders,' who are the most basic commanding members of our Baroque Works."

"If a billion elders need to contribute one hundred million Berries, then a million elders need to contribute a million Berries, right?" Bane pondered for a moment and said.

"It's at least one million Berries per person per year. That's why we don't have a ten million Berries limit, because a hundred million Berries limit would require at least ten million Berries per year to maintain their status and identity," Robin explained.

A million a year? That can't possibly mean they actually contribute a million. There's definitely internal competition involved in this.

But let's assume each person gets one million a year. Eighteen hundred people would have to pay 1.8 billion Berries a year to the organization. This isn't profit, it's 'membership fees'. If you don't pay, you can forget about becoming an executive!

Add to that two hundred billionaire elders, each earning at least ten million a year, that's another two billion at least. Wow, Crocodile's organization is doing quite well. Just from membership fees alone, he makes at least four or five billion Berries a year.

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

Seeing Bane's somewhat shocked expression, Nicole Robin finally felt a sense of pleasure. So, you can be surprised too?

Therefore, she introduced the Baroque Works in greater detail and with more initiative.

"In recent years, I haven't really paid much attention to the lower-level executives at the 'Million Elders' level, but as far as I know, these junior executives who can pay at least one million Berries a year definitely each own at least one ship and fifty subordinates. Otherwise, there are some missions they simply cannot complete, nor can they earn so much profit," Robin explained.

Ben could completely understand this. If you don't even have any subordinates or a ship, what's the point of paying a million dollars in membership fees every year if you're just working? Isn't that just a waste of time? Even after deducting food, drink, and entertainment expenses, you might not be able to afford a million dollars just by working.

After all, according to the villagers of East Blue, Ah Long only earns 100,000 Berries a year from skinning people, which is almost enough to drive people to their deaths.

Without giving the matter much thought, Bane did a quick calculation of the number of people in the Baroque Works. Each of the 1,800 junior officers had at least 50 subordinates, so the entire Baroque Works had nearly 100,000 members.

But it is clear that this is the most basic data. The actual data is likely three or four times, or even seven or eight times. In other words, Crocodile has created a group with hundreds of thousands of members in the first half of the Grand Line over the past twenty years!

When Bane first read the story, he didn't really pay much attention to Baroque Works. But now, thinking about it carefully, Crocodile is quite something. What is he up to? Is he trying to create a new alliance?

(End of this chapter)