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

Chapter 53 Nami: I was first!

The transformation of an organization cannot happen overnight, especially for larger organizations.

Baroque Works is large enough that its arrival won't reveal any changes in the short term. However, without Crocodile's interference, the Nefertari family is indeed doing much better, especially since Vivi and one of the rebel leaders, Koza, are childhood friends.

The situation in Alabasta is recovering at a visible pace.

Three days after Princess Vivi left Rainland and returned to the capital Albana, the Neferutari clan announced a reconciliation with the more than 200,000 rebels led by Kosa.

Kosha was also the largest rebel leader in Alabasta. He reconciled with the Neferutari clan, which directly meant that the Neferutari clan's military strength surged to more than 800,000 or even 900,000.

The remaining rebels, even when combined, are less than half the size of the enemy forces. Furthermore, Crocodile is no longer in charge of coordinating things, and the negative impact of Koza's defection has further complicated matters. It's now clear to everyone that the situation in Alabasta is beginning to tilt in favor of the Nefertari clan.

Those nobles who originally supported Crocodile, now unable to contact him, have turned back to the Nefertari family and pledged allegiance to him once again, given the current situation.

As problems such as the upper-class nobility and rebels were gradually resolved, the country began to return to stability.

Rapeseed flowers in Alabasta's largest port city.

At this moment, the Shark Spab of Bane was busy loading its cargo; clearly, the ship was about to set sail.

It has been almost a month since I arrived in Alabasta. After all, it is such a vast place that I have spent half the month traveling back and forth.

At the port, Zoro and Issho were discussing swordsmanship. It was clear that Issho's presence had significantly diminished Bane's importance in Zoro's mind. After all, Bane rarely discussed swordsmanship with Zoro, while Issho was a true master swordsman who got along very well with Zoro.

Nami was directing her underlings to carefully load the precious luxury goods, antiques, and other gifts sent by the Nefertari clan onto the ship.

After inheriting Baroque Works, Nami's mindset seems to have changed. She is no longer as greedy as before. Now she says she wants to hold herself to the standards of an upper-class lady. For example, after eating at the rapeseed flower restaurant, she gave the waiter a large tip.

However, everyone could tell that this guy was just acting on a whim and would probably go back to his old ways in a few days.

They might even be obsessed with the tips they gave out.

At a makeshift barbecue stall at the dock, Bane was eating desert-style barbecue with gusto. He accepted everything from grilled scorpions to grilled lizards, stuffing them into his mouth without any hesitation.

"Not enough. Looks like I still need to go to the Sky Island and taste those sky behemoths." Bane swallowed a piece of camel meat and said somewhat unsatisfiedly.

Across from him, Nicole Robin sat elegantly, holding a wine glass in her hand. She rested one hand on her chin, staring at Bane with captivating eyes, as if she couldn't get enough of him.

Taking a swig of his drink, Bane looked at Nicole Robin and said, "What? The way you're looking at me makes me think you're in love with me."

Nicole Robin laughed at this, and after a moment, she finally couldn't help but ask, "I've been wondering, why did you take a liking to me at first sight?"

"What? You took a liking to me at first sight?" Bane asked while eating his barbecue.

"In the Little Garden, you could have easily taken my life, but you didn't. Instead, you unexpectedly trusted me and were very patient and tolerant of me. At first, I thought you needed to use me, so you did this, but now Crocodile is dead, Baroque Works is in your hands, and I am not actually indispensable. With your abilities, you could have easily found someone to replace me, but you didn't. Not only did you not, you went even further and handed everything over to me. In fact..." Robin paused here.

After a moment, she continued, "In reality, at this moment, you haven't taken any precautions against Baroque Works. In other words, after you leave, I can easily deceive everyone and even lead the entire Baroque Works to betray you."

"I believe you." Bane gave his answer before Robin could even finish speaking.

"Hehehe~" Robin chuckled twice and said, "What do you believe in me? I betrayed Crocodile so easily for you, and before that, I've betrayed countless others. You know all that, so why do you still say 'believe me'?"

Bane stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Beauty?"

"Huh?" Robin was stunned for a moment, unable to react for a moment.

"Hahahaha," Bane laughed loudly, "I really like women like you, is that a good enough reason?"

Beauty should have been the least likely factor, so Robin naturally wouldn't believe such a claim. She wanted to refute it, but after seeing Bane's admiring gaze, she ultimately smiled and shook her head, not pressing the matter further.

"Two years at most," Bane suddenly changed the subject. "After two years, I assure you, you'll no longer need to hide. You can appear openly in the eyes of the world, me."

"No need to say anything more. Two years or twenty years, it doesn't matter. I've gotten used to this feeling, and I don't want to believe other people's promises anymore. I know how much trouble my identity will cause you, so at least for now, I don't want to put any pressure on you. This may be the only thing I can do to help you," Robin said softly.

"Alright." Bane didn't insist on making any promises, nodded, and didn't continue.

He naturally drifted back into eating and drinking, while Robin remained silent, sitting across from him at the stall with a faint smile on his lips and a gentle gaze on the disheveled man in front of him.

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

About ten minutes later, Nami stood by the ship's stairs in the distance and called out, "Hey, Bane, everything's arranged. Have you finished eating yet?"

Upon hearing Nami's call, Bane stopped what he was doing, downed the drink in front of him, and then looked at Nico Robin, saying, "It seems I'll have to part ways with my beloved subordinate for now."

"I don't think you're suited to saying these sweet nothings at all; they don't evoke any excitement at all," Robin chuckled.

"That's a real shame, perhaps you haven't yet grasped my charm," Bane said, feigning nonchalance.

Then, he stood up, looked at the rapeseed flower port behind Robin, and at the boundless desert.

Just then, Nicole Robin across from her also stood up. At this moment, she abandoned all the elegant image she had always maintained. She first stepped onto the stool, then flipped herself onto the table, kicking the food away with her white boots, causing the juices to splatter everywhere.

The next moment, she hugged Bane's head and kissed him.

Their lips met, and Bane was a little stunned at the moment. However, he was a man who had trained with the landlady, and he reacted almost instantly. He grabbed Robin's waist and kissed him passionately.

On the other side, Nami was completely stunned by what she saw!

"Hey!" Nami, who wasn't exactly a meek and mild person, immediately shouted, "Nicole Robin!!! Let him go! I was first!"

(End of this chapter)