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

Chapter 56 Our new navy, and also the three great admirals of the entire Logia type!

Gaya Island, Mogok Town.

This place is considered a lawless area in the first half of the Grand Line, similar to Beehive Island in the New World. It is a paradise for pirates, and the island is full of villains from all walks of life.

Logically speaking, as a pirate hunter, Bane should be wreaking havoc here.

However, it was clear that Bane, who had already passed through the "poverty" stage, had no interest in playing around with these lowly minions.

On the day they arrived at Jaya Island, Bane and his crew quickly resupplyed. Although they weren't interested, they still encountered some clueless guys at the dock. However, Bane didn't even have to lift a finger; Zoro and his gang cleaned up all the debris at the dock.

This is one of the reasons why Bane took hundreds of his men out to sea with him; sailing the boat was one aspect, but handling some miscellaneous matters was another.

On deck, Bane didn't even bother to get off the ship. He stood by the railing, looking at another ship not far away.

The ship had a very peculiar shape, resembling a monkey, and was equipped with a lot of salvage equipment. It was clearly a salvage vessel.

As if by fate, the salvage ship was also resupplying. On the deck, there was a strong man, shirtless, with a cigarette in his mouth.

Seemingly noticing Bane's gaze, the guy smiled at Bane in a friendly manner, and Bane nodded in response politely.

Venbrand Kulik.

Bane recognized him; he was a descendant of the legendary Liar Wenblanc Rolando, who had long sought the legendary land of gold, Shandora, to vindicate his ancestor.

"What are you looking at?" Nami walked up to Bane at that moment, handed him a glass of juice, and asked casually.

Bane took the juice and said with a smile, "Romantic."

"Romantic?" Nami was a little confused, while Bane nodded and said, "That's right. On this sea, there are not only magnificent scenery and surging waves, but also some...unsung romances."

Pursuing a goal whose existence is uncertain, and putting in enough effort and perseverance, even without results, is something you can be true to yourself. Perhaps no one can understand this, but it is indeed romantic.

Bane admires Kulik's romanticism, as well as his strong and unyielding heart and will, but he has no intention of getting to know him.

However, their goals overlapped to some extent: Bane also wanted to find the Land of Gold.

Crocodile's legacy is substantial enough, but the more advanced the stage, the more it needs a solid foundation to build confidence. The Golden Country is the second source of confidence that Bane has prepared for Zeff.

A city-sized amount of gold is terrifying enough; it's a fortune that even trillions of dollars can't describe.

Because of Nami the cat thief by his side, Bane is very familiar with the current gold market.

(Based on real-time Japanese Yen to Gold exchange rate) Currently, at market prices, one gram of gold can be exchanged for nearly 130,000 Berries!

That's right, one gram of gold is worth 130,000 Berries. And right now, high in the sky, there is a whole city of gold. Just one gold nugget the size of a Poneglyph would weigh about a ton. You can imagine what kind of wealth is hidden there.

Frankly speaking, if all the gold in the entire Gold Country were taken and exchanged at once, it could very likely trigger a financial crisis, causing both gold and peso to depreciate rapidly.

Therefore, this immense wealth is destined to be impossible to digest instantly. The best way is for a sufficiently powerful force to slowly absorb it.

The new navy would be quite suitable.

Without dwelling on Bane's romantic notion, Nami took out a Log Pose and said, "Although Ah Xiao said it, and you said it too, I really didn't believe before that islands could float in the sky. But now... the Log Pose doesn't lie."

At this moment, the recording pointer in Nami's hand was shaking wildly, but after Nami adjusted the angle of the pointer and pointed it towards the sky, the pointer stabilized.

Right now, directly above this port, high in the sky, there exists a sky island!

"Is that where we're going?" Nami asked.

"That's right, Angel Island is a floating island located above this island, and it's also our destination," Bane nodded.

"Is the sky island high in the sky dangerous?" Nami asked with some concern.

"With Brother Yixiao's abilities, there's no danger. As I said before, everyone is trapped in their own well, so everyone is a frog at the bottom of a well. It's just that those guys in the sky have a smaller well opening," Bane joked.

After a brief pause, Bane spoke, "We have two objectives for this trip to Skypiea. First, there's a guy on Skypiea named Enel. I have high hopes for that kid, especially because of his incredibly powerful ability—the Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which is considered invincible!"

"Invincible?" Nami didn't know where Bane got this strange information from, but she didn't care. After hearing Bane's description, she said with a smile, "Even a powerful expert like Ah Xiao said that the power of your Dark-Dark Fruit is a nightmare for all Devil Fruit users. I don't think that Rumble-Rumble Fruit is invincible in front of you."

"Perhaps," Bane chuckled. "But undeniably, among the many Devil Fruit abilities, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit is indeed among the best, even arguably one of the most powerful."

The Dark-Dark Fruit can forcibly pull all Devil Fruit users into its hand, but it cannot suppress their abilities during this process. Only by actually touching them can Bane seal their abilities.

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit combines speed, damage, and coverage area, making it a powerful ability with no blind spots.

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

Before Bane could capture his opponent, the opponent could easily use the teleportation ability of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to create distance between them again. Furthermore, with Enel's Observation Haki, which was powerful enough to cover the entire island, he wouldn't even need to show himself to attack Bane directly.

That's the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!

Honestly, if he had had a choice back then, and had put the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit together, and let Bane choose, he really wouldn't know which one to pick.

"Speaking of which, I don't have the curse of a Devil Fruit. I wonder if I can eat a second Devil Fruit?" Bane wondered to himself.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a question that Bane had been pondering for a long time.

However, the power of Devil Fruits is too mysterious, and even a special guy like Bane doesn't dare to try it easily. After all, he only has one life, and he's not a born gambler like Teach, who can rise to the top in one step if he wins and die on the spot if he loses. Why should he take such a risk?

Let's wait until a suitable opportunity arises, and when there's a sure thing, then we'll consider it.

"You keep saying you've got your eye on them, but that Rumble-Rumble Fruit user might not actually want to join us, right?" Nami said, taking a sip of her juice.

"It's alright. I value him because he is indeed good, but that's all. If he doesn't know what's good for him, I'll just take the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, just like Crocodile did." Bane shrugged and said nonchalantly.

Thinking about it this way, the Dark-Dark Fruit is still more convenient. If you don't want to join, then I'll just kill you and let your ability join me.

However, the slightly troublesome thing is that we still need to find a 'successor' who is at least presentable. For example, the Sand-Sand Fruit is still sitting in Bane's room, and there is no suitable candidate to eat it yet.

Of course, Bane isn't in a hurry. Just because he doesn't have enough manpower now doesn't mean it will be the same in the future. By combining the abilities of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the Sand-Sand Fruit with his own, he can create a "Logia-type Admiral" for the new Navy. Doesn't that sound pretty cool?

(End of this chapter)