Chapter 100: Bane: I'm About to Enjoy the Main Character Treatment at the Execution Platform During the War
Inside a tavern called 'Navy Club' in the residential area of Marine Headquarters.
Zoro, Issho, and the others were drinking with Smoker and Tashigi. The tavern was packed with many Marines—apparently it was run by a retired Vice Admiral who had been injured in service, which made it popular and well-loved among the Navy personnel.
Just as Issho and Tashigi were clinking glasses, Bane walked through the door.
"Finally found you all. This Marineford really is huge," Bane said with a cheerful greeting before sitting down directly between Issho and Zoro.
"How did it go?" Zoro asked casually.
"They basically made me the central figure of this entire war—I get the main character treatment," Bane said, smacking his lips.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Issho asked curiously. "Are they assigning you some secret mission?"
"Not quite. The Navy is going to make me a key figure in their propaganda campaign, announcing it across the seas. When the time comes, I'll stand on the execution platform alongside Fleet Admiral Sengoku to oversee the execution of Marshall D. Teach," Bane said with some amusement.
From a certain perspective, this really was a great opportunity to make an impression—after all, not just anyone gets to stand alongside the Fleet Admiral at such a globally watched public event.
Especially since the Navy would be promoting him as a key figure.
"I see." Issho immediately grasped the essence of the situation. "Using you to force the Whitebeard Pirates to come to Marine Headquarters for a decisive battle—what a brilliant move."
Everyone had been somewhat puzzled about why Bane would be assigned such a role, but now that Issho explained it, they all understood.
"The Whitebeard Pirates really brought this on themselves. They chased you all over the world back then, making such a huge commotion that everyone knew about it. Now that you're making a public appearance at Marine Headquarters, they have no choice but to come," Zoro said with feeling.
"What about us? How are we being arranged?" Nami asked with great curiosity.
"You and Dr. Genos aren't being deployed. I told them you two aren't combat personnel—maybe they'll find you some 'audience seats,'" Bane joked, then looked at Issho and the others. "As for you all, you'll form an execution platform guard unit together with Mr. Garp and Chief Staff Officer Tsuru. Simply put, you'll all be stationed below the execution platform. If the Whitebeard Pirates can't break through the front battle lines, there probably won't be much need for you to act."
Fubuki didn't mind—her main purpose this time was to get a close-up look at what the top-tier fighters of this world were really like, to broaden her horizons.
Wiper felt the same way. From the current situation, among all the combat personnel under Bane's command, he, the great warrior of Shandora, actually had the lowest strength. Having spent all his time on Sky Island previously, he lacked experience of the wider world, so this trip was also for gaining knowledge.
Issho and Zoro, however, felt somewhat disappointed. Issho touched his gambling dice and said, "Actually, I would prefer to join the front lines and have a proper match against the experts of the Whitebeard Pirates."
"I also want to see how much of a gap there still is between me and those first-rate pirates," Zoro said, taking a sip of his drink.
"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Regardless of how this war ends, the world will become turbulent because of it. If the Whitebeard Pirates win, he'll become the true uncrowned king, and those powerhouses in the New World will see the Navy's weakness. Then they'll pounce on the Navy and the World Government like hungry wolves, emerging from the New World," Bane said with feeling.
"Whitebeard can't win!" Smoker exhaled a puff of smoke and said with absolute certainty.
"I think so too," Bane laughed heartily, then continued, "But if the Whitebeard Pirates fall at Marine Headquarters, then the strongest pirate crew that has suppressed the various powerhouses of the New World for over twenty years will become history. Without Whitebeard's suppression, a new round of power struggles will begin, and there will be just as many opportunities to face off against the masters of the seas."
After discussing the impact of this war for a while, Bane spoke up again: "Fleet Admiral Sengoku also invited us to join the Navy."
"Oh?" Issho immediately became interested. "What did he say?"
Before speaking, Bane first glanced at Smoker and Tashigi. This time Smoker didn't remain oblivious and responded, "Doesn't matter to me. Whatever choice you make has nothing to do with me, and I won't be reporting anything either."
"Hahahaha," Bane laughed heartily, then said, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku's idea is for us to start as Marine Headquarters Captains. If we agree, he can establish our files right now and officially join the Navy. After participating in this war, our achievements and service record would be documented, and we could very likely be promoted to Commodore after the war ends."
Upon hearing this, Tashigi complained, "Damn, you guys are really lucky. Smoker and I have been working in the Navy for so many years and we're still just Captains."
The two Marine Captains felt this was already very generous treatment, but clearly Bane and his group didn't think so.
Especially Issho, who frowned slightly: "Just Headquarters Captain?"
You were just acting like bosom buddies with Garp, so why aren't you being helpful when it comes to serious matters?
If it was just Headquarters Captain, Issho really wasn't satisfied, considering his strength.
"Yeah, I also felt it wasn't suitable, so I politely declined," Bane shrugged.
"Huh?" Smoker was stunned. "You refused? You're not planning to join the Navy anymore?"
"We still want to join the Navy, but we need to wait a bit longer. Though it won't be much longer—about six months to a year," Bane pondered.
Smoker was even more confused by this and asked in puzzlement, "What's the point of that? Joining half a year early would let you accumulate merit through this war. If you wait another six months, you might not get such a good opportunity. You don't think Fleet Admiral Sengoku will arrange a Vice Admiral position for you later, do you?"
"Hahahaha," Bane laughed loudly before saying, "That's hard to say—maybe by then he'll arrange Admiral positions for us?"
"You're dreaming," Smoker scoffed.
What status and power did a Marine Admiral have? To give a simple example, Marine Admirals had the authority to issue Buster Call orders. They could directly designate a country as a target that needed to be completely eliminated without any consultation—truly the power to order millions of deaths with a single command. How could such authority and status possibly be given to someone who had never even joined the Navy before?
Smoker thought it was impossible—absolutely ridiculous. At most, he figured Bane might be planning to start building connections and establishing his own network within the Navy during this period.
After all, from that time in East Blue when he accepted Bane's 200 million berries, he had already sensed that this guy was very good at maneuvering. So Smoker guessed that Bane wanted to delay joining the Navy by six months to a year because he thought he could build more effective connections during that time than by participating in this war.
Smoker didn't understand Bane, but after their honest discussions, Issho and the other companions did understand him.
Especially since Zoro had vouched that Bane had a certain "prophetic" ability—he knew the direction and development of major events and was very good at profiting from them.
Therefore, after a brief moment of silent contemplation, Issho looked at Bane and asked, "Are you confident?"
"Absolutely confident, and it's the kind of confidence that will definitely meet your expectations." Bane nodded without hesitation.
"Good, then we'll wait!" Seeing this, Issho directly chose to follow Bane's arrangement.
Smoker saw them being all mysterious but didn't ask further questions. After draining the drinks on the table, he said, "Let's go. Teacher Zephyr has been waiting for you these past few days, and he's very busy too. Let's hurry up and pay our respects."
Hearing this, Bane stood up and said, "Alright, Doctor, come with me."
Dr. Genos had obviously already known about Bane's arrangements and immediately nodded, "No problem."
Soon, Smoker left the tavern with Bane and Dr. Genos, while Issho and the others continued eating and drinking there, further understanding and familiarizing themselves with the Navy's situation in preparation for the future.
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