After receiving the thanks from the underlings, Robin turned her gaze towards the duo standing apart from the crowd, their bodies covered in bandages, looking out of place.
Seeing them, Robin narrowed her eyes thoughtfully for a moment, then suddenly called out to them:
"Daz Bonez, Zala, come with me. I'll take you to see the President."
Mr. 1, that is, Daz Bonez, had no objections. He lowered his crossed arms and followed.
But Zala's heart sank. She wasn't sure if the new President wanted to see them for revenge.
However, seeing her partner follow without hesitation, she hesitated for a few seconds, then gritted her teeth and followed as well.
'I hope the new boss will be lenient with us, considering how weak we are.'
....
Fortunately, Bitz truly had no particular intentions towards the two.
While listening to Robin's introduction, he shamelessly put on the new clothes without any embarrassment.
Bitz recalled their performances in the original story. Although not particularly outstanding, placed in Alabasta, which is in the first half of the first half of the Grand Line, they were more than sufficient to deal with the rookies who had just entered the Grand Line.
"I can overlook your offense from yesterday and allow you to continue working by my side."
Pulling at the somewhat tight clothes, Bitz spoke with a frown.
Hearing this, Zala's eyes immediately lit up, as if seeing a chance to survive.
Daz Bonez showed no expression on the surface, but inwardly, he also breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, after adjusting his clothes, Bitz continued:
"As long as you complete a task for me—capture the Alabasta princess, Vivi, who is infiltrating the company, completely unharmed—I will let bygones be bygones."
"There's a mole in the company? And she's a kingdom's princess?"
The two were very surprised upon receiving this task.
Even Robin's eyes beside them flickered with surprise.
She knew about the young princess infiltrating the company; she had even deliberately guided the other party to discover Mr. 0's identity.
She herself had only learned about it recently. So she wondered how did Bitz, an outsider who had never been to Alabasta, know about it?
"If I remember correctly, she should currently be in one of the company's bases—the town at Whisky Peak."
"What you need to do is bring her back completely unharmed as quickly as possible. Understood?"
"Understood!" *2
Although they didn't know where the new President got his information, the two obediently accepted the task and immediately decided to set off to capture her.
Watching their hurried departing figures, Bitz nodded contentedly.
'That's right, this feeling. Having underlings to order around is truly satisfying.'
After sending his new subordinates on their mission, Bitz still wasn't satisfied.
He looked at Robin, the Vice President whom Crocodile had pushed to the forefront, usually handling most of Baroque Works' affairs, and instructed:
"You should be able to contact all Baroque Works' employees, right?"
Robin nodded, immediately understanding his meaning.
"I will notify all members about the change in President later."
"Do you need to give yourself a codename and hide your identity, like Crocodile did?"
"Not necessary." Old Croc hid his identity to achieve ulterior motives.
But he was different. Whatever his goals were, he would carry them out openly and aboveboard, with no need to hide.
"You can tell them my identity directly, including the news that Crocodile was the behind-the-scenes boss and that I defeated and replaced him."
"It's best to make all his sneaky schemes known to everyone, so the people of this country know what their hero was really up to behind the scenes."
Looking at Bitz's mischievous smile, Robin almost felt pity for Crocodile.
Not only was he killed, but the little good reputation he gained from his performance was about to be ruined too.
'To run into a jinx like Bitz, that guy Crocodile was really unlucky~'
'Wait, it seems I was the one who brought him here.'
Robin suddenly realized that it was her initial idea to use someone else to do the dirty deeds that brought Bitz to Alabasta.
It's just that the result had a slight deviation, and the one who ended up dead was Crocodile.
Thinking this, Robin's eyes couldn't help but dim a little.
'Perhaps this was the curse I brought. Every organization I had been part of in recent years ultimately faced destruction.'
'Even a government-recognized great pirate, a renowned Warlord of the Sea, couldn't escape this law. Then, in the future, would Bitz also...'
As she thought this, Robin's face unconsciously turned a few shades paler.
She didn't even hear Bitz speaking to her.
"Robin, Robin?"
After calling her several times without a response, it wasn't until Bitz pinched her that Robin suddenly snapped back to awareness.
Seeing it was Bitz calling her, she finally regained her senses.
"Sorry, I was a bit distracted. Please continue."
Bitz noticed her abnormally pale complexion, but he didn't kindly ask her the reason. Instead, he repeated what he had said before.
"I said, Baroque Works' current system is very good."
"Especially the part about using numbers to rank everyone; we should continue that."
"Also, I remember there's a little girl among the senior agents who holds a parasol and is quite pretty. Find her and bring her to me."
The first part was normal, the boss acknowledging the company's system.
But the latter command made Robin roll her eyes annoyedly and despise this bastard thoroughly.
'This kind of scum should just die.'
After reluctantly accepting both commands, Robin inquired about the next steps.
"White Wave Port is destroyed now. Where do we go next? Back to Rainbase?"
Bitz pondered for a few moments, then nodded in agreement.
"Alright, back to Rainbase. It's a good time to take over all of Old Croc's assets."
Thinking of the large casino Crocodile left for him, Bitz happily wrapped his arm around Robin and walked cheerfully towards the coast.
Robin struggled symbolically a couple of times, and when she saw she couldn't break free, she let him hold her.
........
After returning to the coast, the company employees swarmed around to show their respect to the new boss.
Bitz didn't care much about these small fries, but he reflexively imitated his boss from his previous life, patting Phil on the shoulder and saying:
"Thanks for the clothes. Stay and work for me in Rainbase from now on."
In an instant, Phil's eyes directly welled up with tears.
The other employees also looked at him with envious gazes.
At the same time, their favorability towards the new boss skyrocketed, and they one after another vowed to work hard in the future, striving to also gain the President's appreciation.