Chapter 32: What would happen if you encounter Mihawk rowing with a black sword?
Many bounty hunters are in Whiskey Peak, and Bane is very well-respected among them. Most bounty hunters are not very skilled and usually catch small pirates, especially those in Whiskey Peak.
Bane is known for killing the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates. He is seen as a legend among bounty hunters.
When Bane announced at the dock that he wanted to recruit followers, many bounty hunters signed up. They wanted to join his team.
There are probably some bad people here, like members of Baroque Works, but Bane didn't care. He was simply looking for workers. For now, he would not hide his location or share any important secrets with these people, so it didn't matter.
After staying in Whiskey Peak for five days, Bane and his crew not only prepared the magnetic field of the Ancient Island and Little Garden, but also recruited six hundred followers. They set off in the shark ship, leaving the bounty hunter gathering place and heading for Little Garden.
Once they entered the Grand Line, things clearly changed from the stable order of the East Blue Sea. Just a few days after leaving Whiskey Peak, they ran into two groups of pirates on their way.
Bane didn't need to do anything. Zoro took the lead with the six hundred bounty hunters and began to fight the two pirate gangs. He nearly defeated both gangs and captured the pirates with bounties on their ship, then shared the treasure with his crew.
The bounties for these pirate gangs were quite average: one over 10 million and the other around 20 million. Bane didn't bother to learn more about their details since they were all small fry anyway.
The Shark Sparbub is a large three-masted sailing ship with a spacious deck that can hold more than two hundred people comfortably.
At that moment, a strong pirate hunter was steering the ship under Nami's guidance, controlling its direction.
Zoro was practicing under the mast, but he was not swinging his sword or building his muscles like before. Instead, he sat cross-legged and meditated. He wanted to manage his body and develop his Observation Haki.
The other side of the deck was lively. A thick hemp rope stretched across the entire deck. On one end were sixty or seventy strong men, all red-faced, pulling hard as if they were playing tug-of-war.
At the other end of the hemp rope, Bane held it with one hand and shouted, "Try harder! Haven't you guys eaten yet? If it doesn't work, just add more people. There's no pressure at all! "
Bane had a plan because there were not enough training tools. He decided to use these strong men to help them build strength every day.
As Bane shouted, over twenty strong men quickly joined the tug-of-war team. However, he still didn't use both hands. He pulled the hemp rope with one arm, moving it back and forth to exercise.
This action truly surprised the pirate hunters. They had heard about his strength, but now they could really feel how strong he was!
Bane originally thought that the Dark-Dark Fruit was the key to his success in this world. Now he realizes that while the Dark-Dark Fruit is good, the real advantage is his body's growth. His E-level ability, which was weak before, is now a great benefit.
He is growing extremely fast. It really feels like Bane is cheating.
The morning before yesterday, he and Zoro tested this. With both the iron block and Haki for protection, he did not avoid Zoro's full-strength blow.
The result was a bloody wound on Bane's chest. However, Zoro was unhappy because the sword only cut through part of Bane's skin and muscle, and he could not even see the bones.
Even with the help of armament haki and the iron block, Zoro was still amazed by Bane's physical prowess.
What was even more surprising was that by the next day, Bane's injuries were nearly healed, with no scars left, just a slight red mark that had not completely faded.
On one hand, the Dark-Dark Fruit was absorbing the injuries, while on the other, Bane's healing ability was becoming stronger.
Although there are no numbers to compare, Bane feels that if he keeps growing like this, his physical fitness might reach the level of monsters like Charlotte Linlin and Kaido soon.
In the days since leaving Whiskey Peak, Bane's physical state has changed again. His physique stayed the same, but his weight increased. In the last two days, he noticed that his height also increased. He was just shy of two meters, but now he is already two meters tall.
He guessed that maybe his original physique had reached its limit. To grow more, he needed to make his physique stronger and tougher.
"No, these guys won't be helpful at all," Bane thought helplessly while holding the hemp rope with one hand. He needed to buy some training equipment, but it was hard to find the right kind for someone with his strength level.
'There are two giants in little garden. Maybe we can ask them for advice on strength training? ' Bane suddenly remembered this.
While Bane was thinking, Nami shouted, "Bane, there is a small boat ahead, right in our path. If we don't avoid it, we might hit it! "
Ben was surprised for a moment and then asked, "What kind of ship is that? Why isn't it moving out of the way? "
"It looks like a small sampan, maybe a lifeboat in trouble. I think we need to help them," Nami said, looking through a monocular telescope.
Bane waved his hand to stop the tug-of-war, then walked to the edge of the deck and looked in the direction Nami pointed. All he could see was a small black dot on the water, and he couldn't make out what was happening with the boat.
"There's only one person on the boat. How unlucky! The boat looks like a coffin. Hahaha, that guy is paddling with a funny paddle," Nami said, laughing a little.
At first, Bane wanted to laugh too, but then he realized something and his expression changed to shock. He quickly walked over to Nami, grabbed the telescope, and looked at the small sampan.
As soon as he looked, he seemed to meet a sharp gaze, and it wasn't an illusion! It was the world's strongest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk!
He had somehow appeared on this path, and what was worse, at that moment, Mihawk was paddling his sampan with his black sword Yoru. This scene was really awkward. Soon, Bane saw Mihawk frown, clearly unhappy about being seen in such an embarrassing situation.
Then, Bane saw Mihawk straighten his wrist, and the black sword Yoru, which had been stuck in the water, was suddenly pulled out of the sea. A dark green slash instantly cut through the calm water between them and shot toward Bane at incredible speed.
At the moment Mihawk attacked, Zoro, who had been meditating, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the incoming attack with surprise.
'He's so strong! ' This was the only thought in Zoro's mind.
"Shit! " Bane cursed. "Does this guy have such a bad temper? "
Was it really necessary to fight just because someone saw him paddling with a famous sword?
For a moment, Bane realized why the navy called Mihawk a "pirate. " He was very ruthless!
It was impossible to dodge on such a big ship. After cursing Mihawk, Bane used the power of his Dark-Dark Fruit without saying anything. He stretched out his hand, blocked the bow of the ship, and pulled out a dark curtain that covered the whole ship!
It happened so quickly that just as the dark curtain opened, the slashing blow hit the darkness. Then, it was consumed by the strong power and abyss traits of the Dark-Dark Fruit.
This shows that, at least for defense, the Dark-Dark Fruit has very strong abilities. As long as it is caught, it can absorb all attacks.
On the sampan, Mihawk watched this scene with a look of interest on his face.
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