Inside the restaurant, everything returned to normal.
As Sanji worked, he kept an eye on the Straw Hat Crew, especially Zoro.
After all, Zoro's bounty of a full 15 million put him among the great pirates in the East Blue.
Zoro also noticed Sanji's hostile gaze and glared straight back at him.
Tch, the more I look at this cook, the more annoying he gets.
Tch, this green-haired swordsman looks like he needs a beating.
Their gazes collided, seemingly sparking with electricity.
Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Nami began straightening the clothes that had been messed up during her scuffle with the girls earlier.
With a glance from the corner of his eye, Sanji instantly cut off his standoff with Zoro. His eyes turned into hearts as he drifted toward Nami.
Bending over and reaching out, he gazed passionately at Nami. "I truly deserve to die for failing to notice such a beautiful and captivating lady in the restaurant. May I treat you to a meal?"
The moment Nami heard it would be free, she immediately nodded in agreement: (????)?
Sanji: (づ￣ 3￣)づ╭?~
Zoro, Usopp, Johnny, Joseph: (?_?)
At that moment, Can Yue, wearing a black-and-white patterned mask, returned to the restaurant.
Nami instantly moved away from Sanji and ran to Can Yue's side. With her hands on her hips, she spoke to Can Yue as if seeking praise. "Heh heh, I stopped those lovestruck girls who wanted to touch you earlier. Pretty impressive, right?"
Out of politeness, Can Yue nodded to thank Nami.
Nami: (?????)
Sanji: (╬?益?)
Zoro, Usopp, Johnny, Joseph, and the others laughed so hard they slapped the table: (≧?≦)ゞ
"Bring me food! Anything is fine!"
A thin man wearing a white-and-blue-striped tracksuit and a headscarf entered the restaurant with a pistol in hand.
Paddy, the Popeye-like chef, immediately gave him an enthusiastic welcome.
But when Paddy discovered that the skinny man had no money and intended to dine and dash,
he also learned from the diners that the skinny man was Gin of the Krieg Pirates.
The normally mild-mannered Paddy flew into a rage, beat Gin up, and threw him outside the restaurant.
Sanji, who had still been trying to please Nami, frowned when he saw this. He apologized to Nami, then headed for the kitchen.
A while later, Luffy, still working as a laborer and carrying supplies on the second-floor balcony, saw Sanji bring food to the dying Gin.
He also heard Sanji say, "I'm a chef. As long as someone is hungry, I'll cook for them."
At first, Gin's pride made him willing to die rather than accept charity.
Then Sanji suddenly said, "If you eat this bowl of food, you'll live to see tomorrow."
Gin fell silent for a moment before entering full-on "it smells so good" mode.
At that moment, Luffy made up his mind. He had to make Sanji the Straw Hat Crew's cook.
Can Yue, wearing a mask that just covered the upper half of his face, happened to come over to Luffy as well. The two watched Sanji below, who had already sent Gin away.
With a calm expression, Can Yue told Luffy, "There may be a fight in a couple of days."
After thinking for a moment, Luffy roughly understood what Can Yue meant.
"Hehehe, then let them come!"
Just then, Zoro walked over to the two of them with a bottle of liquor in hand.
"What are you two talking about?"
Can Yue looked at Zoro but did not answer his question. Instead, he thought of something else. Beneath his mask, his brows furrowed slightly as he said, "Your target is coming soon!"
Hearing this, Zoro suddenly froze. The bottle he had been tipping toward his mouth stopped, and every muscle in his body began to tremble.
After quite a while, the corners of Zoro's mouth lifted, and the shock in his eyes turned to anticipation.
"Good. I'll definitely wait for him."
Out of concern, Can Yue added another warning.
"You might die."
Hearing that, Zoro took another huge gulp of liquor.
"That is a promise between me and my best friend. Ever since I set sail, I have long cast aside any fear of death!"
With that, Zoro turned and walked back into the restaurant.
Luffy, who had been laughing moments ago, fell briefly silent after hearing Zoro's words.
Sanji, who had just sent Gin off, also heard the conversation between the three upstairs and found himself completely confused.
He especially could not understand why Zoro would challenge someone even at the cost of his life.
"Is that green-haired guy an idiot? Isn't living good enough? What dream could possibly be worth risking your life for?"
Sanji mocked Zoro disdainfully, but as he spoke, his smile carried a trace of self-mockery as he remembered his past self.
ALL BLUE?
Sanji frowned, his eyes filling with memories.
Six days later, Luffy was still working. Zoro, Usopp, and the others were getting anxious and began grumbling.
"Are we going to stay here for a whole year?"
Only Can Yue and Nami did not care how long they remained here.
Nami did not care because Sanji had waived all her meal costs, and the food here was truly delicious.
As for Can Yue, he knew that Nami's days of freeloading would probably end today.
Sure enough, while everyone was eating lunch, a scream suddenly rang out.
It was incredibly shrill. Whoever screamed had clearly been frightened badly.
A beautiful young woman stared out the window with terror written all over her face.
"Th-that flag is... the Krieg Pirates!"
The moment those words were spoken, every diner in the restaurant was shocked and terrified.
Although Buggy was unquestionably the overlord of the East Blue in this Pirate World,
Buggy generally stayed within his own territory and rarely concerned himself with matters beyond it.
As a result, many ordinary people had only heard of Buggy and did not fear him much.
The Krieg Pirates were different. Outside Buggy's territory, they committed every kind of atrocity, burning, killing, and plundering. Whatever Captain Krieg wanted, he always got.
Until several months ago, when they accidentally offended Buggy and were driven out of the East Blue by him,
the Krieg pirate fleet, numbering over 5,000, set out for the Grand Line with the resources they had plundered over the years.
Yet unexpectedly, they had returned at this very moment.
The many diners were like rice fields facing a swarm of locusts—terrified and helpless.
Luffy, still working and dressed in a waiter's hat and apron, set aside his work and ran into the restaurant.
He came to Can Yue and the others, grinning as he spoke.
"Can Yue, they're here."
Can Yue, wearing his black-and-white patterned half-mask, nodded and simply replied, "Yeah."
Luffy made another request. "If they want to fight, leave it to me."
Can Yue replied, "Okay."
At last, the main ship of the Krieg pirate fleet arrived before the restaurant.
Its enormous hull radiated an overwhelming pressure. Beside it, the Going Merry looked like a Chihuahua next to a Tibetan Mastiff.
While the diners were stunned by the massive ship, some sharp-eyed people noticed something strange.
"There's so much damage on its hull."
"Did it get attacked by a sea beast?"
As the diners made one guess after another,
an exceptionally burly figure, looking like a gorilla, entered the restaurant with Gin supporting him.
Before anyone could figure out why Krieg—the East Blue's second-greatest overlord, with 5,000 subordinates—had ended up in such a miserable state,
the burly man, Krieg, directly dropped to his knees and made a plea to the chefs present.
"Please give us food. We're begging you!"
Before you continue