Two Terrifying Slashes

"Hmph."

Zeff's eyes flashed with a cold light as he looked at Sanji, who was grabbing his collar.

"How dare you grab your boss's collar? What kind of behavior is that!"

"Whoosh—!"

Zeff didn't even use his prosthetic leg.

He simply exerted force at his waist, and his arm, imbued with terrifying Strength, instantly gripped Sanji's wrist. With a move that used the opponent's force against them, he executed a back suplex!

"Boom—!!"

Sanji was sent flying like a cannonball.

He traced a parabolic arc through the air, landing squarely on Ronan and the others' dining table!

The solid wood table instantly shattered under the impact, splinters flying everywhere.

"Swish! Swish!"

Just as the table was about to collapse, two afterimages flashed.

Zoro swiftly grabbed the unfinished bottle of sake with his right hand, while Luffy, with astonishing Speed, snatched the last piece of meat from a plate.

The two exchanged a look and continued eating and drinking as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring Sanji, who was sprawled amidst the table's wreckage.

"Cough... cough..."

Sanji struggled to push himself up from the mess.

Despite being slammed down hard, his inhuman physique only resulted in minor scrapes.

He raised his head, staring intently at Zeff's retreating back. His voice, hoarse yet firm, echoed throughout the restaurant:

"No matter how you try to drive me away... I will always be a chef in this restaurant!"

"Until... until you die!!"

This was a son's most awkward, yet deepest, confession to his father.

Zeff's steps faltered slightly.

He didn't turn back, merely pulling down his chef's hat to hide the fleeting emotion in his eyes. He gruffly shouted:

"Hmph! I'm not dying! This old man plans to live another hundred years!"

With that, he walked into the kitchen without looking back.

"What a... boastful old man!" Sanji spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and awkwardly climbed to his feet.

"Yay!"

Luffy shoved the last piece of meat into his mouth and excitedly patted Sanji's shoulder, completely oblivious to the somber atmosphere:

"It's great that he approved! Now you can be a Pirate! Come on my ship!"

A "well" character appeared on Sanji's forehead as he roared at Luffy:

"No way! Didn't you hear what I just said! I'm not leaving!"

Afternoon, Baratie.

Despite the earlier commotion, the restaurant's business remained booming.

For the diners at sea, the conflicts here were more like an accompanying performance.

Luffy clung to Sanji like a barnacle. Wherever Sanji went, even to the restroom, Luffy followed, babbling, "Be my chef."

Ronan, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp sat by the window, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

However, this peace didn't last long.

"The... the sky is dark?"

A customer sitting by the window suddenly looked up in confusion.

The bright sunlight seemed to be blocked by something enormous, and the entire restaurant's light dimmed instantly.

A suffocating sense of pressure, accompanied by the encroaching shadow, slowly approached.

"That... that is..."

The customer pointed out the window, their pupils trembling violently, their voice cracking with extreme fear: "On either side of the skull... are hourglasses, showing defiance to enemies..."

"That flag... there's no mistake!!"

"It's the overlord of the East Blue! The Krieg Pirates!!!"

With this exclamation, the entire restaurant erupted in chaos.

Ronan turned his head to look out the window.

On the sea, a despairingly huge, three-decked galleon was slowly approaching.

It was so large that the Merry looked like a toy in comparison. Even the massive Sea Restaurant Baratie seemed small under its shadow.

That's the flagship—the Dreadnought.

It was like a moving sea fortress, blocking out the sky and completely shrouding the Sea Restaurant.

Though its massive black sails were tattered, the purple hourglass skull flag emblazoned on them still exuded a chilling aura of death.

"Wh-why are the Krieg Pirates here?!"

"Run! They'll kill us!"

The restaurant's patrons instantly descended into chaos, screams and the sounds of colliding tables and chairs erupting everywhere.

Even the chefs, who had been so arrogant moments before, now wore expressions of terror.

"That's the leader of a fleet with five thousand men and fifty pirate ships!"

Paddy's hand, gripping his carving knife, trembled. "Did they come specifically for that pirate from earlier... to get revenge?!"

"This is bad! Luffy!"

Usopp's hand, holding his telescope, shook wildly. He hid behind Ronan, his voice cracking with tears. "This is not on the same level at all! We should just escape!"

Nami also covered her mouth, her face pale. "How can that sailing ship... be so big?"

Zoro's hand rested on his sword hilt, his gaze grim.

The visual impact of such a behemoth was indeed extraordinary.

Luffy, however, was pressed against the window, his eyes wide with simple awe. "Woooah! It's so big! So many times bigger than our Merry!"

He turned to Sanji beside him and asked, "Is that guy Gin here to repay you?"

Sanji lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and tried to maintain his composure:

"I don't think so."

Sanji's gaze swept sharply over the giant ship, his brow furrowed. "But... it's a bit strange."

"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head.

"His ship... is really run-down."

Luffy also noticed the problem.

This warship, which should have been a majestic, dominant vessel, now looked like a giant corpse floating on the sea.

The hull was riddled with holes, and the massive main mast was broken in half, swaying precariously.

The once grand railings on both sides of the hull were completely destroyed, and the sails were as tattered as a beggar's rags.

"It doesn't look like it was attacked by cannons."

As someone who made a living at sea, Sanji immediately saw through the facade.

"If it were cannon fire, there would be scorch marks and explosive holes. But the damage on this ship... is too clean."

"It doesn't look like it was damaged by people either... or did it run into a tornado?" Luffy guessed.

However, the moment this behemoth came to a halt—

"Bzzzz—!!"

An extremely sharp, high-frequency hum, surpassing the limits of hearing, abruptly pierced the ocean's tranquility.

Ronan, Zoro, and Luffy, standing at the very front of the deck, had their pupils contract to pinprick size.

In their newly awakened, still immature Observation Haki, the world seemed to hit pause.

Immediately after, two terrifyingly incomprehensible green streams of light, like divine punishment.

They instantly cut through the air, cut through space, and even cut through everyone's perception, passing unimpeded over the imposing main ship of the Krieg Pirates.

Fast, too fast.

So fast that even sound was left behind.

"Crack—!!"

Only after the two streams of light disappeared into the sky did a crisp sound, loud enough to shatter eardrums, explode forth.

To everyone's horrified gaze, the three-decked giant ship, capable of holding a thousand people, instantly split in half from the middle, like butter sliced by a hot knife!

The massive mast collapsed, the sturdy keel snapped.

Wood chips rained down, and seawater poured in like a waterfall.

The Krieg crew, who were nearly starving to death on board, were instantly wiped out!