At this moment, the dining table was already laden with dishes, their fragrance filling the air.
This was the most formal feast Carmen had prepared since coming aboard.
The reason was simple: they were about to reach the final stop in the East Blue—Loguetown.
After stocking up in Loguetown, they would leave the East Blue and head for the Grand Line.
"Wow, there are so many dishes today." Kaya held her knife and fork, unconsciously swallowing.
"The title of East Blue chef maiden really isn't undeserved." The aroma flooding her nostrils made Nami's delicate nose twitch.
With a professional chef like Carmen around, their three daily meals never repeated.
Nojiko and Makino could only admit defeat.
Carmen naturally became the Head Chef of the Reno Pirates.
After everyone had taken their seats, Carmen, dressed in a chef's uniform, pointed to the first dish.
"This is Rainbow Salmon Sashimi."
"This is Ducatin Crab Roe Meat Pie."
"This is Cabora Mantis Shrimp Tempura."
"This is Dragon Sole Liana Saury."
"..."
Carmen introduced them one by one as though reciting treasured items.
Everyone stared eagerly at the dishes before them and repeatedly gave Carmen a thumbs-up.
Even Reno gave his wholehearted approval.
A professional really was different.
Every dish was perfect in color, aroma, and flavor. Just looking at them whetted one's appetite, let alone smelling their enticing fragrance.
The combined assault on their eyes and noses was simply irresistible.
Seeing that everyone was practically drooling, Carmen sped up her introduction at just the right moment.
"The final dish is my special Coconut Jelly. It's very good for the skin."
"Alright." Carmen clapped her hands. "That concludes the introductions. Everyone, dig in."
As soon as she finished speaking, the people who had been waiting for so long could no longer restrain themselves and picked up their knives and forks.
"Mmm, delicious! This is the best saury I've ever had."
"The crab roe meat pie tastes exactly like the one from Baratie Restaurant."
"It smells so good I'm melting."
"..."
The girls devoured the food while voicing their approval of the dishes.
"It really is good. Looks like I found an incredible chef maiden."
Reno felt his taste buds immersed in an unprecedented pleasure.
Receiving such high praise from everyone, including Reno, Carmen smiled knowingly.
She then took her seat and began enjoying the delicious feast with everyone else.
"When we get to Loguetown this time, stock up on more supplies."
As the feast neared its end, Reno said this.
Although the Merry had mostly girls aboard, they had to study navigation skills every day.
Everyone expended a great deal of stamina, causing all kinds of daily necessities to be used up quickly.
With Carmen joining them as well, purchasing supplies according to their previous lists was no longer enough to support a long voyage.
"I want to buy a few dresses." At the mention of shopping, Nami immediately became interested.
"I'm planning to buy a few medical books too." Kaya quickly chimed in.
Once Nami got the conversation started, the girls immediately began chattering away.
Reno could only shake his head as he listened.
Did girls in every world have such a special fondness for shopping?!
He had only wanted to replenish some daily necessities.
The girls had completely gone off-topic.
Forget it. They could buy whatever they wanted.
The girls' happiness was what mattered most.
Besides replenishing essential supplies, Reno had another very important goal in coming to Loguetown.
To recruit the final beauty of the East Blue—the bespectacled Navy girl, Tashigi.
A cute but foolish girl who loved collecting famous swords.
If nothing unexpected happened, she should be in the Loguetown Navy Branch right now.
Reno had heard a saying in his previous life: every glasses girl had a contrasting side.
He wondered whether that saying applied in the Pirate World.
Once Tashigi came aboard, he would definitely verify it himself.
The East Blue Arc was about to end.
There were still three girls in this arc who had not been written yet.
One was Apis from the Millennium Dragon storyline, and another was Sweetie Queen from Clockwork Island. She was very pretty.
The last was Kuina.
The first two had relatively little screen time and were from movies, so everyone might not remember them well or feel immersed in their stories. That was why they would not be written separately.
As for why Carmen was included, the protagonist happened to visit Baratie to spar with Hawk Eyes, and there was also Carmen's story with Sanji.
So she was arranged into the story.
As for Kuina, since some people wanted to see her, all three would be added later. Don't worry.
Lastly, please support me with some stats. Thank you, everyone.
Confident Smoker Prepares to Capture Reno! Please Support with Stats
Loguetown, also known as the Town of Beginning and End.
Almost anyone who wanted to enter the Grand Line would stop at Loguetown to replenish the various supplies needed for the next leg of their journey.
Thanks to its advantageous location, as well as being the birthplace and place of death of Pirate King Roger, Loguetown was quite famous in the East Blue and even throughout the entire world.
Large numbers of ships docked here every day, and merchants conducted trade, making the town extremely prosperous.
Of course, every benefit came with a drawback.
While bringing wealth to Loguetown, it also served as a departure point for countless pirates and criminals heading to the Grand Line.
To deal with this situation, the Navy had specially dispatched Colonel Smoker, known as the [White Hunter], to station here.
In the East Blue, a sea where even Haki had yet to become widespread and Devil Fruits existed only in legend.
As a Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, Smoker was practically a Dimensional Strike against pirates hoping to fish in troubled waters.
With Smoker serving as the Pillar of the Sea, the number of pirates fleeing from the East Blue to the Grand Line over the years was pitifully low compared to the other three seas.
Reno docked the Merry at the harbor.
Smoker was an immense deterrent to other East Blue pirates, but Reno, who possessed Haki, was likewise a Dimensional Strike against Smoker.
Therefore, he did not conceal his whereabouts.
Not only that, he even intended to snatch away the glasses girl, Tashigi.
After docking the Merry, Reno led the girls, who had long been eager to get ashore, into the town.
The girls had only one task next: spend money.
On the way here, the girls had already made lists of the items they wanted to buy.
Nami wanted to buy the latest fashions, beautiful jewelry, cosmetics, and more. She also planned to see whether the town's shops had any novel little trinkets.
Kaya wanted to visit the bookstore and buy a few new medical books. She had already finished all the ones she brought from home.
Makino was buying various ingredients for brewing alcohol.
As the number of crew members increased, their alcohol consumption was also enormous.
Nojiko and Carmen, meanwhile, were purchasing ingredients and daily necessities for the rest of their voyage.
Reno was not stingy either. It was not often that they came here, and the girls were so enthusiastic.
He immediately gave the girls generous spending money, adding another two hundred thousand Belly for each of them on top of the original amount.
They could buy whatever caught their eyes.
After agreeing on a meeting place with the girls, everyone entered the famed town.
After parting ways with them, Reno did not immediately search for Tashigi.
Since he was here, he naturally wanted to take in the town's unique charms.
Leaving behind Location Coordinates, Reno headed down the street.
"As expected of Loguetown. It's really lively."
As Reno walked along the street, he saw all kinds of shops everywhere, with hawkers calling out one after another.
Everywhere he passed, people's faces were filled with smiles.
It had to be said that although Smoker's strength was nothing special, he managed Loguetown in excellent order.
As long as they were pirates, once they learned that this was Smoker's jurisdiction, they did not dare act too openly.
After all, many of their predecessors had already served as cautionary examples.
Reno wandered about casually, occasionally stopping by a small stall before continuing onward.
Here, he saw many fresh little novelties that could not be found in other towns.
Just as he left one particular stall, he happened to brush past a Navy soldier who had just come out of a shop.
Reno calmly walked past him. The Navy soldier instinctively glanced at him and was about to turn away.
But he suddenly looked back in the direction Reno had gone, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
He was sure he had not seen wrong.
"Reno, captain of the Reno Pirates?! He came here too?!"
Realizing the seriousness of the matter, the Navy soldier did not dare delay and quickly returned to the base.
He had to notify Colonel Smoker of this news as soon as possible.
A 3000 Beli Bounty was already considered that of a Great Pirate in the East Blue.
Not to mention that Reno had a navigator under him with a fifty-million-Belly bounty.
Marine Base.
Inside an office filled with smoke.
Smoker was working as usual.
To properly govern this town filled with all kinds of people, he had to handle a great deal of work every day. The documents on his desk were piled as high as a small mountain.
"Report!" A soldier's voice rang out from outside the door.
"Come in," Smoker answered.
The soldier pushed open the door. Having long grown accustomed to secondhand smoke, entering this office shrouded in smoke had no effect on him.
"What is it?!" Smoker asked without raising his head.
"Colonel Smoker, I discovered the whereabouts of Reno, captain of the Reno Pirates. He is currently in Loguetown."