Baratie

Baratie, the sea restaurant known as the "Battle Restaurant," was also the most famous restaurant in the East Blue. Its head chef, Red-Footed Zeff, was a pirate who had sailed the Grand Line for an entire year. After losing his most important right leg for certain reasons, he returned to the East Blue and opened this sea restaurant, providing unforgettable cuisine for travelers, merchants, and pirates sailing the seas.

The restaurant was clean and comfortable, with a peaceful atmosphere that put everyone at ease. The customers were all enjoying the food in front of them.

A young man in a black suit, with blond hair and curly eyebrows, moved gracefully among a group of girls. His manner was elegant and his voice gentle—he could truly be called a gentleman.

Rodney took a seat. A waiter immediately came over, poured him a glass of water, and handed him the menu before asking courteously, "What would you like to eat, sir?"

He opened the menu and said, "One sweet-and-sour Sea King tenderloin, braised beef balls, seafood fried rice, rainbow fish sashimi, and a bottle of wine. Any kind will do."

"Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment while we prepare your order. However, our rule at Baratie is that food cannot be wasted. Are you sure you can finish all of that?" the waiter asked after looking at Rodney's build.

Food was hard to come by at sea, and wasting it was absolutely forbidden. Anyone who wasted food would be beaten out of Baratie by its staff.

"Don't worry. I can eat it all," Rodney said with a smile.

The waiter nodded and said nothing more. After writing down Rodney's order, he turned and left.

The restaurant was extremely comfortable. Everyone was savoring the delicious food prepared by Baratie's chefs, treating it as a kind of enjoyment. Among them were plenty of wealthy merchants. Some even wanted to recruit a Baratie chef to cook for them exclusively, but unfortunately, every chef at Baratie rejected them in unison.

Baratie held a special meaning for them. Providing delicious food to everyone sailing the seas and seeing the satisfied smiles on their faces was the greatest praise the chefs could receive.

There were also many chefs here with excellent culinary skills, making it a place where they could challenge themselves and improve.

Under the guidance of head chef Zeff, their cooking skills improved at an astonishing pace.

Before long, Rodney's food was brought out. The sweet-and-sour Sea King tenderloin came on a huge plate. Sea Kings were enormous, and even a single tenderloin was sizable enough to occupy most of the table.

Most people were used to such sights. There were many big eaters in this world—they ate a lot, were tremendously strong, and could fight.

Rodney dug in, starting with the sashimi. Each evenly sliced, crystal-clear piece lay quietly on the plate in an exquisite arrangement. He picked up a slice, dipped it in Baratie's secret sauce, and put the rainbow fish sashimi into his mouth.

Mm, delicious!

His taste buds seemed to erupt, while his stomach released copious amounts of acid in its craving for food.

He picked up another brown beef ball filled with gravy.

Mm, delicious!

The beef ball was saturated with juice. The moment he bit into it, an intense savory flavor burst out. It was unbelievably satisfying!

He cut off a piece of tenderloin drenched in red sauce.

Mm, delicious!

It was sweet and sour, eliminating the fishy taste of the Sea King meat and making it appetizing. He probably should have eaten it first, but it did not make much difference.

He shoveled in a mouthful of seafood fried rice.

Mm, delicious!

Various kinds of seafood were mixed into the rice. The savory flavor seemed to explode and dance before sliding down his throat into his stomach, filling the emptiness of his hunger.

Satisfying. Fantastic!

He kept eating.

He took huge bites of meat and gulped down his wine. It was exhilarating, especially with food this delicious.

His movements were not particularly large, yet the dishes on the table rapidly disappeared. Rodney called out, "Waiter, bring me another serving of everything. No sashimi this time, and bring three more bottles of wine."

"Yes, sir." The waiter no longer questioned whether Rodney could finish it all. After eating so much, Rodney's stomach had only bulged slightly.

After years of training, Rodney's physique had continued to improve, and his appetite had grown accordingly. Soldier Pills could indeed provide the energy he needed, but that did not stop him from eating.

Once chewed, the food went into his stomach, packing it full. Some of it had even already begun to digest.

Another serving soon arrived, and Rodney finished that as well. He patted his swollen belly and said with satisfaction, "Ah, I'm full. That was great. As expected of the sea restaurant Baratie. Check, please."

Baratie's prices were very reasonable, so he had not spent much—about the same as when he had last used the Multiplying Explosive Tag.

Patting his belly, he bought several bottles of wine and put them into his waist pouch.

Just then, a group of fierce-looking men stormed into the restaurant. Their leader was a one-eyed man, while his subordinates were so ugly that it was painful to look at them.

The leader opened his mouth, revealing a set of rotten teeth, and stammered, "D-don't move. R-r-robbery!"

"Don't move! Our boss says this is a robbery! Men stand on the left, women on the right, and those who are neither stand in the middle!"

A short, fat man beside him shouted arrogantly.

"P-pirates!"

The peaceful restaurant instantly became noisy. The customers were all merchants and travelers without the slightest fighting ability. Frightened by the pirates, they scrambled to hide, which only made the pirates even more arrogant.

"Hahaha! Hand over all your money. And you there, call out your head chef. Hand over all your money, and I—" Before the short man could finish, a leather shoe suddenly grew large in front of his eyes. It kicked him out of the restaurant, and with a splash, he fell into the sea.

Sanji held up his leg with a cigarette between his lips and said, "What did you say? I didn't hear you just now!"

His move caused who knew how many female customers to scream. There was no other reason—they thought he was handsome!

Rodney had originally been planning to work off his meal, but after seeing this, he sat back down. He clearly did not need to fight. Sanji should have been the strongest fighter at Baratie, though it was also possible that Zeff was stronger. Rodney simply did not know how much of the old man's strength remained after losing a leg.

"Get him!"

"Charge!"

"Ch-charge, charge... charge!"

Crash, bang, boom!

After a thorough beating, Sanji drove the group out of the restaurant.

This place had no welcome for men like them. They clearly did not cherish food, and they had also frightened the adorable young ladies...

The young ladies... Heh heh...

Sanji seemed to think of something, and his expression gradually became lecherous. Although he was a perverted cook, he was also a gentleman—or rather, a knight. He was the kind of man who would not attack even the okama, the people of this world who possessed a third gender.

After the pirates were driven away, Rodney carried his wine bottles back to the merchant ship. This little bit of wine was nowhere near enough to get him drunk; it was practically like drinking juice. Next came training. How could he possibly skip training?

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

He created a Shadow Clone and began fighting it using pure Taijutsu.

He used every Taijutsu technique from Naruto as well as the Marine Six Styles. His original body also wore weighted clothing, and he kept the Sharingan activated throughout the battle.

This allowed him to gain twice the experience while also improving his own reaction speed.

He and his Shadow Clone fought on the sea, keeping pace with the merchant ship. They did not fall too far behind, nor were they seen by anyone. Time passed like this, and he completed a protection mission.

He boarded another merchant fleet to carry out an investigation mission. This time, his main task was to find out what the merchant fleet was secretly transporting for someone.

Night fell.

After entering his room, Rodney had his Shadow Clone transform and sneak into the ship's hold. Naturally, dangerous matters like this were left to the Shadow Clone. The Second Hokage had originally created this technique to gather intelligence and carry out all kinds of dangerous missions.

The Shadow Clone quietly entered the hold. It easily used the Sharingan to control the guards before reaching the deepest part of the ship.

After searching around, it found only food and local specialties.

Something felt wrong. That could not be all. There had to be something unusual, or the system would not have issued this mission.

Could it be...

It went to the storeroom where the food was kept and began moving the provisions aside. Soon, it discovered boxes hidden beneath them.

When it opened one, it found brand-new firearms.

Arms smuggling!

These people were truly bold. If they were caught with this, they would be in serious trouble.

However, a considerable portion of the East Blue's Marines were rather... corrupt. As long as they bribed people at every level and concealed the weapons beneath food before selling them to pirates, there would be no problem—and they could make a huge profit.

The Shadow Clone disappeared. A few days later, Smoker received a report from a concerned citizen and detained the merchant fleet.