Vinsmoke Sanji

In the dining hall of the sea restaurant Baratie.

Wang Shi and his group were divided into several tables.

Nami, Nojiko, and Kaya were dining with Wang Shi, accompanied by a pirate slave, Honey Queen, who served as their attendant.

Eric, Van Augur, Zoro, Saka, and El Drago, these minor experts, sat at another table.

A group of nobles, officials, and Guard Army generals occupied yet another table...

Dish after dish of gourmet food was brought out.

The people of the Goa Empire were enjoying a fine meal before the war.

Sanji, who was serving the dishes, was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred as he watched Wang Shi surrounded by beautiful women.

When he saw the blonde beauty wearing a slave collar, his eyes were filled with conflict and heartache.

Adhering to the way of the knight, Sanji could not bear to see a beautiful woman suffer.

Fortunately, his professional ethics as a chef, combined with the knowledge that Wang Shi was not someone to be trifled with, kept him from attempting any heroic rescue.

Inside the kitchen.

"Put away those little thoughts of yours; that female slave is Honey Queen, with a bounty of 7.8 million Belly."

Zeff knew exactly what the boy was thinking the moment he saw Sanji's expression, and he immediately warned him with a stern face.

Not to mention that they could not afford to provoke the Goa Empire.

Even if this female slave were an ordinary person, they could not interfere.

Let alone the fact that she was a wanted pirate.

Having roamed the East Blue for many years, Zeff had already recognized Eric and Van Augur, those famous bounty hunters, as well as El Drago, the "Great Pirate" with a bounty of 16.5 million Belly.

He had not expected that Wang Shi could even bring a "Great Pirate" like El Drago under his command.

Then there were those pirate slaves: Bear King with a bounty of 11.6 million, Jango with 9 million, the Cat Brothers with 7 million Belly...

And the large contingent of the strictly disciplined Guard Army...

This lineup was enough to sweep through every pirate crew in the East Blue.

No, wait—Arlong, who held the highest bounty in the East Blue, had already been executed by the Goa Empire.

The Arlong Pirates had been completely annihilated, not a single one left; it was said they had died a most miserable death.

"I know."

Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette, forced to suppress the urge to rescue the beautiful slave.

He knew that in this wretched world, it was perfectly normal for royalty and nobility to own slaves.

Especially for a domineering new emperor like Wang Shi.

Most importantly, these slaves were all pirates, which was perfectly in line with the laws of the World Government.

Wang Shi savored his meal while occasionally keeping an eye on the little blonde chef, Sanji.

Who would have thought that this little blonde was actually the most perfect Lineage Factor-modified human of the Vinsmoke Family?

Not only had he not lost his emotions, but his potential was also the highest among the five siblings.

It was a pity that his initial awakening rate had been extremely low, much like an ordinary child, completely different from his four sisters and brothers who had possessed skin of bronze and bones of iron since birth.

This had led Vinsmoke Judge to abandon his useless third son.

"Is there something special about that lecherous chef?"

The observant and sharp-witted Nami noticed that Wang Shi had looked at the blonde chef several times, even wearing a thoughtful expression.

"A fellow with extremely high potential, and also a prince of a great nation living in exile."

Wang Shi swirled his red wine glass and spoke with a faint smile.

He wondered if Sanji would be scared enough to hide if he saw his brothers from the Vinsmoke Family now.

Those three brothers of Sanji's had left him with quite a few traumas, having beaten him severely when they were children.

"That lecherous chef is actually a prince of a great nation?"

Nami whispered in disbelief, and even Nojiko and Kaya looked over at Sanji, who was currently serving dishes.

Seeing the three beauties watching him, Sanji immediately acted like a peacock spreading its tail, excitedly performing fancy serving maneuvers with exaggerated movements.

He even ignored the beautiful slave, Honey Queen.

Nami and the other two women looked at the infatuated Sanji with expressions that were awkward yet polite.

Was this really a prince of a great nation?

He was clearly just a lecherous chef.

"Vinsmoke Sanji. I hear Judge wants to form a marriage alliance with a major power, but he can't bear to part with the powerful children he worked so hard to cultivate. So, he wants to find that lost, useless third son to send off for the marriage."

"Tell me, what should this useless third son do?"

"Will you choose to keep running, or will you choose to submit to a powerful nation?"

"Oh, right, the evil army of Germa 66 will be arriving in these waters very soon."

"To force that good-for-nothing third son to obediently go through with a political marriage, the Germa army might just capture everyone he knows to use as leverage against him."

Wang Shi tasted the food that had just been served, muttering to himself without even looking directly at Sanji.

Sanji, who had just finished serving a dish with a flourish, was about to turn and leave.

However, upon hearing Wang Shi's words, he froze in place, his face turning deathly pale bit by bit.

Did Wang Shi know his true identity?

Impossible, how could that be!

Even Old Man Zeff didn't know who he really was.

And what was this about a political marriage?

The Germa 66 army was coming to capture him soon?

And they were going to capture Zeff and the others to threaten him?

How could this happen!

He had already escaped from that hell known as Germa 66.

Why wouldn't those cold-blooded, heartless bastards just let him go?

At this moment, Sanji's mind went blank, and he lost the ability to think.

Run! He had to take Old Man Zeff and the others and run!

Otherwise, they would never be able to escape the capture of the Germa army.

In Sanji's eyes, the evil army of the Germa Kingdom was countless times more powerful than the army of the Goa Empire.

"Are you here to capture me?"

Sanji, slowly regaining his composure, assumed that Wang Shi had already reached an agreement with Germa 66.

Otherwise, there was no way this young man, Wang Shi, could possibly know about him, a discarded son of the Vinsmoke Family.

"No."

Wang Shi replied indifferently, continuing to savor his meal.

"Then why do you know about my..."

Sanji stared intensely at Wang Shi's expression, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Seeing that Wang Shi did not continue to answer, Sanji ran frantically toward the kitchen, anxiously trying to persuade Zeff to flee with him.

Now that his identity and his connection to the Baratie had been discovered by those Germa bastards, he had no other choice but to run.

"What, you're saying the evil Germa Legion from the North Blue is coming to capture you?"

"You're the third son of the Vinsmoke Family?"

In the kitchen, Zeff was shocked by Sanji's news.

They had only just survived the crisis with the Goa Empire; how could the evil Germa Legion be coming now?

"Run, old man, I'm begging you."

"Those bastards are heartless, emotionless cyborgs, and their soldiers are powerful clones."

Sanji was truly terrified; he was afraid that Zeff and all the chefs at the Baratie would be implicated because of him.

The Vinsmoke Family would truly do anything to achieve their goals.

"Are you sure the Germa army is coming for you?"

"I seem to have heard that the Flaws Kingdom hired Germa 66 to deter the expansionist wars of the Goa Empire?"

A sharp glint flashed in Zeff's eyes as he gave Sanji a violent whack on the head.

This little brat, so scared that he had lost his composure, had clearly been played for a fool by that Wang Shi.