Baratie's Top-Secret Recipes

Blazing flames surged outside Baratie's gates as the sea breeze carried waves of a charred smell.

Inside the enormous floating restaurant, a deathly silence had fallen. The vicious-looking pirates and the wealthy merchants who fancied themselves nobility all huddled pale-faced in the corners, not daring to so much as breathe.

Sabo sat back down opposite Ace. He glanced at his palm, the corner of his mouth curling into a gentle yet extremely dangerous smile.

"The destructive power of Dragon Claw, combined with the burst of flames, really worked better than I expected." Sabo turned to look at Ace, seated at the head of the table. "Captain, your suggestion was nothing short of perfect."

Ace swallowed a bite of exceptionally tender special roast meat. A faint, deeply concealed delight flashed in his dark eyes.

In this world, only Ace himself knew the true origins of Dragon Claw.

Four years ago, in the forests of Mt. Colubo, Sabo had been frustrated by the limitations of the pipe's killing power and wanted to develop an unarmed technique of his own. A scene from the manga of his previous life had naturally come to Ace's mind: Sabo crushing a Vice Admiral's skull.

So Ace had suggested, with utmost seriousness, the martial arts concept of "imagining your fingers as a dragon's claws, powerful enough to crush anything." He'd even taken the mischievous liberty of coming up with the name for him.

Ace had only wanted to see how it worked in a real fight, since he thought the move looked cool and impressive. Who knew Sabo would be a monster when it came to martial arts, too? Not only had he mastered this inhuman technique of exerting force to perfection, but with the Armament Haki he'd honed through two years of hellish training, he'd actually recreated the move from Ace's previous life right here in the East Blue!

"You've got a solid foundation of your own."

Ace set down his juice and cut himself another piece of meat. "Without fingers strong enough to crush steel, it'd just be a flashy stunt."

Just as they were nearly finished eating,

"Tap, tap, tap."

The heavy, rhythmic clacking of a wooden cane against the floor came from the stairs leading to the second floor.

A tall old man with an extraordinarily long blond braided beard and a thick wooden peg for a right leg came down the stairs, his expression grave.

The owner and head chef of the floating restaurant, "Red Leg" Zeff, who had once sailed the Grand Line.

Zeff's keen eyes swept over the wreckage on the floor and fixed on Ace and Sabo, seated at the round table.

"Near-perfect Logia elementalization, and a move that can even crush solid steel."

Zeff drew deeply on his cigar, his voice carrying a rare note of apprehension and shock. "When did freaks like you, capable of making it in the New World, show up in a backwater like the East Blue, the so-called weakest sea?"

As a veteran pirate who'd once sailed the Grand Line for a full year, Zeff knew all too well what the young man in the tailcoat had demonstrated during those brief ten seconds.

Even more frightening was the black-haired man seated at the head of the table like a fiendish god. He hadn't moved a finger from start to finish. Yet the pressure he exuded just by sitting there had made this aging beast feel a primal pang of dread.

"Old man, cut the probing."

Ace picked up a napkin, wiped his hands, and slowly rose from his chair.

As he stood, an immense pressure, as heavy as a mountain, swept over the entire restaurant. Sanji, who'd been seething with frustration at failing to protect the women, felt his pupils contract under the overwhelming pressure of Ace's sheer size and presence. His legs wouldn't move, as if they'd turned to lead.

"The food here really is good, and you've brought nutrient loss down about as far as it can go in the East Blue."

Ace looked down at Zeff, perfectly calm, and got straight to the point. "I'm not interested in hearing the same old stories about the Grand Line. I came here for one thing."

"Baratie's top-secret recipes."

Ace's voice wasn't loud, but it rang out clearly through the utterly silent restaurant.

"Everything from how to quickly prepare large Sea Kings to specialized cooking techniques that preserve as many calories and nutrients as possible. Hand them over."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Patty, one of the chefs, couldn't hold back his furious shout. "A recipe is a chef's soul! Who do you think you are—"

"Thud!"

Before Patty could finish, Zeff decisively kicked him flying.

Zeff regarded Ace calmly. He knew all too well that, in the face of overwhelming violence, any talk of a chef's dignity was just a cover for the weak. If this man's subordinate hadn't stepped in earlier, that arrogant royal from an Affiliated Nation would have smashed Baratie to pieces.

And now, if he dared refuse, the monster before him could sink this floating restaurant to the ocean floor in ten seconds flat.

"I can hand over the recipes."

Zeff exhaled a ring of smoke, his expression complicated as he looked at Ace. "But they're the hard-earned work of every chef at Baratie. Surely you don't expect to take what belongs to us cooks without paying?"

"Of course not. The Eclipse Pirates never leave a debt unpaid."

Ace didn't reply. Instead, he snapped his fingers with complete ease.

Carina, who'd been sitting quietly and watching the show, understood at once. She rose gracefully, picked up a black briefcase beside her, and walked over to Zeff. With a sharp click, she opened it.

Blinding gold and stacks of banknotes instantly dazzled the chefs around them.

"Five million Beli, plus five top-quality gold bars."

Carina's lips curved into a professional fox's smile. "This is for your recipes. We won't open a restaurant in the East Blue and compete with you, either. I think that should be enough, don't you, Boss?"

Zeff fell silent as he looked at the dazzling fortune in the case.

They couldn't beat the other side, and they'd also offered a generous price while playing by the rules. This combination of benevolence and force, this style of doing business worthy of a mafia kingpin, made Zeff realize just how far these young people would go. Their future would certainly extend beyond the first half of the Grand Line.

"Sanji."

Zeff turned decisively to the blond young man, who was still stunned. "Go to the safe in my office and bring down that black handwritten recipe book."

"But, old man..." Sanji gritted his teeth, eyes full of reluctance.

"Go get it!" Zeff's voice suddenly rose.

A few minutes later,

Carina happily slipped the black recipe book, containing the pinnacle of Baratie's culinary art, into her bag, then casually locked the briefcase.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Boss Zeff."

Ace put his hands in his pockets. Without giving anyone else in the restaurant another glance, he turned and strode toward the exit, his steps steady.

"Hey!"

Just as Ace was about to step through the door, Sanji suddenly clenched his fists in frustration and shouted at his broad back:

"Who the hell are you people?!"

Ace paused for the briefest moment.

He didn't look back. The sea breeze lifted his dark red coat, and his imposing profile beneath the ruined doorframe seemed as impossible to approach as a demon god.

"A bunch of madmen heading for Reverse Mountain to overturn the rules of this world."

His tone was utterly casual, yet it carried a terrifying arrogance that made the soul tremble.

Ace started walking again, leading Sabo and Carina out of Baratie with effortless composure and boarding the luxurious black speedboat that had cost eighty million.

"Weigh anchor. Hoist the sails."

Ace stood at the bow, watching Buggy run over obsequiously and stand beside him, shouting excitedly. The corner of his mouth lifted in a pleased smile.

The Eclipse's enormous pure-black sails billowed open with a roar.

Under the gazes of countless people in the first-floor restaurant, their eyes intermingling awe and fear, the terrifying warship—like a black sword—turned cleanly, tore through the waves, and sailed brazenly toward the distant horizon.

Sanji stood before the shattered glass doors, watching the Eclipse disappear into the distance. The hand holding his cigarette trembled slightly.

Only today had he awakened to just how vast and terrifying this sea really was.