Flame Carmen

The mayor led Rody and the others to a meat market, then pointed at a tall woman with pink hair in a red dress. "Lord Slaughterer, this is the woman who claims to be the number one chef in the East Blue."

Hearing the mayor's words, the pink-haired woman turned around and began tap-dancing. When the dance ended, two men sprang out beside her—one was short with a face longer than a winter melon, while the other was a fat man whose nostrils were larger than his eyes.

"Lady Carmen truly is the number one chef in the East Blue. She isn't merely claiming it!"

"I am Lady Carmen's first disciple, Leo," said the short man with the winter-melon face.

"Lady Carmen has defeated countless chefs in the East Blue. I am Lady Carmen's second disciple, Jose." As he spoke, Jose with the huge nostrils displayed a stack of photographs, all showing chefs she had defeated.

At that moment, the pink-haired woman flourished a fan bearing the character for "rice" and declared, "I am the number one chef in the East Blue, the one they call Flame Carmen! Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" She spun into the air while laughing wildly, then came down in a dizzy tumble.

Carmen's disciples, Leo and Jose, expertly caught her. Judging by how practiced they were, this clearly wasn't their first time doing so.

Everyone at the scene fell silent, apparently stunned by the performance.

Rody rubbed his brow speechlessly. What kind of weirdos were these? Still, weird as they were, this woman named Carmen was probably a capable chef. After all, not just anyone could defeat so many chefs.

Glancing at the unconscious Carmen, Rody had no interest in speaking with her two bizarre-looking disciples. He gestured to Mike behind him, telling him to bring the three master and disciples aboard the ship.

"All right, we'll leave after buying some supplies." Rody waved off the anxious mayor beside him.

After Rody and Nami bought food, the town's specialty heart-shaped mangoes the size of pomelos, as well as the paper, pens, and ink Nami needed to draw nautical charts, they returned to the ship.

In the first-floor meeting room, Rody reclined in a large chair as he waited for Carmen. Before long, Carmen opened the meeting room door and walked up to him.

"Oh, so you know who I am?" Rody casually asked as he looked at the stern-faced Carmen before him.

"I do. Rody the Slaughterer, with a bounty of fifty million Beli," Carmen replied.

"Do you know why I brought you aboard?"

"I do. You're heading for the Grand Line. Your butler already told me. I can agree to join you, but I have two conditions," Carmen answered firmly.

"Let's hear them." Rody remained casual.

"I hope to compete in cooking against a chef in the East Blue. And I want to search for All Blue in the Grand Line—the sea where ingredients from all over the world gather, the dreamland of every chef."

"Hmm, neither of those sounds like a difficult request. But what if I refuse?" Rody asked teasingly as he looked at Carmen.

"Then even if you kill me, I will not become the chef on your ship." Carmen stared at him with resolute determination.

"If you don't understand the weight of death, you'd better not say the word so lightly."

"Still, it isn't impossible for me to grant your requests. I can give you a chance. Take one step toward me. Just one step, and I'll agree." The teasing expression vanished from Rody's face as he fixed Carmen with a cold gaze.

Upon hearing that, Carmen, her eyes still resolute, raised her foot to walk toward Rody. Yet the moment she lifted it and leaned forward, dense wounds suddenly appeared all over her body. Carmen looked at Rody and understood that this was his ability. The pain from the wounds and the blood flowing from them told her plainly that if she took another step, she would die.

Carmen glanced at the cold-faced Rody and slowly closed her eyes. Images of herself tirelessly practicing her cooking over the past decade surfaced in her mind. Those nearly ten years of practice had long since made her unable to distinguish why she had started learning to cook in the first place. She only knew that cooking had become an inseparable part of her.

Suddenly, Carmen brought her raised foot down. The harm she had expected never came. Her leg went weak as it landed, and she fell before Rody.

"I agree to your conditions," Rody said softly as he looked at Carmen lying before him.

Carmen let out a breath of relief. But when she saw the countless tiny wounds covering her body, her eyes misted over and she felt like crying. No woman disliked beauty, and Carmen, a gorgeous woman who loved dancing, was naturally no exception. Besides, she had always taken pride in her looks.

With so many wounds on her body, even if they healed, how many ugly scars would they leave behind? How was she supposed to dance with all those ugly scars? Thinking of how she might never dance again, Carmen, who loved dancing so much, felt her future turn utterly gray. She might as well die.

Seeing Carmen's eyes mist over, the little pearls on the verge of falling, Rody reached out and placed his hand over the wound at her waist. He activated the Reverse Technique, and the wounds all over Carmen's body rapidly healed.

Carmen stared in disbelief at her healed wounds and reached out to touch them. Her skin was soft and smooth, without the slightest scar. Smiling through her tears, she said, "It's... healed. There isn't a single scar."

Suddenly, warmth spread from her waist. It was Rody's hand, still resting there. Her clothes had been torn open by Rody's slashes, but she had been so excited about her wounds healing that she had overlooked his large hand at her waist.

Carmen's cheeks flushed slightly. She hurriedly pushed Rody's hand away, rose to her feet, and was about to run off when Rody casually flung the coat draped over himself onto her.

"Let me have a proper taste of your cooking today," Rody called after Carmen as she hurried out of the meeting room wrapped in his coat.

Outside the meeting room, Mike, carrying a tray of fruit juice, watched Carmen rush out wrapped in Rody's coat and smiled.

The sky gradually darkened.

Rody sat in a large chair in the dining room. The table was laden with a lavish spread of food. Rich aromas rose from the steaming pots, their surfaces glistening with oil, and every dish looked utterly appetizing.

"Rody, this meat is so delicious!" Nami said as she picked up a piece of sea beast meat from the steaming pot and held it to Rody's mouth.

Rody opened his mouth and ate the still-steaming sea beast meat Nami offered him, chewing slowly and savoring it. It was tender and delicious, easy to bite through, yet its rich meatiness remained distinct. That sense of satisfaction instantly filled his mouth.

Rody picked up a piece of sushi and took a large bite. The freshness of the seafood and the sweetness of the rice created rich layers of flavor in his mouth. Sushi in the real world could never compare to this taste and complexity.

After taking a large gulp of wine, Rody found himself almost impatient to visit Baratie and taste the food made by Sanji and his master, Red-Leg Zeff. What kind of flavors would their cooking have?