All Hail the Magic Conch!

"Phew! Phew! Phew! Phew!" Krieg panted heavily as the guns all over his body retracted with a clattering of mechanisms. Like a lion, he swept his gaze over the crowd. "I am the invincible Commander Krieg. This is my invincible power."

"The strongest steel arms, the toughest black-gold body, diamond fists that can destroy anything, plus every weapon equipped across my entire body! I am the strongest!"

Then he added, "Now, prepare food for a hundred people at once. Do not defy my orders!"

The cooks all stared at Krieg without saying a word.

Anyone who dared work at a restaurant frequented by pirates more often than ordinary people was no pushover. Though they feared Krieg's strength, they did not lack the courage to fight.

They looked toward their boss, ready to spring into action at a single command.

At that moment, Sanji lit a cigarette. After a long silence, he turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Sanji! What are you doing?" Seeing Sanji move, Patty hurried over and demanded warily.

"Food for a hundred people isn't easy to make. We need to prepare properly," Sanji said calmly, stopping to look at Patty.

"What?! You're really going to make food for him?!" Patty exclaimed in shock.

"That's more like it..." Seeing Sanji obey him so readily, Krieg broke into a chrysanthemum-like smile.

Clack, clack!

The cooks suddenly drew pistols with lightning speed and formed a circle around Sanji. One of them said, "Sanji, you're actually a spy sent by Krieg, aren't you? We won't let you into the kitchen after something this infuriating!"

"Phew!" Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke with immense swagger, then spread his arms. "It's fine. If you want to stop me, then shoot!"

The cooks: "??!!"

"I know he's an utterly vile bastard," Sanji continued, his eyes blazing as he looked at the others. "But what does that have to do with us? When someone wants to eat, you give them food. That's what a cook does!"

Smack!

Patty suddenly knocked Sanji to the ground with an arm hammer.

"Hold him down!" Patty ordered the cooks beside him. "Sanji! I know you always secretly feed the people I throw out. I won't judge whose beliefs are right or wrong, yours or mine, but this time, you are absolutely wrong!"

"Stay out of this. I'll definitely protect this restaurant!" As he spoke, Patty violently lifted the cover off the object beneath him and swiftly grabbed it in his hands. "Try this iron after-dinner dessert!"

"Patty! Stop!" The owner suddenly spoke. "There should be enough food for a hundred people in the kitchen, right? Pack it up and bring it out."

The cooks were stunned. "Boss Zeff!"

"Zeff..." Hearing that name, Krieg froze for a moment, then carefully examined the restaurant owner.

"Boss! We can't give them food! One person is one thing, but if they all get full, five hundred subordinates and fifty pirate ships could destroy us with ease! Our restaurant will be finished!" Patty said anxiously.

"I know..." Zeff nodded. "But that requires him to have the will to fight... doesn't it, loser of the Grand Line?"

Aaron lay on his back on the floor, his clothes torn to shreds and exposing smooth, pale skin. His eyes were tightly shut, and his brows were furrowed.

After a long while, Aaron suddenly opened his eyes and shot upright. He stared ahead blankly, his gaze utterly unfocused.

Only after some time did his pupils slowly regain focus. Then he heard a voice say, "I am invincible! What I lack is information—information about the Grand Line! With that information, I can conquer the Grand Line, find One Piece, and become one of the greatest figures of this era! So hand over your logbook already!"

Then he heard Luffy shout, "Hey! What nonsense are you talking about?! I'm the one who'll become the future King of the Pirates!"

"..." Only then did Aaron fully wake up and see what was happening before him.

Seeing Luffy confronting that customer with unusual tastes, Aaron instantly understood the situation.

So he hurriedly scrambled up, stood in front of Luffy with his hands on his hips, and said, "Luffy! How can you argue with a customer?!"

"Oh! Aaron, you're awake!" Luffy greeted him, then added, "I wasn't arguing with him. That guy kept saying he was the King of the Pirates, so I corrected him!"

"Even so, you can't argue with a customer!" Aaron declared forcefully. Then he turned and bowed to Krieg, his face full of apology. "I'm sorry, sir. Our captain just loves blurting out nonsense. Please forgive him."

"..." Krieg instantly became furious. His shoehorn-shaped face darkened several shades as he said coldly, "I didn't expect you to still be alive."

"...Huh?" Aaron stared for a second or two before suddenly understanding. "Oh, you mean earlier! Gunshots don't work on me, so even if you feed me another magazine of bullets, it'll still be useless!"

Well then, congratulations to Aaron for earning the title: Finishing Blow Expert.

By then, Krieg's face was dark enough to rain. He nearly wanted to give Aaron another full magazine.

But in the end, he held himself back. He grabbed the sack of food and headed outside, shouting, "When I return, I'll definitely take this ship and that logbook! You still have time to run if you want. Otherwise, when the time comes, you'll lose your lives!"

Krieg left, taking food for a hundred people with him.

Gin remained behind, remorsefully talking with Sanji while also getting a taste of Sanji's overwhelming aura.

Meanwhile, Roronoa Zoro asked Aaron, "Hey, what happened to you just now? Why didn't you get up for so long?"

"..." Aaron stared at Roronoa Zoro. "Ah! Right!" He suddenly slapped his hands together.

"I had a really strange dream!" Aaron said, waving his arms dramatically.

"I dreamed that I turned into a sponge!"

"..." Roronoa Zoro gave Aaron a strange look, then revealed a malicious grin. "Could it be that sponge you ate refused to rest in peace and came to claim your life?"

...In a sense, Roronoa Zoro had actually hit the truth.

"No, no!" Aaron shook his head like a rattle drum. "I was really happy in the dream. I made burgers, caught jellyfish, blew bubbles—don't even ask how fun it was!"

"...Then shouldn't you have stayed in that dream longer?"

"Mhm, that's what I thought too." Aaron nodded solemnly, then pulled a long face. "But while I was dreaming, I don't know how, but a giant conch suddenly appeared in my hand. And it could talk! It said one thing that scared me awake!"

"Oh? What did it say?" Roronoa Zoro asked with interest.

"It said, 'Hawkeye is coming. You're doomed.'" Aaron imitated the mechanical voice, answering one word at a time.

Upon hearing the name he had dreamed of day and night, Roronoa Zoro's expression instantly changed. "Hawkeye?!" "Hawkeye?!"

Roronoa Zoro stared at Aaron. "You're saying you dreamed that Hawkeye was coming?"

"Yeah, that conch seemed pretty convincing..." As he spoke, Aaron nodded to show just how convincing it was.

"Zoro, Aaron, who is this Hawkeye? Gin mentioned him earlier too. Who is he, exactly?" Luffy suddenly poked his head over and asked.

"He's the man I've been searching for."

"Luffy, you don't even know Hawkeye? He's the world's greatest swordsman!!"

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head. "So he's a swordsman." He immediately lost interest and ran off to pester Sanji again.

"So, do you know when he's coming?" Roronoa Zoro fixed Aaron with a stare, flames blazing in his eyes.

"I don't know... Wait, let me ask." With that, Aaron pulled a conch that looked like a toy from his clothes... Well, it was actually just a toy conch. He pulled out its wind-up cord and asked, "Magic Conch, tell me, when exactly will Hawkeye arrive?" Then he released the cord.

Clack, clack, clack, clack!

The cord jerked back into place, and the conch slowly spoke. "...In a few days."

"He'll be here in a few days." Aaron raised his head and looked at Roronoa Zoro with certainty.

Roronoa Zoro: "...This is your Magic Conch?"

"Yeah, it is." Aaron held it up like a treasured offering and handed it to Roronoa Zoro to inspect. Then he froze, stared foolishly at the conch in his hand, and asked, "...Where did this conch come from?"

"...How would I know?!" Roronoa Zoro rolled his eyes wildly.

That's what I want to ask! Roronoa Zoro thought.

"This is so strange... Where did I pull it out from?" Aaron rummaged through his clothes. He definitely did not remember carrying anything like this!

"Maybe I dreamed it into existence." After thinking hard for a while, Aaron reached that conclusion.

Roronoa Zoro: "..." He had never heard of a dream that could dream objects into existence!

"I have a Magic Conch now..." Aaron suddenly repeated, as if he had just recovered from dementia. Then he repeated it again in wild delight, "I have a Magic Conch!!"

Everyone kept glancing at him.

"What are you doing?" Nami looked curiously at Aaron, who was holding up a conch with the expression of a fanatical believer.

So Aaron explained the Magic Conch to everyone.

Well, hardly anyone believed him.

"That's amazing!" Usopp and Luffy said, their eyes sparkling with stars.

"Hey! Then hurry up and ask the conch when I can become a brave warrior of the sea, and when Luffy can become the King of the Pirates..."

Thud!

"Ow! Luffy, why did you hit me?!" Usopp clutched his head.

"Nothing. I just felt like you needed hitting," Luffy said.

"Usopp, you're so boring! Why would you disturb the great Magic Conch over such obvious things? What a waste of its talents!" Aaron said unhappily. Then he turned to Luffy. "Luffy, is there anything you want to ask?"

"Mhm." Luffy shook his head and laughed. "Isn't the fun of adventure exploring the unknown? If you knew everything already, what would be fun about it?"

"I didn't expect you to occasionally say something sensible, Luffy..." Aaron looked at Luffy in surprise, then turned to the others. "Is there anything you want to ask?"

Everyone shook their heads. "N-No..."

Obviously, this conch looked like an ordinary toy! How could it possibly predict the future?

"Then I'm asking!" Aaron said excitedly.

He pulled the wind-up cord again, his expression turning solemn and devout. Once he had pulled it to the limit, he slowly asked in a low voice, "Magic Conch, where can I make burgers that I'll never get tired of eating?"

Magic Conch: "Beep! Go home."

Aaron: "Where can I catch the biggest jellyfish?"

Magic Conch: "Beep! Go home."

"Where can I take my bubble-blowing skills to the next level?"

"Beep! Go home."

"All hail the Magic Conch!" After asking his questions, Aaron fell to his knees and raised the conch high above his head, shouting like a primitive man encountering a totem.

Everyone: "..."

What the hell?!

What kind of move was that?!

.