The Cook's Bottom Line, Victor's Sword

"Hey! Sanji! You damn cook! Move aside already!!"

Patty held a massive fork in his hand, cold sweat pouring down his forehead as he shouted at the blond figure standing before the pirate.

"Have you lost your mind? He's Don Krieg! The East Blue overlord who kills without blinking!"

"Sanji! Wake up! If you give him food, once he regains his strength, he'll definitely retaliate against this restaurant! Move aside!!"

Carl, another cook, gripped her rolling pin tightly, her voice trembling.

The diners in the restaurant also snapped out of their initial shock, and their whispers gradually turned into furious condemnation.

"Exactly! A piece of trash like him deserves to die!"

"Who told him to commit so many atrocities and rob so many merchant ships!"

"Getting killed by a pirate hunter is only natural! Is that curly-browed cook trying to get us killed? Move aside!"

By the railing on the second floor, head chef Zeff stood with his arms crossed.

Beneath that tall chef's hat, his sharp eyes remained fixed on the two confronting each other downstairs, yet he never said a word.

Everyone in the restaurant was condemning Sanji.

Facing the accusations of the crowd, Sanji bit down hard on his lip, his jaw clenched tight.

His expression was terrifyingly grim, yet he did not retreat even a fraction.

"Final warning."

Victor held his longsword level. Candlelight from the restaurant reflected off the blade, and its razor-sharp tip was only a centimeter from Sanji's nose.

"Move aside, cook."

Victor's voice was as calm as stagnant water, his scarlet Sharingan watching Sanji coldly.

"The man lying on the ground is Don Krieg, the East Blue overlord with a fifty-million-Beli bounty.

"He's a complete scumbag who'll stop at nothing to win."

"Saving him means killing others."

A cigarette hung from Sanji's lips. Through the curling blue-white smoke, his exposed deep-blue eye stared fearlessly into Victor's oppressive gaze.

"I don't understand all that grand reasoning of yours, red-eyed brat."

Sanji's voice was low, carrying a stubborn rasp.

"East Blue overlord, scumbag... all I hear is that man's stomach growling."

"For a cook, that's enough."

Sanji slowly raised one leg, his black leather shoe glinting dangerously beneath the lights.

"You want to kill him? Fine. But before he finishes this meal..."

"...no one touches him."

"Oh?"

Victor narrowed his eyes, nudging the sword tip forward slightly until it nearly touched Sanji's nose.

"You'd wager your life for a scumbag you don't even know? Is this your chivalry?

"Even if it means throwing this restaurant into the flames and putting your benefactor Zeff in danger?"

"This isn't chivalry."

Sanji did not retreat at all, allowing the sword's aura to cut the skin on the tip of his nose. A drop of blood slowly slid down.

He merely looked at Victor calmly and said, word by word,

"This is just the bottom line of a cook who has known hunger."

"If I can't even feed someone who's starving, then I don't deserve to stand in this restaurant, much less call myself a cook!"

The air seemed to freeze.

Luffy held down his Straw Hat and did not move. His calm gaze rested on his two companions, swords drawn against one another, and he said nothing.

However.

At that moment of taut tension, when both men were completely focused on each other.

"Grrr..."

A beastlike gulp broke the suffocating silence.

The Two-Tomoe Sharingan in Victor's eyes abruptly glanced downward.

Within his dynamic vision, the massive body on the floor, which had been on the verge of death and seemingly unable to even move a finger,

suddenly had every muscle convulse and tense like a dying beast.

It was adrenaline triggered by extreme hunger.

Victor curled his lips, a trace of mockery flashing through his eyes.

"Damn it... that's mine...!!"

Don Krieg, who had been lying prone on the ground, had somehow raised his head.

His eyes were bloodshot and unfocused. He did not look at the sword in Victor's hand, but stared fixedly at the steaming plate of seafood fried rice in Sanji's hand.

He could feel the terrifying killing intent radiating from that red-eyed youth—the kind of gaze that would truly cut off his head without hesitation!

If he didn't risk everything, he would really die here!

If he didn't eat now... he really would die!

"Give it to me!!!"

Accompanied by a hoarse, crazed roar.

Don Krieg's massive body erupted with astonishing speed completely at odds with his weakened state.

He did not attack Victor, who posed the greatest threat to him. Instead, he chose the "benefactor" protecting him with his back turned.

Bang!

"Wha...?!"

Sanji had been fully focused on guarding against Victor's sword. He never expected the "customer" he was trying to protect to suddenly attack him from behind.

Gin, standing nearby, widened his eyes. He wanted to shout, but no sound came out.

"Ugh!"

Sanji only felt a tremendous force slam into his waist. He lost his balance and staggered to one side, the plate flying from his hand.

Crash—

Like a rabid dog, Don Krieg pounced forward, snatched the plate out of the air, then scrambled and crawled into a corner of the restaurant.

He had no concern for the dignity of a "commander," nor did he care about the scornful looks around him.

With his filthy hands, he grabbed fistfuls of scorching fried rice and crammed them into his mouth like a madman, heedless of the heat.

"Mmph! Mmph! Delicious!!!"

"This is food!! This is life!!"

Rice scattered over his golden beard and mud-caked armor.

But he did not care. Like a starving wolf that had not eaten meat for centuries, he made spine-chilling gulping noises in his throat.

"Haha... I'm alive... strength... it's coming back..."

The scene fell silent at once.

Sanji steadied himself against the railing and looked at the man in the corner who had abandoned even his humanity for food. There was no anger on his face. Instead, he looked faintly relieved.

He dusted himself off and relit the cigarette at the corner of his mouth.

"Hmph, just as I thought... aren't you full of energy now?"

However.

Before Don Krieg could swallow his second mouthful, an even colder, purer killing intent instantly enveloped him.

His entire body stiffened. It felt as though Death's scythe had been placed against his neck.

Victor naturally would not give him the chance to recover his strength, put on his equipment, and start slaughtering again.

Body Flicker.

A black shadow flashed.

Don Krieg looked up in terror, but all he saw was Victor's pair of eerily spinning red eyes.

Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique.

Victor murmured.

Boom!

Don Krieg's mind exploded.

The real scene vanished.

In its place was the raging Grand Line, and that nightmare of a man with hawk-like eyes who had destroyed his fleet of fifty warships!

It was the deepest, most extreme fear in his heart.

"No... don't..."

Don Krieg's body instantly froze, his pupils losing focus as grains of rice fell from his hand.

"Die."

In reality, Victor had already appeared at his side.

He raised his foot and mercilessly stomped Don Krieg's head against the hard wall, pinning him so tightly that he could not move.

Then he gripped his longsword with both hands. Chakra surged forth as he swung with all his strength at Don Krieg's thick neck!

Splurt!

Crack!

That was the sound of a sharp blade slicing through flesh and severing cervical vertebrae.

It was over in an instant.

Don Krieg's enormous head, wearing an expression of terror and unwillingness, was cleanly severed by Victor's sword.

Thud... thud...

The head rolled across the floor until it stopped at the feet of the stunned Patty in the middle of the restaurant.

Patty looked at Don Krieg's unclosed eyes staring at him and felt uncomfortable all over.

So... he secretly exerted force with his toes and kicked it over to Luffy's side.

Blood from Don Krieg's remaining body gushed out like a fountain, instantly staining the nearby walls and floor red.

Swish.

With a flick of his wrist, Victor flung a grim line of blood through the air, shaking the blood from his blade.

He sheathed his sword and stood beside the headless corpse, his expression as cold as ice.

"When it's time to draw my sword, I will never show mercy."

The sudden turn of events left everyone dumbfounded.

Gin's trembling hands propped him against the floor before he collapsed weakly.

His lips moved soundlessly. In pain, he clutched his head and began to sob quietly.

The entire restaurant was deathly silent, with only the sound of waves outside the windows echoing through the room.

That East Blue overlord... Don Krieg, the commander with a fleet of fifty ships...

Had he died just like that?

Without even getting the chance to resist, had he been beheaded like a dead dog?

Just then, a pleasant notification sounded in Victor's mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for defeating the special target: East Blue Commander Don Krieg (Bounty: 17 million Beli).]

[Battle Evaluation: S.]

[Reward obtained: 1,500 Ninja Way Points.]

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for slightly altering the original plot.]

[Reward obtained: 1,000 Ninja Way Points.]