Don Krieg, Who Called Himself Overlord, Couldn't Even Block a Single Branch of Mine

"Now that you've untangled that knot in your heart."

"Shouldn't you obediently pack your bags, get on my ship, and become my personal chef?"

At this moment, Lei En's extremely arrogant words sounded like heavenly music to Sanji.

Sanji abruptly raised his head. His eyes, which had always carried a hint of melancholy, were now bloodshot with excitement.

He stared fixedly at Lei En, his lips trembling violently. Countless words lodged in his throat, yet he could not say a single one.

"What? You don't want to?"

Lei En raised an eyebrow and sighed with feigned regret. "If you don't want to, then forget it. At worst, I'll just chop off this old man's leg again."

"No!"

Sanji was scared out of his wits. He scrambled forward and threw himself at Lei En, wrapping his arms around his leg.

"I'm willing! I'm willing a hundred times over! Forget being your personal chef—even if you make me scrub toilets, I'm willing!"

Sanji was so emotional that he could barely speak coherently, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"From today onward, this life of mine belongs to Lord Lei En! As long as you want to eat, even if you tell me to catch Sea Kings, I won't so much as frown!"

"Enough, enough. Who wants your life? Let go already. You've smeared snot all over my pants."

Lei En kicked Sanji away in disgust, though a satisfied smile still curled at the corner of his lips.

Done.

Heavenly Court's head chef had officially joined the crew.

With these skills, they would never have to worry about food and drink while sailing the seas.

Old Zeff was wiping away tears nearby as well, his gaze toward Lei En filled with indescribable gratitude and awe.

Just as this touching, joyous moment unfolded—

"BOOM—!!!"

An incredibly violent crash suddenly came from outside the restaurant!

The entire Baratie shook violently, as though some enormous creature had slammed into it!

"What happened?!"

"Was that an earthquake?!"

The diners and chefs in the restaurant cried out in panic as plates on the tables clattered and shattered across the floor.

Lei En steadied himself, frowning slightly.

His exceptionally keen Observation Haki instantly swept across the waters outside.

"Oh? More blind trash coming to die?"

With both hands in his pockets, Lei En leisurely walked toward the restaurant entrance.

"Let's take a look."

Kuina and Kuro immediately followed.

Sanji hurriedly climbed to his feet, wiped away his tears, and followed them outside.

The instant they stepped onto the deck, a strong stench of rot and sea air assaulted them.

Beside the Baratie was docked an enormous pirate galleon, battered and ruined, as though it had just crawled out of hell.

A vicious skull wearing a sandglass mask was painted on its sails.

The flagship of the East Blue overlord, the Krieg Pirates' grand fleet!

However, the once-unrivaled warship was now riddled with holes, its masts broken, its deck covered with pirates who were skin and bones, barely clinging to life from hunger.

"Food... Give me food..."

An exceptionally tall man in tattered clothes, supported by his subordinate Gin, weakly crawled onto the Baratie's deck.

It was none other than Admiral Don Krieg.

Having fled back from the Grand Line, he was starving to the point that he barely had half his life left.

Seeing their miserable state, kind-hearted Sanji knew they were vicious pirates, but his instincts as a chef still drove him into the kitchen to bring out a large plate of fried rice.

"Eat. Don't starve to death."

Sanji placed the fried rice before Don Krieg.

Like a starving wolf, Don Krieg pounced on the plate. He did not even use a spoon, instead grabbing the rice with his hands and stuffing it into his mouth.

In just a few seconds, he had devoured the entire plate of fried rice.

"Whew..."

Full and satisfied, Don Krieg let out a long breath, a trace of color returning to his formerly pale face.

But the next second—

His eyes, clouded by hunger, suddenly erupted with the savage, greedy gleam of a wild beast!

"Bang!"

Without warning, Don Krieg threw a punch, slamming it into Sanji's unguarded stomach!

"Urgh—!"

Sanji grunted as his entire body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily onto the deck.

"You bastard!"

The other chefs roared in fury and charged forward with kitchen knives in hand.

"Hahahaha! A bunch of idiot cooks!"

Don Krieg burst into arrogant laughter.

He tore off his tattered coat, revealing the dazzling, outrageously elaborate suit of Golden Armor beneath it!

"I am Don Krieg, overlord of the East Blue! The invincible fleet admiral with five thousand men and fifty warships under my command!"

He arrogantly slapped the thick golden armor over his chest, producing deafening metallic clangs.

"This ship isn't bad. It'll make a perfect new flagship for me!"

"Now hand over all your food and treasure! Otherwise, I'll use this indestructible Wootz Steel Armor to crush every last one of you into paste!"

Don Krieg's arrogant presence spread wantonly across the deck.

The chefs who had kindly fed him only moments ago clenched their fists in rage, yet they had no idea how to deal with the Golden Armor that appeared impervious to blades and bullets.

"What a noisy fly."

Just then—

An exceedingly lazy, somewhat impatient voice drifted over from behind the crowd.

With his hands in his pockets, Lei En parted the crowd and walked to the front.

He glanced at Sanji lying on the ground, and his expression instantly turned cold.

"Even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner. You piece of trash, biting the hand that fed you right after filling your stomach—you've got some nerve."

Lei En's deeply insulting words abruptly cut off Don Krieg's laughter.

"What the hell are you? How dare you speak to me like that?!"

Don Krieg glared viciously at Lei En. When he saw that he was merely a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old brat, the contempt in his eyes grew even stronger.

"A snot-nosed kid like you wants to play hero?"

He arrogantly pointed at the gleaming armor on his body.

"See this invincible armor? It was forged from the hardest steel in the world! Not even guns or cannons can pierce it!"

"A brat like you can't even touch a hair on me!"

"The hardest steel?"

Lei En could not help snorting as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

"Your ignorance of power is simply pathetic."

He did not even have the interest to draw the famous blade Yubashiri from his waist.

Lei En sighed and casually walked over to an ornamental potted plant by the deck.

Crack.

He reached out and snapped off a fragile dead branch, no thicker than a pair of chopsticks.

Then, holding that branch, he slowly walked back to Don Krieg.

Lei En raised his hand and pointed the dead branch at Don Krieg's heavy Golden Armor from afar, his eyes as cold as if he were looking at a corpse.

"Against trash like you, even drawing my sword would be an insult to me."

The entire deck fell silent.

Everyone stared at Lei En as if he were insane.

Using a dead branch against Golden Armor that even guns and cannons could not pierce?

Was this kid brain-damaged?!

"Hahahahaha!!!"

After freezing for a few seconds, Don Krieg erupted into exaggerated, mocking laughter.

He was nearly laughing himself to tears.

"Kid! You want to use a broken branch against the overlord of the East Blue?!"

"Have you lost your mind?! Come on! Stab me! Let's see if that broken branch of yours can leave so much as a scratch on my armor!"

Don Krieg arrogantly puffed out his chest and spread his arms wide, completely unguarded.

"Fine. As you wish."

An exceedingly cruel sneer curled across Lei En's lips.

Before his words had even faded—

"Bzzzz—!"

An incomparably oppressive, hair-raising aura suddenly erupted from Lei En's not particularly strong body!

Then—

Before everyone's utterly horrified eyes!

A jet-black color, gleaming with a cold metallic sheen, instantly spread from Lei En's fingers onto that fragile dead branch!

Advanced Armament Haki, coating!

The previously frail dead branch transformed at that moment into something like a peerless divine weapon, radiating a terrifying sharpness capable of cutting through anything!

Lei En looked at Don Krieg, who was still laughing wildly, and his eyes instantly turned ice-cold.

"I hope that pile of scrap metal you're wearing can help you last one more second."