Life Cuisine

"It should be here, right?"

Following the weapon shop owner's directions, Ye Mu easily found the restaurant he had mentioned.

It was indeed shabby and desolate.

The place stood at the very edge of Loguetown, with a wilderness forest behind it. The restaurant was dilapidated, and its sign was covered in moss, but four words could still be made out: Life Cuisine.

"What a strange name..."

Just as Ye Mu was about to push the door open, a vicious gust swept over him, accompanied by a furious shout.

"You damn brat, wasting ingredients again! Prepare to die..."

"Bang..."

The ramshackle wooden door instantly shattered under the strain, and a figure flew out of the restaurant, hurtling straight toward Ye Mu.

But Ye Mu neither dodged nor hid. Instead, he stretched out both arms and caught the flying figure, holding her in his embrace.

The reason was simple...

There was no need to mention the soft, fleshy feeling of the girl in his arms. Even her intoxicating fragrance made Ye Mu's heart race. Not to mention the springy sensation of her full, rounded, slender legs beneath his hands, combined with the curves of her white maid outfit. Her appeal was absolutely number one.

Looking down, he saw a cold, indifferent gaze, as though she wanted nothing to do with strangers.

But her facial features were simply too stunning. They were filled with seductive allure, the quintessential face of a bad woman, inspiring an urge to conquer her.

As if matching her aggressively beautiful appearance, the girl's voice was equally cold.

"How long are you planning to hold me...?"

Ye Mu naturally had no intention of cooperating.

"If you're willing, I wouldn't mind holding you forever..."

"Smack..."

The girl raised her hand and swung it at Ye Mu's face, but she failed to hit him. Instead, Ye Mu released his grip, and she immediately dropped to the ground.

"Hmph..."

The girl did not grow angry. She rubbed her backside, shot Ye Mu a cold look, then climbed to her feet and rushed back into the restaurant.

"Interesting..."

Ye Mu followed her inside.

Unlike the shabby exterior, the restaurant's interior was very clean. Its overall style resembled a gigantic yurt, and the space was quite large. There were more than twenty tables, enough to accommodate nearly a hundred people. Sunlight filled the room, creating a very comfortable atmosphere. Various little flowers and plants sat by the surrounding windows. Judging by the looks of it, the owner was a rather kindhearted fellow.

It was just that the restaurant seemed rather empty at the moment. There was no one inside, except...

"Bang..."

Another loud crash rang out.

The same girl from earlier was now pounding on the fragile counter, questioning a burly man behind it. He wore a frilled apron and had his arms folded over his chest.

"Damn old man, weren't you the one who taught me that to make the most delicious dishes, I had to use the finest ingredients...?"

The man was clearly furious as well.

"You damn brat, I said suitable... suitable ingredients... Besides, that's no excuse for wasting food..."

"But that meat was completely substandard..."

"What do you mean, substandard? You simply didn't put your heart into cooking it..."

"Stop trying to fool me with those outdated excuses. Ordinary ingredients are ordinary ingredients. No matter how you cook them, they'll never become top-tier delicacies..."

"Bastard! The culinary art of our Life Cuisine is to use the cheapest ingredients to make the most delicious dishes... I taught you all that from childhood, and you've forgotten every last bit of it..."

"Tch, I never remembered any of it in the first place. If you hadn't forced me, I wouldn't have wanted to become a chef or learn cooking at all..."

"Baka! You were born to be a chef, born for cooking! Besides, if you don't become a chef, who am I supposed to leave this restaurant to when I die...?"

"When you die, I'll burn this place down and go adventuring around the world..."

The owner instantly flew into a rage. The veins on his forehead twisted together as if they were about to burst, and his face flushed red with anger.

"You damn brat! Your mother and I worked together to build this place into what it is today, and you actually want to burn it down? You unfilial daughter..."

The girl looked at her father disdainfully and muttered something under her breath, but ultimately did not say anything cruel.

At that moment, the owner noticed Ye Mu entering. He glared viciously at the girl and said,

"I'll deal with you later, you damn brat..."

With that, he picked up a menu, put on a smile, and warmly walked over to Ye Mu.

"Customer... What would you like to order...?"

But before he could finish speaking, he suddenly seemed to discover something terrifying. He stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar face beneath Ye Mu's hood, which had been removed. The smile instantly vanished from his face, his complexion turned pale, and he stood trembling and frozen in place as he shouted,

"You... you're..."

The girl noticed her father's abnormal reaction immediately. Once she realized what was happening, she charged over and stood between her father and Ye Mu. To Ye Mu's surprise, one of her hands transformed into a blade while the other became a frying pan. She glared viciously at Ye Mu, then asked her father behind her,

"Hey... old man... are you all right...? Who is this guy...?"

Only then did the owner come to his senses. He hurriedly steadied himself, rushed in front of the girl, and stopped her.

"No... Freya... Don't attack, whatever you do... It's a misunderstanding... a misunderstanding... I'm sorry, sir... I was just..."

Seeing his father ramble incoherently, the girl was somewhat dumbfounded. Ye Mu, however, found it strange. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and asked,

"Looks like you recognized me. But am I really that frightening?"

The owner forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Of course not. Lord Ye Mu, captain of the Sky Pirate Crew, has honored our humble little shop with his presence. It's truly an honor beyond words..."

"Sky Pirate Crew... Captain... Ye Mu..."

Standing behind her father, the girl named Freya suddenly remembered something and understood why her father had become so frightened.

Thinking about how she had nearly slapped such a terrifying man, she felt a lingering sense of fear. Her cold face turned deathly pale.

As for the Celestial Dragons, Freya had been born and raised in Loguetown in the East Blue. She did not know much about them and could not truly grasp what killing a Celestial Dragon meant.

But she did understand the significance of someone who had reached a personal bounty of 540 million Beli on his first voyage, while his entire crew carried a combined bounty of 1.42 billion Beli. Freya had come into contact with countless pirates.

In fact, throughout the more than ten years she had lived in Loguetown, she had never seen a bounty that high among the pirates of the East Blue.

Over the past month, the subject most frequently discussed throughout Loguetown—aside from the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, who was about to be executed—had been the Sky Pirate Crew, those madmen who dared to kill a Celestial Dragon.

However, as she looked at the somewhat handsome man before her, who otherwise seemed completely ordinary,

Freya found it impossible to connect him with the vicious, universally hated great pirates she had seen in Loguetown.

He doesn't seem all that special...

Freya thought...