Gourmet Country

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm." The little girl nodded excitedly.

Seeing this, Ye Mu gave her another warning.

"Very good. What a good girl... From today onward, besides being Vice Captain Enel's personal maid, you'll also be the head maid of our Sky Pirate Crew. From now on, you may only listen to Vice Captain Enel and the people of our Sky Pirate Crew. Don't listen to anyone else, all right?"

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm."

The little girl, now named baby-5, had an even brighter look in her eyes as she hugged Enel's leg tighter.

At this moment, seeing that Ye Mu had accepted the little one, Tiger felt relieved, but continued speaking.

"However, Captain Ye Mu, there's a problem..."

"What do you mean?"

"When we were dealing with those slave traders, they told us that they were a slave ship under the Donquixote Pirates. I looked into their leader, that guy named Doflamingo. He has a bounty of one hundred and forty million Beli, and his surname..."

After speaking, Tiger secretly glanced at Kuzan and Dragon beside him.

Ye Mu understood Tiger's concern as well. He waved his hand and said indifferently, "There's no need to worry. We aren't even afraid of real Celestial Dragons, so why would we fear someone who has already lost his Celestial Dragon status... Besides, don't we have the Marines here? I don't think the Marines would let a pirate who traffics in people off the hook, right, Vice Admiral Kuzan..."

Kuzan wore a helpless expression and sighed. "You seem to be a pirate too..."

"True... Hahahaha..."

Ye Mu did not care in the slightest. At this moment, seeing that he could not shake off the little one Ye Mu had named baby-5, who had also become a member of the crew and was clinging to his leg, Enel finally gave up struggling.

"Tiger, I told you long ago that there was no need to worry. Ye Mu would never take someone like that seriously."

"Mm."

Tiger nodded as well. When it came to hatred of slave traders, Tiger surpassed everyone present, but that did not mean he was willing to cause trouble for the crew because of his personal feelings.

At this moment, Enel immediately asked another question.

"Come to think of it, even counting this clingy little girl, aren't there only four people on our ship? Where did the fifth person come from? Who's this extra person you mentioned?"

"Chef Freya, the future head chef of our Sky Pirate Crew..."

"!!!"

At these words, Kuzan and Dragon were both stunned, then they understood.

"So that's how it is..."

No wonder Ye Mu, the captain, had spent so much time in such a small restaurant. It turned out he had been looking for a chef for his pirate crew.

Meanwhile, in the back kitchen, Freya and her father had been secretly listening to everything happening outside since the moment Morgans entered. The two of them were both startled.

Freya's father instantly looked panicked and hurriedly said to his daughter, "It's over... So his target was actually you, you damned girl... This is bad... Run, quickly... Don't worry, Dad will hold them off..."

"Dad, you..."

Freya grew somewhat nervous as well. Looking at her father, who cared so deeply for her, she was moved.

"Should I run... No..."

If she really ran away, what would happen to her father?

At this moment, Freya made up her mind and decided to risk everything.

"Hey... you damned girl... What are you doing..."

Under Freya's father's somewhat panicked gaze, he could not stop her in time. He could only watch as his daughter ran out and said coldly to Ye Mu, her brows furrowed, "I won't become a pirate."

She had originally thought that Ye Mu would be furious after hearing this, but to her surprise, he showed no reaction. Instead, he merely glanced at her indifferently and said, "Don't misunderstand. Although I've taken a fancy to you, whether you're qualified to become the chef of the Sky Pirate Crew, our crew's Number Four, isn't up to you to decide. You haven't earned my approval yet... Not just anyone can become the chef of our Sky Pirate Crew... So only after you earn my approval in the cooking competition to come will you have the right to refuse me. Do you understand? As you are now, you still have a long way to go..."

"!!!"

This was an answer Freya had never expected, and it struck deeply at her unwillingness to lose.

At least she was no longer afraid. After hearing this, Freya's father let out a long sigh of relief as well.

"You..."

At this moment, Enel looked at the beautiful girl who had run out, tilted his head, and compared Freya's height with his hand before adding fuel to the fire by asking Ye Mu, "Is that her? She's so small. From the looks of her, can her cooking really taste that good...?"

Compared with the two people who were around two and a half meters tall, Freya's height of only around one hundred and seventy centimeters did indeed make her seem rather small.

"!!!"

This time, the veins on Freya's forehead bulged.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Freya's father smiled and echoed, "That's right... That's right... Freya is too young... Her cooking skills are nowhere near good enough for the position of head chef in Captain Ye Mu's pirate crew... You must consider this carefully..."

"Dad, what nonsense are you talking about..."

Although she knew that her father was trying to help her, when she heard him belittle her cooking skills, Freya instinctively opened her mouth to refute him.

"Idiot... Shut up..."

Freya's father grew anxious as well. How could he be willing to let his daughter become a pirate and push her into a pit of fire?

But just then, a voice that no one expected suddenly rang out.

"Boss, you wouldn't happen to be named Xikexin, would you...?"

Everyone turned to look. Tiger gazed at Freya's father, who had appeared before him, with some confusion and called out this strange name.

When Freya's father heard the name, he froze. Seemingly surprised, he asked, "You actually know me...?"

Freya, however, asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Dad? Is there something strange about your name...?"

After seeing Freya's father admit it, Tiger suddenly broke into a smile and said to Ye Mu, "Captain Ye Mu, it seems our luck really is good. Regardless of the outcome of this cooking competition, if this girl can become our head chef, then that truly will be our good fortune..."

Tiger's words made Ye Mu somewhat puzzled. Clearly, the point that had attracted Tiger to this girl was different from his own.

"What is it, Tiger? Have you discovered something new?"

Tiger nodded and explained, "I never expected to encounter here the legendary Xikexin, known as the Super God of Cooking in the Gourmet Country... Since this girl is Xikexin's daughter, her cooking skills definitely won't be bad..."

This instead left Freya somewhat confused. She asked, "What Gourmet Country... Super God of Cooking... Hey, Dad, is he talking about you?"

Freya's father, the man named Xikexin, calmly lectured his daughter, "Tch... I told you long ago that your old man is very capable. You're still far from surpassing me..."

"Hey... Dad, what nonsense are you talking about...?"

Freya could not understand at all, but Tiger spoke up.

"Your father is right. He won the Food God title in the Gourmet Country three consecutive times and remained the number-one chef in the Gourmet Country for twelve straight years. That's why he became known as the Super God of Cooking..."

"..."

Freya was completely dumbfounded. She stared in shock at her father, who seemed to find all this perfectly ordinary—a stubborn middle-aged man whose hair had almost all fallen out.

"Is that really true?"