Chef Freya

At that moment, Freya stared at her father in utter shock.

Xikexin had explained this principle to Freya before, but she had never seriously taken it to heart. In her opinion, they were merely the words of her stubborn old father.

But now...

"But..."

"It's fine if you don't understand for now. You'll understand in the future. I didn't understand it at all back then either, but I had my doubts. I knew I wouldn't find the answer in the Gourmet Country. As a Super God of Cooking, I had already reached the pinnacle of the Gourmet Country. So I secretly left the Gourmet Country and prepared to travel the world in search of the answer..."

At this point, a bitter smile appeared on Xikexin's face.

"However, my journey didn't go smoothly. I encountered a storm as soon as I went to sea and was swept onto an unfamiliar island. Everything I had on me was gone. Fortunately, I ran into a group of pirates fleeing from the New World to the North Blue. After surviving countless dangers, we were lucky enough to cross the Calm Belt and reach the North Blue. I originally thought that with my cooking skills, finding a job as a chef in the North Blue and continuing to travel the world would be easy. However, what I never expected was that even I, a Super God of Cooking, nearly starved to death because I couldn't find a job as a chef."

"Huh?!"

Xikexin smiled and said,

"The reason was simple. I simply hadn't understood it back then. I couldn't accept ordinary dishes made with ordinary ingredients. I thought they sullied my cooking skills. In order to create the finest dishes and select the finest ingredients, I wasted ingredients and was driven out of many restaurants. What I found even harder to understand was that even when I made dishes I was satisfied with, I sometimes still failed to gain the customers' approval. I couldn't figure it out no matter how hard I tried. Back then, I thought those vulgar people simply couldn't distinguish good food from bad, so I kept wandering until I reached the East Blue, came to Loguetown, and met your mother."

"I was stunned when I first came here. This restaurant wasn't nearly this large back then; it could barely hold twenty-some people. Yet it was packed every day, and those customers endlessly praised the dishes your mother made. Not a single one of them was dissatisfied. But to be honest, I didn't understand it at all back then. In my eyes, just as you said, your mother's food was nothing more than cheap cooking, suitable only for fooling idiots who couldn't tell what good food was."

"But I had already been hungry for a long time and had no work. So, with no other choice, I swallowed my pride and became a lowly assistant here under your mother."

"Later, I found the answer I wanted here. But I can't tell you exactly how I found it, because you have to seek it out yourself. Even if I told you, you might not understand..."

At this point, Xikexin suddenly turned serious and asked his daughter,

"Now, do you still think you've surpassed your mother and me and want to continue with the cooking competition...?"

"I..."

Although Freya was still somewhat unwilling to admit defeat, she now knew that in front of her father and mother, she was truly like a frog at the bottom of a well. She couldn't believe she had thought she had surpassed them both.

"Then what do I have to do to truly surpass you two...?"

Xikexin thought for a moment, his face filled with memories, before saying,

"At the very least, you need to reach the level where you can become a Food God in the Gourmet Country, just like your old man. Only then will you be qualified to compete with me..."

"But didn't you say the Gourmet Country was a graveyard for chefs?"

"You idiot. Your old man has already become a Super God of Cooking, so naturally I have the right to say that. As for you, you don't even qualify to be buried in that graveyard yet..."

"..."

Freya instantly glared at her father through gritted teeth. But now that she understood her father's glorious past, she couldn't come up with anything to refute him.

Just then, Freya saw her father, Xikexin, bow deeply to the pirate Ye Mu standing before him and say,

"I'm counting on you to look after my daughter in the future..."

"!!!"

Freya jumped in fright.

"Hey, Dad, have you gone crazy? How can you entrust me to a pirate...?"

Xikexin returned to his earlier old-man persona and retorted,

"You're going to the Gourmet Country, so you'll definitely have to go to the New World. Are you planning to go alone...?"

"But even becoming a Marine would be better than becoming a pirate... Besides, there's still that one over there..."

"You idiot... Look at those two. Which one of them is interested in the path of cooking...? Besides, although I don't like pirates, I can't bring myself to like the Marines or Marine traitors either..."

"Uh..."

Kuzan and Dragon, who had suddenly been dragged into the matter, were also somewhat speechless. They wanted to argue, but Xikexin didn't seem to be wrong.

The situation suddenly turned on its head. Xikexin, who had originally been firmly opposed to his daughter becoming a pirate, suddenly began recommending his daughter to Ye Mu.

"Captain Ye Mu, rest assured. Although my daughter's cooking skills aren't as good as mine, she inherited half of my skills and her mother's. Besides, she's a cook who has eaten the Cooking Fruit. She definitely won't hold you back."

"The Cooking Fruit?!"

"Yes... I found it in the North Blue. Freya's hands can freely transform into all kinds of cooking utensils. She can also easily process any ingredients and cook any dish she wants. She was born to be a chef. What do you think?"

As Xikexin spoke, he rubbed his hands together and waited for Ye Mu's answer.

Unexpectedly, Ye Mu suddenly shook his head.

"To be honest, I'm very tempted right now and would really like to agree. But I'm looking for companions... And I'm not willing to force anyone..."

When Xikexin heard this, his gaze toward Ye Mu became even more approving. He turned to his dazed daughter and said,

"Captain Ye Mu is right... Freya, your old man is only pointing out a path for you... But how you choose to walk it is up to you..."

For Freya, this was the most important choice of her life.

"Become a pirate?"

She was actually somewhat opposed to the idea. But if it was this person...

She recalled the two times he had held her in his arms, how he had indulged her mischief, and the warmth she had felt when he protected her from the bone-chilling cold. Unexpectedly, she wasn't opposed to it.

But...

Freya finally asked a question with utmost seriousness.

"If I become your companion, will you help me achieve my dream?"

Ye Mu shook his head.

"No... Dreams are more meaningful when you achieve them through your own efforts. But as captain, I'll become your strongest support. So, as long as you become my companion aboard my pirate ship, don't hesitate or waver. Just charge toward your dream. Even if you turn this world upside down, as long as I'm alive, I'll always stand behind you and give you the strength to move forward..."