The Hungry Man

"What, you finally know fear, brat?!"

Zeff punched Sanji hard. That damn brat spent all day causing trouble for him and could never behave himself.

"Damn it, cough, cough, cough! What the hell is with this restaurant? Why is it acting like pirates?!"

Fullbody, already beaten half to death, slowly climbed up from the ground.

He even spat out several mouthfuls of blood, looking utterly miserable.

"Damn it, don't run! I'm definitely going to teach you a lesson today!"

Seeing Fullbody about to flee, Sanji relentlessly chased after him.

Fullbody ran while looking back, failing to notice that he had bumped into someone before fleeing straight onto the warship.

"Captain, did something happen? Why do you look so flustered?"

"None of your business! Get the ship moving already!"

Fullbody roared, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

That restaurant had made him lose so much face.

The marine he had scolded looked troubled. They had come here for another reason—to capture the escaped Krieg. They could not just leave like this.

"But Krieg hasn't been captured yet!"

"Capture what? I told you to get the ship moving, didn't you hear me?!"

Fullbody did not want to remain here for even another second. To hell with Krieg!

Sanji could only watch helplessly as Fullbody fled. Just as he was about to return to the restaurant, he noticed a thin man lying on the deck.

"Hey, are you all right? If you're going to die, don't die here."

Sanji lightly nudged the man lying on the ground with his foot. After a long while, the man finally managed to say something.

"Give me a bite to eat. I'm so hungry."

The man's voice was extremely weak. He did not even have the strength to sit up.

Sanji silently watched the man, then rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the kitchen.

When he came back out, he carried a plate of seafood fried rice.

"You... why... are you giving me food? I don't have any money, haha."

The man did not immediately pick up the bowl and start eating. Instead, he watched Sanji with wary eyes.

"Enough talking. Eat. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who's hungry is a customer. I understand the feelings of hungry people better than anyone. Even for the sake of your dignity, you have to eat if you want to see tomorrow, don't you?"

Sanji gave the man a faint smile.

"Thank you, I..."

The man began wolfing down the food, tears constantly falling into the rice. To him, this was the best meal he had ever eaten in his life.

"Hahaha, looks like I've found myself a good cook!"

After Luffy and Zeff had discussed the compensation, Luffy stepped outside and saw Sanji serving food to the man on the ground. He had heard every word Sanji had just said.

"Interesting."

Moyun stood at the highest point of the ship, quietly watching the three people on the deck converse.

So this was the first time Luffy invited Sanji. Gin of the Krieg Pirates had already appeared, so Krieg should be showing up soon. Once Luffy dealt with Krieg, Mihawk should arrive as well.

Thinking about it, he really was looking forward to it.

He was about to meet the world's greatest swordsman.

"Don't disappoint me."

Moyun looked out at the distant sea. It was calm and peaceful, like the stillness before a storm.

The space around him seemed to twist, and then he vanished, reappearing inside the restaurant.

Kuina and Olvia had long since grown accustomed to this.

"Oh, right. I found a great place to watch from. We can go take a look sometime."

"A place to watch from?"

Olvia spoke with mild surprise.

"Yeah, it's pretty interesting."

Moyun nodded with a smile in his eyes, then yawned.

"I'm going to rest in my room for a while. You two can look around."

"All right."

Olvia was not particularly interested, but she could tell that Kuina was somewhat curious about the place.

Before long, the other members of the Straw Hat Pirates came down from the ship, ready to eat.

When they saw Luffy wearing an apron, they burst into laughter.

"Pfft! Luffy, what happened to you? Why are you working here now?!"

"What?! You guys were eating such delicious food behind my back?!"

Luffy did not hear Usopp at all. His eyes were fixed on the lobster and abalone on the table, and drool was practically spilling from his mouth.

He had just been kicked out of the kitchen because he had broken ten plates in less than ten minutes.

Doing odd jobs was already exhausting enough, yet these people had started eating behind his back!

"We really do feel a little bad about it, hahaha!"

"Exactly!"

Their noisy bickering had already begun to annoy the other diners, and even Kuina and Olvia were drawn to look over.

When Kuina's gaze landed on Zoro, she visibly froze.

"That person has grown so much."

"What, do you know someone over there? Want to go say hello?"

Olvia followed Kuina's gaze and noticed that the green-haired man had several swords at his side.

She immediately understood.

Kuina shook her head. "No need. There's no point. It looks like he and his companions are doing well."

"Yoo-hoo~ Two~~~ lovely ladies, is there anything I can do for you?"

Sanji held a vivid red rose in his hand. Seeing the two beauties stand up, he quickly hurried over.

Although he could not see their true faces, this was already more than enough for Sanji.

"No, thank you. We've finished eating."

Olvia shook her head, clearly uncomfortable with Sanji's enthusiasm.

The two women headed toward the restaurant exit, while Sanji kept following closely behind them, his eyes turning into hearts as he refused to leave.

As Kuina passed Zoro's table, Zoro seemed to sense something. He abruptly raised his head and looked at the woman in the black cloak who had just walked past.

"Strange... why does she feel so familiar?"

"Zoro, what are you looking at? Did a beautiful woman mesmerize you too?!"

Usopp laughed until tears were about to spill out. The moment he looked up and saw Zoro staring fixedly at a woman's retreating back, he found it incredibly strange.

"Huh, really?"

Hearing Usopp's words, Nami looked over as well, only to unexpectedly meet Sanji's eyes.

Sanji stared blankly at the short-haired beauty looking back at him and muttered, "Today is truly blissful. I've seen so many beautiful women."

"My lady, at this very moment, I have fallen in love with you. If not for this enormous obstacle, I would surely share a farewell kiss with you!"

"Then get the hell out already. This restaurant doesn't need you anymore."