One Piece: Starting by Refusing Red-Hair's Invitation

"Hahaha, Sanji, are you kidding? That kid's about your age, isn't he? He's barely grown up. How could he hurt the boss?"

"Exactly! I could send that kid flying with one finger. If you're going to make things up, Sanji, at least get your story straight first! Ahahaha!"

"Hey, I'm telling the truth!" Sanji snapped. "You old geezer, say something! He's the one who sent you flying!"

Zeff's face darkened. "You bastards! Get back to work, or get out of Baratie!"

That did it.

The cooks grew uneasy and hurried back to the kitchen to work.

"And you!" Zeff glared at Sanji. "If you don't want to get kicked out, go wash the dishes!"

"Huh?" Sanji froze. No matter how much he wanted to complain, he could only obey.

Whatever happened, he couldn't leave Baratie. He couldn't leave Zeff!

Sanji clenched his fist, then returned to the kitchen and started washing dishes as Zeff had ordered.

In an instant, only Zeff and Lin Mo remained in the corridor.

"Hey, kid." Zeff dusted himself off and said without expression, "If you can't pay ten thousand Beli in compensation, you'll stay and work it off."

"No." Lin Mo refused outright.

He wasn't going to work for someone else.

Zeff frowned slightly. "If you don't want to stay, pay every last bit of the compensation!"

Lin Mo took out two pouches containing three hundred Beli each and tossed them to Zeff. "That's enough for the repairs."

Zeff stared at the pouches in his hands, his eyes narrowing. "You damaged my ship, so I decide how much you owe. If I say this isn't enough, it isn't enough. Since you're a kid, I'll go easy on you. Work here for two months, and I'll let you leave."

Baratie was an unusual place. Its cooks all loved a fight.

Pirates often came to eat and caused trouble, so the cooks frequently ended up brawling with them. Plenty of people who came to work here had been scared off.

But Baratie served a lot of customers every day, and with too few hands, everyone was swamped.

So Zeff had never really wanted that much money. He wanted Lin Mo to stay and help.

Lin Mo had figured that out too.

And he had no intention of giving Zeff what he wanted.

"No."

Lin Mo refused again.

Just then, the system's notification sounded in his mind.

Beep, beep! Refused Zeff's demand to work. Check-in progress +10%. Current total progress: 20%. Reward: new skill, Night Guy Lv1.

Yoru Guy!

Lin Mo's eyes lit up. He could barely contain his excitement.

He knew that interacting with Zeff could advance his check-in progress.

But he hadn't expected the system to give him a new skill.

And it was the move from Naruto that had nearly ended the whole series with one kick!

Yoru Guy was the ultimate technique of the eighth gate of the Eight Gates, the Gate of Death. The user took a starting stance, gathered Chakra, then charged forward to deliver a ferocious kick with power beyond the bounds of ordinary taijutsu. It was strong enough to warp space!

The skill was incredibly powerful.

But Night Guy came with a drawback: using it required burning away one's life.

That was what worried Lin Mo.

System, will using Night Guy burn away my life? Lin Mo asked silently.

Beep, beep! It will not burn away your life. Below Lv6, it will have no effect on the host. Above Lv6, each use of Night Guy will consume a large amount of Chakra and stamina.

Hearing that,

Lin Mo felt a little more at ease.

Zeff saw that Lin Mo had gone quiet. His expression had been strange for a while now, as though he'd suddenly heard something that made him especially happy.

"Hey, kid!" Zeff said, exasperated. "What are you doing? Have you even been listening to me? Do you think you're in any position to bargain?"

Lin Mo came back to himself.

He steadied his emotions.

Then he looked up at Zeff.

A faint smile touched his lips. "Like I said, I refuse."

Zeff drew a deep breath and attacked again. "You little brat! A man owns up to his mistakes and pays for them. I'm only asking you to work for two months!"

"I refuse!"

This time, Lin Mo didn't dodge.

For once, he charged forward to meet Zeff head-on.

Faint wisps of red steam rose from Lin Mo's body.

The moment they closed in on each other,

Lin Mo kicked.

His foot slammed hard into Zeff's kicking prosthetic leg.

Prosthetic or not, Zeff's kicks could still deal serious damage.

In fact, Zeff had sensed something was wrong the moment steam began rising from Lin Mo's body.

Back on the Grand Line, he had met powerful people whose strength made him feel threatened.

But those people had generally been over twenty.

This time, though, he felt a hint of danger from a child.

By then, it was too late to pull back his leg.

Their legs collided and stayed locked together for a full three seconds.

Then they sprang apart, both retreating several steps.

Zeff had used only thirty percent of his strength.

But against an ordinary person, that would have been enough to send them flying.

"Kid, who are you?" Zeff asked with a slight frown. "What was that move you just used?"

Lin Mo flexed his right leg. "Yoru Guy," he said casually.

"Huh?" Zeff stared at him. "That's the name of your move?"

Lin Mo nodded. "Yeah."

Zeff paused. "What kind of move has a name like that...?"

Strange name or not, the kid had made Zeff see him in a new light.

Sea Restaurant: The Marine Vice Admiral Who Wouldn't Take No for an Answer

Apart from his cooking, Zeff was proudest of his kicking techniques. Many opponents had fallen to them back in the day, their blood staining his feet red. That was how he had earned the name Red-Leg Zeff.

"What's your name, kid?" Zeff asked.

"Lin Mo."

"All right. I'll accept the compensation you gave me, but you still have to help out at Baratie for at least a month."

"No."

"Hey!" Zeff frowned deeply. "All you'd have to do is take orders and serve food. You wouldn't have to do any kitchen work."

Just then,

Garp's voice rang out from the spiral staircase leading down in the middle of the corridor. "How much does that kid still owe you?"

Lin Mo and Zeff both looked toward Garp.

Zeff stared in surprise. "You're... Garp the Hero?"

Garp grinned. "Red-Leg Zeff, former captain of the Cook Pirates and current owner of Baratie. You may have quit being a pirate, but your bounty's still there. I can still arrest you."

Zeff narrowed his eyes. He knew he was no match for Garp.

Even so, he had no intention of surrendering quietly. "If you know I own Baratie, you could've arrested me ages ago. Why wait until now?"

Garp kept grinning. "I'm an easy man to talk to. Let the kid go, and I won't arrest you. Sounds like a good deal, doesn't it?"

"Heh." Zeff sneered. "A kid managed to bring Garp the Hero here to rescue him? He must be someone important."

"Hahaha!" Garp laughed. "Don't be so tense. He's just an ordinary kid. I had nothing better to do, so I took a stroll after my meal. Then I happened to see a weak, pitiful, helpless kid being bullied by you. My sense of justice told me I had to save him from his terrible plight."

Zeff: "..."

Like hell I believe you!

"What are you really after?" Zeff asked, exasperated.

Garp looked at Lin Mo and smiled. "Kid, if I save you, you'll owe me a favor. I don't want anything else. Just join the Marines."

Lin Mo stared at him in disbelief.

What's with Garp?

Why does he keep coming after me?

In truth, after finishing his dessert in the restaurant, Garp had noticed the commotion upstairs.

Curiosity had drawn him up.

And he had arrived just in time to see Lin Mo and Zeff clash kicks.

He knew who Red-Leg Zeff was.

Zeff might not have been as strong as Garp, but dealing with overconfident youngsters was easy for him.

Yet this kid had fought him to a draw with a kick!

More importantly,

the Wooden Sword hanging at Lin Mo's waist suggested the kid was a swordsman.

Instead of using the swordsmanship he excelled at against Zeff, he had answered Zeff's attack with a kick.

One possibility immediately occurred to Garp: the kid wanted to beat his opponent at his own specialty!

The nerve of him.

Garp found himself liking the kid more and more.

He was beginning to understand why Red-Hair thought so highly of him.

As for the decision Garp had made on his behalf,

Lin Mo was speechless. Utterly speechless.

Zeff, meanwhile, noticed something interesting.

"Garp," Zeff asked with a smile, "you've invited this kid to join the Marines before, and he turned you down, didn't he?"

Garp scratched his head and laughed. "Hahaha! It's a little embarrassing, actually."

Zeff went on, "But from the look of him, he clearly doesn't want to join. If you force him, how are you any different from those overbearing pirates who'll do anything to get their way?"

"Hahaha! Now, who said I was going to force him?" Garp looked at Lin Mo with a grin. "Kid, I help you out this time, and you join the Marines in return. Then we're even."

Before Lin Mo could answer, Zeff spoke up. "Kid, I know you don't want to join the Marines. Why not stay at Baratie instead? You won't have to do any chores. Go wherever you like, do whatever you like—as long as you don't cause trouble. Stay as long as you want. What do you say?"

Zeff was plainly doing it just to oppose Garp.

"Hey, Zeff!" Garp said, exasperated. "Do you really have to do this?"

"Haha!" Zeff laughed. "I'm just giving the kid another option. Which one he chooses is up to him. Hey, kid, what do you think of my offer?"

Lin Mo gave a small smile. "Sounds good."