The Pirate World: I Can Copy Any Talent

Besides sampling the food, Noil had someone else in mind.

Sanji, the curly-browed cook!

Getting to know Zoro had earned Noil the Flying Heaven Imperial Sword Style, and meeting Ace had earned him the Amaterasu Flame. What would he get from meeting Sanji?

Probably something to do with cooking or recipes?

Eating F4

On a calm sea, a large ship sailed steadily along its course.

Noil stood at the bow with a nautical chart in hand. Gazing out over the sea, he said excitedly, "We're here!"

Ace and the others rushed to the bow and stared in amazement at the unusual sea restaurant.

Though it was called a restaurant, it looked like a giant ship, with fish-shaped figureheads at both ends. It was spacious enough to hold plenty of guests.

Ace cheered. "Come on, let's get off and eat!"

The ship docked at Baratie, and Ace eagerly led everyone ashore.

Noil turned to Mihal, the aloof sniper. "Aren't you coming to eat?"

Mihal shook his head. "Just have the captain and the others bring me something."

Noil shrugged, then caught up with Ace. The four of them pushed open the doors and entered the restaurant.

Baratie looked extravagant from outside, but its interior had the air of an upscale restaurant.

Clean. That was Noil's first thought when he walked in.

Hygiene was the bare minimum for a restaurant, and Baratie clearly passed that test.

Noil, Ace, Deuce, and Skull sat down at a table for four.

A neatly dressed waiter soon approached with a menu and a smile. "What would you like to order?"

Ace picked up the menu, but when he saw the prices...

All three turned to look at Noil.

Their ship had sunk, after all, and their money had gone down with it.

Now the one with money, Noil met their eager stares and declared, "Order whatever you want! I can pay!"

With their generous sponsor's blessing, Ace threw off all restraint. He tossed the menu aside and said coolly, "One of everything!"

The waiter looked at them as if they were monsters.

His tone soon turned cold. "I'm sorry, but while we are a restaurant, we don't welcome people who waste food like that."

Noil was a little alarmed too. "Can you really eat all that?"

For the first time, Ace displayed the commanding presence of an emperor. Even Deuce and Skull looked like masters who knew exactly what they were doing.

The moment food came up, all three dropped their usual goofiness and turned dead serious.

The shift was as fast as a certain bald teacher switching to serious mode.

Resting his chin on his hand, Deuce said with a sharp look, "Mr. Noil, you may not know this, but when it comes to eating, we've never lost."

Ace slapped the table and told the waiter, "Don't worry. We'll eat every last bite."

The customers had said their piece. However doubtful he was, the waiter could only take their order.

Before long, the waiters brought out sumptuous dishes that quickly covered the table.

Then something happened that left the entire restaurant dumbfounded.

The three ate like starving ghosts. They didn't bother with utensils, simply tossing the food into their mouths, plates and all...

Then they spat the plates back out...

Watching them wolf down their food, Noil suddenly felt oddly out of place eating with a fork.

His mouth stuffed with meat, Ace mumbled, "Noil, hurry up and eat! I'll help if you can't finish!"

"What the hell are you saying?" Noil asked, exasperated.

Even as the food dwindled, the three showed no sign of slowing down. If anything, they grew bolder.

A thieving hand even snatched food from right in front of Noil!

That did it!

Noil hadn't eaten nearly enough!

Back in the day, he'd been his school's number-one eater, nicknamed the Food Emperor and the School Cafeteria Menace!

There was no way he'd lose to these guys!

Noil stopped caring about manners. He stood up, planted a foot on the table, and battled Ace for food with both hands.

Eating F4 had officially made their debut, and everyone in the restaurant looked at them with pity.

Just look how hungry those poor kids were!

The waiter even felt ashamed of what he'd thought earlier.

These boys looked like they'd never had a full meal since birth. He shouldn't have spoken to them that way!

The four made quite a commotion, and the kitchen had become a battlefield.

A waiter ran in, drenched in sweat, and shouted, "Those customers just ordered another menu's worth of food!"

"What?!"

"You've got to be kidding! They've already eaten enough for twenty people!"

"Damn it! My Chef's Soul is burning! There's no way I'm losing to them!"

Several burly men in chef's uniforms rushed around the kitchen, sending out one beautiful, mouthwatering dish after another.

They cooked at breakneck speed. Cooks and servers alike were drenched in sweat, yet they still couldn't keep up with the gluttons outside.

For a restaurant, being unable to cook as fast as its customers ate was embarrassing.

Almost everyone in the kitchen had joined in, yet they still couldn't keep up with a single table.

The kitchen staff swore those four had eaten more than all the restaurant's other customers would eat in a day!

Just as everyone was at a loss, a young man in a suit appeared. His face was strikingly youthful, but his eyebrows drew the most attention.

Yellow hair covered one eye, while the eyebrow over the other curled into a spiral. Stare at it too long, and it almost seemed capable of hypnotizing you.

Sanji, Baratie's young sous-chef, stood in the increasingly chaotic kitchen and commanded, "Calm down!"

The kitchen staff immediately fell silent. Sanji said sternly, "Put two more cooks on that group's orders. I'll go see what's happening out there."

With that, Sanji headed out and quickly spotted the conspicuous eating foursome.

The battle at their table was still raging. Deuce and Skull were nearly wrestling, while flames had even sprung up around Noil's and Ace's hands.

Sanji walked up to the table, his mouth twitching as he watched them.

He cared a great deal about table manners, and he wasn't fond of how Noil and the others ate.

But Sanji was generous enough not to demand that everyone behave like him.

Anyone hungry who came to this restaurant and stood before Sanji was his guest.

Still, he had never seen guests make such a spectacle of eating.

Sanji looked at the four and asked courteously, "Are you enjoying your meal?"

Noil glanced up and immediately recognized Sanji's familiar eyebrow.

Hmm... It's making me a little dizzy!

Noil waved the steak in his hand, looking satisfied. "Not bad, not bad. You're a bit slow bringing the food out, though. We've barely worked up an appetite!"

Sanji's face twitched. This was just an appetizer?

If they ate until they were full, the kitchen staff might lose their minds!

Sanji, the Womanizing Cook

Noil's words left Sanji shaken.

By the laws governing strength in the world of the Pirate King, how much someone could eat was, to an extent, a measure of how strong they were.

Noil and Ace had absurdly strong bodies, and even Skull and Deuce were far beyond normal people.

So there was no shame in eating more!

Sanji didn't know that, though. To him, this table was downright terrifying.

They were one of the greatest challenges of his career.

Noil wiped his mouth and called up the system to examine Sanji's talents.

Name: Sanji

Cooking Master: Red Talent. His love and talent for cooking made him more focused and efficient when learning new dishes. Food he prepared was more enticing and delicious.

Chef Black Leg: Red Talent. An excellent chef would never soil the hands he used to cook. As a result, he trained his lower body rigorously and could incorporate cooking techniques into combat, making his attacks stronger than ordinary kicks.

Friend of Women: Purple Talent. He was obsessed with women. When a teammate was a woman and his opponent was of the opposite sex, his combat strength could rise according to the woman's charm, potentially multiplying several times over.

When his opponent was a woman and his teammate was of the opposite sex, Sanji's combat strength could fall according to the woman's charm, potentially dropping below zero.

When both his opponent and his teammate were women, Sanji's combat strength could fall according to the women's charm, potentially dropping to zero.

Well, damn!

Noil had seen something new today. He'd never encountered a talent with such a long description.

It was lengthy, but given Sanji's weakness for women, the meaning was clear enough. It came down to three situations.

Say Sanji's teammate was a woman, like Nami, and his opponent was Zoro.

That boost might let Sanji kick Zoro down and finish him in one blow.

But if Zoro was his teammate and Nami his opponent, Sanji's combat strength would probably turn negative on the spot, and he'd start kicking his teammate Zoro in the face instead.

And if Nami was his teammate while Robin was his opponent, they might as well not have Sanji at all.

The two women might be perfectly fine, while Sanji inexplicably kicked the bucket...

Sanji, the infamous womanizing cook, really was the biggest wild card in any battle!

"Ding! You have met Sanji. Rewards issued: Red Talent Copy Card ×1, White Copy Card ×10, Master-Level Cooking ×1, physique +10."

At the system's cold voice, Noil smiled without surprise.

Naturally, a reward tied to Sanji would have something to do with him being a cook.

In an instant, a flood of knowledge seemed to pour into Noil's mind. His hands felt as though they'd held a kitchen knife for years.

Even the dishes he'd been praising moments ago suddenly seemed unremarkable.

It was as though a voice echoed in his head: I could do that too!

The quality of the food had dropped sharply. Its presentation was plainly careless, and a few dishes even made Noil want to curse when he tasted them!

Noil frowned. "Could I take a look in your kitchen?"

Sanji's curled eyebrow twitched. "I'm sorry, sir. Only cooks are allowed in our kitchen. Is there a problem?"

Noil nodded and pointed to the dishes on the table. "The ingredients and preparation get worse with every dish. I just want to see how you're making them."

Even Sanji was angered by Noil's rude words.

The kitchen might have been rushing because of the time pressure, but if a dish reached a guest's table, its chef had to be satisfied with it.

Sanji trusted the standards and attention to detail of Baratie's cooks.

Otherwise, Baratie would never have become so famous in the East Blue.

Besides, they'd been eating here for ages, fighting over food like rival gangs. How could they now complain that it tasted bad?

Sanji was annoyed, and Noil felt a little shameless himself.

But what could he do? He hadn't expected to become a master chef halfway through a meal.