"Red-Leg" Zeff

Ahua might have been a slacker, but he still took the profession of chef very seriously.

"No problem, sir! The customer is God. Never mind having our head chef cook for you—I could even dance for you!"

"It's just... just..."

Kuta smiled at Patty, who stood beside him rubbing his hands, his face full of flattery.

The guy looked fierce, but his mannerisms were actually a little cute.

Amused, Kuta said, "It'll cost extra, right?"

"That's right!"

Patty wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. After all, dishes prepared by the head chef were bound to cost more than those made by an ordinary cook.

As for his own service fee, the more, the better!

"All right, all right. Bring us one of every dish your restaurant does best today!"

Kuta waved him off, revealing hands covered in gold rings.

He had picked all of these up aboard Krieg's ship. Not only were his fingers covered in gold rings, but several thick gold chains hung around his neck.

He had also made the Ahua Trio put on the same sort of rings and necklaces.

Otherwise, why would

you think Patty was being so enthusiastic?

"Understood, sir! I'll have the head chef cook for you right away."

In Patty's mind, the customer was God, and a rich customer was the God of gods.

Faced with customers who clearly had money to burn and positively reeked of newfound wealth, he had to give ten thousand percent and earn as much of the Beli in their pockets as possible.

"(ˉ▽￣~) Tch~~ They're just a bunch of nouveau riche, aren't they?"

The Marines at the next table had long since had enough. This big fellow certainly hadn't treated them like that.

"Didn't you say the customer is God? You actually discriminate between your gods?"

"Please wait a moment, gentlemen. I'll go take care of that and be right back."

Patty turned around and immediately straightened his back, the smile vanishing from his face in an instant.

He slowly walked over to the Marines, tugged his lips into a professional fake smile, and spoke flatly.

"Dear customers, please keep your voices down. You're disturbing my honored guests."

Customers had ranks too, and in his mind, these Marines were typical paupers. He didn't care who they were. In his eyes, there were only three kinds of people.

The first were people with no money whatsoever. They couldn't even afford a meal, and he hated them most.

The second were paupers. They could afford to eat, but only ordinary bread and fish soup. He served them too, but there was no chance he would be particularly enthusiastic.

The third were rich people who could eat whatever they wanted. Those people were gods in his eyes.

Actually, there was one more kind: people like Kuta and his companions, the gods among gods.

"You're making your favoritism way too obvious!"

"Am I?"

Patty's reply was perfunctory.

"How are you not? Anyone could see that fake smile you gave us, and now you look downright impatient!"

"What? Are we that unwelcome here?"

"Oh! Are you?"

Then Patty stretched his lips even wider, giving them a smile uglier than a grimace as he asked,

"Are you satisfied now, gentlemen?"

"Satisfied, my ass! You're being even more halfhearted than before!"

The Marines all stood up and shouted at Patty.

Looking at the Marines facing him, Patty dropped his smile. A trace of menace appeared on his face as he spoke again.

"Gentlemen, could you please keep your voices down?"

He had once been a pirate. He wasn't about to coddle these Marines, especially Marines without any money.

"What? You actually want to hit us?"

Seeing Patty dare to look threatening, the Marines shouted even louder.

What was this? Had their guns stopped working, or did their uniforms no longer mean anything? Now even some random waiter dared to show them hostility.

They knew nothing of Patty's past. After all, back then he had only been a small-time pirate without even a bounty.

"Red-Leg" Zeff

The commotion on their side drew the attention of everyone in the restaurant.

It also brought Zeff down from upstairs and Sanji out of the kitchen.

"That's enough, Patty. Do you want to break the tables and chairs again?"

A low, aged voice came from upstairs, drawing everyone's attention.

Then an old man descended the stairs.

He wore a chef's uniform and an extremely tall chef's hat. His blond mustache was tied into two long braids that hung on either side of his mouth.

His right leg had a wooden prosthesis, which struck the wooden floor with a steady "thunk, thunk, thunk..."

The Marines who had been shouting a moment ago immediately fell silent at the sight of the approaching old man. They weren't afraid of this Popeye-looking fellow, but they were afraid of the old man before them.

Ordinary people might not know his past, but how could Marines not know?

More than a decade ago, this old man had been the captain of the famous Cook Pirates in the East Blue.

He was said to possess extraordinary kicking skills. His kicks sent his opponents' blood spraying, staining his own feet red, which had earned him the name "Red-Leg" Zeff.

Although he was no longer a pirate, his old reputation still carried weight. Who knew whether he might suddenly lose his temper and kick them?

Upon reaching the Marines, Zeff first kicked Patty with his prosthetic leg, then looked at him and said, "What are you standing around for? Go prepare the ingredients. It's terribly rude to keep our customers waiting this long."

Patty pouted, clearly unafraid of Zeff.

He turned and quickly walked over to Kuta's table.

The moment he reached Kuta, his fierce expression transformed like that of a master quick-change performer. A smile spread across his face, blooming like a chrysanthemum.

He hunched over, rubbing his hands beside his head, and asked ingratiatingly,

"Is there anything else you need, sir?"

Everyone in the restaurant's mouths twitched. They collectively fell silent.

Could you be any more obvious?

Kuta's lips twitched too as he stared speechlessly at Patty. This guy really was one of a kind.

"Don't get so close. I can see your long nose hairs. That's disgusting. Go cook already."

"Understood, sir! Your wishes are my highest priority."

He slowly backed away a few steps, turned around, and immediately straightened his bent back. He swiftly wiped the smile from his face and entered the kitchen.

Seeing that the show was over, the other customers gradually returned to what they had been doing.

"What? That's it?"

Some of them had come specifically to watch the fun after hearing that the chefs here liked fighting pirates and customers.

Zeff looked at the Marines standing stiffly in front of him and spoke calmly.

"Go call your navigator, Laster, in for a meal! We're old friends. That fellow is usually the first one through the door whenever he comes here."

"Oh, right. I haven't seen you before. Are you new aboard his ship?"

"Yes, Mr. Zeff."

One Marine looked cautiously at Zeff and said, "Then, if there's nothing else, Mr. Zeff, we'll go fetch our navigator."

"Go on, go on!"

Zeff gave them

a wave.

The Marines breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly turned and ran out of the restaurant.

Watching Zeff resolve the trouble so easily,

Kuta said with exaggerated admiration, "Oh! As expected of a man with an epithet. How imposing!"

"Sir, I'm hardly anyone imposing. I'm just an ordinary restaurant owner."

Zeff walked over to their table, stood beside Kuta, and spoke with a calm expression.

"Well, whoever you are, could I trouble you to hurry up with the food?"

Kuta shrugged indifferently.

"Of course. Please wait a little, sir. Even the quickest cooking takes time."

Smack—!

Kuta pulled a stack of Beli from inside his clothes and casually tossed it onto the table.

"How about now?"

Zeff's lips twitched. He felt that Kuta was insulting him.

"Sir, even at our fastest, we'd need half an hour!"

"How about now?"

Smack—!

The same motion, the same amount of money.

A smile slowly appeared on Zeff's calm face, and his back bent slightly.

If this was how he intended to insult me, please, keep it coming.

"Sir, I can bring it down to twenty minutes, but no faster. Any faster and these old bones will fall apart."

Smack—!

This time it was a great heap, at least seven or eight stacks.

"How about now?"

Kuta watched Zeff's dramatically changing expression with amusement, his own smile growing even brighter.

Throwing money at people like this really did feel good.

Besides, he had just picked up all this money anyway.

Yes, picked it up. There were so many pirates at sea, all waiting for him and his companions to come collect their money!

From the moment he set sail, he was no longer the man who had needed to borrow money just to build a ship.

From now on, please call me Ku... the richest man.

He had already laid claim to all the Beli aboard every pirate ship he would encounter.

Looking at the Beli on the table, Zeff finally lost his composure. He slowly bent at the waist, put on a stiff smile, and rubbed his hands as he looked at Kuta.

"Sir, I guarantee it. Five minutes! In just five minutes, I'll have your food ready."

It wasn't that he had no principles. The other party was simply offering far too much.

Seeing Zeff look exactly like Patty had earlier, Kuta opened his mouth and burst out laughing.

"Hahaha...!!"

The Ahua Trio, who had been watching Kuta and Zeff's performance from the sidelines, laughed along with him.

They had been struggling to hold it in for ages.