Lorne looked at Kuina next.
"What about you?"
Kuina stared at the pasta with meat sauce on the menu, having already swallowed several times.
"I want the biggest serving of pasta with tomato meat sauce."
She spoke at once.
"And a big glass of milk."
"Got it."
Patty put away the menus.
"Please wait a moment, everyone. Your delicious food will be right out."
Patty turned and strode toward the kitchen.
Lorne picked up the glass pitcher on the table and poured Masha and Kuina a glass of lemon water each.
Kuina held her glass in both hands and lowered her voice.
"Sir, the atmosphere here is so strange."
Lorne glanced at her.
"What's strange about it?"
Kuina looked toward the pirates on the right.
"Those pirates are armed, yet they're eating in the same dining room as the merchants, and no one's robbing anyone."
Lorne took a sip of water and set his glass back on the table.
"Because this restaurant's owner and head chef is Red-Leg Zeff."
Kuina's gaze shifted.
"Red-Leg Zeff?"
"He was once a major pirate who sailed the Grand Line."
Lorne leaned back in his chair and spoke calmly.
"He made a name for himself at sea with a pair of legs that could kick steel apart."
"If anyone dares cause trouble in his restaurant, he'll kick their head to pieces."
Kuina looked toward the kitchen, a trace of awe entering her eyes.
Just then, a band of pirates in the right-hand corner of the dining room was staring fixedly at Lorne's table.
Their leader was a burly bald man.
His face was fleshy and brutal, and a broad-backed cleaver hung at his waist.
His name was Buck, a pirate captain from the East Blue with a bounty of five million Beli.
Buck grabbed his