"Hmm, keep your voice down, it would be terrible if you scared him away!!"
Another person whispered a reminder to them, unaware that their whispered conversation had already reached Phil's ears.
"What? Did I hear wrong? They just said I was a member of Luo Chen Pirates, right? That can't be! I've never had any contact with them, not even yesterday. They must have made a mistake. Oh well, why bother? It's none of my business!"
After saying that, Phil shook his head and turned back to bury himself in the delicious food in front of him.
"Moshi, Moshi, this is the Supomachi Island Grand Hotel. Um, a notorious pirate has come to our hotel. He's Phil, a member of the Luo Chen Pirates. Please send the Marines to arrest him immediately, or he'll be leaving..."
"Okay, he's still ordering and eating, he hasn't left yet. Okay, I understand. We'll pretend we don't know and stall him. Yes, please come over as soon as possible..."
Meanwhile, the receptionist recognized Phil's identity and secretly dialed the number of the Marine Branch on the island. The naval personnel on the other end instructed him to delay Phil as much as possible until the naval forces arrived.
Click...
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, the attendant acted as if nothing had happened and continued to serve other customers.
"Waiter..."
After Phil finished eating the food he had ordered earlier, he called again, and Phil quickly went over.
"Yes, sir. Is there anything else you would like to do?"
The man's palms were sweaty as he held the menu, but his face remained calm, with his usual smile as he asked.
"Hurry up and bring out another set of dishes from the menu! I'm still not full!"
Although he knew these people had connections with the Navy, Phil, relying on his superior strength, remained unconcerned and pretended not to know as he continued ordering food.
"Yes, sir, your food might be a little dry. Please wait a moment, and I'll have the chef serve it to you right away..."
The waiter spoke respectfully.
"Hmm, it's only a little later. Go ahead, I can wait a bit, but be quick."
Phil waved his hand dismissively and said.
"Yes, I'll go and have someone prepare it right away. Please wait a moment..."
The waiter quickly excused himself and went back to the kitchen, where he took out another Den Den Mushi from his pocket and dialed a number.
Dududu...
Dududu...
Click!!
Hello, who is this?
The Den Den Mushi was quickly connected, and an unfamiliar male voice came from the other end.
"Hello, it's me. I have a big business deal I'd like to do with you."
The waiter said in a low voice.
"Oh, what kind of big deal is it?"
"Regarding the Luo Chen Pirates, one of their members, Phil, is currently eating at a shop. I've already notified the Navy. You bring your men over now and surround him. We'll split the bounty in half, how about that?"
The waiter whispered a suggestion, clearly also eyeing Phil. Knowing he couldn't catch him, he wanted to use someone else's help to get a share of the pie. After all, Phil had a bounty of one hundred million, and giving him ten or twenty million would be enough for him to work for two or three years.
" Champion Fighter Phil? Okay, I agree. You can put some sleeping pills in his food so it'll be easier for us to catch him. I'll bring some men over later, wait for me..."
The person on the other end thought for a moment and then agreed, before hinting that he could poison Phil by putting something in the food.
"I understand... You guys need to hurry, if the Navy and the other bounty hunters here get involved, we'll be out of a chance... Okay, bye!!"
After saying that, he hung up the phone and went into the back kitchen.
"Head chef, are you still not done? The customers outside are getting impatient. It wouldn't be good if they caused a scene..."
He walked in and yelled at the head chef, who was the most burly, heaviest, and highest-ranking among the chefs.
"Yes, yes, a few more dishes are needed, they'll be ready soon, please wait a moment..."
After saying that, the head chef joined in, started the stove and began stir-frying. Before long, dozens of dishes were neatly arranged on the food cart, ready to be pushed out.
"Okay, leave the rest to me. You guys continue preparing the next order of food, and I'll take it out."
After saying this, the waiter snatched the handles from the chef, pretended to be very diligent, and pushed them out. Halfway out, he took out a small amount of powder from his pocket, sprinkled it on the cart, and then pushed it out while playing a tune.
"Guest... your meal is ready, please enjoy..."
After placing the bowls and plates filled with delicious food in front of Phil, he excused himself and returned to the front desk, his eyes fixed on him.
"Hmm, it's finally done. Let me try a bite..."
Ugh...
"Hmm, is this... a sleeping potion? I wasn't planning on making a move here, I was thinking of letting you guys get away with it, but I didn't expect you to rush up here so hastily?"
The instant his tongue touched the food, Phil sensed something was wrong. As a world-renowned Champion Fighter, he had faced various assassination attempts from his peers, including drugging, which had honed his ability to detect all sorts of poisons. He immediately recognized the malicious intent upon first taste, and, pretending not to notice, swallowed it. He then used his ability to Extreme Speed spit it under the table, making it unnoticed.
"Tch, so you finally ate it? Great, now you can't escape our grasp, Pirate Phil..."
The waiter grinned and chuckled to himself after seeing Phil eat the drugged food.
Bang...
"Hey, finished eating? Pirate Phil, now that you've finished, it's time to make our move! Go! Grab him, this fat sheep worth a hundred million!!"
Meanwhile, after watching Phil eat the food again, the group of bounty hunters who had been waiting there couldn't resist any longer and flipped the table, brandishing their weapons at Phil.
"Oh, so you're going to make your move? I knew you wouldn't be able to resist, but couldn't you have waited until I finished eating? Are you in such a hurry to come up and die?"
Faced with the bounty hunters' leader's clamor, Phil simply shook his head and sighed, not taking them to heart.
"Hmph, we can't wait a second longer. If we don't act now, the Navy will be here soon. This is the perfect opportunity to seize you. After comparing the difference in our strength, you'd better surrender obediently, or don't blame me for showing no mercy!!"
Seeing that he was surrounded by so many of his men, the burly leader thought victory was assured and shouted loudly, seemingly not taking his strength seriously.
"Ha!! A bunch of idiots, mere ants. They dare to boast with such strength? They're tired of living! Fine, let me show you my ability from the auction... Extreme Speed Domain... Activate!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a pale blue aura emanated from his body and quickly enveloped the entire area of the hall, covering all those who were hostile to him.
"Huh...?! Is this the power of Devil Fruit?"
The leader was quite knowledgeable and quickly recognized Phil's abilities, explaining them directly.
"Hmm, not bad, you do have some knowledge!"
Phil looked at him with slight surprise upon hearing this and slowly spoke.
"Hmph, so what if it's Devil Fruit? We've long been equipped with weapons specifically designed to deal with Devil Fruit users, just to keep an eye on people like you. Show Mr. Phil your weapons and make him give up on coming with us."
The hunter leader snorted, not paying much attention to Phil's displayed abilities, and ordered his men to draw their Seastone weapons and aim them at Phil.
" Seastone netting? And Seastone Handcuffs? I must say, you're very well prepared. An ordinary person might have fallen into your hands, but I'm not like that. Here I come!!"
Swoosh...
With that, Phil took a leap Extreme-Speed Rush into the crowd.
"Damn it, fire now!! Don't let him get away..."
Seeing that something was wrong, the hunter leader immediately ordered his men to open fire.
Bang...
Bang...
Bang...
Stray bullets, occasionally mixed with a few Seastone bullets, hurtled towards Phil.
brush...
brush...
brush...
Thanks to the power of the Devil Fruit and his already incredibly strong physical reflexes, Phil calmly dodged the stray bullets and quickly arrived in front of those people.
"Ah..."
The Pirate Hunter were startled by Phil's sudden appearance and pointed their guns at him as he frantically pulled the trigger.
Bang bang bang...
Bullets were fired, but they still couldn't harm him.
"Hehe, are there any other methods? If so, hurry up and use them, or you'll miss your chance..."
As he spoke, he had already walked up to the hunter leader, leaned down and said to him, who had fallen to the ground in fright.
"Hateful..."
Enraged by Phil's disdainful expression, the hunter leader picked up his greatsword, stood up abruptly, and swung it at him.
brush...
"Missed it, go faster..."
brush...
"Not enough, I've reached the speed, but not the power..."
brush...
"Oh, harder..."
Phil toyed with the burly man like a cat playing with Nezumi, each slash narrowly missing its mark yet failing to even scratch him, let alone graze his clothes.
Clang...
Huff... huff... huff...
Finally, after swinging his sword for several minutes without any effect, the burly man's strength finally gave out. He released the sword and let it fall to the ground, while he breathed heavily to recover his strength.
"Huh?! What's wrong? Is that all? I heard my head is worth a hundred million Beli, and it's right here waiting for you to take it..."
Seeing that he had given up the attack and even thrown his knife to the ground, Phil frowned for a moment, then seemed to remember something, relaxed, smiled at them, and pointed to his head, gesturing.
But those people had already witnessed his strength, and no matter how much Phil provoked them, they dared not take another step forward.
"What, is that all? How disappointing. You call yourselves bounty hunters, and now you're too scared to even step forward when you encounter a little obstacle?"
Phil spoke to them in a tone of disappointment, but no matter what he said, the group of people still didn't dare to take a step forward. They all looked back with terrified eyes, taking several steps back and glancing at him evasively.
"Ha... What a disappointment! A bunch of useless trash. They don't even inspire me to use my abilities. I'm leaving!!"
Seeing that they still dared not come forward, Phil scoffed a few times and then turned and walked towards the door. The restaurant staff did not stop him to ask for his money, because they had all secretly notified the Navy and were afraid of being implicated, so they felt guilty and dared not go up to discuss it.