Chapter - 25
East Blue
Somewhere in the middle of the sea
A completely bandaged Luffy, from head to toe, wakes up groggily after three hours. He grabs his straw hat from the bedside table and gets up, heading up the stairs to the deck.
He stumbles a bit on his way to the kitchen, and upon opening the door, he’s met with a funeral-like atmosphere.
Zoro is drinking alcohol from a half-empty bottle, with five empty bottles lying beside him.
Usopp is consoling Kaya, who’s crying a river of tears for some reason that Luffy doesn’t understand.
Nami is sitting at the counter, silently crying and drowning her sorrows in a drink, again for reasons Luffy doesn’t quite get.
Next to Nami, Chouchou is lying on the counter, looking downcast and sad.
The only ones who noticed Luffy entering the kitchen were Johnny and Yosaku, who stared at him, wide-eyed, for reasons unknown.
“What’s with the funeral mood, guys? Who died?”, Luffy asks, confused, not understanding why everyone is acting that way.
Everyone stops what they’re doing and looks at Luffy, standing in front of the door, completely shocked.
“You’re alive, Luffy”, Nami says, running over and hugging him tightly, burying her face in his chest.
“Urgh... of course, I’m alive. Why wouldn’t I be?”, Luffy says, feeling a bit of pain from the strong hug but hugging her back without pushing her away.
“You... you were so injured that we thought you wouldn’t make it”, Nami says, crying into his chest.
“Well, I’m very much alive and starving”, Luffy says, his stomach growling right after, agreeing with his statement.
“Ah, you need to rest, Luffy. Why are you out of bed?”, Nami asks, worried about him.
“I already told you, I’m hungry”, Luffy says, heading to the kitchen counter to sit down.
“Luffy, go back to bed. I’ll bring you food in a bit”, Kaya says, wiping away her tears, feeling relieved that Luffy is okay.
“Nah, I’m fine”, Luffy says, petting Chouchou, who jumped into his p as soon as he sat down.
Seeing Luffy was okay, Zoro stopped drowning his sorrows in alcohol and peacefully fell asleep.
Usopp comes over and hugs Luffy, relieved that he’s alright, then asks, “What happened between you and those marines?”
“I fought with my grandpa, and when I saw an opening, I ran.”
“That old man is your grandpa?”, Usopp asks, trying to understand how the grandson of a marine becomes a pirate.
“Yep.”
“And why did he beat you up like that?”, Kaya asks, joining the conversation.
“He didn’t beat me up. As far as I’m concerned, it was a close fight, and I won”, Luffy says, shrugging.
“It doesn’t matter if it was close or not, or if you won or not. That’s no way for a grandfather to treat his grandson”, Nami argues while cooking something for Luffy to eat.
“That’s just how my family works. We’re naturally stubborn and do what we want. Grandpa doesn’t want me to be a pirate, and I want to be one, so the only solution is to fight. Trying to get Grandpa to agree with me is way more work than just brawling”, Luffy expins the dynamic between him and his grandfather.
“That still seems wrong to me”, Nami says, with Kaya nodding in agreement.
“Well, it works for me and Grandpa”, Luffy says, shrugging again.
They continue talking until Nami finishes cooking and pces a rge amount of food in front of Luffy, who immediately starts devouring it as soon as he sees it.
=Scene Break=
After eating and going back for seconds, Luffy turns to Nami, sitting next to him, and asks, “How much longer until we reach Baratie, Tangerine?”
“About six more hours”, she replies, focused on drawing a map.
“You’re heading to Baratie?”, Yosaku asks, curious.
“Yep, we’re going to recruit a cook for the crew there”, Luffy says, petting Chouchou, who’s peacefully sleeping.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. The cooks there are... well, ‘eccentric,’ to say the least, and they’re pretty tough to deal with. I don’t think any of them will accept your offer”, Johnny says, doubting anyone from that restaurant would join Luffy’s crew.
“I already know who I’m going to recruit, and he’ll accept... well, eventually he will”, Luffy says, confident that Sanji will join.
“What do you mean, ‘eventually he will’?”, Usopp asks, confused.
“Well, I’m just going to keep pestering him until he does”, Luffy says, expining his foolproof strategy.
“Man, that’s not how things work”, Usopp says, making a weird face.
“It’s worked pretty well for me so far.”
“Just give up, Usopp. Like he said before, he’s stubborn and hard-headed. And for some reason, that tactic works really well for him”, Nami says, not looking up from the paper in front of her.
“Well, it’s true. The Captain didn’t give me much of a choice. It was like that. He decided I was part of the crew, and nothing could change his mind”, Kaya says, reflecting on how she joined the crew.
“Wait, what if I had refused the offer, Luffy?”, Kaya asks, curious.
“Well, since we were already leaving and there wasn’t enough time to stay on the isnd and pester you until you accepted, I kinda would’ve kidnapped you”, Luffy says, scratching his nose. At the same time, everyone present, except Zoro and Chouchou, who were asleep, gave him strange looks.
“Geez, guys, you believe everything. Of course, I wouldn’t kidnap you”, Luffy says, though internally he thinks he probably would have.
They continue chatting for a while until Luffy decides to take a nap.
A few hours ter, Luffy wakes up completely recovered from the fight and re-energized. He goes to the bathroom, takes care of business, brushes his teeth, and takes a shower. Then he heads up to the deck, where he sees Nami holding a newspaper and staring angrily at a wanted poster.
Approaching, Luffy sees that the poster belongs to Arlong. He then asks, “What’re you looking at, Tangerine?”
Nami quickly turns around, crumpling the poster and holding her left shoulder, saying, “Nothing... just some interesting news.”
“Oh, and what’s the news?”
“They were talking about the turbulent weather where you and your grandpa fought”, Nami says, trying to change the subject.
“Wow, news travels fast, huh?”
“Yeah”, Nami says, giving him a weak smile.
As Luffy walks away to talk to Zoro, who’s now awake, Nami gazes at the horizon, thinking, ‘Does he know? It doesn’t matter, just a little longer. I’m so close, just one more million Berries, and they’ll be free.’
---
(AN: 1,101 Words)
Chapter - 26
East Blue
Somewhere in the middle of the sea – Near the Baratie restaurant ship
After some time of sailing, Luffy and his crew finally spotted the Baratie restaurant ship in the distance, in all its glory, shaped like a fish.
Smelling the food from afar, Luffy and Chouchou became completely excited and started salivating.
“Is it just me, or does the Captain share some simirities with a dog?”, Usopp asked, observing Luffy sitting at the ship's figurehead, sniffing the air, salivating, and with stars in his eyes.
“I bet if he had a tail, he’d be wagging it right now, just like Chouchou is doing”, Kaya said beside Usopp, pointing to Chouchou, who was sitting on the deck, wagging his tail, sniffing the air, and salivating with stars in his eyes.
The two continued chatting and ughing quietly until Nami, who was at the helm steering the Merry, called out to them, “Instead of gossiping, how about you two zybones help me with the sails, huh?”
““Yes, ma'am, right away””, the two said in unison, heading off to help Nami.
As they approached the restaurant, a Marine ship appeared very close to the starboard side of the Merry. Curious, Luffy got up from his spot at the figurehead and went to see what the ship wanted.
A man wearing a white pinstriped suit and brass knuckles stepped onto the deck of the Marine ship and, looking at the pirate fg beside him, said, “I don’t recognize that fg.”
“That’s because we made it not too long ago”, Luffy said, scratching his neck.
“So, just a bunch of idiotic rookies”, the man said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “I’m Lieutenant Fullbody, the Iron Fist. Who's the captain of this ship?”
“That would be me”, Luffy said, crossing his arms.
Suddenly, everyone heard a woman’s voice coming from inside Fullbody's ship, “What’s taking so long? Come on, Fullbody, darling.”
“You’d better listen to the dy and move along, Lieutenant”, Zoro said from the side, his hand resting on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji.
Fullbody gred at Zoro and said, “You’re lucky I’m on vacation and just want to rex and eat something good. But don’t get used to it. If I meet you again while on duty, you’re dead meat.”
“Ooh, scary. Look at how terrified I am”, Luffy said, his face neutral as he raised his right hand and mockingly shook it.
The Marine ship began to sail ahead, but not before Fullbody turned to one of his Marines and said, “Sink them.”
“Yes, sir”, the Marine saluted and went to prepare the stern cannon to fire.
As the shot was fired, Luffy didn’t need to say or do anything before Zoro drew one of his swords, jumped to the figurehead of the Merry, and unleashed an ‘Ittoryu - 36 Pound Cannon’ sending a flying bde attack that easily split the cannonball in two, only stopping after it sliced a deep gash in the sea's surface, which closed after a few moments.
The two halves of the cannonball then fell into the sea behind the Merry, causing an explosion and a small spsh of water.
“What the hell?”, Fullbody shouted, jaw dropped at what had just happened.
“Sir, what are your orders? Should I continue firing?”, the Marine at the cannon asked, sweating and swallowing nervously, terrified of these pirates.
At that moment, Fullbody’s body screamed at him to flee immediately as he felt Luffy’s gaze on him.
Trying not to make any eye contact with Luffy, Fullbody stammered, “L-let’s leave these weaklings alone. It’s not worth it. Let’s just head to the restaurant.”
On the Merry, Zoro asked Luffy while watching the Marine ship sail away, “Your orders, Captain?”
“Let it go, Zoro. There's no reason to use a cannon to kill a mosquito. Tangerine, let's dock at the restaurant”, Luffy said, watching the Marine ship fade into the distance.
The closer they got to the restaurant, the more Luffy and Chouchou drooled at the smell of the food.
=Scene Break=
In the Baratie kitchen, the sous chef's nimble hands moved with trained skill and agility, preparing the ingredients for a dish.
He took a pot, filled it with water, and added a certain amount of salt. He then pced it on the stove, letting the water boil.
Once the water reached the right temperature, he added some diced cassava roots that he had washed earlier, leaving them to cook.
After about fifteen minutes, he turned on another burner and pced a sauté pan to heat up.
He then took the tender, firm fillets of yellow hake he had set aside and murmured, smelling the fresh fish, “Hmm, smells like the sea. It’s really fresh.”
He pced the fish on the cutting board and cut it into rge pieces, seasoning them lightly with fine salt on both sides before setting them aside.
Grabbing a small peeled onion, he finely sliced it and set it aside.
Noticing that the sauté pan had reached the right temperature, he added about two tablespoons of olive oil.
Next, he added a tablespoon of butter to the pan, and without wasting time, he tossed in the finely chopped onion he had set aside.
He added a pinch of salt to prevent the onion from burning, allowing it to sweat without frying too much.
Then, he quickly sliced three cloves of garlic and set them aside for ter. He took the meatier pieces of the fish and pced them skin-side down in the pan.
He did this to ensure the thinner pieces of fish wouldn’t dry out, as they would cook faster than the thicker ones.
Afterward, he added a bit more olive oil to the pan. Seeing that the cassava was tender, he drained the water from the pot and returned it to the stove, this time adding a bit of butter.
When the thick pieces of fish began to cook, he added the thinner pieces to the pan.
He then added three whole sprigs of thyme to infuse the sauce with aroma, followed by two teaspoons of capers.
Next, he added the garlic he had sliced earlier and flipped the pieces of browning fish.
Slicing a lemon in half, he squeezed the juice of half the lemon into the pan. He then reduced the heat and added a spsh of white wine.
After waiting about three minutes for the alcohol in the wine to evaporate, he covered the pan with a lid.
The lid would prevent any reduction of the liquid, allowing the fish to cook with the steam's heat, and the sauce to finish.
While waiting another three minutes, he took one of the butter-caramelized cassava pieces he had prepared earlier to taste and check if it needed more salt.
“Perfect”, he murmured softly.
After three minutes, he turned everything off as it was ready, chopped some parsley, and added it to the cassava.
As he pted the dish, a rge, muscur Bck man dressed as a chef walked by and asked, “What’s that, Sanji?”
“Yellow hake with caramelized cassava and a sauce of capers, white wine, butter, olive oil, thyme, and so on, Patty”, Sanji replied, focused on pting his dish.
“Chef Zeff’s not gonna like that”, Patty said, starting his own work.
Without responding, Sanji finished pting the dish, pced it on the serving table, and rang the bell for a waiter to pick it up.
But instead, a man with blonde braided mustaches, dressed as a head chef and with a peg leg, appeared.
Looking at Sanji's prepared dish, he asked, “What the hell is this?”
---
(AN: 1,270 Words)
Chapter - 27
East Blue – Baratie
"As I just told Patty a little while ago, it's Yellow hake with caramelized cassava and a sauce of capers, white wine, butter, olive oil, thyme, and so on", Sanji says, draping a dish towel over his shoulder.
"...Sigh... Little Eggpnt, don't make things up, your food is crap, so just stick to the damn restaurant menu", Zeff says, pcing the dish Sanji made with the ptes that needed to be washed.
"You shit old bastard", Sanji starts, leaning on the table and raising his head to look at Zeff with a crooked smile before saying, "If I have to make one more Prime Rib with barbecue sauce, I'm going to lose my mind, you get me?"
"Ohhh, so how about you clear your head by waiting some tables in the dining room?", Zeff says, not giving a damn about what Sanji said.
"Are you serious? You're going to make me a waiter again?", Sanji asks indignantly.
"Yes, now go on, the tables won't serve themselves", Zeff says, sending Sanji to the dining room.
=Scene Break=
Meanwhile, a few minutes before Sanji was sent to the dining room, Luffy and his crew entered the restaurant. Luffy immediately leans over the reception mezzanine to observe the dining area below, packed with people enjoying their meals.
As Luffy inhaled the air, drooling from the smell of food, a Fish-Man acting as the receptionist approached and asked, "Good afternoon, dies and gentlemen, how may I assist you?"
At that moment, Luffy, Zoro, Chouchou, and Kaya notice that Nami seems uncomfortable with the Fish-Man's presence.
"We'd like a table for eight", Usopp says, not noticing Nami's discomfort.
"Of course, I have a table avaible, follow me", the Fish-Man says, only then noticing Chouchou's presence. "Is that a dog?"
"Yes, it is. His name is Chouchou. Where's the table?", Luffy says indifferently, descending the staircase leading to the dining area.
The Fish-Man then leads them to a rge table near the wall where everyone sits comfortably on the couch surrounding the table.
As soon as the Fish-Man leaves and returns to his original position at the reception, Kaya turns to Nami and asks, "What happened, Nami? You seemed uncomfortable with that man."
"It's just that I didn't expect to find a Fish-Man working here", Nami says, looking at the ceiling.
"What? You don't like Fish-Men?", Usopp asks, wrapping an arm around Kaya's shoulder, who was sitting beside him.
"It's not that, it's just... sigh... I don't want to talk about it right now", Nami says, not wanting to discuss her own issues. "Instead, why don't we talk about the fact that Luffy's grandfather is the Marine hero, Monkey D. Garp, hmm?"
"And what's the problem?", Luffy asks, confused, while looking at the restaurant's menu.
"There's no problem, we already knew your grandfather was in the Marines, but you could have mentioned that he's a Vice-Admiral, extremely famous and powerful", Nami says, grabbing a menu to check.
"Well, I would have told you if you'd asked", Luffy says, shrugging.
At that moment, Sanji exits the kitchen in his signature bck suit, carrying a tray with two gsses and a bottle of wine in a small ice bucket in one hand, heading toward the table where Fullbody was sitting with his companion.
As he approaches, he serves both and waits for them to order their starters.
Fullbody then picks up the wine gss, taking a sip and smelling its contents. He then begins rambling about the wine, mentioning which vineyard it was produced in, its vintage, and its brand as if he were an expert.
He then turns to Sanji, calling him "waiter" and asking for confirmation, wanting to show off that he was right.
Sanji grabs the bottle, looking at its bel, even though he knew Fullbody was wrong, and says, "Nah, you're actually way off. By the way, I'm the Sous Chef, not the waiter. I'm just giving a hand in the dining room."
"So, do you and this lovely dy have anything in mind for your order?", Sanji says, winking at the woman accompanying Fullbody, who was now completely embarrassed.
Trying to maintain his composure, Fullbody orders what the two had decided earlier, "We'll both have the 'Soupe à l’oignon.'"
"So, two 'Soupe à l’oignon,' anything else?", Sanji asks, with no enthusiasm, even with such a beautiful woman present.
After passing the order to the kitchen, Sanji continues waiting tables, until it's time for him to attend to Luffy's table.
Seeing that the people at the table were around his age, Sanji greets them by pcing a dish of appetizers on the table, which Luffy immediately grabs. "Hello, welcome to our trashy restaurant, where the only thing worse than the atmosphere is the food. My name is Sanji, and I'll be serving you today. Do you have anything in mind to order?"
"We'll have a bit of everything", Luffy says, his mouth full of cheese bread.
"Something to drink?", Sanji asks, quickly jotting down the order.
"I'll have a bottle of Bourbon whiskey, and you can see what the others want", Zoro says, drumming his fingers on the table.
"My friend and I will have two beers, one for each", Johnny says, pointing to Yosaku.
"I'll have a beer. Usually, I drink a whole barrel, but—", Usopp begins to boast, but is interrupted by Chouchou barking, "I'll have a bowl of milk."
"Chouchou will have a bowl of pin milk, and I'll have a strawberry milkshake", Luffy says, giving Chouchou's order along with his.
"So, that's a bottle of Bourbon whiskey, three beers, a bowl of pin milk, and a strawberry milkshake. And for the beauties? We have several rare vintages, maybe a red wine 'Chateau Odê Dbck'? You know, something sweet for someone sweet", Sanji says, winking at Nami, who was sitting next to Luffy.
"Is there something wrong with your eye?", Nami asks, ignoring the obvious flirting.
"Just blinded by your beauty", Sanji says, not realizing that Nami wasn't interested in flirting with him.
"I'll have water", Nami says indifferently.
"Mineral? Sparkling? With or without ice? Cubes or crushed?", Sanji asks, continuing to hit on her like he still had a chance, only missing serving Nami grapes by hand.
"Water", Nami says, out of patience.
"I'll have lemonade with ice", Kaya says, stepping in as it was taking too long.
"Right away", Sanji says, giving a flirty smile to both Nami and Kaya before leaving.
"What's with that guy, anyway?", Nami asks once they're alone again.
"That's the famous Simp Warrior. All that's missing is him licking your feet", Zoro jokes.
"He's not my type", Nami says, gncing at Luffy.
"Yeah, we can tell. Your type is men who stretch, have a scar under their left eye, and wear a straw hat", Usopp says with a grin.
Everyone at the table bursts out ughing at Nami, who had turned very red. Luffy looked at her with a smile that everyone interpreted as innocent, not fully understanding what was going on and expecting an expnation.
---
(AN: 1,174 Words)
Chapter - 28
East Blue – Baratie
After serving what Fullbody and his companion, along with Luffy and his crew, had ordered, Sanji continued attending to the tables until Fullbody called him over.
When Sanji arrived at the table, Fullbody pointed to his soup and said, "Waiter, why is there a mosquito in my soup?"
"I’ve told you before, I’m not a waiter, I’m just helping out in the dining room", Sanji said as he reached the table.
Seeing the mosquito floating in the soup, Sanji rubbed his chin and said, "Hmm, that’s Robson. He’s considered an Olympic swimmer among his kind. He must’ve thought your soup was a pool or something."
The woman accompanying Fullbody and the nearby tables burst into ughter at Sanji's comment.
Sanji then turned to the woman and flirted, "So, beautiful, what do you think about us going out ter, having a bit of wine? I’ve got some great vintages, and after that, who knows what we’ll do. What do you say?"
“Well—” the woman started to reply but was interrupted by Fullbody smming his fist on the table, breaking it and sending the ptes crashing to the floor, shattering porcein and gss, and wasting the food completely.
Fullbody then shouted at Sanji in a fit of rage, "I’m a paying customer at this dump, and on top of that, I’m a lieutenant in the Navy, and now a mere cook dares to mock me?"
"Well, looks like you're done eating. I’ll clean this up", Sanji said, his face expressionless.
"You didn’t hear me, you piece of trash. My money is paying for this, so you’re going to show me some respect, got it?"
"Then eat your money because your meal here is done. Wasting food is unacceptable. Food isn’t something to py with", Sanji said seriously before advancing toward Fullbody.
When he reached Fullbody, Sanji delivered an upward kick, striking Fullbody squarely on the chin with the sole of his foot, lifting him into the air. Then Sanji jumped, grabbed Fullbody's neck with his calf, spun rapidly, and smmed Fullbody’s head into the ground, creating a crater and knocking him unconscious.
Zeff then appeared in the dining room and asked Sanji, "What the hell’s going on here, Sanji?"
"This idiot wasted food", Sanji said, lighting a cigarette and pointing at Fullbody after adjusting his suit.
"...Sigh... Just get back to work, kid", Zeff said with a sigh before turning and walking off somewhere in the restaurant.
Suddenly, a Marine rushed into the restaurant, shouting for Fullbody, "Lieutenant Fullbody, sir, there’s an emergency, the prisoner has escaped, uh?"
Seeing Fullbody’s condition, the Marine looked very confused. "What happened to him?"
"This idiot’s taking a nap. Now get his ass out of here and get the hell out of this restaurant", Sanji said, kicking the bloodied Fullbody.
He then returned to work, attending tables and delivering orders.
“Cool, he’s pretty strong, right?”, Luffy asked his crew, observing the chaos while continuing to stuff his face with an absurd amount of food.
At this point, everyone at the table had finished eating, their stomachs full. The only one still eating was Luffy.
"Are you talking about the waiter?", Zoro asked indifferently.
“Yeah, him”, Luffy confirmed.
“He knows how to throw some kicks, so what?”, Zoro asked, not understanding where Luffy was going with this. To him, Sanji wasn’t interesting at all.
“Well, he’s the crew’s cook”, Luffy said after swallowing what he was chewing.
“You’re kidding, right? Are you seriously telling me you invited 'Pubic Hair Brows' to join the crew?”, Zoro asked, baffled by why Luffy would do that. The guy wasn’t even that strong.
“I haven’t invited him yet, but I’m going to soon”, Luffy said, taking a sip of his strawberry milkshake.
“Then why did you say that pervert is part of the crew?”, Nami asked, taking a sip of her water.
“Because he is part of the crew, duh”, Luffy said, continuing to eat.
“And what if he refuses the invitation?”, Usopp asked cautiously.
“Haven’t you learned anything by now? Obviously, I’ll refuse his refusal and just keep pestering him until he accepts”, Luffy said, raising an eyebrow as if Usopp had asked the dumbest question in the world.
“Cssic Luffy move”, Nami said pyfully, a smile on her face as she gnced at Luffy beside her, still devouring food.
A little ter, after Luffy finally finished eating, Sanji returned to their table with the bill for the meal.
Luffy took the bill, simply signed his name, and drew a stick figure wearing a straw hat and smiling next to his signature.
He then handed the bill to Sanji, saying, “Thanks for the food.”
Sanji raised an eyebrow at Luffy’s handiwork, but then a smile spread across his face, and he said, “No, sir, I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
Meanwhile, Luffy’s crew exchanged puzzled looks, not understanding why Luffy had done that since they knew they had more than enough money to pay the bill properly.
Just as Nami was about to ask why Luffy hadn’t just paid, they all heard a loud, angry voice echoing through the dining room, "Who the hell is Monkey D. Luffy?"
“Here”, Luffy said, raising his hand as he looked at Zeff, who began walking toward their table.
"Looks like you're a bit confused about the house rules. Here at Baratie, we don't accept credit," Zeff says as he reaches the table.
“No, old man, I think you’re the one who didn’t get it. The meal’s already paid for. I just haven’t given you the money yet”, Luffy said, trying to expin to the senile old man in front of him that he had already settled the bill.
“And where’s the money?”, Zeff asked, starting to lose his patience.
“It’s in my treasure”, Luffy said as if it were obvious.
“And where the hell is your fucking treasure?”, Zeff asked, getting angrier.
“Well, when I find One Piece, I’ll come back and pay the full bill, with interest”, Luffy said, smiling, wondering if the old man finally understood.
“Your treasure is the One Piece?”, Zeff asked, either impressed by the boy’s courage or baffled by his stupidity.
“That’s right. Looks like you’re not as senile as I thought, old man”, Luffy said, complimenting Zeff.
“Hah, nah, I’ve got a better idea”, Zeff said, letting out an amused sigh before grabbing Luffy by his clothes and dragging him toward the kitchen.
“You know, I’m starting to think that sometimes our captain does some pretty stupid things”, Usopp said, watching Zeff drag Luffy away.
“No kidding”, Nami said, rolling her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
---
(AN: 1,107 Words)
Chapter - 29
East Blue – Baratie
As they entered the kitchen, Zeff dragged Luffy to the dishwashing area and said, "With the amount of food you and your friends ate, you'll be washing dishes for me for at least a year."
"A year? Are you crazy, old man? I'll stay here for a week, take it or leave it", Luffy said, looking at the mountain of dirty dishes piled up in front of him.
"Hahahahaha, you're funny. Just get to work, kid", Zeff ughed, not taking Luffy seriously.
As Zeff left Luffy to wash the dishes, he ran into Sanji entering the kitchen dressed as a chef, no longer wearing a suit.
"Why are you dressed like that? I put you on waiter duty in the dining room", Zeff said, displeased that Sanji was defying his authority.
"I'm a chef, not a waiter. Serving tables out there is just a waste of my time", Sanji said, trying to move to his workspace in the kitchen, only to be blocked by Zeff standing in his way.
"Oh yeah? You gonna stick to the daily menu instead of cooking random stuff like that dish over there?", Zeff asked, pointing to the pte of food Sanji had made, now sitting beside Luffy.
Hearing the conversation, Luffy looked at the pte next to him, shrugged, and started eating it. Even though it was cold, it was delicious.
"I'll cook whatever I want, you stubborn old fart", Sanji said angrily.
"If you can't stick to the damn menu, then get back out there and serve tables", Zeff said, pointing to the dining room.
"You know, you're not making this easy. Every day I feel more and more like leaving this pce", Sanji said, irritated and not thinking clearly.
Zeff stared at Sanji for a moment before saying, "Feel free. It's about time you started chasing that pce."
"Nah, without me, this pce would turn to crap", Sanji said, unwilling to admit Zeff was right.
Not wanting to argue any further, Sanji returned to the dining room to wait on tables. Meanwhile, Zeff leaned against a counter, let out a long sigh, and stared at the floor before leaving the kitchen as well.
=Scene Break=
After a long day of work, Sanji finished his shift in the evening and entered the kitchen to rest a bit.
As he sat in the break area in the corner of the kitchen, he heard the sound of a pte breaking. Looking over, he saw Luffy breaking a pte while trying to wash it. Next to him was a pile of broken dishes.
"I think the old man will regret putting you on dish duty", Sanji said as he grabbed a cigarette to smoke.
"I don't get how these ptes are so fragile. I'm being as careful as possible, and they still keep breaking. So far, I've only managed to wash five ptes without breaking anything", Luffy compined.
"Maybe you're just not cut out for washing dishes", Sanji joked.
"That's probably true. Anyway, how long have you been a waiter?", Luffy asked as he tried to wash another pte, only to break it again by accident.
"I'm not a waiter, I'm a cook. The best in East Blue. Not that it matters now, while the old man's in charge, I can't cook what I want. I'm practically banned from the kitchen", Sanji said, lighting his cigarette and taking a drag.
"But your food was amazing", Luffy said, giving up on washing the remaining dishes.
"The Yellow hake? You tried it?", Sanji asked, surprised.
"Tried it? I ate the whole thing", Luffy said, walking over to where Sanji was sitting to talk.
"Your food is incredible. Why doesn't the old man let you cook?", Luffy asked, confused.
"Because he's a stubborn, narrow-minded old man who doesn't know how to innovate. If I were in charge of this restaurant, the food would be ten times better, bet on it", Sanji said, blowing smoke from his mouth.
"So that's your dream? To be the head chef and run Baratie?", Luffy asked, wondering if this Sanji had the same dream as the canon Sanji.
"Nah, I don't want to run this pce", Sanji said, adjusting his hair.
"So you just want to cook? Doesn't matter where?", Luffy asked, leaning against a counter.
"There's this pce called the All Blue. They say you can find ingredients from all the seas there, East Blue, North Blue, South, and West, plus some ingredients that are only found there. I'm going to find that pce. That's my dream", Sanji said enthusiastically.
"So your dream is to find the All Blue? You know, I've heard some theories about what the All Blue really is. Interested in hearing them?", Luffy asked, eager to share his theories.
"You've heard of the All Blue?", Sanji asked, surprised to meet someone interested in the same things as him.
"Well, the All Blue is one of the biggest mysteries and legends in the world, and I love mysteries", Luffy said excitedly.
After that, the two started talking enthusiastically, with Luffy sharing his theories. "Have you ever noticed how the geography of the world seems artificial? Like it was made this way by someone? There's this theory that the All Blue will appear when the Red Line is brought down, because then technically all the seas would connect."
"Interesting theory. Zeff and I came up with several theories over the years, but I never thought of something like that", Sanji said, pondering what Luffy had said.
"There's another theory that says the All Blue is actually underground, like a hollow earth. And they say the entrance is where the One Piece is. Some other theories say it's in the sky, but most of them kind of connect the All Blue with the One Piece", Luffy said, sharing more of his ideas about the All Blue.
"Man, this conversation has definitely given me a lot to think about", Sanji said, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table.
At that moment, they heard loud knocking coming from a door that led outside the restaurant.
When Sanji opened the door to see who it was, a disheveled man stumbled in, colpsing to the floor.
The man mumbled as he tried to find something to grab onto and lift himself up. "H-help me... starving... food..."
Sanji helped the man into a chair and then said, "How about a good Carbonara?"
As Sanji moved around the kitchen, gathering ingredients, Patty showed up and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Feeding a starving man", Sanji said, putting a pot of water on the stove and salting it.
"This isn't a charity, it's a restaurant. We can't just give free food to any pirate who shows up", Patty argued.
"I'm a cook, Patty. When I see someone hungry, I feed them."
"Well, I’m not getting involved. You deal with it when Chef Zeff finds out", Patty said, raising his hands in surrender as he left the kitchen.
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(AN: 1,163 Words)
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