In the chaos of the restaurant, the few diners who hadn't managed to flee earlier froze in terror at this sudden turn of events.
Their trembling feet shuffled backward, step by step, toward the far end of the restaurant, as if simply putting distance between themselves and the fearsome overlord of the East Blue could somehow guarantee their safety.
"You see it now, don't you? That's Don Krieg!"
One of the chefs who had been blaming Sanji earlier barked toward the man lying on the floor.
Another chef standing beside Sanji, face full of frustration, muttered bitterly,
"He's not satisfied with just food anymore… now he wants to take the ship itself!"
Several other chefs crept toward the back of the restaurant and opened a concealed door. They began quietly ushering the remaining diners out in an orderly line.
Just beyond that hidden door, a small sailboat was docked, a lifeboat prepared for emergencies.
The lucky diners crowded onto it at once, leaving no room to spare.
No one dared to complain.
The little boat, weighed down with terrified passengers, slowly drifted away toward a nearby island.
"Captain… Krieg…"
Gin, his shoulder crushed and body flung aside, choked out a broken, regretful sob.
Krieg, however, paid no attention to the fleeing diners.
At this moment, his ambitions lay elsewhere.
Having recovered his strength, he flexed his wrist, a cruel grin spreading across his face as he sneered,
"My ship's a wreck…"
"Guess it's time to get a new one!"
He straightened up arrogantly and barked at the remaining chefs, his tone full of absolute authority.
"If you're done standing around, get the hell off my new ship!"
Then, with a voice that brooked no argument, he continued,
"I've still got about a hundred men alive on my ship. I need food and water for all of them."
"Now!!! Go get it ready!!!"
"What!?"
The chefs immediately erupted in fury.
"You want us to feed the enemy!?"
"Only an idiot would do that!"
"I refuse!!"
"Refuse…?"
Krieg's expression instantly darkened, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. His lips twisted into a grotesque snarl as he hissed,
"Don't get it twisted."
"I'm not some customer ordering off your damn menu."
"This is…"
"An order!!!"
"No one disobeys my orders!"
The bloodthirsty aura of the pirate overlord burst forth like a crashing wave, pressing down on every chef in the room.
The sheer weight of it, combined with Krieg's monstrous glare, silenced their defiance in an instant. No one dared to speak another word.
"…I'm sorry, Mr. Sanji…"
Tears slid down Gin's face, dripping onto the floor.
In that moment, he truly regretted it all.
He regretted ever telling the captain about this place…
He regretted escaping from that Marine ship…
He regretted ever becoming a pirate.
"Hey! Sanji!"
Just as the chefs stood frozen in tense silence before Krieg, one of them suddenly shouted toward Sanji, who had started walking toward the kitchen.
"Where are you going!?"
"To the kitchen," Sanji said calmly, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I still have to make a hundred servings of food, don't I?"
"What!?"
A chorus of shocked voices erupted from the chefs.
Only Krieg laughed, clearly pleased by Sanji's "good sense."
"Tch, now that's more like it!"
Sanji gave no reply, simply continued walking toward the kitchen.
"Damn it! Are you trying to die, Sanji!?"
One of the chefs jumped in front of him, yanking a pistol from his waist and pressing it hard against Sanji's forehead. His voice roared with anger.
The other chefs followed suit, drawing their own weapons until seven or eight black muzzles gleamed coldly in the light, all aimed at Sanji's head.
"Sanji, you're Krieg's spy, aren't you!?"
"There's no way we're letting you near that kitchen!"
"We won't let you keep acting on your own!"
"This stupid, reckless stunt of yours, we will stop it!"
Their rage was boiling over.
This time, they didn't care about friendship or camaraderie.
Because to them, Sanji had just trampled all of that underfoot.
If he dared take one more step toward that kitchen, they wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.
"I know…"
Sanji lit a fresh cigarette, his face calm as ever.
"I know they're pirates. Evil to the core."
"But still…"
"What happens after I feed them, it's not my concern."
"Thinking too much about it is just… annoying."
"When someone's hungry, you feed them."
"That's what it means…"
"To be a chef!"
Sanji spread his arms wide, his voice rising as if he were declaring his very soul.
"That alone… is enough!"
BANG!!!
A thick, muscular arm swung down like a hammer, smashing into Sanji's head with the force of iron.
"Hold him down!"
Patty barked the command.
The other chefs rushed forward and wrestled Sanji to the floor, pinning him down so he couldn't move an inch.
Then Patty clapped his massive hands together, the crack echoing like boulders colliding.
He reached behind a support pillar, pulled open a hidden panel, and yanked out a rocket launcher, aiming it straight at Krieg.
"Overlord of the East Blue, my ass!!!"
"Go to hell!!!"
"Let me show you what a real sea cook is!!!"
The launcher fired with a deafening roar, the rocket streaking through the air like a shark.
BOOM!!!
The blast tore through the Baratie's front doors, reducing the elegant entrance to splinters. Shattered planks dangled from the frame, creaking and swaying, ready to fall.
"Captain!!!"
Even after what Krieg had done to him, Gin still shouted in alarm, staring anxiously at the smoking wreckage.
========
"Phew~ The boss is gonna dock my pay for breaking the door, huh?"
Patty hoisted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder with a grin. The smoke framed his head towel like a battle scarf, giving him an unexpectedly heroic look.
A nearby chef laughed.
"Nah! It was to protect the restaurant. That kind of sacrifice is worth it!"
"Cough, cough!!"
From the rubble came the sound of coughing. Krieg stepped out, his armor gleaming and completely untouched.
The rocket hadn't even left a scratch.
"What!?"
"No way!!!"
Patty and the other chefs stared in disbelief as Krieg strode toward them through the smoke.
"What a pathetic excuse for a restaurant…"
Krieg's brow furrowed, his expression dark and cruel as he glared at Patty.
With a click and a whir, the mechanisms on his gauntlets shifted, revealing twin Gatling barrels at his forearms.
Krieg's eyes bulged with madness as he roared,
"Die!!! All of you!!!"
Fwoosh!
"Wait!!"
Zeff, balancing on his single leg, hurled a large bag in front of Krieg to stop him
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