In the scullery, the sound of rushing water mixed with the clatter of pots and pans.
"Stupid old man! Tyrant! Despot! Old fossil!!"
"Damn geezer! Vile capitalist! Devilish slave-driver!!"
Luffy and Sanji stood almost shoulder-to-shoulder before the massive sink. One was washing with vigor, the other with pure resentment, but their vocal complaints rose and fell in an unexpectedly harmonious rhythm.
"Huh? Who are you?" Sanji asked, somewhat surprised as he looked at Luffy. "Haven't seen you before."
"Oh, I'm new. Keep going," Luffy said, egging him on after listening to him curse Zeff. He'd been watching what happened outside earlier.
He's right!
Plus, Sanji had given that pirate who was thrown out something to eat. Luffy grinned widely; this guy was pretty alright.
"That bastard old man actually sided with a Marine who wrecked the restaurant!" Sanji angrily slammed a plate down.
"Yeah, yeah! How can you throw out a hungry guest? What kind of restaurant is this?!"
"Hey, hey! Be careful with those plates, they're expensive!" a busboy called out, peeking in.
"Shut up!"
They both turned and yelled in unison, making the busboy duck his head back nervously.
Just then, that emotionless, mechanical prompt sounded in Luffy's mind: [Crew Recruitment Day remaining time: Two hours. Please complete core crew recruitment immediately.]
Time's almost up?
Luffy stopped his fooling around.
You could never tell if there would be some kind of punishment.
"Hey, Curly Brow, you're a cook too, right?" Luffy asked, familiarly slapping him on the shoulder.
"Huh? Isn't it obvious?" Sanji let out a puff of smoke.
"So, how about coming to be the cook on my ship?" Luffy invited with a grin.
"You're a pirate? Are you famous?" Sanji was a bit surprised, as Luffy really didn't look the part of a pirate.
Besides, would a real pirate be working as a busboy on this ship?
Hearing that question, Luffy was suddenly wide awake.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who's gonna be King of the Pirates! You seem like a decent guy, and your cooking's alright. So? Become my nakama."
Sanji was jolted by the slap, nearly dropping his cigarette into the sink. He steadied himself and looked at Luffy as if he were a lunatic. "Ha? Pirate King? Be a pirate? Don't joke around, kid! I don't wanna be a pirate."
Even though he hated the old geezer Zeff, he didn't have much fondness for pirates either.
"Why not? Being a pirate is all about freedom."
For Luffy, being a pirate was just the profession that let him adventure all over the world.
So he couldn't understand people who disliked pirates.
As for the Pirate King, that was the freest person in the world.
Since he wasn't the Pirate King yet, he wasn't free.
"What's so good about freedom?" Sanji said.
"Freedom lets you do anything you want! Don't you have something you want to do, Curly Brow? Like a dream or something?" Luffy expounded enthusiastically.
Dream?
Hearing the word, Sanji's fingers holding the cigarette paused slightly. A faint glimmer flashed deep in his eyes but was quickly replaced by mockery.
"Tch, a small-time pirate like you shouldn't go around talking about becoming the Pirate King. Stop it, let me laugh first."
Sanji laughed so hard he bent over.
This rookie pirate, strength unknown, bounty probably not even breaking a million Beli, and his goal is the Pirate King?
Truly, ignorance is bliss.
"No dream should be laughed at," Luffy said seriously. "A person's dreams will never end."
Sanji's laughter cut off abruptly.
The All Blue... It was the very reason he had willingly left that family, holed up on this ship, and became a cook under the stupid old man. It was the dream he never dared to proclaim aloud.
Sanji's expression became extremely complicated.
[Prompt: Crew Recruitment Day has ended. Crew member Vinsmoke Sanji successfully recruited. Readjusting based on physical condition. Next time period: Three minutes for food resupply. Countdown....]
Luffy's mind was flooded with a series of prompts.
Recruitment successful?
Wait, did I get the short end of the stick?
There were still a few hours left in Crew Recruitment Day, weren't there? Now it's going back to the previous training mode?
Whatever, it's not important. What's important is that we have a cook on the ship!
"Hahaha! Curly Brow Cook, welcome aboard!"
"Hey, you stupid Straw Hat! Who agreed to that?" Sanji sputtered, nearly getting the wind knocked out of him by Luffy's enthusiastic slaps.
What's with this guy?
Is he insane?
I just hesitated for a moment!
Luffy ignored Sanji's protests and turned to leave for his food resupply.
"Hey, busboy, it's not meal time yet."
Zeff blocked Luffy's path, but the aromas wafting from the dining room were too much to resist. Under Zeff's horrified gaze, Luffy's neck stretched out long and elastic.
In the main dining room, Nami was savoring the last bite of her pudding with satisfaction.
"Wow, that smells good! I wanna eat too!"
A long, rubbery neck shot out from the kitchen direction, swooping around the corner and extending right up to their table!
Luffy's head stopped precisely next to the empty pudding plate Nami had just finished, drool cascading down.
"WAAAH—!"
"GHOST—!"
The horrifying scene made Nami and Usopp jump nearly out of their seats. The surrounding patrons let out terrified screams. Anyone would be startled if a human head suddenly flew onto their table to watch them eat.
"L-Luffy?! You idiot! Don't just appear like that, it's disgusting!"
Nami clutched her pounding heart, her face pale.
"I've been stuck in the back washing dishes, and you all just started eating without a word," Luffy complained.
"That's your own fault," Nami said, both annoyed and amused. "Who told you to blow a hole in their ship?"
Luffy just stared straight at Nami.
You open your eyes and look at me. I don't believe you can look at me with indifference.
Even though she complained out loud—"It's so gross," "This is so embarrassing," "Stop looking at me like that"—her body acted honestly as she picked up her fork and cut a small piece of the steak from her plate.
"Ah—"
Her face flushed, she quickly glanced at the other patrons who were still murmuring in shock, and swiftly stuffed the piece of meat into Luffy's wide-open mouth. "Geez, what a pain! Just eat it already!"
Chomp. "Mmm, you're the best, Nami!" Luffy said, chewing the meat. "Oh, by the way, I just found us a cook."
"A cook? A new nakama?" Usopp quipped. "It's not some weirdo, is it?"
He never had much faith in Luffy's judgment.
"He's not weird. His eyebrows are just a bit curly," Luffy stated.
Having a cook was a good thing.
Seeing Luffy eat so happily, Nami sighed in resignation and waved over a nearby waiter, who still looked shaken. "Check, please. And we'll also take ten more servings of roast meat."
"Make it twenty servings! All kinds of meat!" Luffy added.
"You're ordering that much more?" Nami couldn't help but exclaim.
"Don't worry, I can finish it all," Luffy guaranteed.
No, that's not the issue.
Oh well. They were definitely going to have to wash a mountain of plates to pay for this later.