"Let's go, Sanji!"
The middle-aged man held Sanji's thin, skeletal hand as they followed the crowd away from the harbor and onto the bustling streets of Loguetown—the most prosperous town in the East Blue.
Watching the flow of pedestrians and the occasional Marine patrol passing by, the man's face lit up with excitement as he said, "Sanji, see that? This is Loguetown—the place known as the beginning and the end!"
"Old man… I… I'm hungry…"
Clearly, the blond boy named Sanji had no interest in Loguetown itself. All he wanted right now was a proper meal—and then a good, long sleep.
Grrr…
As soon as Sanji finished speaking, the stomach of the middle-aged man—Zeff—also growled loudly.
"Haha! Looks like I'm hungry too!"
Hearing his own stomach rumble, Zeff laughed boldly and said, "Come on, I'll take you to find something to eat!"
Soon, the two arrived at the food street.
Back on the isolated island, they had suffered greatly due to lack of food.
But now that they were in Loguetown, the treasure they carried was enough to practically buy the entire food street.
"Sanji, pick a place!"
Seeing Sanji practically drooling, Zeff smiled and added, "Or we could just try every single one—"
Suddenly—
A series of strange noises came from a restaurant across the street, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"Waaah—ahhh!!!"
"This is insanely delicious!!!"
"Boss, this is the best fried rice I've ever eaten—no contest!"
"This feeling is amazing, boss! What if I want another serving?!"
Hearing the constant exclamations coming from that restaurant, Zeff tilted his head and muttered, "Ultimate… Yangzhou Fried Rice?"
"Old man, let's go to this one!"
Sanji, too, was filled with curiosity after hearing all the excited shouts. He wanted to see for himself what kind of food could make people react like that.
"Alright!"
Zeff didn't hesitate and immediately led Sanji toward the restaurant.
But just as they took a few steps, the sounds inside suddenly stopped.
After a brief silence of more than ten seconds—
BANG!
A loud crashing sound rang out.
Immediately after, a figure shot out of the restaurant like a cannonball and slammed heavily onto the street.
Before Zeff and Sanji could even react, another figure leapt out from inside, landing directly on top of the fallen man and beating him mercilessly.
"Damn it, if you don't have money, why are you here eating fried rice?!"
"Credit?"
"This shop doesn't allow credit—didn't you know that?!"
The man lying on the ground was none other than Aaron, the biggest gang leader in Loguetown.
And the one punching and kicking him was naturally Arashi—the restaurant owner!
At first, Arashi had thought this guy was some kind of big spender.
But when it came time to pay, this guy had the nerve to grin and say, "Can I put it on credit?"
After working hard to cook fifty servings of fried rice, only to encounter someone asking for credit—how could Arashi tolerate that?
So he kicked him straight out of the restaurant and came out to beat him up.
"Stop hitting me, stop hitting me!"
Aaron, now bruised and battered, struggled to defend himself while shouting desperately, "Boss, stop! I won't ask for credit anymore!"
The group of thugs inside the restaurant were completely dumbfounded.
Their boss was a well-known figure in Loguetown—wherever he went, he could eat on credit, and sometimes even for free. But this restaurant owner had attacked him just for saying the word "credit"…
And what was even more shocking was that their boss wasn't resisting at all. Meanwhile, his dozen or so subordinates stood there covering their faces, trembling.
Was this really their boss?
This had to be fake!
"Hey! What are you all standing around for?!"
Aaron, who was about to be beaten senseless, suddenly shouted at his subordinates, "Get back and bring the money—right now!"
"Y-Yes!"
The group snapped out of their shock and immediately scattered, running off without a trace.
Watching his men run off, Aaron quickly said, "Boss, please stop hitting me! I just… I'm used to eating on credit! I didn't actually mean it!"
Aaron was truly desperate.
Because he was used to eating without carrying money, after tasting the heavenly fried rice, he had subconsciously asked for credit.
What he never expected was for Arashi to start beating him up without giving him a chance to explain.
This was the first time in his life he had encountered such a hot-tempered boss.
At first, he thought Arashi was relying on Captain Stork's backing.
But after taking a beating, he realized he was completely wrong!
Stork must have left the restaurant for some other reason—maybe he got beaten too for not bringing money!
"I'll give you half an hour."
After finishing the beating, Arashi stood up. His demeanor was even more gangster-like than Aaron himself. Rolling up his sleeves, he said fiercely, "If your men don't bring the money within half an hour, I'll cripple you first—then throw all your lackeys into the sea to feed the fish. Damn it, coming here asking for credit… are you tired of living?"
"…"
"Um…"
Just as Arashi finished speaking, a timid voice suddenly came from behind him. "A-Are you the owner of this restaurant?"
Hearing the voice, Arashi immediately turned around, instantly switching to a gentle expression and smiling warmly. "Yes, that's right. This shop offers excellent value for money."
"…Huh?"
The moment he finished speaking, Arashi froze.
Standing before him was none other than the frail-looking Sanji.
Sanji didn't notice the change in Arashi's expression. Upon hearing the words "excellent value for money," he immediately looked at the signboard outside and said, "But… I clearly saw that one serving costs 18,888 Beli…"
Arashi was momentarily stunned.
He hadn't expected to run into Sanji and Zeff in Loguetown.
Judging by their condition, it was obvious—they had just survived their ordeal on the isolated island.
A master chef, and a future chef.
Just as Arashi was worrying about lacking manpower, a smile slowly appeared on his lips.
With these two helping him, he could easily tweak the notice and increase production—
Two hundred servings a day… no, even three hundred wouldn't be a problem.
Oh, right—he should add one more rule:
No credit allowed. Payment first, then food.
Extra chapters are already prepared… waiting to be unleashed.
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