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Sanji, who boarded the ship with newfound ambition, soon showed his true colors to everyone in the Straw Hat crew.
At noon that day, at Luffy's suggestion, the Straw Hats held a welcome banquet for Sanji in the Going Merry's galley.
Although this was the official reason, the busiest person at the entire banquet was Sanji himself, the chef.
Fortunately, he enjoyed it.
Being able to serve delicious food to people who appreciated it was a blessing in itself for a chef.
With his excellent cooking skills and status as a newcomer, Sanji quickly became the most popular person among the Straw Hats that day!
But as the banquet officially began, Sanji revealed his true nature and quickly became the object of contempt for all the men!
...
"Nami-swan, this sirloin steak is made from premium beef carefully raised with special feed from the North Blue. It's been aged at low temperature for a long time, then topped with my special love sauce."
"This level of cuisine is rare even for ordinary nobles to see once a year. Please enjoy it~"
Sanji approached Nami with a plate of steak arranged in the shape of a heart, exuding a mouthwatering aroma, and placed it in front of her with gentlemanly grace.
Luffy and Usopp's eyes widened when they caught the special fragrance. They leaned in closer and greedily inhaled the aroma with their noses.
"Wow! It looks delicious!"
"As expected of the Baratie's sous chef, his craftsmanship is truly amazing!"
As they spoke, the two stretched out their knives and forks, eager to share the steak in front of Nami.
But at that moment...
Bang! Bang!!!
Two lightning-fast kicks suddenly flew over and knocked the utensils out of Luffy and Usopp's hands.
They saw Sanji retracting his long legs, then placing two different steaks in front of them. Though these were also fragrant, they were clearly not as elegant as the one Nami received.
"That's my special love dish for Miss Nami!"
"These belong to you two!!!"
"Hey~! Sanji, why are you treating us so differently?!" Usopp immediately complained.
Luffy grabbed the steak in front of him and stuffed it into his mouth hungrily. While facing Sanji, his other hand quietly reached for the steak in front of Usopp.
He protested: "That's right! I'm the captain! Why can't I eat the most delicious food!?"
"Wow...this steak is so delicious!"
"Hey! Luffy!!!"
Usopp screamed when he noticed Luffy's sneaky move.
But it was already too late.
Luffy's arm suddenly snapped back, taking Usopp's steak with it.
"Really, why are you all being so noisy?"
Seeing this scene, Zoro immediately complained.
But to avoid following in Usopp's footsteps, after Sanji set down his portion of steak, Zoro waved the knife in his hand.
In an instant, there was an afterimage of sword light.
In the blink of an eye, Zoro cut the steak into small, easy-to-swallow pieces, and then devoured it immediately, giving no one else a chance to steal it.
Although Red, who was sitting next to Luffy, didn't have such methods, when he saw Luffy grabbing at Usopp's plate, he directly picked up his own plate, a flash of lightning appeared, and he floated into the air with his head nearly touching the ceiling, quietly enjoying his lunch.
Johnny and Yosaku, not being official crew members, didn't dare approach the dangerous dining table.
The two spread a picnic cloth in the corner of the galley and ate quietly.
In this way, in a noisy but cheerful atmosphere, the Straw Hats enjoyed an extremely wonderful lunch.
Unfortunately, the happy atmosphere didn't last long.
Just as the banquet was coming to an end, loud exclamations suddenly came from outside.
"Hmm!?"
Sensing something unusual, everyone in the Straw Hat crew perked up their ears and looked out through the windows.
Only Red calmly took out a napkin, wiped the grease from his mouth, then smiled slightly.
"They've arrived?"
...
...
After a moment, everyone exited the cabin and went onto the Going Merry's deck.
"What a huge ship!!!"
Luffy and Usopp looked toward the horizon and exclaimed in unison.
They saw an extremely large warship with masts that seemed to reach the sky, slowly heading toward the Baratie from the distant sea.
The source of the commotion turned out to be the diners in the Baratie restaurant.
"That flag is... absolutely unmistakable! That's the Ruler of the East Blue, the Krieg Pirates!"
"What!? Didn't the newspaper say they had gone to the 'Grand Line', the pirates' graveyard? Why are they appearing here!?"
"Who cares why! Let's get out of here!!!"
The Krieg Pirates, who had dominated the East Blue for many years and were known for their ferocity, cunning, and cruelty, could strike fear into the people with just their flag.
The already sparse crowd of diners, thinned by Luffy's presence, instantly scattered like startled birds!
In the blink of an eye, the only ship remaining near the Baratie was the Going Merry.
"Hey~ It seems that compared to the veteran pirates of the East Blue, Luffy's notoriety isn't that impressive!"
Seeing the suddenly deserted Baratie restaurant, Red couldn't help but laugh.
Zoro frowned beside him, secretly glanced at Sanji, and murmured softly:
"Is this because of that pirate from the other day?"
"As I thought, these kinds of situations that can easily get out of hand should be stopped from the beginning!"
"Now's not the time to talk about that!"
Nami suddenly looked serious and said: "Look at them—they don't seem to be planning to stop their ship!"
"If that's the case, they'll crash into the Merry!!!"
"Ahhhh~!!!" Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku panicked instantly.
"No, no! Merry is still a child~! She can't withstand such severe damage!"
The three men immediately ran to the rudder and sail, preparing to set sail and escape.
But Red stopped them:
"No need to bother!"
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he addressed everyone:
"Among pirates, the weak have always made way for the strong since ancient times!"
"A mere Krieg pirate group isn't qualified to make us flee, right, Luffy!?"
"Yeah!" Luffy shook his arms, his eyes suddenly flashing with excitement.
"Red is right! Why should we make way for them!"
"I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!"
"Red, pick me up and fly me there!"
Luffy grinned, clenched his fists and declared to the menacing huge battleship: "I'm going to stop their ship!!!"
"Wait, wait a minute, Luffy!"
"This... this can't be done, right!? That ship is enormous—how is this possible!?"
Sanji, who still didn't know Luffy's true strength, immediately shouted in surprise.
Johnny and Yosaku didn't stop what they were doing. One pulled the ropes of the sail, and the other put both hands on the rudder, awaiting orders.
But Zoro sneered at Sanji: "Don't worry, Love-Cook~"
"Luffy is more powerful than you think!!!"
Electromagnetic light waves suddenly appeared.
Red grabbed Luffy's shoulders, and the two immediately rose into the air and flew toward the huge battleship not far away.
After getting closer, Luffy suddenly exclaimed:
"That's strange—this ship is completely wrecked! Were they hit by a storm?"
"Who knows?" Red, who knew everything, didn't explain, but simply guided Luffy to continue rising and moving forward.
It wasn't until they reached a high altitude above the huge battleship that Red spoke: "This position should be about right, don't you think?"
"Yeah!" Luffy nodded.
But just as he was about to say something, a smirk suddenly appeared at the corner of Red's mouth.
Immediately, he suddenly let go of his hands and shouted: "So..."
"Let more people see your power, Luffy!!!"
"Wait...this is too high, Red!!!"
Luffy, who was descending at an extremely fast speed, screamed, his voice distorting under the impact of the rushing air.
But Red, rarely getting a chance for playful revenge, didn't care.
What's more, according to the principles of gravity and acceleration, the higher the starting point, the faster the fall!
A famous person in the pirate world once said: Speed is power!
Having been subjected to Garp's training since infancy, Luffy quickly adjusted his body position.
Seeing the distance closing rapidly, Luffy stuffed his thumb into his mouth and suddenly blew:
"Third Gear! Bone Balloon!!!"
"Gum-Gum Gigant Pistol!!!"
A sound like thunder echoed through the sky!
All of a sudden! A gigantic arm appeared above the huge battleship, and like divine punishment, it smashed down against the massive vessel!
At this moment, both the Baratie chefs and the remaining diners who hadn't fled were stunned by this astonishing sight.
"What... what is that!?"
On the Merry, the cigarette in Sanji's mouth fell directly to the deck.
He stared blankly at the giant arm crashing toward the distant ship, his brain seemingly unable to process what he was seeing.
Johnny and Yosaku trembled in awe.
"As expected of Brother Luffy! Is this really the pirate with a bounty of only 50 million Berries from the Marines?"
On the top floor of the Baratie.
Zeff, who had been immersed in the melancholy of parting with Sanji, suddenly widened his eyes and looked at the distant Luffy, with shock and relief in his gaze.
"Is this... the man Sanji will follow in the future?!"
BOOM!!! With the fierce pressure wave, Luffy's terrifying giant fist suddenly bombarded the large ship with overwhelming power.
The weather-beaten battleship could no longer withstand the impact and was broken into two pieces by Luffy's attack.
Many of the Krieg Pirates' crew members were killed instantly before they even realized what had happened.
But these pirates who died directly from the power of a single punch were actually the lucky ones.
At least they wouldn't have to face monster-like enemies such as Luffy while in a state of extreme hunger!
...
...
At the same time.
In the sea behind the huge battleship, a man with sharp yellow eyes like a hawk suddenly raised his head, observing Luffy's retracting giant fist with curious interest.
"Interesting~"
"Who would have expected that the East Blue, known as the weakest of all seas, would harbor such a powerful individual?"
"This journey finally won't be so tedious after all."