"Sherwin-nii, is it done yet meow?"
Not long after the two Sanjis entered the kitchen, Klee Meow couldn't hold back her excitement. She climbed up onto Sherwin and started pawing at his ear.
Sherwin reached out and plucked the clingy little kitten off, gently kneading her cheeks and paw pads while softly soothing her. "It not that fast. Even when you make bombs, it still takes time, doesn't it?"
Klee Meow giggled and twisted around in his arms, dodging Sherwin hand that was trying to grab her little paws. At the same time, she stretched her neck up and playfully nibbled on him a couple of times in "protest."
The chefs of Baratie all looked on with envy at Sherwin.
"Little kitty~ come to Uncle~"
Patti, that guy, turned his envy into action. He ran off to tease the sternly seated Seijuro Meow, and worst of all, he approached with that weird smile plastered on his face.
Seijuro Meow wasn't going to indulge him. He immediately raised the katana in his paw and swung it straight down at Patti head.
Of course, Seijuro Meow knew how to control his strength—the blade wasn't even drawn.
Still, Patti was nowhere near Seijuro Meow level. He didn't even have time to react before he was whacked so hard that lumps started swelling all over his head. He could only clutch his skull and howl on the ground.
"Hmph, such rudeness meow!"
Seijuro Meow set the katana aside and calmly returned to his formal sitting posture.
Seeing the shocked expressions on the faces of his chefs, Zeff finally stroked his beard and slowly said, "They say the Mink Tribe are born warriors. Even their children have quite the impressive combat ability… looks like that rumor is true."
"You should've told us earlier, Boss!" The surrounding chefs all shouted at Zeff in exasperation.
Meanwhile, Patti, who had been smacked down by Seijuro Meow, climbed up from the floor with a head full of lumps, glaring resentfully at his boss.
Amidst this cheerful chaos, the Sanjis in the kitchen had completed their first dishes. A few chefs who had gone in with them to supervise and serve came out, looking utterly dumbfounded. Following behind them, Sanji looked a little dazed himself…
Clearly, everyone had been shocked by the level of skill Sanji Meow displayed in the kitchen.
Next, the desserts made by the two Sanjis were placed before the judges. One was a zabaglione, an Italian dessert. Though no one knew where exactly it originated from in the One Piece world, the culture here was a massive hodgepodge—nothing would be surprising.
The other was a caramel egg pudding—an ordinary treat, but one that Klee Meow loved dearly…
Hmm. Sherwin didn't even need to taste it to know which one was made by Sanji Meow.
"It pudding meow!"
(=﹃=)
Klee Meow didn't even glance at the zabaglione. She picked up her spoon and went straight for the pudding in front of her, while Seijuro Meow twitched his nose and chose the zabaglione, which carried a fragrant aroma of wine.
Sherwin first tasted the pudding. Sure enough, it was made by Sanji Meow—this flavor clearly catered to Klee Meow preferences.
But to Sherwin, it was a bit too sweet. Then he tried the zabaglione made by Sanji… Sherwin wasn't sure how authentic it was, but it definitely tasted better than the one he'd eaten at some ridiculously expensive Michelin restaurant before he crossed over.
When chefs are close in skill, the outcome often comes down to the judges' personal taste. In this case, the zabaglione, with its more crowd-pleasing flavor, obviously had the advantage.
And sure enough, the result wasn't surprising: the zabaglione won by a wide margin of 4 to 2. Only Klee Meow and Sherwin voted for the pudding.
Of course, if all the judges were kids, Sanji Meow caramel egg pudding would've won in a landslide.
"Hahahahaha! I knew it! How could my cooking ever lose to a dumb cat!" The moment Sanji won the first round, he immediately started showing off.
However, Sanji Meow, who had lost, didn't look the least bit upset. On the contrary, he was all smiles.
So what if he lost a round? As long as little sister Klee is happy eating, that all that matters meow!
Sherwin had guessed exactly what he was thinking, which was why he had gone against his own taste and voted for the caramel pudding.
Zeff seemed to have noticed it too. Not only did he look at Sanji Meow with even more kindness in his eyes, he also took a moment to shoot a sharp glare at the overly smug Sanji, leaving him utterly confused.
"They're both good kids."
As the two Sanjis returned to the kitchen to prepare the next dish, Zeff said to Sherwin with a sigh.
Sherwin raised his head proudly. "Of course they are!"
"You'd better protect them well," Zeff said kindly, even though he had already seen Seijuro Meow combat strength.
"Rare races like the Mink Tribe can easily attract the attention of some unsavory types."
"Don't worry, old man. We've been out at sea for quite a while now—we've already seen our fair share of things." Sherwin nodded, accepting his goodwill with a grateful tone.
Klee Meow, who had run over to cling to Sherwin again, puffed up proudly and declared, "The bad guys here are way weaker than the ones in the West Blue! Klee not afraid of them meow!"
"West Blue?" Zeff lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Was that travel guide written by you?"
Zeff had this guess because he'd noticed the high level of culinary knowledge in that guide, and the whimsical illustrations had a distinct childlike charm. It wasn't hard to connect the dots back to Sherwin and the little Felynes.
Sherwin trusted Zeff character, so he didn't hide it. He smiled and nodded.
Klee Meow immediately raised her paw proudly and boasted, "I drew all the pictures meow!"
"Please keep it a secret for us," Sherwin reminded gently, then added,
"Also, old man, do you happen to have a detailed sea chart? Could I take a look at it? And if you have any logbooks or navigational journals, even better... Since you know about the Mink Tribe, that must mean you've been to the Grand Line, right?"
He had been wondering how to bring up the topic of borrowing Zeff sea charts and logs—turns out the perfect opportunity had come up naturally.
"No problem. I'll get you the sea chart after those two kids finish their match." Zeff stroked his braided beard.
"But as for a Grand Line logbook... it might still be a bit early for you guys to head there."
"Of course we're not going there just yet. At the very least, I want to finish writing the travel guides for all four seas first," Sherwin explained, then used his go-to excuse once again.
"Besides, we're not just running around for travel logs—we're also looking for lost companions. The homeland of the Mink Tribe is one of our future destinations too, so going to the Grand Line is inevitable."
Hearing Sherwin bring up the "companions" reason, something held in the same regard as "dreams," Zeff knew it wasn't his place to argue further.
He nodded and said, "In that case, I'll lend you the logbook too."
"Meow!"
Klee Meow, who had been comfortably lying on Sherwin lap with her eyes half-closed, suddenly sat up straight. Her soft pink nose twitched rapidly. "Such fragrant shrimp and crab, meow!"
(=ω=)
Unlike Klee, who disliked eating Mondstadt crab, Klee Meow had no problem with crab at all. After all, in the face of a kitten sharp fangs and claws, a mere crab shell was hardly any trouble—so naturally, she had no reason to dislike it.
On the other side, although Seijuro Meow remained sitting upright, the restless tail behind him had already betrayed his composure.
And what could make both cats lose their self-control, of course, was the second dish that had just been brought out.
Since the earlier meal Sherwin and the others had already included fish dishes, the two Sanji Meows had, coincidentally, both chosen different types of seafood—and by sheer luck, one chose shrimp and the other crab.
Since it was seafood the cats loved, Sherwin didn't eat much of it himself. Most of it ended up being split between Klee Meow and Seijuro Meow. But judging just from the few bites he did have, the crab dish was clearly much tastier than that big lobster...
As expected, when there was no need to adjust the flavor for Klee Meow, Sanji Meow cooking was simply on another level compared to regular Sanji.
As for the idea that it was Sanji who made the lobster—that never even crossed Sherwin mind.
After all, Sanji Meow was a cat. When it came to handling seafood ingredients, he had a natural advantage.