The result of the second match didn't surprise Sherwin—Sanji Meow won by a landslide, 6 to 0.
"Big brother Sanji food is the best, meow!"
(=`=)
Klee Meow was already a little upset after her favorite pudding didn't get recognized by the others in the previous round.
Fortunately, Sherwin had stood by her side and immediately comforted the little plush who looked ready to bristle. If he hadn't, she might've pulled out a bomb already.
Now, seeing Sanji Meow win the second round, Klee Meow naturally cheered without hesitation.
"N-No way!"
The more smug Sanji had been a moment ago, the more crushed he felt now.
Sherwin side giving three votes—he could reluctantly understand that. After all, they might be used to eating Sanji Meow cooking.
But for Zeff, Patty, and Carne to vote for the other side too—that was beyond him... It couldn't possibly be that his cooking was actually worse than a cat, right?
"You guys didn't do it on purpose, did you?! Just to humiliate me!" Refusing to accept reality, Sanji pointed at Patty and accused him.
He didn't feel like he was being unreasonable—his relationship with those chefs hadn't been great to begin with. This kind of thing? That bunch of bastards would definitely do it.
As for Zeff vote...
Sanji instinctively ignored it.
"Stop making a fool of yourself!" A loud roar cut off Sanji tantrum.
"O-Old man?" Sanji looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zeff had already walked up beside him, wearing a stern expression.
"You stupid brat!" Zeff wooden leg kicked Sanji in the face again, sending him spinning like a top as he flew out.
"Ow ow ow ow ow…" Climbing to his feet, Sanji shouted at Zeff with irritation, "You damn old man! Why the hell did you kick me again?!"
"Quit your whining!" Zeff snapped, slamming his tall chef hat onto Sanji head. "A loss is a loss! Instead of sulking, use that time to taste your opponent dish and figure out why you lost!"
Don't be fooled by Zeff kicks and scolding—he actually cared a lot about Sanji. He had always done his best to teach him, even if his methods were on the wild side. But that rough approach suited the pirate world just fine.
Only someone raised with that kind of tough love could later survive all the lying-on-the-ground sit-ups and near-death comebacks. If Koushirou had trained Kuina the same way, then the so-called "Supreme Grade Ladder" probably would've just given her a scratch.
While Sherwin thoughts were running wild, Sanji, following Zeff advice, took a bite of the crab dish made by Sanji Meow.
"Damn it... I really did lose!"
As hard as it was to accept, Sanji, as a chef, couldn't lie to himself and claim his own cooking tasted better.
Though young and hotheaded at the time, Sanji spirit had long been tempered by childhood hardships. So after a brief slump, he quickly pulled himself together.
"Underestimating your skills earlier was my mistake." Sanji finally began to take Sanji Meow seriously as an opponent. He first gave the cat a sincere apology, then declared solemnly, "But don't think I'm going to give up that easily! The match isn't over yet!"
He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. After exhaling the smoke, he stubbed it out and strode into the kitchen with firm steps…
If this were a scene in an anime, it might've been a really cool moment. But Sherwin, a bystander watching the whole thing unfold live, just felt secondhand embarrassment—it was painfully awkward.
However, the other chefs from Baratie like Patty totally bought into it. They put aside their usual grudges against Sanji and began cheering him on loudly.
"Go, Sanji! Show them the real strength of Baratie sous-chef!"
"You're a pain in the ass, but still—do your best out there!"
"Baratie reputation is riding on you now!"
Even Zeff showed a satisfied smile—though he quickly hid it again.
"Hmph! Acting all serious, meow… the gap in strength isn't something a few pretty words can make up for, meow!" Sanji Meow scoffed disdainfully.
Klee Meow, on the other hand, tilted her fluffy little head and looked at Sherwin with confusion. "Sherwin-nii, why did that human Sanji light a cigarette just to put it out right away, meow? Isn't that kind of a hassle, meow?"
Clearly, the "hot-blooded mode" of the pirate world had little effect on cats from the Monster Hunter world.
Sherwin reached out and scratched Klee Meow chin without answering… mainly because he didn't know how to explain it.
What was he supposed to say? That Sanji dramatic speech and gestures just now were part of severing inner demons and achieving a breakthrough in his culinary path?
Hmm? Wait a minute…
Could Sanji actually pull off a comeback?
After all, the scene just now checked all the boxes—"backed into a corner," then Sanji did his whole cool act, played it all up, and considering his future main character status with that thick protagonist halo, a last-minute breakthrough and comeback wasn't out of the question at all.
What more, Sanji Meow current behavior totally fit the stereotypical "arrogant villain" role—underestimating the opponent and squandering his lead.
Seeing Sanji Meow about to enter the kitchen, Sherwin made a snap decision…
To do absolutely nothing.
Why should he warn that annoying little yellow cat who always messed with him? If Sanji Meow really lost, wouldn't that give him a perfect excuse to mock him later?
Seeing your own cat fail, snapping a quick pic and posting it online to share the moment with others—now that is the true mark of a responsible cat owner!
Compared to the first two dishes, the final main course took the least amount of time. Both Sanjis chose pasta as the main ingredient…
Great, just great. You made Klee Meow favorite pudding for dessert, but when it came to the main course, not only did you not make my favorite fried rice—you picked my least favorite, pasta?Good thing I didn't give that little jerk a heads-up! A naughty little cat like this totally deserves to lose this match!
Sherwin and Sanji Meow remained as "lovingly hostile" as ever.
However, to his regret, after tasting both plates of macaroni, Sherwin knew that Sanji had lost this time…
Probably because he hadn't joined the Straw Hat Crew yet, Sanji didn't manage to make a last-minute comeback this time.
Although the difference between the two macaroni dishes wasn't as stark as the seafood dishes earlier, it was still very noticeable.
And since Sherwin was used to Sanji Meow cooking, there was no way he'd mistake the handiwork of his own chef cat.
In this situation, even if he deliberately voted for Sanji, there was no hope of turning the tide. So Sherwin had no choice but to cast his vote for the tastier one, while shooting Sanji a disappointed look…
If you don't have the skills, why act cool? Now you're just embarrassing yourself, aren't you?
As expected, the final vote count was unsurprising—Sanji Meow once again secured a clean 6–0 victory over his original counterpart. You could say it was a perfect example of fanworks outshining the official version.
"T-T-Teacher…" Sanji, admitting defeat like a good sport, walked over to Sanji Meow and bowed reluctantly to the little yellow cat.
"Meow-hahaha!" Sanji Meow let out a wildly arrogant laugh, then waved at Sanji to crouch down. He stood on his tiptoes and patted Sanji shoulder with his little paw, saying in an old-man tone,
"Not bad, not bad. Your taste might be a bit off, but at least you're honest, meow."
"Oh right, meow… I think there was another part to our bet…" Sanji Meow withdrew his paw and stroked his chin in thought.
"From now on, you'll be called Squid Whiskers, meow! It suits your curly eyebrows perfectly, meow."
"Don't push it too far!" Sanji, who had already accepted his fate, exploded again. He pointed at the tuft of fur on Sanji Meow ears.
"Speaking of curls, doesn't the fur on your ears curl too? Why don't you take the name yourself?!"
"Because I won, meow." Sanji Meow reply instantly left Sanji speechless.
The worst part was that Patty and the others were standing off to the side, gloating over the whole thing.
"Hahahahaha! What wrong with Squid Whiskers? It suits you perfectly!"
"You gotta honor your bet, Sanji… I mean, Mr. Squid Whiskers… pfft!"
"If you like the name so much, why don't you take it!"
Sanji expression at that moment was almost the same as when he saw his first wanted poster.
After angrily yelling at the group who were gleefully watching him suffer, Sanji turned back and forced an argument with Sanji Meow.
"I only agreed not to use the name Sanji—I never agreed to let you give me a new name!"
"Then what name do you wanna use, meow?" Sanji Meow crossed his arms and twitched his ears twice, asking impatiently.
"Hmm, I'll go by Sanji with a different spelling then," Sanji replied slyly.
This half-hearted approach, of course, was something Sanji Meow would never accept. And so, the man and the cat launched into a new round of arguing over the naming issue.
"Ahem ahem…" That troublemaker Sherwin stepped out once again.
"How about… you two go another round, and the winner gets naming rights? Of course, let not compete in cooking again this time. Pick something you're both good at—or at least willing to compete in… like a battle, for example."
He didn't really believe that Sanji could beat Sanji Meow at this point, but he was looking forward to the moment when they used similar moves, and especially Zeff and the others' reactions.
Man and cat exchanged a glance, not knowing what Sherwin was up to, then responded in perfect unison—
"Fine! Let settle it like this (meow)!"