Hey, Fang Yi—didn't you just say that girl wasn't the head chef? Then why— Back at the dining table, Buggy couldn't hold back and whispered the question.
You idiot, didn't you hear her name? Jessica! That's exactly the head chef's name! Fang Yi muttered while handing out food boxes to Shanks and the others.
Buggy's face darkened. A moment ago, Shanks had guessed she might be the head chef, but Fang Yi had denied it. Now Fang Yi was saying she was the head chef. So was everything decided solely by him?
"Besides, I think she's starting to get suspicious of us! Eat quickly—when we're done, we'll look around a bit more and then leave. If they figure us out, it's going to be a headache." Fang Yi glanced toward the kitchen as he spoke quietly.
That little girl earlier had seemed to be deliberately testing him, which was why he'd openly mentioned Jessica's position.
Shanks nodded. "I also asked around earlier and found out where the warehouse is. We should check it out later! The Dragon Wolf's running low on weapons and ammunition—we'll just borrow a little from them."
"You found the warehouse? Nice!" Fang Yi's eyes lit up in pleasant surprise.
By the time they finished eating, Fang Yi realized he had underestimated Jessica. Her cooking was exceptional—so good that even Barrett, who normally didn't care much about food, gave rare words of praise.
"Say… what if we took that Jessica girl back to the ship with us?" Fang Yi asked quietly as they left the mess hall.
"Are you insane? She's the Navy's head chef!" Buggy stared at him with a don't do anything stupid " expression.
Barrett and Shanks, however, seemed tempted—her cooking was that good.
"Yohohohoho… are we talking about kidnapping? Sounds thrilling just thinking about it!" Brook's laugh was lecherous. Even without facial expressions, the others could imagine the skeleton's grin.
Fang Yi shot Brook a look and shook his head. This pervy skeleton was beyond saving.
Soon, following Shanks' directions, they arrived at the Navy base's warehouse—unaware that a little girl was secretly tailing them.
"Hmph! I knew you guys were suspicious!" she muttered cutely, wrinkling her nose as she watched them head toward the warehouse.
"Tsk, tsk… as expected of a Navy base, they've got so much ammo. But how are we going to carry all this?" Buggy asked happily after circling the warehouse.
This was prime weaponry—valuable anywhere. If they could take it, selling it would make them a fortune.
"It is a problem," Fang Yi admitted. "These cannons are top-notch. If we mounted them on the Dragon Wolf, our firepower would jump significantly."
Barrett, however, didn't seem interested. He glanced at the place but found nothing that appealed to him.
"How about this—Barrett, could you use your Merge-Merge Fruit ability to fuse with all this stuff and carry it back to the ship, then separate it again?" Fang Yi suggested suddenly.
"No way. There's way too much here—if I merged with it all, my size would increase massively, and once I separate, the materials won't return to their original form!" Barrett shook his head with a scowl.
"Hahahaha…" Buggy burst out laughing, realizing Fang Yi was trying to use Barrett as a transport truck.
"What are you lot doing here?" A sudden voice interrupted their discussion.
"Looks like we've been caught," Fang Yi said as he turned around to see the little girl from earlier standing in the doorway with a squad of Navy soldiers.
Neither Fang Yi, Shanks, nor Barrett looked the least bit nervous.
"Hmph! I knew you weren't good people. So—who are you? Why did you sneak into our Navy base?" the girl, Tiffany, demanded smugly.
"Who wants to handle this?" Fang Yi chuckled. "Make it quick, and keep the noise down."
"I'll do it," Barrett said, cracking his knuckles with a grin.
It had been too long since his last fight. Even if these were just ordinary Navy soldiers, it would be a nice warm-up.
"Let's all pitch in—no point letting them bring reinforcements," Shanks said, adjusting the straw hat on his head.
In less than thirty seconds, all the soldiers Tiffany had brought were lying unconscious on the floor.
"Y-you… who are you? What do you want?" Tiffany stammered as Barrett and Shanks advanced on her.
Thump!
She backed up until she bumped into something. Slowly, she turned around.
"Yohohoho… don't be afraid, little lady. We won't hurt you. But could you tell me your—"
"Aaaahhh!"
Brook didn't even get to finish before Tiffany, seeing his skull face, screamed and fainted on the spot.
Brook slumped into a corner, drawing circles in depression.
"No choice now. Let's go! That gunfire and her scream will have the Navy swarming here soon. Take her with us!" Fang Yi pointed to the unconscious Tiffany.
"Why bring her?" Shanks asked, puzzled.
"Hehe… wasn't she with the head chef earlier? We can trade her for Jessica later—what do you think?" Fang Yi grinned.
Shanks and the others gave him strange looks but followed his lead, carrying the fainted girl as they left.
Sure enough, when they emerged, the Navy base was already in an uproar.
Meanwhile, Jessica had just left the mess hall when she realized Tiffany was missing. Tiffany was an orphan taken in by her fiancé, Vice Admiral Jonathan, and they treated her like a younger sister.
"What's going on?" Jessica stopped a passing soldier to ask.
"Head Chef Jessica!" The soldier saluted and explained, "There was heavy gunfire from the warehouse just now—along with a scream!"
"A scream… and gunfire?" Jessica frowned. For some reason, she thought of Tiffany and the squad that had been patrolling.
Suspicious, she gathered a few cooks and hurried toward the warehouse.
"More and more Marines are showing up. If this keeps up, we'll be exposed," Shanks muttered, frowning.
Even wearing Navy uniforms, once the troops assembled in force, their presence as outsiders would become obvious.
"There!" Fang Yi's eyes lit up when he spotted Jessica approaching.
"Hey, you're not thinking of kidnapping her too, are you?" Buggy asked, suddenly uneasy.
"Of course not. Just follow me. Shanks, hand me the kid," Fang Yi said confidently, taking Tiffany from him and leading the group straight to Jessica.
"Huh? You guys?" Jessica stopped in her tracks as Fang Yi's group surrounded her. When she spotted Tiffany in his arms, her expression tightened. "So it was you causing the commotion! Who are you? Let her go!"
"Sorry, Head Chef Jessica. We mean no harm, but since things have gone this far… could we find somewhere quiet to talk?" Fang Yi asked with a smile.
Jessica wanted to refuse, but when she saw his hand near Tiffany's neck, she could only grit her teeth and nod. "Fine. Just don't do anything rash—follow me."
Soon, Jessica led them to a quiet room.
"All right—who are you? What are you doing in a Navy base?" she asked calmly.
"No wonder you're the head chef! Straight to the point. Fine, I'll be brief— I'm Fang Yi, captain of the Dragon Wolf Pirates, and these are my crew," Fang Yi said cheerfully.
"Dragon Wolf Pirates?" Jessica frowned, trying to recall the name, but came up blank.
"Not surprised you haven't heard of us—we only formed recently. We just ended up here because we got lost…" Fang Yi shrugged.
"Lost? You expect me to believe that?" Jessica said sharply. "I don't care why you're here—just release the girl. She's innocent."
"Of course. We had no intention of hurting her—she just fainted from fright." Fang Yi handed Tiffany over. "But, Head Chef Jessica, I'd like you to seriously consider joining us."
"…What?" Jessica blinked. "Did you just invite me to join you? Are you an idiot? I'm Navy!"
"So what? Your cooking is amazing—my crew and I loved it. Why wouldn't I invite you?" Fang Yi grinned.
"I refuse. As a Navy officer, I won't join pirates. I'll overlook this incident for Tiffany's sake, but I'm not coming with you," she said firmly.
"That's a shame. In that case… We'll just have to—" Fang Yi began.
Bang!
Before he could finish, the door to the room was suddenly flung open—
To be continued…