"This is the restaurant, right?"
A man wearing a grey jacket, holding a pistol, of medium build, with messy hair and beard, and thick lips, staggered in.
He walked to an empty table and sat down, resting his legs on the table, as if that simple action had exhausted all his strength.
"Anything, just give me food."
Gin spoke weakly.
"Dear guest, this restaurant does not welcome paupers. Do you have money?"
Patty wore an exaggerated smile, approaching Gin, rubbing his hands incessantly.
"If this is a restaurant, then quickly bring me food! Do you want a bullet?"
Gin's face was extremely grim as he pointed his pistol at Patty.
"No money, huh?"
Patty's smile abruptly vanished.
"Bang!"
Patty crossed his arms and clenched his fists, smashing Gin and the table together.
"If you're not a guest, then get out of here!"
Subsequently, he frantically punched and kicked Gin.
The surrounding customers, seeing that the chef of this restaurant had beaten a member of the Krieg Pirates to such an extent, immediately erupted in cheers.
"I, I've had enough! What in the world is wrong with this restaurant! I'm never coming back!"
Fullbody, lying on the ground, felt cold sweat pouring down his forehead as he witnessed Gin, whom he greatly feared, being beaten like this by a chef.
He then tried to leave the restaurant.
However, as he crawled to the restaurant's entrance, Fullbody felt a terrifying aura lock onto him. He gulped hard.
That was from 'Celestial King' Lu En.
Fullbody immediately left all his money behind, then scrambled away from the place.
"This guy's quite rich, actually."
Nami put the money away, revealing a sweet smile.
"You guys have to pay for yourselves. I'm only paying for Lu En and me."
Nami then looked at Zoro and Usopp.
"Huh?!"
Zoro and Usopp, who had been enjoying the show, immediately had their expressions freeze.
Wasn't this money brought in by Lu En?
How did it become Nami's?!
However, looking at Lu En, who was smiling, Zoro and Usopp felt that they should probably figure out how to pay themselves.
Looking at Nami, Lu En smiled dotingly.
However, Lu En also knew that Nami often said such things, but in crucial moments, she would still pay.
"Hmm?"
Luffy noticed that the chef named Sanji silently walked towards the back kitchen alone.
"Customers, please continue your meal."
After teaching Gin a lesson, Patty's face again wore an exaggerated smile, earning a round of cheers from the customers present.
Patty then threw Gin directly out the back door of the restaurant.
"Don't let me see you again."
Patty snorted coldly, slamming the door shut.
"Hey, are you hungry?"
Luffy, who had walked out, stood by the railing on the second floor of the restaurant, looking at the dying Gin on the deck, and asked.
"Shut up! I'm not hungry!"
Gin, though on the verge of death, still spoke with great resolve.
But his rumbling stomach betrayed him.
"Creak."
The back door of the restaurant suddenly opened.
Sanji placed a plate of fried rice in front of Gin.
"Eat."
Sanji lit a cigarette and looked up at the sky, not looking at Gin's pathetic state.
"Quick, take it away! I won't eat scraps!"
Gin looked at the fragrant fried rice, gulping hard.
"The decision to eat or not is yours, but to me, anyone who's hungry is a guest."
Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Out on the sea, no one understands how terrifying it is to have no food or water more than I do."
Sanji's gaze was complex.
He had once been stranded on an isolated rock in the vast sea with the owner of this place, Zeff, who was a pirate at the time. They were rescued only after a full forty-eight days.
No one understood the terror of starvation more intimately than Sanji. Therefore, from then on, for Sanji, anyone who was hungry, no matter who they were, was his guest. He would cook for them.
Even if there were grudges, they should be settled after a full meal.
"I understand if you choose not to eat these for dignity, but if you eat, you can live."
Sanji turned to look at Gin, a slight curve to his lips.
"!!!"
The next moment, Gin picked up the plate and began to eat ravenously.
"Delicious, it's so delicious! I thought I was really going to die."
Gin ate, tears streaming down his face.
"Is it the best in the world?"
Sanji revealed a smile befitting his generous nature.
Whenever he saw the expression of a hungry person after they finished his food, Sanji recalled the excitement he felt when he ate his first bite of food after being rescued. That was the hope of life.
"Creak."
"Found a suitable chef, Luffy?"
Just then, Lu En pushed open the door and walked beside Luffy, looking at him with a smile.
"Hehehe, that's right! I found a good chef!"
Luffy grinned, showing his teeth.
"Hey! Chef! Come be the chef of my pirate crew!"
Luffy then laughed loudly towards Sanji.
"Huh?"
Sanji looked up at Luffy, his face bewildered.
"You are the man that beautiful lady chose? You're a pirate?"
Sanji then immediately noticed Lu En beside Luffy, his expression tightening.
"That's right, my name is Lu En. I'm Luffy's partner. How about it, want to join us?"
Lu En looked at Sanji and smiled.
Looking at Sanji's behavior—that as long as someone was hungry, they were a guest, and even if they might pose a greater threat, he would still cook for them first to fill their stomachs—Lu En didn't think he was foolish. Instead, he admired it.
As a chef, the most important thing is to fill people's stomachs; this is the inherent duty of the profession.
Even for strangers, or potential enemies, as long as they were hungry, he would cook for them. This was Sanji's magnanimity.
In this vast sea, everyone had different principles. Perhaps some principles seemed foolish to others, but as long as one stuck to their own principles and persevered, they could become strong.
Furthermore, Lu En, hailing from the Dragon Kingdom of Blue Star, although he had not experienced the era of hunger, when he was a child, resources were not so abundant.
Being able to eat the delicacies he desired was an occasional luxury.
And the obsession with a full stomach seemed to be ingrained in the genes of every person from the Dragon Kingdom.
Whenever they met someone familiar, the first question after exchanging pleasantries would always be to ask if they had eaten.
If not, they would go to eat.
No matter how monumental the matter was, they would wait until their stomachs were full before discussing it.
Even if a battle to the death was imminent, they would first ensure both sides had eaten.
Just as Luffy shouted in the original work:
"When you're hungry, you eat!"
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