Sham and Buchi were stunned watching this. They were completely shocked, who knew their captain was a foodie?
They were completely different.
Every dish for them only had three grades: tasty, very tasty, and tasty enough that I wouldn't let go even if you beat me.
Basically, everything was just good.
Although there was some unpleasantness when they first came, it quickly dissolved amid the noisy, chaotic meal.
The whole menu wasn't actually huge. After all, this was a steak-themed restaurant.
Yes, the ocean-going restaurant was basically a steak house, although they had various western-style seafood dishes; there weren't many overall.
Alan and Buchi both had big appetites. Only Sham was really stuffed. The other two kept eating to the end, still unsatisfied.
"Ahh~ that was soooo satisfying, hahahaha… hic."
Buchi contentedly patted his round belly and burped.
Alan pinched his nose in disgust and fanned the air.
After the battle at the dining table ended, Zeff walked out from the kitchen with a few chefs to ask for feedback and, of course, collect payment.
Patty, the bald guy, rubbed his hands together and grinned as he approached.
"Thank you for dining here! That'll be 280,000 Belly. I'll just collect 300,000 from you!"
Alan: "..."
He couldn't even be bothered to complain. He put a stack of bills on the table, and Patty immediately started counting while calling him sir repeatedly.
Only at this moment did Alan finally reveal his true purpose while smiling. "Sanji and boss Zeff, huh? You two have pretty good cooking skills."
Sham and Buchi looked toward Alan, expecting their captain to use some amazing line to recruit them.
But Alan just grinned shamelessly and said, "You two should come be pirates with me."
... Way too blunt!!!
Sham and Buchi's eyes nearly popped out as they internally screamed.
Zeff and Sanji froze, the air going quiet for a moment.
"Tch, what kind of joke is that?"
Sanji turned around and walked away while lighting a cigarette without looking back.
"Finish eating and get out already. I'd have to be crazy to agree to be a pirate."
"Seriously, young people these days have such a huge prejudice against pirates. They don't understand romance at all."
Alan shook his head and sighed.
Sanji's reaction was within his expectations. Then he smiled again and turned to Zeff.
"And what about you, boss? I heard you used to be a famous pirate. Any interest in coming with me to see the sights of the Grand Line?"
"You're going to the Grand Line?"
Sham and Buchi: "We're going to the Grand Line?"
Hearing this, Zeff paused.
Sham and Buchi also froze.
Even Sanji, leaning against the door frame, smoking, couldn't help but turn around to look.
"Hold on, hold on! Captain, you're not joking with us, right?"
Sham slammed his hands on the table and stood up nervously.
"That place is called the graveyard of pirates! Once you enter, you'll never return, that's the Grand Line!"
"Yeah, captain! I've never heard of any pirate going to the Grand Line and coming back alive! You can't be serious, captain!"
Buchi said fearfully.
After the past two days, they thought they had finally followed the right person and could start living well.
But the biggest pit was right here waiting!
At their words, Alan simply counted with his fingers: "Pirates who've gone to the Grand Line and returned to East Blue? Let's see..."
"Roger, King of the Pirates, Garp, the Hero of the Marines, Red-Haired Shanks..."
"Now that you mention it, I guess there really aren't many who came back... Though plenty are living comfortably in the Grand Line."
Alan said thoughtfully.
Seeing his attitude, Zeff looked at him a little longer before speaking: "You seem to know something about the Grand Line?"
"Ah, I'm a Lieutenant Junior Grade officer at Marine Headquarters who applied to come to the East Blue as a Lieutenant officer. I crossed the Calm Belt on a Marines warship and participated in a few operations in the Grand Line."
Alan nodded.
The information blockade in this world was extremely severe. For ordinary people, one of the main sources of information was newspapers.
Although the newspaper was written and distributed by the World Economy News Paper, the printing stage was controlled by the World Government.
What was printed and what wasn't was all up to them. Ordinary people only saw what the government wanted them to see.
Information about the Grand Line, considered secret by many pirates in the East Blue, was common knowledge to marines like Alan and Smoker, who came from Marine Headquarters.
Even basic navigational tools like the Log Pose were hardly known among East Blue's pirates.
"Marine Headquarters, huh... No wonder..."
Zeff's expression carried a trace of emotion, his gaze long and distant as though recalling some past memory.
…
Seeing his reaction, Sham and Buchi were stunned again.
"Could it be that boss Zeff also...?!"
Zeff did not respond to them. He didn't want to mention the past anymore; he only shook his head and said, "I've forgotten what happened back then. Now I'm just an old man who can cook."
"These old bones can't handle any more turmoil. Thanks for thinking so highly of me, but becoming a pirate is out of the question."
Perhaps more than ten years ago, he might have considered starting over, but now...
"The All Blue..."
"That kind of self-indulgent dream belongs only to the days when your heart was still burning with passion."
Zeff sighed, his expression carrying a hint of loneliness.
He had already forgotten when it began; those once blazing dreams had gradually sunk into the depths of the ocean within his heart.
Drifting farther and farther away…
Turning around and brushing past Patty and the other chefs, Zeff limped toward the stairs, leaving the others staring blankly after him.
"Seems the recruitment failed..."
Alan shook his head with a smile, picked up the half-finished bottle of wine on the table, and walked toward the door.
"The All Blue, huh. Didn't expect the old man had once sailed the seas too, chasing that dreamlike, impossible place."
"The All Blue is said to contain all the fish of the East, South, West, and North Blue, the ultimate dream for all chefs."
Passing Sanji, Alan stepped out into the outer corridor, leaning one arm against the railing.
He tilted his head back and took a swig while saying casually with a smile: "It'd be nice if I could see it once."