Sanji didn't lift his head, and he said plainly: "Cut the act. I only decided to set sail. I never said I would become a pirate, and I definitely never said I'd join you."
"Is that so? What a shame."
Alan smiled casually. He stopped beside Sanji and leaned back against the railing with his elbows resting on it.
Looking up at the moon, he asked, "So what's your plan? Pirate? Bounty hunter? Something else?"
Sanji: "..."
After a few seconds of silence, Sanji lifted his head and exhaled a ring of smoke before speaking: "Not sure. Probably just work as a cook on some ship."
Since he had decided to enter the Grand Line, sailing alone was impossible; he either had to start his own crew or join someone else's.
He had never seriously planned these things before.
Joining Alan's crew wasn't a bad idea. Their goal was the Grand Line, and Sanji didn't hate the idea of being a pirate.
But he was still hesitant.
His knightly principles meant that once he joined a pirate crew, leaving wouldn't be simple.
Whether Alan was worth following was important.
"There's something I'm curious about."
After a moment of silence, Sanji suddenly spoke.
Alan glanced at him. "What is it?"
"Earlier, Sham and Buchi asked you... If they refused to go to the Grand Line and quit the crew, what would happen to them..."
Sanji paused, then looked Alan in the eyes and asked: "I want to know what you would do."
"Oh, that."
Alan looked at Sanji strangely, surprised he cared about that question.
"Nothing much. I'd kick them into the sea, mock them a bit, then tell them to get lost somewhere I can't see them."
Alan shrugged.
Although he had taken over this pirate crew by force initially, he didn't plan to rule with fear.
It wouldn't work anyway.
These reckless men, who only cared about themselves, could flee the moment they reached an island.
Sham and Buchi were the same. If they didn't want to follow Alan, they could have run off earlier.
They stayed only because following Alan gave them better lives; relying on a strong leader was part of pirate survival.
Seeing Sanji still looking doubtful, Alan added with a smile, "My dream is to roam the vast sea. If I can't do that with like-minded companions, wouldn't the journey be a bit too lonely?"
"That makes sense. I'll assume you're telling the truth."
Sanji no longer tangled with the question.
Having lived in an ocean-going restaurant for so many years, he had seen countless pirates.
Alan's way of doing things really was different.
Sanji took a breath of his cigarette, then finally said to Alan: "If I were to board your ship, I have one condition."
"Go on."
"I won't tolerate food being wasted aboard. Not even from you. All food-related decisions must follow my rules."
Sanji said seriously.
Alan grinned, showing two rows of shiny teeth.
"I agree. From today on, you're my ship's head chef. I won't interfere with anything in the kitchen."
Sanji lowered his head, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.
"Hmph. You'd better keep your word."
…
Early the next morning, the sun rose from the distant horizon, a ray of golden sunlight piercing through the sky and shining onto Baratie's deck.
Today, the ocean-going restaurant floated as usual on this tranquil stretch of sea, until...
"It's over!!"
"Something terrible happened, boss!!"
In the kitchen, Patty, the strong chef, held his head in his big hands, eyes widened in panic as he stared in disbelief at the scene before him.
The kitchen, which should have been clean and tidy with utensils neatly arranged, now had half of them swept clean away!
"Boss Zeff! Our restaurant's been robbed!!"
...
Meanwhile.
A dark-red sailboat was slowly gliding across the calm sea, its black flag fluttering loudly in the wind.
On board, Sanji walked toward the kitchen and pushed the door open.
"Oh? Are there such high-quality cooking tools on this ship? Not bad."
Sanji clicked his tongue in amazement.
Walking into the kitchen, he first inspected all functional areas, checking the placement of tools and seasonings.
Seeing such well-maintained cooking utensils in a kitchen that otherwise looked old and worn, a sense of discord slowly rose within him.
Sanji picked up a spoon, lowered his head, stared for a long time, and frowned slightly.
"Strange... The more I look, the more they look like the tools we use."
"Oh, you mean those? They do look familiar, don't they?"
At that moment, a figure walked in through the kitchen door.
Sanji glanced over and saw that it was Alan.
Stopping in front of him, Alan swept his eyes over all the utensils, put his hands on his hips, and grinned.
"Because they were stolen from the ocean-going restaurant."
"So they really were stolen!!"
Sanji rolled his eyes sharply and glared at him, baring his teeth as he cursed: "You bastard, have you no shame? You even stole a chef's cooking tools!"
"Ah, well, it's because our ship's poor. We could only borrow a little from them first."
Alan turned his dead-fish eyes aside and casually picked his ear with his pinky as he spoke.
Sanji closed his eyes, veins popping on his forehead.
Stealing things and still acting so self-satisfied, he really wanted to kick this shameless jerk straight into the sea.
...
Soon after kicking Alan out of the kitchen in disgust, Sanji started preparing breakfast.
The banquet had gone on until late last night, and most people were still drunk and lying in their beds, probably unaware that the ship was even moving.
Sanji only made about twenty servings of breakfast and delivered them one by one to the pirates who were awake and working at their posts.
As for people like Alan who had nothing to do, he could only go to the kitchen himself to retrieve his breakfast.
When Sanji came back, Alan picked up a fried egg and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing as he said, "By the way, Sanji, you will need a few assistants in the kitchen. Once the pirates wake up, go find Karl and pick a few."
There were no proper chefs on the ship, but there were a few who could at least barely cook.
Those pirates in charge of various miscellaneous duties were in the third squad, assigned by Alan under Karl.