He forced a smile that looked worse than crying, using the standard sales pitch he'd learned in his previous life.
"Esteemed... sir, hello!"
"Welcome to Multiverse Groceries!"
"How may I help you today?"
Kizaru's eyebrows rose even higher.
This soldier wasn't just unafraid; he was actually trying to do business?
'Interesting. Very interesting.'
His gaze fell upon the cup noodles. "What is this? Some new type of bomb? It looks quite unique."
"No, no, no!"
Putin's survival instincts kicked in, and he waved his hands frantically.
"This is our shop's exclusive treasure! It's called an 'Energy Potion'!"
He pointed at the drawing of the chubby kid drooling on the packaging and began spouting nonsense.
"Look, this mighty warrior gained infinite power after eating it!"
"It can instantly replenish your lost stamina, making your energy... uh, shine with radiant light!"
Kizaru looked amused.
"Oh? That powerful? Then I must try it."
He reached out to take it.
"Wait!" Putin shouted instinctively.
He pointed at a line of text scrawled in charcoal on the plastic cloth: Pay first, eat later.
Kizaru froze.
He looked down at the words, then back up at Putin.
In all of Marineford, besides Fleet Admiral Sengoku, this reckless soldier was probably the only person who would dare ask him for money.
"How much?" Kizaru asked with interest.
Steeling himself, Putin held up one finger.
"One hundred thousand Berries!"
He immediately regretted shouting the price.
Was it too high? Would he get kicked to death right here?
However, Kizaru merely smiled.
He casually pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and tossed it onto the table.
It was a check for one million Berries.
"Keep the change."
Putin's eyes bugged out.
[Ding! First transaction completed. Amount: 1 million Berries. Newbie mission progress: 50%.]
The money didn't matter—what mattered was the mission progress!
Putin immediately became eager to please. He quickly tore open the packaging and squeezed in the seasoning packets.
But then came a problem.
No hot water.
Beads of cold sweat formed on Putin's forehead.
Kizaru tilted his head, watching him as if waiting for a magic trick.
Just then, not far away, Akainu launched a "Great Eruption" toward the Whitebeard Pirates.
The scorching magma grazed past Putin's head, instantly melting more than half of the enormous iceberg behind him.
Scalding steam washed over their faces.
Putin reacted fast.
He raised the noodle cup toward the spot where the melting ice met the hot magma steam and shouted.
"Got it!"
He caught half a cup of perfectly warm water!
Kizaru: "..."
He watched as Putin covered the noodles with a scrap of wood he found nearby, then solemnly announced:
"Sir, please wait three minutes. The energy is brewing."
Three minutes—in the Summit War, anything could happen.
But Kizaru seemed unusually patient today.
Three minutes later, a rich, powerful aroma wafted from the paper bowl.
It was a wonderful blend of seasoning sauce, dried vegetables, and noodles.
Kizaru's nose twitched.
So fragrant!
He had never smelled anything so appetizing.
Putin handed him a plastic fork. Kizaru took it, twirled a bundle of golden noodles, and put them into his mouth.
The next second, Kizaru's eyes went wide.
The springy, smooth noodles and the rich, savory broth with a hint of beef flavor exploded on his taste buds!
It was a deliciousness he had never experienced before!
So good!
"Oh... ohhh..."
Kizaru's body trembled slightly as he let out strange noises of delight.
He felt every cell in his body rejoicing over the taste of these instant noodles.
Just as he was lost in the flavor, unable to pay attention to anything else—
A fast figure descended from the sky, covered in blue flames, and delivered a powerful kick straight to Kizaru's face!
It was Marco the Phoenix!
Marco had only intended to stop Kizaru with a surprise attack.
He expected Kizaru to dodge at light speed or block with his light sword.
But he never expected this— Kizaru didn't react at all!
BOOM!
A loud crash echoed.
Admiral Kizaru was sent flying like a cannonball.
He smashed into the distant fortress wall with a thunderous impact, leaving a human-shaped crater in the stone.
The entire battlefield seemed to fall into an eerie silence because of that kick.
Tens of thousands of eyes, looking over mountains of corpses and seas of blood, focused on two things.
One was the human-shaped crater deep in the fortress wall, smoking faintly.
The other was the Marine grunt, still sitting stiffly on a small stool not far from the wall, frozen like a statue.
Why?
Marco's gaze shifted to the small stall.
He had clearly seen that, just before his kick landed, this top-tier Admiral had been bowing his head over a paper bowl, wearing an expression of... extreme joy?
'What was in that bowl...?'
High on the execution platform, Fleet Admiral Sengoku yelled into his Den Den Mushi, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.
"BORSALINOOOO!!"
He roared into the receiver, his voice cracking with shock. "Answer me! What happened over there?!"
From the other end of the Den Den Mushi, only static and a busy tone could be heard.
The absurdity of the scene was too much, even for Garp.
On the other side of the battlefield, Whitebeard Edward Newgate, the world's strongest man, paused mid-swing.
His hawk-like eyes narrowed, piercing through the smoke to look at Putin.
A mere grunt? A stall? A bowl of something unknown?
'He took down an Admiral with a damn food?'
"Gurararara... This era is getting more and more interesting."
Only Akainu had a face darker than a storm cloud.
In his view, this was the greatest disgrace in the history of the Marines!
During a critical battle that would decide the fate of the world, an Admiral was kicked away like a sandbag because of his gluttony!
And the cause of all this was a piece of trash wearing a Marine uniform, openly setting up a stall on the battlefield!
"Scum of the Marines..."
Akainu gritted out the words through clenched teeth.
On his arm, scorching magma began to drip, burning holes into the ground.
The way he looked at Putin was no different from looking at a dead man.
Being "watched" by so many big shots with such intense gazes, Putin felt his legs turn to jelly.
'I'm toast.'
'My second life is about to end, too.'