Chapter 29 The Bystander"No, no, no, I won't interfere." Luffy picked up his knife and fork again, calmly cutting the last piece of bloody steak on his plate, his movements unhurried, without even looking up at Zeff.
"Your problems are your own to solve. I dislike meddling in other people's business."
Luffy cut off a small piece of beef, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly, as if savoring the subtle differences in the meat's texture.
After swallowing, Luffy finally looked up at Zeff and the others: "Besides, you're not worthy."
Not worthy?
The entire restaurant fell into a deathly silence.
Paddy and Carne's faces flushed red, their fists clenched, and the other chefs also wore expressions of anger.
Zeff's face was so dark it could drip water.
Sanji's cigarette fell to the ground. He stared intently at Luffy, seemingly trying to find a trace of humor on the straw-hatted boy's face, but only saw indifference.
It was genuine, condescending indifference, not a feigned stance, but a heartfelt belief that the lives and deaths of these people, the survival of Baratie, were utterly irrelevant to him.
Paddy finally couldn't hold back any longer and roared:
"What did you say? Do you know how many people are in the Krieg Pirates? Do you know how ruthless they are?!
You think you can stay out of it? Do you think your little boat can escape when they attack?!"
Luffy put down his knife and fork, picked up a napkin, slowly wiped his mouth, and then looked at Paddy.
"My ship doesn't need to run. As for how ruthless they are, how many there are..."
Luffy tilted his head slightly, as if he had heard some ridiculous joke.
"A bunch of defeated soldiers who fled here like stray dogs, dare to call themselves ferocious?
Numbers? Even if ants swarm in large numbers, they can't bite through a giant beast's scales; they'll just be trampled to death, making the scene a bit more spectacular."
Luffy stood up, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a slight sound. He looked at the three girls, his tone returning to its usual casualness: "Let's go, this place is about to get dirty."
Nami, Nojiko, and Kaya quickly stood up.
Nami glanced uneasily at the tense atmosphere in the restaurant, then at Luffy's calm profile, and ultimately chose to follow closely.
Nojiko took Kaya's hand, whispering reassuringly.
"Wait!" Zeff's voice rang out.
He leaned on his cane, blocking Luffy's path, his eyes fixed on him. "Kid, what do you mean by saying we're not worthy? You look down on Baratie? You look down on us chefs?"
Luffy stopped, meeting Zeff's gaze.
He was slightly shorter than Zeff, but standing there, he seemed to be looking down on him.
"Boss Zeff, Red-Leg Zeff, former captain of the Chef Pirates, a great pirate with a bounty exceeding 50 million Berries."
Luffy spoke slowly, his tone devoid of praise or criticism, simply stating facts.
"You're strong, at least a figure of some importance in the East Blue. Your subordinates were all once dangerous and ruthless individuals; they have some skill."
Then, Luffy's gaze swept over Sanji, Paddy, Carne, and the other tense chefs around them, finally returning to Zeff's face.
"But what are you now? Chefs."
"Running a restaurant, cooking, serving customers, and making money."
Every word Luffy spoke was like a needle piercing.
"Your knives are for chopping vegetables, your fists are for kneading dough, and your murderous aura... ha, it's probably been softened by the fumes of cooking long ago."
"You're used to solving problems with food and smiles, used to calculating costs and profits, used to the rules of doing business."
Luffy looked at Zeff's slightly changed expression and gently shook his head.
"I said you're not worthy, not because I look down on your past bounties, but because I look down on your current... this coy way of wanting to hold onto the knife of the past, yet unwilling to let go of the pot in front of you."
Having said that, Luffy ignored Zeff's instantly stiffened face, walked past him, and led the three women straight towards the restaurant door.
Sanji suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse: "Hey! Straw Hat! Even if you look down on us!
But Nami, Nojiko, and Kaya are innocent!
If Krieg comes, they'll be in danger too! Are you really that careless?!"
Luffy stopped at the door, without turning around.
"I'll protect my women. As for you... good luck.
If you survive, it proves you still have some value. Next time I eat here, I might order a couple more dishes."
Luffy's voice came from the doorway.
The door opened, then closed.
Luffy and the three women disappeared outside, their footsteps fading into the distance.
The restaurant was deathly silent. Zeff stood motionless, his knuckles white from gripping his cane tightly.
Luffy's words had laid bare a reality he had long refused to confront.
Yes, what were they now? Pirates? Or cooks?
"O-Old man..." Sanji opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat dry.
Zeff suddenly spoke, his voice aged and weary, yet something deep within it was re-forming itself:
"He's right. We truly...don't deserve his help. Because we ourselves haven't figured out what to hold onto and what to let go of."
Zeff whirled around, facing all the chefs, a terrifying glint flashing in his cloudy eyes—the gleam of Red-Leg Zeff, the light of the great pirate with a bounty of 52 million Berries!
Zeff's voice boomed like thunder, shaking the entire restaurant: "But! Even if you're unworthy! Even if you're coy! This is still my restaurant! It's the home I and you bunch of bastards built bit by bit!"
Zeff grinned, revealing a set of teeth stained yellow by smoke, his smile menacing:
"Krieg wants to steal? Wants to destroy?"
"Then let him try! Let's see if my Red Kick can still smash his dog's head! Let's see how much pirate blood is left in the bones of you bunch of smoky bastards!"
"Boss!" Paddy and Carne straightened up abruptly, their eyes red.
"Sanji!"
"Here!"
Zeff roared, "Go get my battle robe! Carry out that locked box from the bottom of the warehouse! Today I'm not a cook! I'm going to be a pirate again!"
"Yes!!!"
The entire Baratie erupted like a deep pool tossed with a boulder, instantly boiling over!
Sanji glanced deeply in the direction Luffy had left, the straw-hatted boy's indifferent back still vivid in his mind's eye. He gritted his teeth, turned, and rushed towards the kitchen.
Even a cook has something they must protect, even if it means doing so in an unworthy way, with a hesitant demeanor!
The Going Merry, deck.
Luffy leaned against the ship's railing, gazing at the suddenly somber scene at the Baratie restaurant in the distance.
Nami walked to his side, hesitant to speak: "Luffy... are we really not going to help? Zeff and the others aren't bad people, and Sanji's cooking is delicious."
Nojiko added softly, "Yeah, Luffy, I can tell they value that restaurant; it's their home. And if Krieg wins and really takes Baratie, won't they come after us next?"
Kaya didn't speak, only looking at Luffy with worry.
Luffy reached out and pulled Nami to his side, then gestured for Nojiko and Kaya to come closer. He pointed to the distant Baratie, his voice clear in the night wind:
"Look, what does Baratie look like now?"
The three women stared intently.
The once warm and lively restaurant now resembled a monstrous beast baring its fangs; figures rushed about, and the faint clanging of metal and shouts of commands could be heard.
"Like...a war is about to break out?" Nami asked uncertainly.
Luffy said, "This Baratie is starting to look like something. What was Baratie before? It was a restaurant, a facade to attract customers with its fighting chefs.
But fighting? They've forgotten how to fight; they're just putting on a show."
Luffy's gaze deepened: "They need this war, they need Krieg's knife to wake them up.
Is it to continue wearing their chef's uniforms and waiting to die, or to tear off that skin, unleash the pirates hidden in their bones, and fight for a way to survive?"
"Then...what if they lose?" Kaya asked softly.
Luffy said casually, "Losing means death. That's the rule of the sea: either become stronger or die. There's no middle ground.
It's the same for you. Staying by my side won't always be peaceful. I'll teach you to become stronger, but in a true life-or-death situation, you can only rely on yourselves.
If you don't want to one day be told you're unworthy, remember what happened to Baratie today. Remember when they were driven to the brink—did they choose to wait for death, or did they choose to tear off their disguise and fight to the death?"
The three women were shaken. This was a protection colder than any gentle care, yet also more real.
Luffy forced them to see the cruel rules of this world, and then told them that to live, they had to become stronger.