Sanji, Ace, and Sabo also arrived at the Ripoff BAR.
They had just settled into a booth when the bar door was pushed open again.
The three Vinsmoke brothers - Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji - entered, led by Reiju in her battle suit.
They scanned the room, their gazes eventually settling on Sanji at the bar counter.
"Oh? If it isn't the Germa failure! You actually found this place too!" Yonji with green hair was the first to speak, his tone filled with undisguised mockery.
"You performed quite mediocrely during that North Blue training mission. A failure will always be a failure."
Sanji turned to look at them, his tone calm. "I was wondering who it was. Turns out it's just a bunch of emotionless cyborgs."
"What did you say?!" The most hot-tempered Niji immediately flared up, but was stopped by Ichiji, who raised his hand.
Ichiji's gaze was cold as it swept over Sanji, finally settling on his chef uniform.
"Sanji, Father allowed you to follow the Fleet Admiral to give you a chance to atone for your mistakes, not to become a chef."
"Shut up," Sanji's voice turned cold. "Don't use your filthy mouths to defile the sacred profession of cooking. And don't mention that bastard father in front of me."
"Sacred?" Yonji sneered.
He walked up to Sanji, reached out and flicked his collar as if brushing off something dirty.
"Dealing with grease and smoke every day in the kitchen, preparing food for a bunch of trash—that's what you call sacred? You're nothing but a disgrace to our family."
He noticed the glass of wine in front of Sanji, picked it up and sniffed it, then poured it on the ground with a disgusted expression.
"Only a failure like you would drink such cheap wine."
Sanji's body trembled slightly, not from fear, but from extreme anger.
He slowly lowered his head and said in a deep voice, "Pick it up."
"Hah?" Yonji looked as if he had heard the biggest joke. "You want me to pick it up?"
"I'm telling you to pick up the wine, and then apologize to this beautiful lady." Sanji's voice was soft, but carried an unmistakable killing intent.
"It seems being away for so long has made you forget your place." The smile disappeared from Yonji's face, replaced by a cruel excitement.
"Fine, let me remind you today what the difference in bloodline means!"
Before the words faded, Yonji's metallic arm gleaming with a mechanical sheen shot out, grabbing for Sanji's collar!
Sanji reacted extremely quickly, leaning back to dodge, his long right leg whistling through the air as it lightning-kicked toward Yonji's face!
Thud!
Sanji's foot landed solidly on Yonji's face, but the latter didn't budge an inch, not even a change in his expression.
"Is that all the strength you've got?" Yonji grinned viciously, then countered with a punch that smashed hard into Sanji's abdomen!
"Ugh!" Sanji grunted, his body flying backward like a broken kite, crashing through the bar's door and landing outside.
"Sanji!" Ace and Sabo in the booth both stood up, their expressions changing.
"Trying to help?" Ichiji and Niji shifted positions, blocking their path.
"We're your opponents," Ichiji said coldly.
Outside the bar, Yonji walked out slowly, stepping on Sanji's chest and looking down at him condescendingly.
"Trash will always be trash. Even if you left the North Blue, it doesn't change the fact that you're garbage."
"Damn it..." Sanji gritted his teeth, trying to struggle, but the foot on his chest felt as heavy as a mountain.
Just then, a figure emerged from the bar at a leisurely pace.
"Hey, are you done fighting?" Zoro asked, his sword resting on his shoulder with a hint of impatience on his face.
"If you're finished, it's my turn."
He glanced at Sanji on the ground, then at the smug Yonji, a battle-hungry grin spreading across his lips.
"Bullying comrades isn't a good habit, you know."
Inside the bar, Ace and Sabo instantly clashed with Ichiji and Niji!
No Devil Fruit abilities, no flashy techniques - just pure, unadulterated fist-to-fist combat!
Ace's fierce straight punch was easily blocked by Ichiji, whose eyes flashed red as he countered with a lightning-fast hand chop that forced Ace to retreat.
Sabo's martial arts were flexible and varied, allowing him to ghost behind Niji, only to be struck on the arm by an impossibly quick spinning kick that left his arm numb.
On the other side, Zoro had already started fighting Yonji.
He couldn't even be bothered to draw his swords, using the scabbard as a club to relentlessly pound Yonji.
A chaotic brawl had completely erupted inside and outside Shakky's bar.
Inside the bar, Luffy was cheerlessly munching on a piece of meat when he turned to see Hawkins fiddling with Tarot cards in the corner.
"Hey! Fortune-teller! Your prediction was spot on! There really is bloodshed!"
Hawkins: "..."
Just then.
"Bang!"
Shakky slammed a glass on the counter, an icy aura instantly enveloping the entire bar.
Even those fighting outside subconsciously stopped.
"Don't you know?" Shakky exhaled a smoke ring, her voice cold. "There's an unwritten rule in the Grand Line - no fighting in bars! Especially in my bar!"
As she spoke, Shakky suddenly spaced out, her thoughts unconsciously drifting back decades as she looked at these kids in her bar.
Back then, she was the most dazzling flower on Hachinosu.
Her bar was the only sanctuary on that chaotic island.
The then-ruler of the seas, Rocks D. Xebec, and another straw-hat-wearing man, Gol D. Roger, had confronted each other at her counter, their Haki almost tearing the entire bar apart.
Yet even these two men at the peak of their fame still followed her rules inside her bar, showing mutual restraint.
However, what she never expected was that she, the one who established this rule, would become the "prize" in the Celestial Dragons' hunting games a year later, locked in a cold cage.
Rocks led his pirate crew to charge into God Valley, with Roger and his crew close behind.
The Marines led by Garp, the God Knights under the World Government, and even the Gorosei's Saint Saturn all made their appearances.
An unprecedented great war thus erupted.
Amid the chaos, it was that always bespectacled, seemingly refined man - Silvers Rayleigh - who rescued her from the battlefield.
Just as Shakky unconsciously recalled these past events, a voice suddenly snapped her back to reality.
"We're not pirates," Zoro wiped blood from his mouth, looking displeased.
"That's right," Ace chimed in, "we're apprentice Marines now."
Shakky collected herself, looking at these bruised and battered kids with complex emotions.
Apprentice Marines?
Shakky was stunned, her gaze settling on Ace.
The moment Ace stepped into the bar, she had recognized his identity.
Although Garp had protected Ace meticulously over the years, keeping him with the Dadan family on the back mountain of Windmill Village, she, after all, possessed an intelligence network spanning the entire world.
Recognizing Ace was hardly a challenge.
What she hadn't expected, however, was that as Roger's son, Ace would boldly declare himself a Marine cadet.
If Roger could hear that, he'd probably be turning in his grave!
Still, from the reactions of these youngsters, it wasn't hard for her to see that Orion's personal guidance during this time had brought about a dramatic transformation in their demeanor, awareness, and even their dreams.
Of course, this was hardly surprising.
Orion had managed to become the Marine Fleet Admiral through a military coup, suppressed various factions with an iron fist, and dispatched capable subordinates to mend the tattered world, fostering the current prosperity of Wano Country, Dressrosa, and Totto Land.
If Orion could steer the world toward stability and peace in less than a year, changing these youngsters was naturally a trivial matter.
...
Just then, two figures appeared at the entrance of the bar.
It was Orion and Rayleigh.
"Orion!" Hancock's eyes instantly turned into heart shapes upon seeing him.
In a flash, she rushed over, intimately wrapping her arms around Orion's, pressing herself against him.
"Why did you take so long to come? I've been waiting for you so miserably…"
With Orion's arrival, the previously tense cadets suddenly stood as stiff as elementary students caught by their teacher, heads bowed, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Orion surveyed the chaotic scene, glanced at the bruised youngsters, and finally turned his gaze to Shakky, smiling as he said.
"As expected of the Shakky who once captivated both Rocks and Roger. Even after years of retirement, the rules you established back then still influence the generations to come."
At this, Orion shifted his gaze to sweep over the cadets, seemingly ignoring their various injuries, and continued calmly.
"The training ship has been coated. Rest up and prepare to depart."
"Destination: Fish-Man Island."
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