Chapter 13: Krieg's Return – The Pirate King's Seat and 100 Portions
"Hey, straw-hat brat stuffing your face over there—you're the one who blew up my private room, right?" Zeff asked, eyeing Luffy who was currently fighting Sol for the last piece of meat.
"Huh? What's up, old man? Don't tell me your leg got blown off too?" Luffy nearly choked on his meat in panic.
Zeff snorted. "As if. This leg's been like this for ages. How about a deal? Take this troublemaking blond idiot off my hands, and I'll refund your repair bill."
"Really?! Leave it to me, old man!" Luffy swallowed hard and agreed instantly.
Completely ignoring Sanji's protests beside them, Zeff hooked an arm around Sanji's neck and dragged him toward the kitchen. "Get back to work already!"
"Wait—old geezer! I'm not leaving this restaurant! Give it up!" Sanji yelled.
"Who cares what you want!"
Zoro took a swig of sake. "Luffy, you planning to recruit that pervy cook? Doesn't look like he'll join easily."
Luffy stretched his arm across the table, snatching the last piece of meat from Usopp's plate and devouring it in one bite. "Don't worry—I'll definitely make him our crewmate!"
"Ahh! Luffy—that was the special piece I saved for last!" Usopp wailed, tears streaming.
Sol picked his teeth and teased. "Usopp, where Luffy's around, the dinner table is a battlefield. If you don't use your brain, you won't get the good stuff! Your training's still far from enough!"
Usopp suddenly had an epiphany, slamming fist into palm. "I get it! This is training—for becoming a brave warrior of the sea!"
Luffy tried the same trick again, stretching toward Nami's untouched steak. A glint flashed—stab! Luffy clutched the fork wound and yelped. "That's the cruelty of the battlefield, Usopp!" Nami calmly sliced and ate the final bite.
Johnny and Yosaku hugged each other in terror. "Big Bros' meals are seriously full of gunpowder and war…"
After eating their fill, the crew planned to head back to the Going Merry to rest. Luffy ran off to pester Sanji again about joining.
Usopp gnawed on roast meat, glancing sourly toward the restaurant. "Man… Nami's so lucky. A lovesick cook paying for everything."
Sol tore off a huge chunk of meat and grinned. "Why don't you become a girl too? Might get more attention than Nami!" He pinched his voice high. "'I'm Usopp-chan~'"
"Pfft—!" Luffy spat meat everywhere laughing. "Even if you were pretty, you'd still have that long nose! Hahaha!"
"You bastards!!" Usopp's nose turned beet red as he prepared to retort—
"Oh? What's so funny?" Nami's voice cut in from the darkness. She approached the campfire carrying a jingling sack. "Sanji forced this booze on me… I can't drink it all anyway."
Zoro sniffed the bottle. "East Blue special brew? That curly-brow's pretty generous."
Two peaceful days passed like that. While Luffy continued his noisy campaign to recruit Sanji—
A massive, battered ship docked beside the Baratie.
The doors burst open violently. Gin—already gone earlier—supported a hulking man as they entered. Gin called out, "Please—food and water. I brought money this time. I'm begging you."
Patty saw the weakened Don Krieg and immediately thought of capturing him for bounty money. As he moved to act, Sanji appeared with a plate of fried rice.
The moment Krieg finished eating, his true nature resurfaced. He grabbed Sanji by the throat and hurled him across the room.
"Captain Krieg—we agreed not to touch this place!" Gin protested.
Krieg gripped Gin's shoulder with crushing force, bones creaking. "Hah. It was too delicious—so I changed my mind."
"Hey, cooks—prepare at least 100 portions of food and water. And this ship looks nice. I'll take it." Krieg grinned evilly at the Baratie staff.
Terrified customers fled through the back door. Patty rallied the chefs. "He's alone right now! Careful, but we can take him down!"
As Patty organized the assault, Sanji stood up again. "100 portions, huh? Wait a minute."
Patty and the others aimed guns at him. "Sanji—you seriously planning to side with this guy? We won't let you back in the kitchen to mess around!"
Sanji spread his arms wide. "Then shoot. I know they're evil scum—but what's that got to do with me? I'm a cook. I know exactly how it feels to starve to death. What they do after they're full? I couldn't care less!"
His bold words earned no understanding. Patty and the others seized him to stop him from cooking.
While everyone was locked in stalemate, Zeff walked in carrying a massive sack of food. "Here—100 portions of food and water."
"Boss, what are you thinking?! If we feed them, we're in danger!" a chef protested.
Zeff shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Let them come." He looked straight at Krieg. "Right, you washed-up failure of the Grand Line?"
"You're… Red Leg Zeff. I heard you were dead." Krieg's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Hand over your logbook. With that and this ship, I'll storm back into the Grand Line. The throne of Pirate King will be mine!" Krieg shouted louder and louder.
"Bullshit. The one who'll become Pirate King is me!" Luffy jumped up from his spectator spot the moment someone challenged his dream.
"Hmph, brat—don't spout nonsense. How many crewmates do you even have?"
"Uh… one, two… plus Sanji makes five!" Luffy held up his hand.
"Hahahaha! Save the jokes. I had 50 ships, 5,000 men. We entered the Grand Line—and in just seven days, only about 100 of us escaped alive!" Krieg's face twisted in remembered terror.
"But if you insist on staying here… I'll come back and kill you all! Red Leg Zeff—hand over the logbook and the ship, and maybe I'll show mercy."
Krieg finished, shouldered the sack of food, and left with Gin.
The moment Krieg's footsteps faded, Sol's group walked back in. "Looks like we missed a good show, Luffy."
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