"Head Chef!"
"Luffy!"
The cooks of the Baratie and Luffy’s companions shouted in unison.
The "head chef" was a face Rengoku knew.
Zeff of the "Red Leg."
"What the hell! Who drove my customers out of my restaurant!"
Zeff barked as he looked over the dining room, where half-eaten dishes were strewn everywhere.
Then the burly cook named Patty walked up beside him and whispered in his ear.
"Head Chef, the thing is...whisper whisper..."
After hearing the full story from Patty, Zeff’s forehead veins bulged, and he immediately unleashed a roundhouse kick at Sanji.
Boom!
"Sanji! Do you think this is your restaurant, you little punk? Why are you running around causing trouble as you please!"
Sanji, sent flying to one side by Zeff’s kick, sprang right back up and glared at him.
"From the start, I’ve always thought it was ridiculous when someone who doesn’t even know food pretends to know better!"
"This is my restaurant for the customers! It is not your restaurant for you to do whatever you want in!"
Seeing Zeff beat Sanji down, Fullbody’s lips curled up slightly.
But then Zeff’s kick came flying straight toward him.
"Eek!"
Smack!
"Mm! What a powerful kick! Zeff of the "Red Leg"! For a pirate with a 77 million berry bounty, you’re still as lively as ever!"
Rengoku spoke as he stopped Zeff’s kick by pressing his sole against the chef’s shin.
"Se-senventy-seven million berries?"
Nami and Usopp’s shocked voices rang out.
"Hmph! And who might you be, Marine sir?"
Boom!
The door flew open violently, and a Marine stormed in.
"What now!"
Zeff was irritated to see yet another "customer" roughing up his restaurant.
"Th-this is bad! The Krieg Pirates prisoner we were holding escaped!"
"The Krieg Pirates? Captain Fullbody, what is this about? Why is there a pirate on a warship that was detached mid-route?"
Rengoku kept his smile, the corners of his mouth lifting, but those blazing red eyes were more than enough to feel threatening to Fullbody.
"Th-that’s...we originally planned to use him as bait to draw out the entire Krieg Pirates."
"Taking the situation as a whole, it seems you require a great deal of attention!"
"I-I’m sorry! B-but we already starved him for several days, so he couldn’t have gone far!"
----!
"Mm! So that’s how it is, he’s right here!"
[Shave]
Rengoku instantly darted to the side of the Marine who had reported the incident.
Bang!
A single gunshot rang out through the Baratie.
But no one was injured.
"Mm! Are you the runaway from the Krieg Pirates?"
In Rengoku’s hand was the bullet fired from the pistol, and behind the reporting Marine stood a pirate wearing a gray bandanna, pistol in hand.
"W-wha...how did you catch the bullet...!"
"I’d appreciate it if you didn’t underestimate the Marines."
Rengoku snatched the pistol away at incredible speed.
No, calling it snatched away was almost too generous; he had merely swept his hand once, and the pistol was already in Rengoku’s grasp.
"Kh, kuhk!"
The pirate collapsed at once when his pistol was taken in an instant.
"I-I’m hungry..."
At the pirate’s metallic, rasping words, Sanji had already slipped away from his seat and gone into the kitchen.
Rengoku did not concern himself with that.
Being hungry was the pirate’s problem; as a Marine, he had duties to fulfill.
First, he cuffed the pirate, who was too starving to resist at all.
Then, after searching him, he obtained a small Den Den Mushi and a flare signal.
Judging by the gold coating on the Den Den Mushi’s shell, it looked like a special line meant for the Krieg Pirates, and for the captain alone at that.
The flare signal was just a plain, ordinary flare anyone could see anywhere.
"Captain Fullbody."
"Y-yes!"
"This flare seems to be a signal used to gather the Krieg Pirates. Am I correct?"
"Y-yes, yes! That’s right!"
"Well, even a rotten fish can still have some value. Since you are still a captain, I’ll issue orders to you for now."
"Y-yes, yes! Please, go ahead!"
Rengoku handed the flare to Fullbody and then issued his orders.
"Captain Fullbody will fire the flare into the sky to lure the Krieg Pirates here! The two warships will immediately pull away from the Baratie and maintain only a distance where they can still observe the situation!
The First Rifle Squad will keep watch over this starving pirate, and the rest of the unit will remain armed and ready to deploy at any time! That is all!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Rengoku’s command, the thirteen Marines of the First Rifle Squad dragged the gray-bandanna pirate to a corner seat in the restaurant.
Captain Fullbody’s flare was launched into the sky not long after, and it would draw the Krieg Pirates here.
The warships were positioned at a distance so the Krieg Pirates would not refuse to approach just because they saw the Marines nearby.
By the time all the preliminary measures were complete, Sanji had come out of the kitchen carrying seafood fried rice and a glass of water, and walked over to the gray-bandanna pirate.
"Uh..."
The rifle squad members hesitated when they saw Sanji approaching the pirate, wondering whether they should stop him or not, but then Rengoku gave his instruction.
"Let him eat! If he starves to death, it’ll be troublesome in all sorts of ways!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Hmph."
At Rengoku’s permission, Sanji snorted meaningfully through his nose.
And not long after, communication came in from the gold-plated Den Den Mushi.
Ring-ring-ring.
Ring-ring-ring.
Ring-ring-ring.
"What is it? Aren’t you going to answer?"
Zeff asked Rengoku after seeing the ringing Den Den Mushi.
"Of course I am."
Click.
"Hey, Gin. Looks like you’re still alive. Judging by the direction of the flare, it’s the Baratie. I didn’t expect you to have taken it over already. I’ll be there shortly."
Chomp chomp chomp!
Gulp gulp!
Rengoku placed the Den Den Mushi receiver beside Gin, who was frantically eating, and let the sound of his meal be transmitted directly to Krieg.
Then, before Krieg could reply, he cut the connection.
*
"Huh?"
Meanwhile, confusion spread through the Krieg Pirates.
"Hey, what’s this?"
"Yes, Don Krieg, I think it’s the sound of Captain Gin eating at the Baratie. After all, both we and Captain Gin have been starving for quite a long time."
"Hmph...what a rude bastard, eating all by himself."
"Ahaha...then the occupation flare has been fired, so I’ll steer the ship toward the Baratie for now."
"Right. We don’t know when that [Hawk-Eye] might show up, after all. The Baratie’s supplies and funds, Zeff of the "Red Leg"’s logbook, and that Devil Fruit worth 100 million berries at market price...we’ll use all of it to challenge the Grand Line once again!"
"That is the order of Don Krieg! Set sail immediately! Objective: the sea restaurant Baratie!"
"Yes, Don Krieg!"
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