Big thanks to my Patron, Luca! ? Your support is awesome, and I'm super uber happy to have you on board! Let's keep the momentum going!

  You all are weled to my Discord el!

  We have an Image Minister as well!

  disc/8qYFSnHHAs

  --xLOVEx--

  As D begged more desperately, going as far as kowtowing, the tension in Baratie reached a boiling point. Patty, with a look saying a lot of fear and disdain, stepped forward. He was ready to beat the man who oerrorized the seas, but as he raised his hand, a swift and powerful kick to the head sent him flying across the room. Sanji had intervened.

  He pced a pte of food and a gss of water in front of the fallen pirate. "Here Gin, he eat this," Sanji said, his voice calm but carrying an undercurrent of firmness. D, ign everything else, started to eat with his hands, a man driven solely by the o fill his empty stomach.

  e, another cook, looked on in disbelief, his worry evident in his furrowed brow. He turo Sanji, his voice urgent. "Don't get close to him. You don't know wh is. You don't know what he is capable of." He reted the tales 's ruthlessness, his ing lies that led to the sughter aboard a Navy vessel, and his deceitful attacks under a false fg. "He is 'Foul Py Krieg of Eastern Seas!'" e finished, his warning hanging heavy in the air.

  Before e could say another word, D rose with newfound strength, his eyes burning with malice. He lu Sanji, his arm outstretched in a riat meant to take down the cook. But just as it seemed he would ect, a foot appeared, blog the attack with an ease that belied its strength. Turning, Sanji and the others saw a familiar pink-haired man, the one who had put a sword to Sanji's neck just trior.

  Coby stood there, his expression calm except a smirk, a stark trast to the chaos around him. His intervention was just in time, creating a timely barrier between Krieg's attad hands that fed his worthless mouth. The room fell silent, the patrons and cooks of Baratie watg in awe and apprehension.

  D, his attack thwarted, turned his gaze to Coby, his eyes narrowing. "Who are you?" he growled, the mena his voimistakable.

  Coby's reply was serene, his stance rexed yet ready. "Someone who doesn't like bullies," he said simply. His eyes, however, held a sharpness, a readio act should Krieg attempt atack. He wasn't worried about this spineless dog.

  Krieg, assessing the hreat, seemed to calcute his move. His reputation was built on his ruthlessness and ing, but here, weakened and outnumbered, he found himself at a rare disadvantage. “Just prepare another 100 sets of food and I will go without a fuss. My crew is starving.”

  Luffy, watg the se unfold, couldn't hide his grin. The thrill of a good fight was always appealing to him, and with Coby stepping in, the dynamics had shifted. "Looks like things are getting iing," he murmured to Zoro, who merely nodded, his haing casually on the hilt of his sword.

  "Are y's dog, Sanji?" one of the cooks challenged, his tone accusatory and sharp. The kit staff, their faces etched with distrust, barred Sanji's way. "We're not letting you into the kit. We're not going along with this," another cook added, his voice firm with resolve. All the cooks drew pistols and aimed at Sanji.

  Sanji, unfling, opened his arms wide in a gesture of defiance. "If you want to stop me, shoot me!" he decred, his smirk unwavering. "I know they're unredeemable vilins. But my job is to feed people, not judge them. It gets too plicated." His words carried a vi that was as much a part of him as his ary skills.

  He then turned solemn, his gaze sweeping across the faces of his fellow cooks. "If a man is hungry, I feed them. That's a cook's job. What's wrong with that?" His question was rhetorical. Those who didn't know hunger, couldn't uand its pain.

  Patty sneaked behind Sanji and hit him on the back of his head, sending him tumbling to the floor. The other chefs quickly followed suit, jumping on the blonde cook to restrain him. Patty, standing tall aermined, poi Sanji, aowledging his usual good deeds but emphasizing the gravity of the current situation. "I know you feed people I chase away. And sometimes, it's okay. But this time you're wrong," he asserted. His eyes then shifted t, "He might be the infamous D, but he's just one man. He 't beat all of us." With fidence, he pulled out a giant gun resembling a crab and aimed it at Krieg. "This is Baratie. We deal with rowdy pirates every day," he procimed before firing the on. The ball shot directly at Krieg, sending him flying outside the door.

  Amidst the chefs' triumphant chatter, Coby let out a smirk. "Amateurs," he ented under his breath. The chefs, catg his remark, turo him with annoyance. "What did you say, punk?" one of them challenged. Coby raised his voice, making sure everyone heard him this time. "Amateurs!" he repeated.

  As the chefs pondered Coby's audacity, Krieg reappeared from the dust, seemingly unscathed. His armor had protected him from the bst. Even Coby had missed h wore his armor. Patty, uerred by the failed attempt, rallied his fellow chefs. "Charge!" he ahe cooks charged forward, their determination fueled by the threat to their beloved Baratie.

  However, Krieg was not to be uimated. As the chefs approached, his armor's shoulder ptes rose, revealing mae gun barrels. He fired at the approag cooks, the bullets flying in a relentless spray. The chefs, caught off guard by the ued onry, scrambled for cover, their initial fideurning to shod fear.

  Krieg surveyed the c chefs, his gaze cold and anding. "No one defies Krieg, you worthless scum!" he bellowed. He flexed his arms, showg his steel armor. "Arms of steel, strohan any flesh," he boasted, his voice eg through the restaurant. He puffed out his chest and abs, the stro wootz steel, and raised his fist, adorned with what he cimed were diamond fists to demolish anything. "And a built-in array of ons," he added, his tone menag.

  "I and fifty ships and five thousand fighting men! I've never lost a battle! I am the Don of the Pirate Armada! If I tell you to prepare the food, you will shut up and do it!" he decred, his eyes sweeping across the room, daring ao challenge his authority.

  As the chefs recoiled in fear, a figure stepped forward, a rge bag of food that could feed a hundred men in his hands. It was Chef Zeff, the owner of Baratie. With a resolute expression, he dropped the bag in front . The other chefs, puzzled and ed, questioned his as. "Chef Zeff, why?" they asked in unison.

  Hearing Zeff's name, Krieg's demeanor shifted from one of anding meo a hint of disbelief. "Red Leg Zeff?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing as he took in the figure standing before him. The chefs around, still reeling from the earlier frontation, looked on in fusion and apprehension. One brave soul dared to voice the on everyone's mind, "Boss, what are you doing? They will e and raid us after they are filled." Zeff dismissed the worry with a wave of his hand, his gruff voice carrying a tone of unwavering fidehose spineless dogs? Not possible."

  Krieg, still grappling with the reality of Zeff's identity, asked with a mixture of trepidation and awe, "You are Red Leg Zeff, aren't you?" The room grew silent, the weight of the name hanging heavy in the air. Zeff, unfazed by the attentio Krieg's gaze squarely. "You went to Grand Li you ran back with your tail between ys, didn't you?" he challenged, his words sharp and probing.

  The patrons and chefs of Baratie watched the exge with bated breath, their reas a blend of shock, curiosity, and fear. Krieg, for a moment, seemed taken aback, the mention of his failed veo the Grand Liriking a nerve. "You went to Grand Line and came back from that voyage unscathed, right? You must have recorded a log. Give me y-book!" Krieg demanded, his voice regaining its earlier authority.

  --

  Read up to 100 chapters ahead!

  patreon./pinkisjustice

  Tell me what you think!