62. The Shortcoming of Sanji

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"Me!? I'm here to find a cook!"

Luffy answered Fullbody's question while picking his nose.

But obviously, that wasn't what the other party wanted to hear.

Fortunately, at that moment, Red suddenly interrupted the conversation between the two.

Red smiled like a gentleman and said, "Hello, Your Excellency from the Marines."

"You're also here to dine, right?"

"Although we belong to different sides, the Baratie is a sacred place for food after all. Fighting and killing here would be truly disrespectful~"

"How about we set aside our differences and enjoy a delicious meal in peace!?"

"Ah... ok! ok!!!"

Fullbody, who originally didn't want to provoke the infamous pirate, naturally didn't dare to object after hearing this and nodded repeatedly.

"Thank you for your cooperation," Red smiled with satisfaction.

He hoped that the subsequent events would proceed normally and allow the Krieg Pirates to attract Hawk-Eye Mihawk...

At this point, they couldn't scare Fullbody and his companions away.

In this way, the pirates and the Marines reached a rare agreement.

The two parties boarded the ferry boat and arrived at the Baratie.

"Hey Sanji, we're here again!"

As soon as he walked into the Baratie's dining area, Luffy immediately laughed and greeted Sanji, who was working as a waiter.

Although Sanji still hadn't made his decision, after spending the past two days together, they had become familiar with each other.

Of course, the most important thing was...

With Sanji's nature, it was difficult for him not to become friendly with the Straw Hats.

"Nami-swan~!!!"

Seeing Nami appear, Sanji's eyes instantly transformed into two pink hearts, and he ran all the way to kneel down in front of her.

Learning from experience, he didn't offer roses this time, but instead handed Nami the sparkling wine that was supposed to be delivered to another table.

"Thank you, God of the Ocean, for letting us meet again~"

"I would like to use this wine to bear witness to my unwavering love for you!"

"Hey, cook, there's another beauty over there~!"

For some reason, Zoro felt annoyed seeing Sanji acting so love-struck, and pointed toward the entrance.

A graceful and mature lady wearing a bright red evening dress was walking into the Baratie restaurant alongside the nervous Fullbody.

"!!!"

In an instant, Sanji's heart-shaped eyes suddenly widened, as if they were about to pop out.

"Excuse me, Miss Nami, I apologize."

He first apologized like a gentleman, took two steps back gracefully, and then suddenly dashed to Fullbody's side with his tornado-like legs, repeating the exact same words to the mature lady.

Sanji truly...

Loved every beautiful woman equally!

"Pfft~! You're so consistent!!!"

Zoro burst out laughing when he saw the amusing scene.

Nami, who was left behind, remained indifferent. After all, she had nothing to lose by getting a free glass of sparkling wine~

Red and the others smiled knowingly, not surprised by Sanji's character.

The crew came to the table they had used on their first day and sat down one after another.

This table near the entrance had become the exclusive seat for the Straw Hats.

No one else dared to sit there.

Even if a new customer accidentally sat there, someone in the know would immediately come and drag them away.

By now, a mountain of various dishes had already piled up on the round table.

Because of this, Patty had been scolded by Zeff quite a lot these days...

The arrival of the Straw Hats not only caused a sharp decrease in the number of diners in the restaurant, but in just a few days, the food they consumed had already exceeded 10 million Berries according to market price!

If the Straw Hats didn't leave soon...

The restaurant would suffer a huge loss from this arrangement!

Meanwhile.

Although his female companion was being charmed by Sanji the flirt, Fullbody, fearing Luffy, didn't make a scene in the restaurant as he did in the original timeline. Instead, he endured everything and just wanted to finish the meal quietly.

Unfortunately...

He was destined to face trouble today!

Bang!

Before Fullbody's order could be served, the Baratie's door was suddenly pushed open by a wounded Marine with a bloody head.

"Captain Fullbody! Terrible news!!!"

"The Combat Commander of the Krieg Pirates, Gin, whom we captured earlier, he... he escaped!!!"

"How is that possible!?"

Fullbody, who had just regained his composure and was bragging to his female companion, suddenly changed his expression. He slammed the table and stood up quickly.

"Tell me what happened!?"

"I—"

The injured Marine was about to speak, but at that moment...

BOOM!!!

With a sudden flash of fire, the Marine who was reporting was struck down. He was hit by a bullet and collapsed to the ground.

"Eeek!"

Usopp, who was sitting near the door, was startled by this sudden turn of events.

The other members of the Straw Hats also stopped what they were doing and looked toward the entrance.

A disheveled man wearing a striped headscarf staggered into the restaurant and then sat down directly on a chair.

It was Gin, the man the Marine had just mentioned!

The events that followed weren't much different from the original timeline.

The starving Gin happened to encounter Patty and demanded food at gunpoint.

And Patty, who wasn't even afraid of Luffy, naturally didn't give Gin any sympathy. After learning that Gin couldn't pay, he beat him half to death with a large mallet and threw him out of the restaurant.

Such a brutal act frightened Fullbody to the point where he didn't dare to stay in the restaurant any longer and left in haste.

The Straw Hats remained seated, making no move from beginning to end, just eating quietly and treating it as entertainment.

But suddenly, Zoro's brows furrowed.

"Hey, Red..."

He called out and then raised his finger.

"What's going on?"

Red looked in the direction Zoro pointed and saw Sanji carrying a plate of fried rice and walking toward the deck where Gin had been thrown.

Seeing this, he instantly grinned.

Red, who knew what would happen next, sighed softly:

"It seems our cook is truly exceptionally kind-hearted~"

"Hmph~" Zoro frowned and made a disdainful sound. "I just hope his good intentions won't be mistaken for weakness."

"The Krieg Pirates have always been notorious on the seas for their danger and cunning!"

Previously, Zoro wouldn't have cared what Sanji did.

But now, knowing that Sanji would definitely join their crew, he naturally had some concerns.

Showing kindness to strangers of dubious character could bring trouble to both Sanji and those around him.

However, Red didn't seem bothered by this, instead saying with a smile:

"What does it matter? Isn't a cook's job simply to make sure no one goes hungry?"

"Everyone has their flaws, and that's what brings us together, isn't it?"

As someone with knowledge of future events, Red was well aware of the shortcomings of Sanji and everyone else in the Straw Hats.

For example, Luffy often put the crew in dangerous situations due to his impulsiveness or playfulness; Zoro's legendary poor sense of direction would make him unable to find the right path at critical moments; Nami's love of money would force the team to take on unnecessary jobs; Usopp's timidity made it difficult for him to handle direct combat;

Even Red himself...

Although he was familiar with future events and had the advantage of his Pokémon connection, before all this, he was just an ordinary college student.

Since going to sea, Red seemed to be in control of everything, but he also knew his abilities were limited.

One day, the world would become unfamiliar to him.

So to prepare for that day, he needed to use the Pokémon world to make the Straw Hats as powerful as possible!

In fact, feeding the hungry wasn't Sanji's biggest weakness.

His real weakness was his chivalrous code to never kick a woman!

But precisely because everyone had things they couldn't do, everyone also had things only they could do...

That's why they became partners, stayed together through thick and thin, and helped each other succeed!

"...You're right."

After listening to Red's words, Zoro suddenly fell silent, and his previous dissatisfaction with Sanji's behavior dissipated.

After a moment, he suddenly leaned back with his hands behind his head and smiled reassuringly:

"As expected, our first mate is thoughtful~ It seems I'll just focus on being the combatant from now on!"

"Being a combatant alone isn't enough."

Red raised his wine glass, made an inviting gesture toward Zoro, and added with a smile:

"Our crew has just begun. If we get any younger members who need guidance in the future, you'll have to step up~"

"Nanny Zoro!"

Zoro frowned, showing a puzzled expression: "What kind of weird nickname is that?"

Nevertheless, he picked up the wine glass in front of him and clinked it with Red's.

Clink~!

The crisp sound slowly faded away in the noisy restaurant.