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In the original story, all of Sanji's kicking techniques came from Zeff.
Zeff even managed to kick Luffy from the second floor down to the first—with a wooden leg.
Now that he had a real leg again, it goes without saying—his kicks were on a whole new level.
WHAM!!!
Sanji was kicked so hard he hit the deck, his face slightly distorted from the blow.
But this time, he didn't talk back like he usually would. Instead, he sat up quietly and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He understood what Zeff meant with that kick. Now that his leg was healed, there was no reason for Sanji to stay on this ship anymore.
Still, after all these years together, it was hard to let go.
With his head down, Sanji muttered, "None of your business, you damn geezer."
Then he turned and walked out of the room.
On the deck of the Baratie~
Sanji stood there, smoking a cigarette and staring out over the sea, lost in thought.
Of course, he couldn't actually see anything—today, the sea was covered in thick, heavy fog, which was pretty rare.
Just then, he heard footsteps behind him.
Without turning around, Sanji said in a low voice:
"Thanks... thanks for healing the old man's leg."
"Heh, didn't I already say? Healing him was a small price to pay for getting the future Pirate King's head chef on board."
The person walking up was, of course, Bai Ye. After Sanji walked away earlier, Luffy had patted Bai Ye on the shoulder and said:
"Go on, Bai Ye. Bring Sanji onto our crew."
"Tch… Seriously? You're leaving recruiting to me now?"Bai Ye looked a little helpless.
But then he noticed Zoro and Nami also giving him this look like: Come on, talk him into it with your smooth tongue.
Damn it, are your faces screens or something!?
Still, you couldn't really blame them for trusting Bai Ye this much.
Not only was he Luffy's first crewmate, but both Zoro and Nami had gone through his unique brand of emotional persuasion before joining.
Even Usopp was introduced to the crew thanks to Bai Ye's efforts.
"Sigh… alright, I got it,"Bai Ye waved his hand, basically saying he'd take care of it, and walked over to Sanji.
When Sanji heard the words "the future Pirate King's head chef," a small smile crept onto his lips—but he quickly changed the subject.
"Not really," Bai Ye shook his head without hesitation. "After all, All Blue is still just a legendary place."
"And like I said,""This ocean… it's huge."
Then, Bai Ye began telling Sanji about all the incredible food-related things he remembered from the original story.
Like the attack cuisine on the island of okamas that could change a person's body.
Or the giants who used active volcanoes to grill their food.
Or even octopus balls cooked right on the open sea...
"Really now?"
After listening to all these wild and exotic food stories, Sanji lit another cigarette, took a long drag, and said,
"Even if it's not All Blue, there's still so many amazing kinds of food out there? Looks like I really should head out to sea and see for myself."
Hearing that, Bai Ye couldn't help but smile too—he knew Sanji had made up his mind.
Even though this was a bit different from the original storyline, Sanji still willingly chose to get on the ship, and that was good enough.
Suddenly, Bai Ye seemed to remember something and started telling Sanji about all the beautiful women in this world.
Like the mermaids with human bodies and fish tails.
Or the island of all women.
Or the exotic desert kingdom of Alabasta...
"WAAAAHHHH!!!"
Bai Ye didn't expect Sanji's reaction to be this intense.
He even had a full-blown nosebleed and shouted out,
"I gotta say goodbye to that old geezer right now!!!"
Bai Ye: …So wait—your real job is pervert, and cooking is your side gig?!?
But just as Sanji was about to go find Zeff, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked toward the thick fog in the distance.
Bai Ye also turned to look—there, barely visible, was the outline of a ship.
Even from that blurry silhouette, they could tell it was way bigger than Baratie.
And it looked like it was heading straight for the floating restaurant.
As the ship got closer, the guests inside the restaurant started to notice too.
Then one person saw the pirate flag and instantly froze like he'd fallen into an ice bath.
"T-That's the Krieg Pirates!!!"
A massive triple-decked galleon, with a black panther as the figurehead. The skull on its flag had an hourglass on each side—one symbolizing the fate of their prey, the countdown to death, and the other meaning "you'll surrender to me eventually… it's just a matter of time."
It was the warship Dreadnought Sabre—the personal vessel of Don Krieg, overlord of the East Blue!
Chaos broke out among the restaurant guests instantly.
"No way, you've got to be kidding me!"
"What the hell is a guy like that doing here?!"
"We need to get outta here right now, or we're gonna get slaughtered!"
People were either panicking, trembling, or already scrambling to escape.
And just like that, the Dreadnought Sabre pulled up right in front of Baratie.
But it was only then that people started to notice something strange.
The ship looked… wrecked.
Like it had just gone through a brutal naval battle. Half of the prow was blown off, the hull was covered in terrifying cracks, and even the pirate flag was torn and tattered.
Then someone suddenly remembered something and said:
"I think someone saw Krieg not long ago... He took fifty ships with him and entered the Grand Line."
The moment he said that, everyone around him started to whisper and speculate.
"What?! He got kicked back this fast?!"
"Fifty warships… and now there's only this one left?!"
"No wonder they call it the pirates' graveyard! The Grand Line is terrifying!"
...
Hearing all this, Bai Ye just clicked his tongue.
Going into the Grand Line and bumping into the world's greatest swordsman right off the bat... Now that's what I call terrible luck.
While everyone was chattering away, someone finally stepped off the ship.
"SANJI!!!"
When Paddy saw that one of the people getting off was the same guy Sanji had given food to earlier, he lost it and yelled:
"You're the one who brought Krieg's pirates here!!!"
Sanji didn't say anything. He saw how starved the guy looked and just turned around and walked into the kitchen.
Bai Ye watched him go without stopping him. Some beliefs couldn't be changed with just words.
He quietly walked over to where Luffy and the others were and waited to see what would happen next.
Sure enough, when Krieg knelt down and begged the chefs for just a bite of food, Sanji was the only one who silently brought over a huge bowl of rice.
And right after finishing it, Krieg's strength returned immediately—he turned around and slammed Sanji hard.
Then, he demanded food for a hundred men and told Baratie to surrender unconditionally.
The whole restaurant exploded in rage.
Sanji, bruised and trying to stand, saw a hand suddenly reach out in front of him.
And Bai Ye's voice followed:
"Even now... you still planning to make that food for a hundred people?"
"....."