Luffy just stood there watching the interaction with an emotionless expression on his face as he waited for the pirate to answer his question. When the pirate finished eating, Luffy decided to remind him of his question.
"You still haven't answered my question, pirate," he said, attracting the foreign pirate's attention. The man looked at Luffy for a moment before he answered.
"Forgive me, my name is Gin, or better known as Gin "Man-Demon." I am the right-hand man of Admiral Don-Krieg, the great pirate," he said proudly.
"Never heard of it," said Luffy, clearly causing Sanji and Gin's eyes to widen.
"What do you mean you don't know who Don Kriege is!?" Sanji shouted or asked and got a nod from Gin. Luffy just shrugged as he answered.
"Like I said, I've never heard of it," said Luffy, getting looks of disbelief from both of them. Luffy then turned towards Sanji and spoke once more.
"If I'm not mistaken, your name is Sanji, right?" Luffy asked, earning a nod from Sanji. "Good... I want you to join my crew," Luffy said, surprising Sanji.
"Even though the offer sounds attractive, I have to decline. I owe the landlord a debt of gratitude, and I haven't been able to repay him," he said. Luffy looked at him with a bored look on his face and then spoke again.
"I refuse your refusal," said Luffy, causing Sanji's mouth to gape at Luffy's statement. Sanji was about to scream at Luffy, but Gin spoke before he could.
"I'm sorry," Gin said to get Luffy's attention. "Are you a pirate?" he asked, earning a nod from Luffy. "And what was your dream, if you don't mind me asking?" Gin asked, getting a confused look from Sanji while thinking what the purpose of this man's question was.
"Conquering the Grand Line, finding One Piece, and becoming the Pirate King," said Luffy nonchalantly.
"Okay, let me give you a piece of advice as someone who has been to the Grand Line," Gin said, earning an amused look from Luffy and a curious look from Sanji. "Get away from that place. All 50 of our fleet went in there, and it only lasted a week before our entire fleet was destroyed by one person," Gin said, surprising Sanji and causing Luffy to laugh before replying.
"That means you are too weak to sail the Grand Line," said Luffy, getting an annoyed look from Gin. Before Gin could speak, Luffy interrupted him and spoke first.
"It doesn't matter how many ships you have or how many crews you command; only the strongest survive, and I know that because I come from the Grand Line," Luffy said, causing the two men nearby to gape in surprise.
"Y-you're from the Grand Line?" Gin asked, and Luffy just nodded. "So it's like that... I guess you'll be much more prepared than us," Gin said sadly. Luffy didn't say anything; he just returned to the restaurant. When he opened the door to re-enter the restaurant, he turned toward Sanji and spoke.
"I'm not leaving here until you join my crew, Sanji," he said as he walked inside, closing the door behind him before Sanji could answer.
When he returned to his crew, he saw they were still eating, so he decided to join them and finish his meal.
--------------
About four hours have passed since Luffy talked to Gin and Sanji. Currently, Luffy and his crew are sitting at the same table, having a drink, and chatting to get to know each other better.
Luffy tells his crew that he's not leaving here without Sanji, so they'll be there until Sanji joins. As the crew sat there chatting with each other, a large shadow covered the restaurant and caught everyone's attention.
A customer stood up from their table and looked out the window to see what was casting a shadow over the restaurant. When a customer looked out the window, his whole body started shaking, and an extremely frightened expression could be seen on his face.
The man started backing away from the window in fright before starting to stutter.
"T-that... that's Saber Dreadnaught... that's Don Krieg's ship!" he shouted before he dashed back to his desk. After he said that, everyone in the restaurant started panicking.
Luffy just sat there, watching the chaos ensue. Suddenly the doors of the restaurant opened wide, and standing there was Gin with a man who looked like he was dying leaning on his shoulder.
Gin dragged himself and the man to a restaurant and started asking for food and water.
"Please bring us food and water!" Gin pleaded while barely able to lift the man beside him, the man Luffy assumed to be Don Krieg. "We have money," he said, pleading with the restaurant staff.
To say the chefs and customers in the restaurant were shocked would be the wrong word. Their eyes widened, and their jaws drooped. The only people whose faces are devoid of emotion are Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and restaurant owner Zeff.
The rest of Luffy's crew is just as surprised as the other customers. Then suddenly Krieg fell face down on the floor, causing Gin to plead again. When that happened, Luffy watched Sanji go toward the kitchen.
Patty then refused to give him food and water, which caused the other cooks to also start making comments about how dangerous Krieg was. Don Krieg then did the unthinkable for Luffy; he fell on his knees and started begging the chefs for food.
Gin tried to stop him and begged him to raise his head, but Krieg didn't listen to Gin; instead, he kept asking for food and even went so far as to ask for leftovers for himself. What happened next was that Luffy heard Sanji's voice.
"Hey, step aside, Patty," Sanji said before kicking Patty in the face and sending her flying and hitting the wall. Sanji then walked over to Gin and Don Kreig and placed a bowl of food and a bottle of sake in front of him.
"Here's something for your captain," he said, setting the bowl down on the floor. Kreig then started eating the food with his bare hands like a wild animal. One of the chefs then ran down the stairs and shouted at Sanji to get the food in front of Kreig, but Sanji didn't do anything; he just stood there looking at the chef with a deadpan expression on his face.
Kreig then slams the sake bottle onto the floor and jumps to his feet before he punches Sanji and sends him flying through the air. The people in the restaurant who saw this started to run out, leaving the chefs and crew of Luffy inside with Don Kreig.
Luffy then sensed something with his true observation, which made him smile before he turned towards his crew and spoke.
"Hey, go move the ship to the other side of the restaurant. We will have more guests," Luffy said, causing Nami, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku to run outside to move the ship, leaving him and Zoro in the restaurant.
Luffy then turned his attention back to Kreig.
"This is a very good ship; I will gladly take it," said Kreig with a sinister expression on his face. "As you can see, my boat is wrecked. Of course, I will need a new one. After some small chores, each and every one of you must leave this ship," he said, causing one of the cooks to protest.
"What? It won't!" one of the random cooks shouted, but Kreig paid him no heed.
"There are about 100 people left on my ship. All of them are weak from hunger, and many are seriously injured. If you value the lives you have, you better prepare food and water for all my crew," he said.
"You're telling us to feed our enemies? Have you ever thought how stupid the things you just said are? We refuse!" Patty said.
"I didn't ask you, I told you to do it," Kreig said, making all the chefs tremble with fear while Luffy just stayed silent. Sanji then went up and announced that he would cook for 100 people and started walking towards the kitchen, but was stopped by all the chefs pointing the big knives and forks they had at him and starting accusing him of being a spy for Kreig.
Patty then knocked Sanji to the floor before walking through the small door at the bottom of the stairs and taking out a rather large hand cannon, aiming it at Don Kreig, and shooting him.
The cannonball flew through the air at incredible speed before colliding with Kreig and creating an explosion in the restaurant. The cooks started to celebrate their victory but were immediately silenced by Kreig's voice coming from the smoke.
"Are you a chef or a comedian? Because your jokes aren't funny," Kreig said, scaring all the cooks and slightly surprising Luffy. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw Kreig standing there in golden armor with a gun sticking out of his shoulder along with two pistols in his hand.
He then pointed his gun at the group of cooks and shouted. "Die!" he shouted as he fired his gun. "You cooks shouldn't oppose me; I'm the strongest man in the world!" Krieg shouted arrogantly. Luffy wanted to laugh out loud at his remark about being the strongest person in the world but held it in.
Luffy then heard someone's footsteps. Luffy turned around, looked up the stairs, and saw Zeff carrying a large sack walking down the stairs and heading towards Kreig. Zeff placed the large sack in front of Kreig and spoke.
"This sack contains about 100 servings of food. Now, bring it all to your crew," said Zeff in a serious voice.
"Owner Zeff, what are you doing!?" shouted or asked all the other cooks simultaneously. Kreig, on the other hand, looked completely taken aback.
"You Red Leg Zeff," Kreig whispered, causing Luffy's eyes to widen.
"As I thought, the name sounds familiar!" "Luffy thought to himself." Zeff then walked away from Kreig and returned to stand with the chefs.
"Owner Zeff, why did you do that?" one of the cooks asked. "If his men regain their strength, they will kill us!" the chef shouted in a frightened voice.
"That's only if they still have the will to fight," Zeff said before he turned and looked at Kreig. "Tell me, did your will also survive defeat?" Zeff asked Kreig, causing all the chefs to look at Kreig in disbelief.
"Even a pirate crew of 50 ships can't reach the Grand Line?" Patty asked in disbelief. But Kreig only stared at Zeff for a second before he spoke.
"That's you, right? You're Red-Foot Zeff," he said again. "So you're still alive, peerless pirate captain who is also the ship's chef," said Krieg.
"Yeah, it's true, I'm still alive, but what does all this have to do with you?" Zeff asked a question that Luffy also wanted to know the answer to. "I've given up being a pirate for years now. I chose the life of a chef," Zeff said, causing Kreig to start laughing before he spoke.
"Choosing the life of a chef, huh, ha ha. You don't have a choice of parents. You chose the life of a chef because the only thing you can do now is become a chef," Kreig said while pointing at Zeff's wooden leg. Kreig then proceeded to tell the legend of the Red Foot Zeff for all to hear.
"Let's stop chatting and just get straight to the point. What do you want from me?" Zeff asked, causing Don Kreig to grin evilly at him before he answered.
"You are the one who has sailed the treacherous seas of the Grand Line and returned unharmed," Kreig said, causing everyone, including Luffy, to stare at Zeff with shocked looks on their faces.
"There should be a notebook that writes down your tactics—a full year from your journey there. Give it to me," Kreig said, making Luffy narrow his eyes.
"Yes, the book does exist with me, but I would never hand it over to someone like you," Zeff said, causing Kreig to look at his face in annoyance. "That travel book is the pride of the crew I've sailed with. It's far too important to give to someone like you," said Zeff.
Luffy could understand why Zeff wouldn't give up the book, especially if Zeff's friends had died in an accident that also took his leg. It was an invaluable treasure for a good captain, and it was impossible to leave it to anyone else.
"Then I'll take it," Kreig said, getting Luffy out of his thoughts. "Yes, it's true that the Grand Line defeated me. However, I will never give up because I am Don Kreig! It's just another sea. I have plenty of men, enough weapons, and enough ambition. Unfortunately, the only thing I'm lacking is information, but now I'll fix all of that. Once I have your travel book, I'll form another pirate fleet and find the legendary One Piece!" Kreig shouted, causing everyone to fall silent.
The silence was broken by the sound of laughter, causing everyone to stare at the laughing Luffy as he started to rise from his seat.
"Oh my gosh, that is the funniest thing I've heard in a while," Luffy said as he stood up from his seat and looked at Kreig. "You think having the travel book means you'll survive the Grand Line? Don't make me laugh," Luffy said as he walked to the middle of the restaurant, standing between the cooks and Kreig.
"It doesn't matter how many people or ships you have, and it doesn't matter how much information you have about the Grand Line; it all means nothing if you are weak. And you, Kreig, are in the weak category," Luffy said, causing all the chefs' eyes to widen upon hearing Luffy's statement.
Kreig looked on in annoyance that a boy had dared to call him weak.
"Who do you think you are, brat?" Kreig asked in a threatening voice that made several cooks tremble with fear. Luffy was about to respond, but before he could, Gin spoke.
"Don Kreig," said Gin, catching his attention. "He is the pirate I told you about. He is from the Grand Line," Gin said, making everyone look at Luffy in awe. Kreig looked at Luffy for a moment and was about to speak, but Luffy spoke before he opened his mouth.
"I mean, come on Kreig, you couldn't even survive in the Grand Line for a week and now you think that you can conquer the Grand Line and find One Piece? Seriously," said Luffy as he started walking towards Kreig.
When Luffy was within reach of Kreig, he tried to punch Luffy with a glove that had a large diamond on it. Luffy saw him coming and caught Kreig's fist with his left hand, causing Kreig's eyes to widen. Before Kreig could fire one of his guns, Luffy lifted Kreig into the air and slammed him to the floor while still holding his fist.
"Don Kreig!" Gin screamed when he saw his captain lying on the floor, looking at Luffy in disbelief. Luffy looked at Gin and spoke.
"Don't worry, Gin. I won't kill him," he said, shocking everyone. "He is the prey of Hawk-Eye," said Luffy, causing Gin's eyes to widen in fear along with Kreigs'. Luffy then let go of Kreig and returned to sit next to Zoro before he spoke to Kreig again.
"I suggest you feed your men quickly because he will be here in a while," said Luffy, causing Zoro to look at the door excitedly.
"You guys shouldn't disturb his nap," Luffy added before taking a sip of the whiskey. Kreig got up from the floor, walked over to the bag of food, took it, and started to leave. As he exited the door, he turned toward Zeff and spoke.
"In an hour I will be back at this restaurant; anyone still here will die," he said before leaving. Luffy just scoffed at him, then looked at Zeff and spoke.
"Hey old man," Luffy said, getting Zeff's attention. "I'll beat up Kreig for you if you give up the chef," he said, pointing at Sanji. Zeff smiled and answered.
"Deal," Zeff said, causing Sanji to protest, but everyone ignored him.
An hour later
Everyone was still in the restaurant waiting for Kreig to appear again when suddenly they heard a loud crash outside and the whole restaurant started to shake due to the rising of the big waves.
"He's here," said Luffy as he stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit, followed by Zoro and the other chefs behind him. When Luffy came out the door, he saw the big ship kreig split in two.
"Long time no see, Luffy?" asked a man standing on a coffin-shaped boat. Luffy smirked before he answered.
"That's right. Hawk eye," replied Luffy.