"Ahh, this is so good; your skills are even better than the personal chef I used to have, Trenza." Said Freyja lightly with a smile while she and the rest of the crew were in the ship's galley, sitting down as they ate the food prepared by Trenza.
"Thank you for the compliment, Freyja; I try my best." Replied Trenza with a slightly proud smile as she sat opposite Freyja while also eating her food.
"Yeah, Trenza, no matter how often I eat your food, it's always magnificent! Your food even helped Scar; look, he seems perfectly fine right now!" Yelled Grand with a full mouth, his large frame taking up two seats as he glanced at Trenza before pointing at Scar sitting beside him.
"The reason I'm fine is because I expelled everything I consumed from last night; it wasn't Trenza's food; while it may be delicious, it wasn't magical." Said Scar, looking relatively healthy while glancing at Grand before shaking his head as he continued eating.
"I swear, this dish tastes better than any meal you've ever prepared for me in the past, Trenza; don't tell me you've been holding back on me before?" Questioned Sebas with a slight smile as he used a knife and fork to eat his food, and to top it all off, he had a handkerchief tucked into his collar, looking very noble.
"No, I haven't, Father; that is mainly the Sea King meat. I've heard rumors that Sea King meat tastes exquisite, but I didn't believe it was this good; even though it was only my second time ever cooking it, it's already the tastiest dish I've ever prepared." Stated Trenza as she shook her head while smiling before she looked at the last person, whose body was rather messy.
"I'll tell you what, Trenza; even if you stay a weakling, you'll be allowed to stay aboard this ship. Well, at least until I come across a better chef than you; at that point, I'm kicking you off." Declared Diddy as he glanced at Trenza while using his razor-sharp teeth to tear right through his food, devouring small chunks of meat in mere seconds.
"I-I'd recommend slowing down, Captain; I only cooked 25 pounds of food, and you got 12 of those 20 pounds." Said Trenza lightly as her face constantly twitched while she gazed upon the sight of Diddy consuming pounds of food in mere minutes.
"Hmm? Only 12 pounds? So little; no wonder I felt like I was already almost finished. I will need much more food than that to keep up with my intense training; well, it's fine. I don't eat every day anyway, so I'll just eat another meal today; next time, just make sure to cook more food, preferably around 40-45 pounds. That'll keep me good for a few days." Stated Diddy with a frown while glancing at Trenza before shaking his head, stuffing his mouth with the last of his food.
"My goodness and I thought Grand ate a lot of food; you might as well be a child compared to Captain." Said Trenza as she shook her head in disbelief before looking at Grand, though he hadn't heard a single thing, too busy eating his food.
"Don't be so surprised, Trenza; if I so wished, while I may not be able to eat as much as Diddy, I'd still be able to consume 30 pounds of food comfortably. I don't because surviving on stolen vitality is much more cost-efficient; just an adult male's worth of vitality is enough to keep me fed and in peak condition for a few days, though a woman's vitality will only sustain me for a full day." Remarked Freyja lightly as she seductively licked her lips and used her free hand to grasp Grand, sitting to her left, by his thigh, causing him to jolt in surprise, though someone interfered before things went too far.
"No sexual acts at the table, understand? If my food ends up contaminated, I'm killing someone." Said Diddy with a serious face, his every word laced with killing intent as he eyed Freyja, who didn't bother trying to argue with him.
Once we finished eating, or at least when I finished eating, I exited the galley or kitchen and headed upstairs to the deck; once there, I looked up at the morning sky before deciding to take a break from the recent training and do more physical training. Approaching my hammock, I rested Naga-sa nearby before jumping overboard, diving right into the relatively calm water, and propelling myself downwards. In a few moments, I reached the depth I usually go to when I want to search for Sea Kings, and while I happened to spot one, I ignored it and kept plunging downwards.
Eventually, I got deep enough that the sunlight wasn't able to reach, essentially making me temporarily blind, though it barely made a difference; besides, I've been forced to fight blind before, so I'm somewhat accustomed to this, not to mention, my other senses are acute enough where I'm confident to fight even with four of my five senses hampered, granted with the existence of devil fruits, it depends who my opponent is.
Still, even in the depths of the ocean where I became blind, I didn't stop and continued heading downwards, though I had considerably slowed my descent as, at this depth, I could finally feel the water attempting to crush me; it wasn't to the point where it hindered me or anything, at least not yet.
After a few minutes, I finally sensed the ground beneath me, and from what I could tell, it seemed rather pointy, causing me to wonder whether I was on an underwater mountain.
'Eh, either way, this depth is perfect; the water is powerfully crushing against my body, which will make for a good training session. Though I've only got a few hours, after that, I'll start drowning.' Mused Diddy with a smirk while feeling how heavily restricted his movements were.
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Exiting the kitchen after finishing Trenza's delicious dish and feeling much better, I approached the bow, which is where I usually train; once I arrived, I took off my coat and rolled up my sleeves as I unholstered my dagger from my waist. Grasping it in a reverse grip, I began doing a series of various movements, which probably looked like I was training from someone else's point of view, but I was actually fighting against an imaginary opponent, something I've gotten very good at after doing for years.
While I engaged in an intense battle against my imaginary opponent, I happened to notice Grand, Trenza, Freyja, and Father exit from the galley, but I was too preoccupied to give them any mind, so other than a slight glance, I ignored them entirely.
Evading an attack from my opponent, I approached him while leaving or deflecting the numerous swings of his bow-staff; when I neared him, I attempted to stab him in the stomach, causing him to retract his bow-staff and block it. However, that was my goal, as my stab was actually a feint; swiftly maneuvering behind him, I jabbed my dagger deep into his neck, yet though I managed to injure him, I didn't drop my guard for a second; having fought against this specific opponent numerous times, I knew it wouldn't be so easy.
Suddenly, my opponent before me started fading away, causing me to frown before I suddenly sensed death from behind me. Widening my eyes, I attempted to turn around in time, but the last thing I saw was a mouth filled with sharp fangs, grinning at me before blackness consumed my mind.
"D-Dammit; t-that was the longest I've ever survived." Said Scar, soaked in sweat and breathing heavily while kneeling on the ground.
After a few moments, I stood up and dried my face with my coat; however, when I finished, I noticed a ship in the distance, though I couldn't tell whether it was a pirate ship or not, and it seemed I wasn't the only one to notice it either.
"Trenza, can you tell what kind of ship it is? You've got better eyes than me." Asked Scar as he approached Trenza, who was eyeing the ship in the distance.
"It's a pirate ship; I can see the jolly roger. What should we do?" Replied Trenza as she squinted her purple eyes before glancing at the sweaty Scar.
"Well, we are pirates; shouldn't we attack them and steal their valuables? I'm pretty sure that's what pirates do; I've only been a pirate for a week." Said Scar in uncertainty while rubbing his head and looking at Trenza.
"Well, we should go tell Freyja; she's been a pirate longer than us, so she would have an idea of what to do, even though she's only been a pirate for a little over two weeks." Said Trenza while nodding her head as the two headed toward the upper deck, passing by Grand, currently punching some weights he nailed to the mast.
Arriving at the upper deck, we spotted Freyja at the helm rather than Father, though she was reading the newspaper; then again, it's not like she needed to pay attention.
"Freyja, we've spotted a pirate ship off the to the right; should we go and raid them?" Asked Scar as the two approached Freyja.
"Hmm, there is one; sure, we might as well. If Diddy finds out we ignored a pirate, he'll get angry wherever he is." Muttered Freyja as she looked away from her newspaper and glanced at the pirate ship in the distance before grabbing the helm and steering the ship in their direction.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, it also works this time; I've reset it again, https://discord.gg/bCfBVPXS (Note: this link only lasts for one week)
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 160: Triple Punishment, The Cauldron Burning) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 40: Alexander's Crush) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 65: Spying) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]