Chapter 8: Dedication

And so, I am back from my one-week trip. I just had to watch some fansubs before making the next chapter.
I own One Piece! I'm kidding. Reviews are deeply appreciated (Again, thanks to those of you who have already reviewed).

Nami was cutting up some lettuce. Mashed potatoes and salad were on the menu.

She wasn't sure how she had gotten kitchen duty. They probably just randomly picked slaves to cook, but still, on the Going Merry, Sanji would constantly flirt with her and make special dishes in the kitchen, and now she was the one cooking, as if it was some omen. It doesn't matter, she thought. But I still want to see that sage and find out who that Dendes guy is.

She turned to speak to the middle-aged man next to her.

At the moment, that man was in an argument with another guy next to him.

"This gravy's no good, Sooze. Can't you make anything better?" said the man next to Nami.

"I poured all my concentration on that gravy, Bunge!" said the other man, whose name was obviously Sooze.

"Yeah? Well you need more than concentration to cook well."

At that point, Nami turned the other way and asked the man she was now facing,

"Excuse me, but can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?" He replied.

Nami asked, "Can you tell me what you know about the sages? And maybe that guy with Kraken named Dendes?"

The man just looked at Nami for a second, then said, "Are you new here?"

Nami answered, "Yes".

"Okay," the man replied. "Well, the sages... they are the first people to be enslaved by Kraken six years ago. They've been here in this slave camp ever since it was created.They have learned every aspect to living here and know its entire history, so they have that nickname, the sages."

So that's why Ugama told me to ask them, Nami thought. "And do you know anything about a man named Dendes?"

"Well, one time, I did wonder who he was, so I asked one of the sages, and..."

Nami waited.

"Before Kraken formed his company, Kraken Corpse, Dendes was the first mate of his pirate crew."

First mate! Nami thought. The same person who slaughtered the sailors of five Marine ships!

"And now, Dendes serves as a bounty hunter, carefully hunting down pirates and other criminals so the Marines don't know that he works for Kraken. Then the bounties he collects are used to keep the company in business. Also, the man named Ugama, he was Kraken's navigator, but now he operates the slave camp while Kraken handles the business part of the company."

"Okay," Nami spoke. "Thank you".

Just then, Sooze yelled out, "Oh yeah! Well what about when you're not in the kitchen? You have a fun time trying to milk those cows on the farm!"

"Oh sure," Bunge replied sarcastically. "I"m the one who can't catch a measly chicken!"

"Why you-" Sooze and Bunge both grabbed a knife and lunged at eachother--

until Nami slammed both of them on the head, causing them both to fall to the ground.

"Give me those knives!" she shouted. Sooze and Bunge both complied.

"If a tool is used for cooking, you use it for cooking. If you two cooks have dedication, you wouldn't use a knife as a weapon just because it's sharp."

"Dedication?" Bunge spoke as he got up. "I've got plenty of dedication! Come on, people! This is no time for talking! We have thirty minutes left to finish cooking!"

With that, Bunge and the rest of the cooks continued cooking. Except Sooze, who sat on the floor.

"Sooze?" Nami spoke.

"I had dedication as a technician". Then he got up. "But I can still cook than stupid Meatballhead over here!"

"What did you call me?" Bunge replied.

"Just wait! The people are going to lick this gravy off their plates!"

"Oh, is that a bet?"

As they kept squabbling, Nami thought to herself, "If you two cooks have dedication, you wouldn't use a knife as a weapon just because it's sharp".Those words, they sound exactly like something Sanji would say. He had such dedication, he wouldn't even fight with his hands. But I'm actually dedicated to navigating myself. I'm also dedicated to mapmaking. She thought of her dream to map the entire world. How could she do that in a slave camp?

Meanwhile, you-know-where...

Zoro gave out a big snore.

"So then the short guy chopped down the huge tree, and the lumberjack said "That's amazing! Where did you learn to do that?" and the short guy replied, "The Sahara Forest". Then the lumberjack said, "Don't you mean the Sahara Desert?" and the short guy says, "Is that what they call it now?" HAHAHAHAHA!" Sanji laughed out loud.

"What's the Sahara Desert?" Luffy asked.

"Now that you mention it, I don't really know." Sanji replied. "I just got that joke from the Crap-Geezer. Maybe it's some island in the Grand Line".