It had been a long and anguishing four days since Rin met Monkey D. Luffy and his crew of misfit pirates. She didn't think that a single pirate crew of four people could cause so much chaos within the restaurant or even cause more damage than any of the cooks could've ever done. It didn't help the fact that Sanji was also flirting with Nami nonstop each and every time the red-haired female came in and somehow always got a free meal. Neither did Luffy's job as being chore boy was only causing more trouble for everyone in the long run because almost half of the dishes were broken and finding a simple that the Straw Hat teen could handle without doing any damage was hard to find.
Only the day everything got worse was in the middle of the fourth day as the fog began to run thick around the restaurant making it hard to see outside. But this time the Straw Hat crew had nothing to do with it because the kindness Rin and Sanji showed to the pirate Gin had come back to bite everyone.
Rin had been working the tables in the dining room when she heard a glass smash onto the floor. She turned toward a female customer's table and saw her staring out the window with wide eyes.
"Huh?" the blonde-haired female said, turning to the window to see what was going on.
Outside within the fog was a single dot that looked like a ship coming toward the restaurant. Rin thought it could've been a marine ship but then realized the terrible expression from the couple that was near the window and looked closer only to see a pirate flag on top of the wooden post of the ship.
"An hourglass…" a terrified customer exclaimed. "On each side of the skull…to show the threat to enemies…that flag is…that flag is…There's no mistake…it belongs to the ruler of the East Blue… Don Krieg!"
Rin let out a small gasp. "Don Krieg…that's Gin's captain."
Gin wouldn't bring his captain here to attack them…no…. he couldn't. But Rin had a feeling that the pirate must have betrayed Sanji's food gesture and kindness into a betrayal as a large broken-down ship that was larger than the restaurant began to stand tall in front of them causing a large shadow over them.
"Why… why are the Krieg Pirates here?" a customer wandered out loud.
"You see it, Patty?" a cook shouts pointing out the window. "They actually came! You're gonna get rid of them, right?"
"This can't be real," Patty cried with sweat pouring off his body. "This is the Don of the pirate fleet with a 5000-pirate force we're talking about! Why would he come all the way here to get revenge just for one of his men? Doesn't he have anything better to do?"
"It's no mistake! He's really here!" Another cook shouted at Patty.
Rin continued to stare out the window as the fog began to fade and her mouth dropped out from what she saw. The pirate ship seemed to be nearly destroyed. The wood was splintered and the sails were ripped to pieces along with metal being broken in ways that it shouldn't have been able to be broken.
"Their ship is beat up…" she admits to everyone in the dining room.
It took a few minutes before footsteps could be heard entering the dining area. Rin saw a large shadowy figure of the man that had to be the pirate Don Krieg walk past a window before slowly making his way into the room with the help of someone. The door slowly opened which caused nearly everyone to worry until Rin saw Gin basically helping a man covered in bandages walk into the room.
Huh? This is Don Krieg? She wandered with pure confusion. Only she didn't know if this was the pirate captain or not because she never bothered looking at bounty posters for any of the pirates within the East Blue.
Don Krieg seemed to be a large and muscular man with purple-gray hair and distinct sideburns. Even though a thick layer of gauze wrapped around his scalp from an injury. He wore a long purple fur-lined coat along with purple pants and an orange shirt with horse prints as the design, but something that was shiny and golden seemed to be near the collar of his shirt.
"I beg you," the words coming out of the pirate mouth made every stare at the pirate that ruled the East Blue. "I need food and water. We have money…tons of money…I don't even remember the last time I ate. Please… give me some water and food…I'm begging you."
Rin let her mouth fall open in shock. "What?" This couldn't be real and her ears must have picked up something else because it sounded like Don Krieg, the most feared pirate within the east Blue, was begging for food and water.
It was unbelievable. A cruel pirate like that turned into a beggar. This couldn't be real.
"What is this?" a cook whispered to Patty.
Patty shook where he stood as sweat poured from his body. "He shows neither dignity nor force."
Rin frowned at the words. "Maybe the Grand Line changed him."
"Is he really that Don Krieg, Commodore of the grand pirate fleet?" Patty continued to ask.
"I guess he's hungry…" Luffy mumbled from the staircase.
Sanji began to walk past Luffy and into the kitchen to cook a meal or several.
Don Krieg suddenly fell forward and Gin had to support the male and keep him from falling over. Rin would've gone over to help, but Patty quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back. They couldn't risk getting too close to the worst pirate within the East Blue because this could be a trick.
"C-captain!" Gin cried to Don. Only this time when they stumbled, they both fell onto the ground. "Don Krieg!" Gin quickly turned his attention to everyone gathered in the room as he yelled, "P-please! Help our captain! He's really about to starve! He hasn't eaten anything for days! He'll die if he doesn't eat!"
Even as Gin's begging for his captain to be saved seemed to fall on deaf ears. The customers looked away from him and seemed more annoyed than wanting to hear about what happened to Don Krieg. Rin frowned but stayed in her place because she didn't want to risk moving because she knew Gin was a good person but Krieg would've killed anyone here if he showed up for more than just food. But their motto was to serve anyone and make sure no one went hungry.
All she could do was hope that Sanji got the food done before something worse happens. Only she heard a deep laugh coming from Patty as she sent a glare at the cook. Now Patty really was trying to get himself killed by Don Krieg.
"This is good! It's a riot to see the famous arch rogue Don Krieg like this…"
"Patty! Stop it!" Rin shouts at him.
"We have money this time," Gin quickly shouts to Patty. "We're customers!"
Patty just continued to laugh. "Don't be ridiculous!" he quickly turned toward another cook and ordered, "Hey, contact the Navy right away."
"What?" Gin said in terror.
Rin's eyes grew wide as she turned to the cook that was given the order. "Don't call the Marines. That will only make things worse." Once Don Krieg recovered, they all would die if the navy showed up to capture the pirate. The whole restaurant would turn into a battlefield.
"He's at his weakest right now," Patty explained to everyone within the room. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! There's no need to feed him anything. Keep him under arrest."
Gin glared at Patty with gritted teeth.
"He's right!" a customer declared. "We don't know what he'll do once his energy's back."
Another customer adds, "He's done bad things."
"He deserved to starve because of everything he's done!" Someone else within the area said.
A cook crossed his arms and said, "Once he's back to normal, I bet he'll attack this restaurant straight away. There's no need to give him even a glass of water."
Don Krieg began to get to his feet. "I won't do anything… I won't do anything…Once I eat, I promise I'll leave quietly. So please…help…me…"
"Don Krieg, please stop!" Gin begged. "Please stop begging! It's not something you should do! Please don't do something so disgraceful!"
The pirate captain was kneeling on shaking hands and knees as he continued to speak. "I promise…Please…. I'll take leftovers or anything… anything…"
Everyone in the room stared in shock at the scene. Rin looked up at the kitchen stairs where Sanji had gone up and she wondered if he was done cooking the meal yet because this was getting hard to watch. She quickly turned her head back in the direction of Gin and Don. They had to be honest about what was being said…but Don Krieg was known to lie. Even within the pirate captain's weakened state didn't mean that he would be keeping his word after he was fed.
Gin gritted his teeth and gave a sorrowful, "Don…"
Suddenly Rin's ears picked up footsteps coming down the stairs and knew it was Sanji.
Patty gave a small scoff. "Ha! Are you trying to gain our sympathy?"
"Hey, out of my way, Patty," Sanji exclaimed as he kicked the male in the face which sent Patty into the brick wall which began to crack from the impact. Then Patty fell off the stairs and hit his head on the way down.
Rin frowned at the action because another part of the ship was broken. I seriously just fixed the last thing that broke only an hour ago…now I need to fix a brick wall that's cracked. Why does this keep happening?
Luffy seemed surprised by the act and mumbled, "Oh boy…"
Gin looked up and gave a small gasp. "S-Sanji."
Sanji stood in front of Gin and held a bowl of food along with a bottle of wine. The blonde-haired male lays the bowl and drinks onto the ground and says, "Here, Gin. Let him eat it."
"Sanji," Gin whispered once more.
Don Krieg had tears within his eyes as he began to eat from the bowl as he whispered, "Thank you!"
Rin watched the scene for a minute but her body remained on edge at the whole event. Her brother was really close to Krieg; if the pirate chose to change his mind, the blonde-haired male would be the first one to be hurt. But Don had given them his word…only that didn't put any of the people within the restaurant at ease.
"Hey, Sanji!" a cook ordered as he rushed down the stairs and pointed a finger at Sanji. "Take that food away now! Do you realize what kind of man he is? He's the man who's called the East Blue Ruler, the foul player Krieg!"
Sanji didn't seem to care about what was being said even though most people are on edge.
"It started in a prison." Another cook began to explain the story of Don Krieg. "He pretended to be a marine soldier and took over a Navy ship by killing a senior officer on the ship. That's how he declared himself a pirate."
A former marine turned pirate, Rin thought in shock with brown eyes going wide at the knowledge. She didn't want to believe that the Navy actually still lets Krieg run wild if he used to be a former Marine, but then again, the Navy system had a problem of letting cruel people into positions of power.
"He sometimes raised the Navy flag and entered into harbors in order to attack the towns and passenger ships. He also raised a white flag and then attacked enemy ships… He did anything to continue winning. That's how he got to where he is now!"
Luffy frowned at the knowledge as his dark eyes landed on Don Krieg. "Huh, so he plays dirty."
Rin gave a nod toward Luffy. "Yeah. He's your topical idea of a pirate."
"His real strength is overwhelming as well. Leaving after eating? That's not possible with him! Letting such a wicked fiend die without help is for society's sake!" The cook continued to speak but stopped as Don finished the glass of wine.
Everyone stared for a moment and waited to see what was going to happen. Only what happened was the event that Rin had feared. Don Krieg stood up and quickly punched Sanji across the face, which sent the blonde-haired male playing backwards to the ground.
"Sanji!" Rin shouted.
Gin sat on the ground with his mouth wide open and sweating falling off his body. He shook from the shock of the event because he clearly didn't think his captain would've attacked Sanji.
"What?" Luffy whispered with a frown.
The cook that had been explaining everything about Don's mouth fell open as he cried, "S…Sanji!"
The customers began to run away and scream in fear.
Rin frowned but kept her brown eyes locked on the scene because Sanji was still alive, even after a strong hit like that. She didn't know what else the pirate captain could want from the restaurant with his ship already halfway destroyed. Attacking them wouldn't do any good for Don.
"Th…this isn't what we agreed, Don Krieg!" Gin told his captain. "I brought you here under the condition that you wouldn't touch this restaurant!"
Not even Gin knows Don's true plan. Rin realized.
"And that man saved our lives…" Gin continued to reason with his captain.
Don quickly lifted Gin up by the smaller pirate's arm. "Yeah, that was delicious," Don agreed before pushing hard against Gin's shoulder which caused a horrible snapping sound of bonds breaking to each through the room. "I feel alive again." Then he dropped Gin to the ground.
"Gin," Rin whispered.
All of the cooks stared in shock. Luffy just stared with barely any fear or anything expressed on his face-Rin was not sure why that was the case but she had a feeling the Straw Hat was not phased by anything that was going on in front of them for some reason.
The customers that had been inside opened one of the back doors and ran toward their boats that were outside. They cry and scream from witnessing the pirate Don in action was enough to say that they wouldn't be coming back to the restaurant anytime soon.
Don turned and looked at everyone else that remained within the restaurant with a terrifying glare. He gave a small hum before smiling. "This is a good restaurant. I'll take this ship."
Rin's brown eyes went wide at the declaration. "What?" She whispered into the air as her eyes went down toward Sanji, who was still on the ground, only then did he start to move and set up from his spot. "Sanji, you're okay."
"So…" Sanji choked out. "That's what you want…"
Patty began to set up from the ground, Sanji had knocked him out earlier and he was beginning to see the situation they were in with Don. "Ow, ow, ow…" he looked at Don standing strong and tall in front of him and Patty began to shake with his mouth open in shock.
Don Krieg glared at Patty as steam came out of the pirates' nose which reminded Rin of an angry bull. "My ship became a wreck, so I wanted a new one." The pirate explained to everyone gathered around the room.
Wait, doesn't he have a fleet…Rin thought as she paled. So, what if one ship was already destroyed, he'll be able to get a new one from one of those 5000 pirates that were under his command. Unless something happened to the fleet.
"You'll get off this ship after you take care of what I tell you to do," Don explained.
"Wh-what? No!" a cook shouts.
Gin held onto his shoulder and chokes out, "Don Krieg…This isn't what you promised."
Krieg pointed a thumb toward his nearly destroyed ship that was outside. "There's about 100 of my underlings still alive on my ship. They're weak with hunger and severe injuries. First, prepare 100 meals and water for them."
Seriously, Krieg could've just asked instead of trying to take control of the restaurant by force. Rin was willing to admit because they would've cooked the meals.
"There're some who've already starved to death. Bright them over…now!"
"Are you telling us to revive pirates that are gonna attack this ship?" a cook shouts in shock. "We refuse!"
Rin looked toward the wooden floor. If they feed the pirates, then they would attack them. If they feed the pirates, then the pirates will be able to live. But no matter what the pirates either die without food or water or the restaurant gets attack and-
The logical reason would be to let the pirates die…. but that also meant letting people starve to death which Rin didn't want to think about.
"Refuse?" Krieg said with a snarl on his lips. "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not placing an order. I'm giving you orders. It doesn't matter who you are…don't defy me!"
All of the cooks just stared in shock as the stream seemed to leave Krieg's nose once again which made Rin flinch because they were only making the East Blue pirate angry.
"Sanji…" Gin whispered.
"Hmmm," Sanji breathed as his eyes landed on the pirate that was still holding his broken shoulder.
"Sanji, I'm sorry…I didn't mean for this to happen…"
Patty turned and furiously shouted at Sanji. "You son of a bitch! Look what you've done!"
Sanji didn't say a single word to Patty. All the blonde-haired male did was look at Gin for a few seconds before standing up and walking back toward the stairs that lead to the kitchen. Rin frowned at the choice her brother had made but they didn't have much of a choice.
"Hey Sanji!" a cook shouts. "Where're you going?"
Sanji paused in his steps and said, "To the kitchen. I have to prepare 100 more meals." Then he wiped the blood off his chin with his thumb.
"Sanji!" Gin choked.
"Sanji!" Luffy said.
"What?!" Every single cook shouted at Sanji.
Rin shook her head. "Whatever choice we make won't fix anything." It might save lives, but it wouldn't stop the pirates from attacking them.
"Right." Krieg answered with a grin. "That's how it should be."
Before Rin could even blink all of the cooks appeared around Sanji holding large spoons, forks and knives all pointed at the blonde-haired male. She screamed in shock because the female only looked away for a moment.
"What are you doing?" Rin screamed at the cooks. "Where did you guys even get those giant weapons?"
"Are you Krieg's spy, Sanji?" A cook asked the blonde.
"We can't let you go in the kitchen!" another cook stated.
"We're fed up with your crazy behavior!" Patty shouts
Sanji placed his hands in the air and ordered, "Go ahead…"
Rin's mouth fell open at her brother's words. Did Sanji just tell them to kill him? Her mind went frozen for a whole minute as she felt a wave of pain go through her head which made the female feel sick at the thought of Sanji dying.
"What?" Rin whispered out loud. "Sanji…"
"If you want to stop me, go ahead!" Sanji told the shocked cooks. "I know… He's an incorrigible rogue…I know that much…But that doesn't matter to me. That doesn't matter! What happens after we feed them…It's too much of a bother to think about it. I'm a cook. No more. No less. If there's someone who's hungry, I'll feed them. That's all." He closed his eyes for a minute before letting out a breath and looking toward the other cooks. "It's all right for a cook to be that way, don't you think?"
Only before anyone could give Sanji an answer Patty hits the blonde-haired male in the middle of his back which caused Sanji to fall to the ground.
Rin screamed in shock before shouting, "Sanji!" She quickly turned toward Patty and shouted, "Why did you do that, Patty?"
"Patty!" another cook shouts in shock.
"Hey, someone had to keep him restrained!" Patty exclaimed with pride as he pointed to himself. "Sanji, you sometimes feed customers I drive away at the back door, don't you?" Sanji twitches on the ground from the pain as he turns his head to glare up at the other cook. "I'm not gonna say who's right, but this time, it's your mistake. I'm not going to let you do what you want any longer. I'll protect this restaurant." He walked over to a small door that was underneath the stairs and opened it before digging around inside looking for something.
"Patty…. what are you going to do?" Rin whispered in confusion at the other cooks' actions.
"Fortunately, we have only one enemy to fight. Even if it's Don Krieg, what can he do against us?" Patty stated as he began to pull something out.
Krieg gritted his teeth and glared at the talking cook.
"This is a sea restaurant where pirates come and go every day. We're fully prepared to serve any kind of customer!"
"Patty what are you…" Sanji tried to say but slowly stopped speaking.
"Are you full now, Krieg?" Patty wondered to the pirate with a grin on his face. He quickly pulled out the object he was looking for. "After the main course, how about…a piece of iron dessert?" He asked as he lifted a giant gun with a lobster designed on the side toward the pirate.
"That weapon looks completely ridiculous," Rin mumbled.
Patty quickly pressed a switch on the side of his weapon and shouted, "Meatball of Doom!"
A giant flash of bright light filled everyone's vision.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"So, bright." Rin admits as she lifted a hand to shield her brown eyes.
A small metal cannonball came firing out of the weapon toward Krieg. The cannonball hit the pirate straight on as an explosion sounded and the light became brighter. The wind from the impact sent a wild breeze into the restaurant and outside it as smoke from the attack began to fill the whole area.
"Don!" Gin cried.
"I might've broken the doors," Patty said as the smoke began to clear.
"You idiot, stop breaking the restaurant!" Rin shouts at him. How many more things was she going to have to fix later? Today the list was a broken wall and now the doors.
"Owner's gonna yell at me again." Patty stated.
"Again…you mean you've used that before!" Rin continued to yell at Patty.
"Yeah, but you were away getting supplies with Sanji when I first used this thing," Patty explained to the blonde-haired female.
"Well," a cook admits with a small frown. "You did it to protect the restaurant. It's a small price to pay."
Sanji grimaces. "What're you gonna do about those in Krieg's ship?"
"Who knows…" Patty states with a grin and a hand on his hip. "Maybe we'll spread butter on the ship and stir-fry it…"
The sound of footsteps echoed around the room as a figure began to walk forward within the smoke.
Did Don actually survive that? Rin thought as her brown eyes went wide from surprise at hearing the pirate's voice.
"It'll taste good, right? You lame cook!"
The cooks and Patty began to freak out because Don Krieg was perfectly fine from the blast. Rin thought that the attack would've at least caused some kind of damage. She guessed pirates that ruled the seas weren't built like normal flesh and blood people.
'How dare you serve such a nasty dessert!" Krieg spat. "This is the lousiest restaurant!"
Suddenly there were sounds of plates opening up and that's when Rin's realized that Krieg was where a golden armor suit that had hidden plates built it which held weapons that were quickly pointed at the terrified cooks.
"You're damn annoying!" Krieg shouts as he opens fire.
Cooks were sent flying backwards from the force.
Rin ducked down the stairs as she heard Luffy's voice.
"From all over his body…"
"Bullets…" Sanji shouts.
Gin placed his hands over his face, ashamed and shaking with fear.
None of this was supposed to happen. Nothing went the way Gin thought would happen when he brought his captain to the restaurant. Rin frowned as the bullets stopped firing and she peaked out from behind the stairs.
How are we supposed to fight someone that has armed themselves with hundreds of weapons underneath golden armor? Rin wondered.
Don Krieg took off a leather gloves and showed a golden armor glove with several jewels engraved on them. "Don't defy me! I'm the strongest! Steel arms more powerful than anyone's…A wootz steel made body that is harder than anyone's…And a diamond fist that can destroy anything!" He hit his chest plate with his armored hand. "I have all sorts of built in weapons throughout my body… The 50-ship large fleet and 5000 pirate force! I've won all battles in the past! I am the man fit to be called Don!"
"Out of my way, Kid!" Zeff ordered Luffy.
Rin looked up and noticed Zeff holding a big bag full of food being brought down from the kitchen. Luffy stumbled down the stairs after being shoved by the bag and Rin quickly caught the Straw Hat teen and quickly moved Luffy to the side.
"What's pops doing?" Luffy asked Rin.
"The only thing he can do for the time being," Rin admits to the kid. But that wouldn't save the restaurant from Krieg and the pirates that would attack this place once their feed.
"When I tell you to prepare food," Krieg spat at the group of cooks. "All you have to do is obediently follow orders! Don't defy me!"
Zeff quickly threw the bag of food between him and the pirate. The Head Chef glared at Krieg before stating, "There's probably enough for 100 meals in this! Bring it to your ship right away."
"Owner Zeff!" Several cooks exclaimed to the Head Chef.
The pirate Don Krieg had gone pale at the name of Zeff. His eyes shook with fear as the middle age pirate stared at the older one with sweat pouring off his body and lips shaking, "Z…Zeff? Red Foot Zeff."
Zeff quickly turned on his heels and began to walk away from the pirate.
"What're you doing?" a cook asked Zeff.
Another cook quickly asked, "What're you thinking?"
"If we revive even those on the ship," another cook explained to the owner of the restaurant. "Our restaurant will be completely taken over!"
Zeff stopped walking and declared, "If they have the will to fight, that is…"
Rin thought for a moment at Zeff's words. What did the older man know that the rest of them didn't? It clearly must be a game changer if Zeff wasn't afraid of Don Krieg in the slightest at the moment. Maybe the pirates would be thankful for the food and drink and wouldn't attack them, but Krieg might kill them if his crew doesn't fight.
"Will to fight…" Rin whispered to herself.
Zeff quickly turned to look at Don with a stern look, "…right, defeated warrior of the Grand Line?"
Don Krieg went stiff at the words.
What? Rin thought as everything began to click. Gin warned Luffy about the Grand Line. The sight of Don's ship being broken and destroyer with none of his fleet arriving within the area. How the crew was starving and barely any water. Does that mean Don went to the Grand Line and lost?
"C…can't be…" a cook whispered in shock. "The great Don Krieg is a defeated warrior…"
"Then even the ruler of the East Blue couldn't…" another cook adds with a shock expression. "Even the pirate fleet with 50 ships couldn't sail across…"
Luffy stared in shock. "Grand Line?"
Don Krieg didn't even seem concerned with any of them for his eyes were only on Zeff. "Y…you must be Red Foot Zeff!"
Oh no, Rin thought. He figured it out.
Don's expression quickly became expressionless as he glared at Zeff with a simple sentence, "So you are alive… An incomparable pirate who was a cook and yet also a captain…"
Zeff turned full to face Don. "So, what if I'm alive? It has nothing to do with you. As you can see, I live as a cook now.
Was Don actually going to fight Zeff? Rin didn't know nor did she actually want to see a fight happen between the two of them. But Zeff walked away from being a pirate and opened up the restaurant alongside Sanji and Rin who had joined the older man here. There was no need for a pirate ego contest…but sometimes pirates fought just to show which one was more skilled. She was willing to bet that Din wanted to take his chances against the pirate cook.
Don let out a loud laugh and smirk. "If you put it that way, it sounds nice…though rather than living as a cook, it looks like you can live only as a cook." His eyes were on Zeff's peg leg.
"Take that back…" Rin shouts at Don.
"Quiet little girl," the pirate captain hissed. "Red Foot Zeff was a master of kicks who never used his hands in battle. I hear that his strong legs crushed bedrock and even left footprints on steel. And Red Foot referred to your shoes, which were covered in the blood that spattered as you kicked your enemies down… But you no longer have that precious leg of yours… I've heard the rumor…How unlucky for you to have an accident at sea… To you, losing one of your legs must mean you are unable to fight."
Zeff looked at Don and gave a blunt statement, "What about fighting? I can cook without a leg as long as I have these hands." He lifts up his hands to prove his point. "What're you trying to say? Just come right out and say it!"
Don Krieg gave a wolfish grin. "Red Foot Zeff. You're the man who once entered the Grand Line and came back unhurt… There should be a logbook with the full year of your journey chronicled in it…Give that to me! Now!"
Seriously, Krieg is like a whiny little child who's never heard the word; no. Rin came to realize the longer this conversation went on. Plus, Krieg now wants Zeff's logbook to make the journey across the Grand Line easier on him…Don was basically a weak pirate looking for help and was willing to steal, kill, and anything else to get it.
"Whoa!" Luffy exclaimed as he looked at Zeff with an amazed expression. "You've been to the Grand Line, too, pops?"
"Yeah…" Zeff answered in a gruff tone. "My logbook, huh? Indeed, I have it with me. But I can't give it to you." The grin that had been on Krieg's face fell as the cook continued to speak, "The logbook is the pride of all the crewmen that I traveled with. It's too important to give it to you."
Those words only made Krieg furious as he clutched his hand into a fist. "Then, I'll just take it from you by force. It's true that I feel from the Grand Line. Even if that's the case, I'm still Don Krieg, the strongest man. It's merely a dark sea route. To sail across it, I had enough power… and forces…as well as ambition! The only thing that was regrettable was that I lacked information. I just didn't know things…" The pirate began to defend himself and his choices. "I'll take that logbook. And I'll form a large pirate fleet again and seize the One Piece. And then, I'll stand on top of this Great Pirate Era!"
Everyone just stared at the declaration.
Rin just rolled her eyes. Don Krieg would never surpass Roger. She doubted any pirate alive would be able to do what the Pirate King did within their lifetime again. Roger finding the One Piece at the Grand Line was a one in a million chance…it would be hard for any pirate to ever do the same thing Roger did.
Only the moment the Straw Hat teen began to walk forward Rin wondered for a brief moment if Luffy would be able to find the One Piece. The seventeen-year-olds dream was to become Pirate King…but he never said anything about surpassing Gold Roger. Only that Luffy wanted to be Pirate King and find the One Piece…he never said anything about standing above pirates. So, what was Luffy's real goal in becoming Pirate King?
She never did ask him, but due to how Luffy acted she doubts he actually had a full plan. The Straw Hat teen barely had a crew at the moment. So, she didn't think he would be adventuring into the Grand Line anytime soon. But she'll keep in mind to ask Luffy why he wanted to become Pirate King.
Luffy pointed at Don and said, "Hold on a second! I'm the one who's gonna be King of the Pirates!"
"Huh?" a cook said.
"Chore boy!" another cook exclaimed in shock.
"Hey, back off, Chore boy!" Patty shouts to the teenager. "You're no match for him!"
The Straw Hat kid grin and adds, "I can't back off on this."
"Did you say something, kid?" Krieg as the Straw Hat kid. "I can let it pass…'
"You don't have to. I just stated a fact," Luffy fired back at the older pirate.
He's really trying to start even more trouble, Rin thought with a grimace on her lips.
"This isn't a game," Don Krieg stated.
"Of course not. I'll conquer the Grand Line," Luffy said with confidence.
The comment made Don Krieg furious as the pirate began to rage. "It's no joke, you brat! It's true that we didn't have information, but a fleet with 5000 men was wiped out in just seven days! That's a devilish sea! There's no way someone like you can sail across it!"
"S-seven days?" Patty exclaimed in shock.
A cook exclaimed, "Krieg's pirate ships were wiped out in just seven days!"
"What on earth happened?" another cook asked.
"He lost all these ships except for one in seven days…" Rin wondered what had destroyed all those ships. Some kind of sea monster or storm must have destroyed them. Unless Don Krieg was overconfident and picked a fight with the wrong pirate crew.
"Unfortunately, I don't find those kinds of jokes funny," Don explained to Luffy. "If you're not going to let it drop, then how about I just crush you here…"
Luffy straightened his Straw Hat before making a fist with his right hand as he brought it back behind him getting ready to throw a punch as he grinned, "Go ahead if you can…"
"Fine by me. As you wish, I'll send you to the netherworld." Krieg proclaimed to Luffy. His metal plates began to unclick as the weapons came back out.
Silent felt the area as Rin stared at the scene. Several cooks were shocked at what was happening while Luffy prepared himself for a fight. Zeff was calm and just staring at Krieg with a furious expression that seemed to be dancing within his eyes. Rin saw the expression and understood why Zeff was furious because Don was more focused on all of them instead of taking the food and drink given to him back to his starving crew.
Then there was a sound of a metal sword being drawn above on the staircase.
"Huh?" Rin whispered as she turned around and saw Zoro standing with one of his swords ready to be drawn when Usopp (the long nose male), shaking with a confident smile that was forced to his face.
"Gonna fight, Luffy?" Zoro asked his captain with a smirk. "Need a hand."
Usopp's legs continued to shake as he looked up at the ceiling, not even bothering to make eye contact with anyone, and said, "I-if you don't need help, though, th-that's fine too…"
Luffy turned and looked at his two crews and said, "Zoro! Usopp! You stopped by? Don't worry. Just watch from there."
Zoro put his sword away with a metal clink that echoed around the room.
Usopp continued to shake and said, "Y-yeah? T-too bad, but if you say so, what can we do… B-but if push comes to shove, we'll help you. S-s-so, g-g-good luck!" In that moment Zoro elbowed Usopp, who fell back onto the ground.
Rin shook her head and looked away from the scene. Zoro would be the one helping out when Usopp would just be saying random stuff in the background. She turned back to Don Krieg, who had a frown on his face. Clearly no one had expected Zoro and Usopp to show up to help out.
"What'd you do that for, Zoro?" Usopp wandered to the swordsman's because the long nose male had been elbowed by him.
"Shut up!" Zoro replied. "Just keep quiet!"
Don Krieg gave a small laugh before looking at Luffy. "Are they your crewmembers? That's quite a small group you got!"
"What are you saying?" Luffy asked. "I've got three more!"
Rin felt confusioned by Luffy's statement. All Luffy had was Zoro, Usopp, Nami and…. He'd ask Sanji and her. Oh, he was counting them in his crew as well.
"Hey!" Sanji shouts from his spot on the floor. "You counted me, didn't you?
"Yeah," Rin said in agreement with a small nod. "And me, too."
Zeff and Don stared at each other for a moment before the pirate turned off his weapons and put the metal golden plates back over them.
"I'll deal with you later," Don declared to Straw Hat "I'll go feed my underlings." He quickly picked up the large bag and placed it over his shoulder before directly speaking to everyone else within the restaurant. "Those who don't want to die can abandon the restaurant and escape. All I'm after are the logbook and this ship."
Really… who does he think he is telling us to give this place up? Rin thought with a glare. There was no way they could just leave this ship in Don's hands or that logbook. Who knows what he'll do with it? She wouldn't let him take Zeff's dream away.
This restaurant had been like a second home. A third life for Rin and Sanji. They couldn't just abandon this place to a greedy pirate.
Don turned around and began to walk out the door. "But if you still wish to be uselessly killed…" he turned his head to glare at the cooks. "It's a bother, but I'll bury you into the sea. Know that." Then he turned back around and walked out of the restaurant for the time being.
Silent took over the restaurant.
Some of the cooks had wounds from Krieg's attack that were bleeding and staining their white uniforms. While a few still held onto the large knives and forks, all eyes remained on the pirate Gin that led Don Krieg here. Rin didn't know if she should've felt guilty at helping Gin before or feel bad that Gin only wanted to help his captain and crew which led to Krieg lying to Gin in the first place. Either way helping Gin led to this outcome.
Gin continued to shake in his spot holding his injured shoulder with his head bowed. "I'm sorry, Sanji. Rin. I never imagined this would happen…" He clearly believed Don would've kept his word.
"That's not something you should apologize for, underling," Zeff stated to Gin. Everyone turned to look at their boss in surprise at his words. "Each cook at this restaurant acted as they felt was right. That's all!"
"But Boss!" Patty shouts holding onto a large fork. "Why are you acting as if you're taking Sanji's side? This mess is his fault."
The cooks saw that Sanji feeding Gin in the first place, and then Krieg caused everything to happen. They were right but they were also wrong…in a way. The action Sanji took was saving a life which Rin could understand but the future fight that would happen here might happen if they didn't. It was a battle of what was right and wrong which was the conflict. Would you let someone starve or not?
That was the choice at the end of the day. Sanji made a good choice, but the action still had an outcome that Rin didn't want to think about.
"That's right!" another cook adds. "He's responsible for this whole thing!"
A cook pointed a finger at Sanji and said, "He's going to put your precious restaurant out of business!"
"Shut up, you idiots!" Zeff orders. "Have you felt what it's like to be on the brink of starvation? Losing food and water on this grand ocean…"
Rin looked away from Zeff and turned her gaze toward Sanji. She never liked hearing about this every time it's brought up, she would rather pretend it never happened. Only it did…but she never wanted to think about it and tried not to focus on Zeff's words and stayed staring at her older brother.
Sanji took out a cigarette and a lighter to light the thing before puffing the smoke out into the open air.
"Do you know how scary it is? Do you know how hard it is?" Zeff continued to explain to the cooks.
"What?" Patty asked, confused. "What do you mean, Owner?"
"The difference between Sanji and you all is whether you know it or not."
The cooks looked at each other in confusion.
Rin didn't look at any of the cooks that looked down at her as she brought her right hand closer to her chest before walking over to stand by Sanji, keeping her brown eyes down because she didn't want to answer or even think about it again.
She nearly died. Sanji nearly died. Zeff was almost dead by the time the three had been saved.
It was best not to explain it to someone that wouldn't want to hear it.
"Hmm?" a cook said. "What does he mean?"
"What's he saying that Sanji knows?"
Zeff gave a small scoff at the words being thrown around. "If you have time to grumble, leave the restaurant from the back door already!"
Patty grips the wood of his weapon. "I'll stay and fight. I couldn't bear it if I was just beaten and didn't fight back," He slammed the wood onto the floor with a determined look forming on his face.
"I'll stay, too! This is the restaurant where I work!" another cook declared.
"We don't have anywhere else to go anyway!" a cook spoke from the back of the group.
All of the other cooks began to lift their weapons and cheer. Rin gave a small smile at the sight that everyone wanted to stay and fight. Gin looked around the room in shock at the events that were taking place.
"What do you think you're doing?" Gin shouts as he slammed his hands onto the floor. "You saw how powerful Don is, right?"
"Hey, Gin," Sanji spoke to the pirate as he walked forward. "Listen up because I'm only going to say this once. Feeding someone who's hungry is my morality." He placed his foot on a fallen table leg and with one moment the table was back onto its normal position. "But… those we'll be dealing with are plunderers with full bellies. I won't let you complain even when I beat up your fellow pirates. If someone's going to take over this restaurant, even if it's you, I'll kill them without hesitation! Got that?"
Gin gave a small gasp at the words.
Rin gave Sanji a sheepish look. She never did like it when her brother was angry because he could be scared when he wanted to be.
"Ha! Letting him live and now killing him?" Patty questioned. "You're hopeless, Sanji…"
"Shut up, you damn cook!" Sanji hissed to Patty.
"You, see?" Luffy said to Zoro and Usopp as he pointed a finger at Sanji. "He's kinda cool, isn't he?"
Rin smiled at the Straw Hat pirate because of the comment.
"Who cares about him!" Usopp snapped.
Rin glared toward the long nose pirate. "Don't disrespect my brother!"
Usopp froze before saying, "Sorry."
"Easy their Luffy," Zoro explained to the Straw hat captain. "Even if it's Krieg, he's a wreck with injuries."
Luffy frowned before turning to Gin and asked, "Gin! You said you didn't know anything about the Grand Line. Even though you've been there?"
Gin looked toward the ground. "It's still true that I don't know. What happened on the seventh day after we entered the Grand Line… I don't know if it was a dream or reality… I don't know if it was a dream or reality… I still haven't been able to come to terms with it… I still just can't believe… that the 50-ship fleet… was wiped out by only one man…"
"What?" Rin said with wide eyes at that knowledge. "One man did all that." That shouldn't be possible.
Everyone else within the room either screamed; Luffy, Usopp, and Patty. Sanji's eyes grew wide at that knowledge. Everyone else stared in shock at the story.
"What?"
"As soon as this man appeared, he sank the ships one after another. If we hadn't been lucky enough to have that storm then, our main ship would've been completely destroyed as well… I don't know how many ships we have left… It was just so dreadful that I don't want to accept it as reality… I don't want to remember… that man's…sharp hawk-like eyes whose glare alone gives one the chill of death."
Zoro leaned forward on the stairs with wide eyes. "Wha… What did he just say?"
Zeff kept his expression blank and crossed his arms before saying, "That… must be Hawk-Eye…"
"Hawk-Eye," Rin said out loud because the name must be fighting for a guy that could one shot a whole fleet of ships down within under a few minutes.
"What?" a cook asked.
"That you felt his eyes were like a hawk's isn't proof in and of itself," Zeff continued to explain. "But what this man did is enough proof that it's him."
"Hawk-Eye!" Zoro breathed as he shook in the staircase.
Does Zoro know the guy or something? Rin wandered.
"Huh?" Luffy answered as he looked up to the swordsmen. "You know him, Zoro?"
Zoro let out a small breath before closing his eyes as calm washed over him. "Yeah…He's the man I'm looking for. I went out to sea to meet him."
"That's interesting," Rin admits to the swordsman. Only for her to freeze as her mind wondered if Hawk-Eye was a swordsman as well which meant. "Wait, did he use a sword against all those ships?" What kind of monster was this guy?
"Isn't it possible that Hawk-Eye had some deep grudge toward you guys?" Sanji asked Gin.
"We never did anything to him!" Gin quickly explained to everyone in the room.
"Like you guys disturbed his nap or something…" Zeff stated to the young pirate.
Rin frowned at the words. Who would attack someone all because they woke him up from a nap? That sounds ridiculous. Only people have killed and fought against people for dumb reasons in the past. So, she had no idea if it was true or not.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Gin shouted at Zeff. "I'll be damned if he crushed our fleet for such a reason!"
Zeff gave a small chuckle at the comment. "Don't get so worked up. It's just an example. I'm just giving an example of what kind of place the Grand Line is."
Usopp was terrified and asked, "What the heck kind of place is that?"
"It probably means that anything can happen," Zoro explained rather calmly.
Usopp burst out into tears before he quickly turned into shock. "Hey Luffy!" he shouted down toward his captain as his fingers gripped into the metal stair bars. "Let's not go to a place like that! Luffy!"
Rin turned and looked at the Straw Hat kid that was shaking. Her brown eyes went wide and wondered if Luffy was scared, but his Straw hat that was hiding his face at the moment made it very hard to tell. "Luffy are you…"
"Hey Luffy?" Usopp asked
Luffy picked his head up with the brightest smile on his face and fist in the air in a silent cheer. "Ahhh! It sounds so exciting! That's how it should be!"
Rin blinked at Luffy's actions and frowned. "I guess he's looking forward to it."
Usopp was furious and shouted, "You need to get the concept of 'danger' into your thick skull!"
"But my goal is not completely narrowed down to the Grand Line," Zoro stated.
"What?" Usopp whined with tears pouring down his eyes.
"That man…" Zoro admits as he leaned his back against the wall with a small smile forming on his lips. "I can see that man if I go there…
Sanji looked at the swordsman and asked, "Are you guys stupid or what?' Then he turned to look away from the small pirate crew. "Guys like you die before anyone else."
"Yeah," Zoro said, which caused Sanji to turn and look at him. "But you didn't have to call us stupid. When I decided to become the strongest swordsman, I decided to devote my life to it. Since it was my decision, the only one who can call me stupid is me."
Rin smiled at the words. But she had a feeling that Zoro and Sanji weren't going to get along with each other…even though her brother has not agreed to join Luffy's crew yet
"Ahh! Me too, me too!" Luffy shouts with his hand raised in the air with a full smile on his face.
"Me too!" Usopp cheered. "That's just natural as a man of the sea!"
"Wow," Rin breathed as her eyes drifted between Luffy and Usopp. "You two have the same energy."
Zorro lift his sword and tapped Usopp in the back of the head, which made the other male go stiff. "In your case, that's a lie," the swordsman's pointed out.
Sanji just kept his glare at the pirate crew before turning his head away with a mumbled, "What nonsense…"
Rin frowned at the words before shaking her head. Now wasn't the time to think about the Grand Line but how to deal with Don Krieg and his crew. They couldn't allow the pirates to take over the restaurant. So, they had to come up with a plan.
"Hey!" Patty shouts. "Do you idiots understand the current situation? The ship moored in front of the restaurant is the huge Galleon that belongs to Don Krieg, Commodore of the pirate fleet! If you wanna escape from reality, do it after surviving this life-or-death crisis!"
"I can't believe I'm going to say this but Patty is right," Rin admits to everyone else in the room.
"Oh, Rin," Patty said with pleasing eyes. "You actually agreed with me."
"Yes, and we need a plan."
(But at this point in time unknown to anyone gathered within the restaurant the one responsible for attacking Don Krieg's fleet in the Grand Line had arrived, aiming on destroying the ship that escaped. Hawk-Eye (Dracule Mihawk) was known as the Greatest Swordsman in the world and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.)