Chapter 137: Free Training Course For Sanji In The East Blue
Talking business is normal.
If you do not do business, where does the money come from to support a family, or to fuel dreams of sailing off on grand adventures?
After breakfast, Sanji headed into the village on his own to find a bookstore and buy cookbooks.
Roy, on the other hand, was dragged off by Hancock to attend a very serious "business negotiation."
"Roy, come inside with me…"
Discussing business was like savoring tea. You could sit there and taste it for a long, long time.
Hidden inside every big deal were countless little traps. Take one wrong step and you could suffer heavy losses.
Get scammed once and entire fortunes could vanish.
A big transaction that went bad could cost you hundreds of millions.
If things went really wrong, you could lose everything your family had.
…
The midday sun beat down from above by the time Roy finally staggered off the ship.
He had the look of a man who had just discovered what true poverty felt like.
He had lost all his Berries today.
Behind him, the rival merchant known as Boa Hancock stood in perfectly tailored business clothes, watching him with an amused glint in her eyes.
Roy shook his head again and again. Today was a cursed day for business.
His wallet was empty. Completely cleaned out.
That was it.
"It is gone," he muttered.
"Then you are done for today," Hancock said, laughing as she turned and walked back inside. "Go play."
Roy had even had his water bottle confiscated.
Hancock had laid down a new rule. From now on, no goji berry tea when he went out.
…
Hancock stood by the cabin window, watching Roy's figure disappear into the village.
Then she flopped back into her hammock and stretched out her legs.
Her legs ached.
She did not want to move at all.
"Damn it, that guy…"
She stared at the ceiling helplessly.
That man's appetite was ridiculous.
In the village bookstore, Sanji yawned.
Master had given him a big stack of money and told him he could buy whatever cookbooks he wanted.
But there was one condition.
He had to sit and read them in the bookstore.
Which was strange.
Why tell him to buy books, only to have him read them here instead of taking them home?
But whatever Master said was absolute.
So Sanji listened obediently, perched on a stool with an open cookbook in his hands.
"Sanji, come on," a familiar voice whispered beside his ear. "Master is treating you to something delicious. We will continue training in the afternoon."
A big meal?
Sanji's eyes lit up. This was the first time his master had taken him out to eat.
"Do they have Tyrannosaurus meat? Dinosaur egg drop soup?" Sanji licked his lips eagerly.
The elderly lady behind the counter looked at him like he had lost his mind.
Was this child drunk on cookbooks?
What nonsense was he spouting?
There were no such things as dinosaurs in this world.
"No," Roy said, grabbing Sanji by the ear. "Do not act like every delicious dish has to use the very best ingredient."
He tugged him out of the bookstore by the ear.
"The best chefs are not famous because they always have the rarest ingredients," Roy said as they walked. "Even with simple ingredients, if you can make something that fills people up and satisfies them, that is already impressive."
"A chef who dreams too big but has no skill is just a clown."
"A chef's job is to give hungry people a warm, filling meal. It really is that simple. Understand?"
"So my mission is to feed the people who are starving, and everyone who is hungry is my guest?" Sanji's eyes widened.
He had never been stranded on a sea stack with nothing to eat.
The idea that "food is precious" could only reach him now through Roy's words.
"Wrong."
Roy chopped the air with his hand.
"If someone is a bad person, they deserve to starve to death."
"The general direction is right, but your values are wrong. Not everyone deserves to be fed."
"Bad people deserve to starve."
Roy's tone was flat, but his gaze was sharp.
Sanji in the original story did not care who it was, as long as someone was hungry he would feed them.
In Roy's eyes, that way of thinking was just strange.
People needed proper values.
Why would you save a cruel murderer or a vicious criminal?
Helping them might only hurt more people later.
There was nothing wrong with staying neutral and minding your own business, but if you could not even tell right from wrong, well…
Roy himself had chosen his own path.
He refused to join the Navy, because he knew enlisting would only hurt him in the long run.
But that did not mean he was a bad person.
Even when he had decided to keep his connection with Linlin, he had been trying to change and influence her through his actions and the books he left behind.
She might still be a pirate now, but compared to the original story, she had been pushed to the opposite side by the World Government's persecution.
If they wanted excuses, the World Government could always find a crime to pin on someone.
"I do not really understand yet," Sanji admitted, "but I will remember it. I will think it through slowly."
He had just lost his mother and sister.
He treasured this new master who had taken him in.
Roy was nothing like Zeff. Strictly speaking, he was not even a pirate. He had lived in the remote Calm Belt all these years without the World Government noticing him, so he had never been officially branded.
In Sanji's eyes, his master was a very proper, serious man.
Which only made him more afraid of disappointing him.
He would complete any training task that was given to him.
And anything Roy said, he would carve into his heart and slowly puzzle out the meaning.
Judge had locked a metal mask over Sanji's face because he had given up on him, faking his death and sealing him away.
There was no way Sanji could ever be unafraid of losing his family again.
Now, Roy had become one of his most important family members.
…
Inside a small restaurant, Sanji ate with a serious look on his face.
The meat was good.
The fish and shrimp were fresh and tasty.
For Nami's family, this spread would have been a once in a lifetime feast.
But Sanji's mind was wrapped up in his master's words and the afternoon's training tasks.
"Eat properly and stop thinking so much. Eating is also part of training," Roy said, patting him on the head.
"Oh…"
Sanji hurriedly pushed his thoughts aside and focused on his plate.
Roy chewed on his meat and started wondering if he should send Sanji to a certain special training ground.
Word was that Vice Admiral Garp had returned to the East Blue.
And what did travelers like him love to do the most?
Go to Foosha Village.
Give Luffy a beating.
Get to know Garp.
Wait until Garp came home to visit, then join one of his brutal training camps.
Flash some impressive skills like Observation Haki or Rokushiki, say a few things that would make the Navy drool with admiration.
Then, when Garp tried to drag him off to the Marines, use the excuse of "playing with Luffy" to slip free.
Wait until Garp went back to Navy Headquarters.
Then leave Foosha Village.
Free lessons.
"Sanji," Roy said after a while, "in a few days, I am going to take you for some special training."
"Oh?" Sanji's eyes sparkled. "Is it an advanced cooking class?"
"Secret," Roy said, smiling in a way that was far from kind.
It would be a course that would let Sanji experience what it meant to run for his life.
A dream training program built around the Iron Fist of Love.
After the meal, Roy dropped Sanji off at the same training spot as the day before and left him to work on his drills.
Roy hummed a little tune as he strolled toward the orange grove.
He could not spend all day telling Nami stories. He had his own training to keep up with.
In this vast ocean, only strength let you move freely.
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