"Hiss—"
"Ow, ow, ow—take it easy!"
Machi's patience finally snapped. She barked, "If it hurts so much, maybe try not getting sliced open like a ham next time!"
"I... it wasn't... the Boss... he... uh... okay, it was me."
Nobunaga looked at Chrollo innocently, but under Chrollo's menacing glare, he swallowed his words.
"There, done." Machi patted Nobunaga firmly on the chest. Her Nen ability, Nen Stitches, made treating external trauma like this a walk in the park.
"Hiss—" Nobunaga winced again.
Chrollo let out a soft chuckle watching the scene, then went back to sighing.
"Sigh..."
The Krieg Pirates had only netted him a measly 3,700 prestige points. As for Hawkeye, that was strictly a "long-term investment"—Mihawk hadn't given him a single point.
[Player's Current Prestige: 10,650]
"I've still got a long way to go..."
Still, Chrollo could finally afford at least one thing from the shop.
[Player has exchanged for Six Powers: Moonwalk (Geppo). Current Prestige: 650. Balance insufficient for further purchases.]
With a flash of light, Chrollo was once again a broke man. However, a stream of energy flowed into his body.
"What was that?" Bonney asked, catching the flicker out of the corner of her eye.
"None of your business," Chrollo shot back, rolling his eyes. He could feel the muscle memory and mechanics of Moonwalk clicking into place in his mind, and his lips curled into a grin.
Bonney pouted, but then she remembered something. Her eyes lit up with hope as she looked at him longingly.
"Hey, Chrollo... since we're here... can we finally go to Baratie?"
Chrollo thought for a second, then finally nodded. "Fine. Let's head over now."
They needed to go to Loguetown to find Dragon next. Since Chrollo had never met Dragon and had no history with him, he had to rely on the connection through Kuma and use Bonney to bridge the gap.
So, before they set off, it was probably a good idea to feed the kid and make sure she was willing to work for him. Besides, Chrollo wanted to see if the Baratie served anything like his favorite stinky rice noodles.
"Welcome," a blonde young man in a suit said, opening the door.
An old man with a ridiculously tall chef's hat and a wooden peg for a right leg greeted them with a smile.
Bonney lunged forward and grabbed the old man's hands, her eyes sparkling. "You must be the owner of the Baratie—Chef Zeff!"
"You know me? Am I really that famous...?" Zeff asked, slightly confused.
"Totally famous! You have no idea! My admiration for you is as vast as the sea itself!"
"The Baratie is basically the One Piece of the culinary world to me!"
"Ho-ho-ho-ho!" Zeff let out a boisterous laugh. "What a charming little girl. I'll whip up something special for you all—and I'll give you a 20% discount!"
"That's amazing!"
Bonney turned back discreetly, winked at Chrollo, and flashed him a victory sign.
---
Chrollo chose to sit at a separate table with Nami so the Troupe wouldn't see him eating his "stinky" noodles.
Uvogin was already at a table, devouring food like a wild animal. Machi sat alone at her own table, elegantly taking small, ladylike bites. Shizuku was busy feeding the wounded Nobunaga, though her airheadedness meant she kept shoving food into his nostrils, causing a minor ruckus.
The rest of the Troupe were scattered around, digging in.
Then, in a corner of the main hall...
Clatter, clatter, clatter—
The sound of plates stacking up echoed through the room. The other diners stopped eating, their jaws dropping as they stared in one direction. There sat "Big Eater" Bonney, showing off her true power. Empty plates were piled up like small mountains.
"Now this is my kind of battlefield! Hell yeah!"
She was sitting on the floor now, surrounded by over a thousand empty plates. Her hands never stopped moving as she crammed food into her mouth, pausing only to yell, "More! More! I need more!"
Zeff's expression went from a smile, to shock, to dead silence. Aside from him and Sanji, every chef in the Baratie was collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.
Nami watched the scene, her heart aching at the thought of the bill. A vein throbbed on Chrollo's forehead. Uvogin tried to compete for a second but eventually accepted defeat and stepped back. This was the sheer, nuclear-level destruction of Bonney's appetite!
"The dining table is a battlefield. Heh, this is what it means to be a chef—" Zeff's face turned grim with determination. "The Baratie will not lose this war! Sanji—get the stoves hot!!"
"Yes, sir!" Sanji nodded firmly. He moved like a blur between the stations, reigniting the extinguished fires. Zeff rolled up his sleeves and grabbed a massive wok, the metal practically sparking as he swung it.
"RAAAAAH! Witness the bond between us chefs!"
Chrollo stared at them, stunned. "Holy... it's actually getting heated."
He scooted over to Zeff and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What is it?"
"Uh... Chef Zeff? Do you happen to have anything that... well, smells bad, but tastes amazing? Something you can slurp?" Chrollo asked with a very serious, secretive face.
If you didn't know better, you'd think he was making a drug deal.
"Oh?" Zeff gave him a knowing look, the kind only men share. He nodded. "Of course. The Baratie caters to the cravings of every guest."
"Really?!" Chrollo's eyes lit up.
When a steaming bowl of "stinky" rice noodles was placed in front of him, Chrollo's eyes turned into hearts just like Bonney's. "Holy crap—Zeff is the man!"
He carefully took a spoonful of the rich broth and let out a blissful sigh. "Bonney was right... this place really is the One Piece."
As he ate, the sky outside began to darken.
Is it going to rain?
Chrollo didn't think much of it and went back to his noodles.
Rumble... rumble...
An earthquake?
Chrollo looked up. He was confused to see the restaurant staff running around in a panic. A chef stumbled over to Zeff, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.
"Ch-Chef Zeff! It's bad! An island just fell out of the sky—it's right above us!"
Chrollo, who still had a mouthful of noodles, felt his eyes bulge.
"!!!"
With a flicker of speed, he dashed out onto the deck. He looked up, and his jaw dropped. High above in the once-clear sky, a gargantuan island was plummeting toward them. The shadow swallowed the Baratie whole as the landmass grew larger and larger in his vision.
Chrollo swallowed the noodles in one hard gulp.
"You gotta be kidding me! I'm just trying to have a meal and a literal island is falling on my head?!"
---