章 23: Chapter 22

Everyone stopped looking up when they heard Zoro's scream.

"LUFFY!" Zoro shouted, attracting everyone's attention, especially Luffy and Mihawk, who split up just as they heard Zoro's voice. Luffy turned to Zoro and saw him lying on his back with one hand holding his only remaining sword in the air.

"Luffy, can you hear me?" Zoro asked with a trembling voice. Luffy sighed before he chuckled and sheathed his sword, and he answered with a smile.

"Yeah, I hear you," said Luffy. Zoro took a deep breath before starting to speak again.

"Sorry for worrying you," Zoro said, causing Luffy to smile. "If I didn't become the world's greatest swordsman, you would be in a dilemma by now, right?" Zoro said before he coughed up blood, causing the bounty hunter duo beside him to scream at him to stop talking and save his energy, which Zoro ignored, and he continued to talk to Luffy.

"I don't... I'll never... LOSE AGAIN! Zoro screamed, with tears streaming down his face. "Until I defeat him and become the world's greatest swordsman, I can never be beaten again!" When Zoro said that, Mihawk and Luffy's faces showed wide smiles after hearing Zoro's words.

"Do you have a problem with that... pirate king!?" Zoro shouted or asked. Luffy chuckled to himself before he answered.

"Not a problem at all," said Luffy. Luffy then turned towards Mihawk and saw him standing there with his arms folded and his sword already strapped to his back. Luffy was about to talk to Mihawk, but Mihawk looked the other way and spoke first.

"It is too early for you to die." My name is Hawk-Eye Mihawk. You are strong, but you still have much to learn. No matter how many years it takes, I will hold this title as the world's greatest and will wait for you. Until that day comes, you must hone your abilities, then, "FIND ME RORONOA ZORO!" Hawk-Eye said it, shocking everyone there, including Luffy.

Hawk-Eye then turned toward Luffy and spoke. "Is your goal still to become the Pirate King?" he asked. Luffy smirked before he answered.

"You already know the answer to that question," Luffy said, causing Mihawk to laugh, before he turned around and walked back to his ship. As he was walking away, Luffy spoke once more.

"By the way," he said, getting Mihawk's attention. "If you meet Shanks, tell him I will be entering the Grand Line in a week," said Luffy before turning around and heading back to the floating restaurant. Mihawk turned and continued walking to his ship.

As he was about to reach his boat, the sound of someone landing on a wreckage was heard, attracting Mihawk and everyone's attention. Mihawk looked over his shoulder and saw Don Kreig standing there in his golden armor.

"Hawk Eye," Kreig said, making Mihawk turn to look at him. "I thought you came here to kill me," Kreig said. Mihawk looked at him with a bored look on his face before he answered.

"True, but I've had enough fun for today." "So, I'm going home to rest," he said before turning around and starting to walk back to his ship. As he was walking back to his boat, Kreig spoke again.

"Too bad because I just started," Krieg said, as he took out two pistols and activated the hidden weapon hidden under his armor and aimed it all at Mihawk. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky and struck Kreig, causing him to fall to the ground with a smoking body.

Everyone stared at Krieg's smoky figure with wide eyes before they looked back up at the cloudy sky.

"It's as if the gods themselves were punished, Kreig," Patty said in utter disbelief as she looked up at the sky. Luffy looked at them all with an amused look on his face.

"You know I can handle that, Luffy." I don't need your help," Mihawk said, causing everyone to look at Luffy with eyes the size of dinner plates. Luffy laughed before answering.

"I know, but I have a deal with the old man," he said, earning a nod from Mihawk before he stepped into his boat and sailed away. After Mihawk left, Luffy then turned his attention to Usopp and the others, who had just finished bandaging Zoro's wounds.

"Usopp" caught Luffy's attention. "Four of you, follow Nami soon." "I will follow after I successfully recruit Cook," said Luffy, making Usopp stand up straight and salute him before he replied.

"You can count on the great captain Usopp to get his ship back," said Usopp before the four of them set sail after Nami. Luffy then looked at Zeff and spoke.

"I hope our deal still stands?" Luffy asked while laughing and got a nod from Zeff. "Good," said Luffy, before he turned around and looked at Kreig, who was now trying to stand up.

Luffy turned his body into lightning, much to everyone's surprise, and then teleported himself in front of Kreig. When Kreig straightened up, he saw Luffy standing right in front of him, looking at him with a bored look on his face.

Kreig stared back at Luffy with a look of hatred before he raised one of his pistols and aimed it at Luffy's head. The cooks started to worry about Luffy, while the pirates smiled, thinking that their captain would kill the straw hat boy.

Even though Kreig pointed a gun at his head, Luffy's expression didn't change; he still had the same bored expression on his face, which irritated Kreig even more.

One of the cooks was about to yell at Luffy to get out of the way, but before he could, Kreig pulled the trigger. What happened next shocked everyone, even Kreig and Zeff. The bullet shot towards Luffy right between the eyes, but it seemed to go straight through the head just like that, as if he were a ghost.

When Kreig saw this, he staggered back a few steps in surprise before pulling the trigger again and again, only to get the same thing as before. Dropping his weapon, Kreig started to speak while stuttering.

"Y-you... devil fruit eater," he said, shocking everyone who was there. The people around Luffy started mumbling about having heard of devil fruit and myths about devil fruit. Luffy just ignored them all and focused on Kreig, who regained his composure and started to speak.

"It doesn't matter whether you ate a devil fruit or not," Krieg said, causing everyone's whispers to stop and Luffy to raise his eyebrows curiously. "I just need to throw you into the water and make you sink," he said before he stretched his arms behind him and pulled out a spear that had two large gold plates, like the one slung over his shoulder.

Kreig then rushed towards Luffy and tried to punch him in the chest, but Luffy stepped aside, grabbed the spear's wooden stick with his left hand, and held on to it, preventing Kreig from pulling it.

"You are without a doubt the biggest idiot I have ever met," said Luffy in a bored tone while holding the spear.

"What are you saying, brat!" asked an angry Kreig. Luffy just sighed before he answered.

"What kind of idiot would pair a spearhead with two gold discs on a wooden stick?" Luffy shouted before he smashed the wooden stick with his left hand, causing Kreig's eyes to widen.

As the spearhead fell to the floor, Luffy spun clockwise and kicked the spearhead towards Kreig's ship. The spear flew through the air before landing on Kreig's ship, right in the middle of a group of his crew.

The moment the tip touched a solid surface, the spearhead exploded and threw the pirate group into the water. Luffy then looked at Kreig, who had a frightened look all over his face.

faster than anyone could blink Luffy grabbed Kreig's face and slammed his head against the wooden floor. Luffy then stood up and placed his right foot on Kreig's chest before he spoke.

"You have to be careful when using all this metal, Kreig," said Luffy in a voice that sent chills down everyone's spine. "You could be struck by lightning," said Luffy before covering his entire body in electricity and electrocuting Kreig.

Everyone who saw this scene could clearly see that Kreig was in great pain and that he was trying to scream, but no sound came out. Gin stared at his captain with wide eyes; he wanted to help him, but fear didn't let him move from where he was.

Luffy electrocuted Kreig for about four minutes before he finally stopped the flow of lightning, stepped away from Kreig, and started walking back towards the cooks.

Everyone stared at Kreig to see if he would rise again, but with one look everyone could tell. Don Kreig, pirate admiral and ruler of East Blue, is dead.

As Luffy was walking back to the restaurant, he stopped, turned towards the remaining Kreig crew, and stared at them with cold eyes that caused them to flinch under his gaze.

"I advise you all to get out of here before I kill you too," said Luffy, causing them to scramble and run for the wrecked pieces of the ship to use as ships. When Luffy reached the baratie, Zeff was the first to speak.

"You're going to let them go?" he asked. Luffy chuckled and smiled at him before he spoke.

"A dead human wouldn't be able to tell anything," he said before he walked into the restaurant. When he said that, Zeff started to laugh.

"That's right," Zeff said before he followed Luffy to the restaurant along with the other chefs.

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A while later, Luffy was sitting at one of the tables in the restaurant, eating a bowl of soup with Sanji and all the chefs. It's been a few hours since Luffy defeated Kreig, and things seem to have calmed down a bit.

Apart from a few pirates choosing to give up on their pirate lives and turn to being waiters in restaurants, everything was peaceful. That is, until he heard Patty scream.

"Who made this soup!?" he asked loudly. Sanji got up from his seat with a smile on his face and walked up to Patty before he spoke.

"I made it," he said with a smile. "Isn't that the best soup you've ever tasted?" he asked. However, what Patty said next wiped the happy smile from her face and replaced it with an angry frown.

"More like the worst soup I've ever tasted," Patty said before she threw the bowl of soup on the ground. Sanji then bolted, grabbed Patty by the collar, and screamed at her.

"What did you say earlier, asshole?" he asked angrily. Before Patty could answer, several of the chefs started commenting on the soup.

"Yeah, it's disgusting," said one chef.

"Tastes like trash in a bowl to me," said another. It went on like that for a while before every cook in the restaurant screamed at Sanji for how disgusting his soup was.

Luffy was so confused that he wondered if he was eating the same soup everyone else was tasting. He looked next to Patty at the pot that was on the table to see if it was the same pot the food had come from. What surprised Luffy was that it was the same pot the food came from.

So he picked up his spoon and scooped up some more soup, while ignoring the bickering between Sanji and the chefs behind him. The soup tastes great to Luffy. It reminded him of the home cooking Makino used to cook for him when he was a kid on Dawn Island.

Luffy was snapped out of his memory by the sound Luffy used to hear when Zeff's wooden leg hit the floor as he walked. The sound caught the attention of everyone in the restaurant, and they all looked up the stairs to see Zeff walking down the stairs with a spoon in his hand.

He walked straight to the pot of soup on the table before he dipped his spoon into the pot and scooped up the soup. All the commotion stopped; the people who were fighting and eating stopped and looked at Zeff to see what he would say about the soup.

In Luffy's mind, if anyone could truly judge soup and be right about it, it would be Zeff. Zeff put a ladle full of soup in his mouth and swirled it in his mouth to get a good taste before he gave his opinion.

"This soup is disgusting," Zeff said before he spat on the floor. When he said that, Luffy couldn't help but gape. He was about to take a sip of his whiskey before stopping, looking down at the glass in his hand, and thinking to himself.

"Does drinking too much whiskey burn my taste buds?" he thought to himself before shrugging his shoulders and continuing to drink the whiskey again and savoring the taste. He then turned his attention to Sanji, who was walking up to Zeff with an angry look on his face.

"What are you saying, you geezer!?" Sanji asked/shouted. Zeff folded his arms before answering.

"You heard me," he said before turning around and starting to walk back into the kitchen. As he walked, he looked over his shoulder and spoke to Sanji once again. "You better join that boy pirate crew, because I don't need a lousy cook like you working here," said Zeff.

Luffy, who saw how much that comment had an effect on Sanji, decided to add his comment. So, he got up, carrying his bowl, and walked over to the pot and started scooping up some more soup. As he served himself briefly, Luffy spoke to the rest of the restaurant.

"Know, I don't know what you guys are talking about," said Luffy, getting all their attention. "This is the best soup I've tasted in years," he said, making Sanji smile. Sanji then looked at Luffy before looking back at Zeff and speaking.

"Okay then," said Sanji, making everyone look at him. "If you bastards can't appreciate good cooking, then I'm going to a place where mine will be appreciated," he said before turning towards Luffy, who was walking back to his table.

"You got a chef, Luffy," he said before walking out of the restaurant.

nt. When he said that, Luffy smiled at the fact that he just found his cook; now all he needed to do was solve his navigator problem.