Recruiting Sanji

Next, Gin told us a little about the man responsible for sinking the entire ship.

Zeff was able to recognize the man as 'The Hawk-Eyed Man,' with certainty.

"He's the man I'm searching for… Since they met him over there, I guess Grand Line is inextricably tied with my own goals…." Zoro clutched his swords, his eyes beaming. He was now determined to travel to Grand Line with me for his goals.

"You idiots, you are all just rushing to your deaths in the Grand Line"

Sanji showed his back to us and took another drag. His words were meant as a warning; however, none of cared for his comments. All of us would die rather than give up our goals… Well, it was forced on me, but I didn't mind looking cool for a moment.

I got up, gazing at the 'skies,' and spoke in the coolest voice I could muster.

"The moment we accepted our dreams, we all threw our attachments to life…! Besides, there's always a chance that if you follow me, you can get a harem of women that wi-"

Bam… Nami punched me before I could finish my sentence. Somewhere in Sanji's mind, the though of leaving the Baratie became more attractive.

Chaaarge…! In due time, the Krieg pirate fleet attacked. All the restaurant staff and my crew went outside to fight. 'This shall be interesting,' my eyes flashed as I flew up in the sky to get a good seat for the show.

From the distance, Dracule Mihawk appeared. In a blink of an eye, he struck out his sword and slashed the huge galleon belonging to Krieg pirates in two.

My eyes widened from observing Mihawk's swordsmanship. Although I could destroy the ship just as effectively, it would be impossible without my Devil-Fruit Powers…

Also, I was confident the man imbued his swords with a little bit of Armament Haki. The change was subtle, barely causing a scratch at my huge radar system, but I was able to detect an anomaly around his sword for a second there.

'Huh… would I be able to deal with that sword in a fight,' Hundreds of conjectures appeared in my mind, as I imagine a scenario where I'd fight the man.

"Wahhhh…!"

"What just happened?!"

Everyone's eyes froze from witnessing the destruction of the huge galleon.

Right after, Dracule Mihawk arrived at the scene. He told the Krieg pirates that he was chasing them to 'pass time,' resulting in the anguish of the Krieg pirates to increase further.

Soon Zoro walked up to Mihawk and challenged him for his title. Mihawk defeated him with a wound on his back, but Zoro said "it's a swordsman dishonor to have a wound on his back." Mihawk showed a rare change in expression and said, "Splendid!" He slashed Zoro's front but held back enough not to kill him.

I watched the scenes without interfering at all. It wasn't really my place to stop a man's determination to die for his dreams, but I would have probably stopped Zoro if I didn't know how the scene ended beforehand.

Buzz… I caught the falling Zoro in my hand, surprising all the people present there.

"W-What was that…!"

"H-He's a devil-fruit user!"

Mihawk narrowed his eyes at me and said, "A comrade of the young swordsman? So, you've also witnessed what just transpired…"

Instead of answering Mihawk, I quickly transferred Zoro in my hands to Nami and Noelle before coming back at lighting speed. Without a proper doctor, Noelle was our best option. With some help from Nami, she should be able to patch Zoro up for now.

"Fear… not. I haven't killed the man." Mihawk continued, his face with his usual serious expression.

At that moment, Zoro regained his consciousness and coughed.

Mihawk raised his voice to honor Zoro's determination and encourage him to try and surpass him. With bitter tears in his eyes, Zoro declared to me that he would never lose again until I become the Pirate King.

Sanji watched this scene, and he couldn't help but remember his dream to see the All-Blue sea.

I accepted Zoro's conviction with a grin. And in the inside, I was like, 'Bro… I love your promise, but please don't forget to run from the likes of Kizaru for now.'

After finding out that I want to become the 'Pirate King,' Mihawk said, "Hum… you two won't make a bad team. Just remember your powers aren't invincible."

Mihawk started walking away from the Baratie, unwilling to stay any longer after having his fun.

I wanted to tell him that I already knew the spoilers on Armament Haki, but I held myself back. On one hand, I was really itching to let lose some of my powers against someone this strong; on the other hand, I didn't want to provoke a Yonko level enemy and a formal rival to Shanks just yet.

Out of anger, Krieg made a futile attempt to try and stop Mihawk who just slashed all of his ships once gain. Unable to stop Mihawk from leaving, Kreig turned his attention to the Baratie. He wanted to steal the ship and its logs to try his luck on the Grand Line once again.

I clicked my tongue at his stupidity and flew up in the sky so that everyone was able to see me.

"Stop right here or you die! This place will be under my protection because my new crewmember Sanji's here," I said, my voice carried by the electrical vibrations to everyone present here. Lightning was also wriggling from my entire body, scaring each and every member of the Don Krieg Pirates.

Even Sanji looked astonished by my devil-fruit powers and the extent I was willing to go to recruit him.

"Ahhh… we can't fight him!"

"We should just escape…"

A few weak-hearted yelps sounded from the Grand Pirate fleet.

Dog Krieg eyes bulged, and he yelled,

"His devil-fruit powers are special, but he's just one man. We're 100 men over here; we'll be able to defeat him and take over the Grand Line in time."

UOOHHHH… The pirates finally built some courage and charged at the Baratie

'This is going to be the last time I'll consider sparing idiots such as these,' I thought as I started building electricity around my body.

Kreig used his gun array from a far and fired a few shots at me. I just gave him a blank stare and got ready to unleash destruction upon these mortals… I mean regular people like me.

A few wise and cowardly men could hear the deafening thunder noises around me and used this opportunity to jump in the ocean.

"Sigh… If Mihawk hasn't taught you a lesson, I hope this will help some of you in the future."

Sango Smash…!! A massive charge of electricity from my hands was unleased around Don Kreig, with no specific target in mind. Lightning Bolts kept firing around the area, increasing the people being trapped in its range

"Ahhhh… H-Help!"

"No, ples hel.."

Zap… Boom… My Sango ended with a wide electrical blast that sent fragments and fried bodies flying around the area.

In the end, I decided to walk up to Krieg and end his ambitions once and for all. A few loyal pirates like Gin crawled to stop me, but I just ignored them.

"B-Basterd… I'm going to kill you!"

Keireg murmured, his consciousness fainting by the second.

His threatening words passed through my ears without me registering them. I said, "Krieg… Your entire philosophy about more is better was wrong. This is my final gift to help you…''

Electrical Discharge…!! I fried the electrical nerves in his body, effectively crippling him of his strength. It's not like he can't be healed, but it would take a special neurosurgeon, at least at Chopper's level to help him.

Ultimately, Don Krieg was carried by Gin and his crew-mates away from the Baratie. Only I knew in my heart that this crew will cease to exist from now. All the Baratie's staff celebrated at his defeat, and Zeff had a conversation with Sanji about leaving.

…

Presently, I and Sanji were in the Baratie's deck, having a conversation.

Sanji was gazing at the ocean with relaxed brows, and he said, "I can't believe monsters like you exist… You didn't even let me show-off my conviction to save this restaurant eh."

"Hum true… I'll tell you that if monsters like me can exist, so can our dreams. I won't claim to know your relationship with Zeff, but I feel he'll be happy to see you go out there to live for yourself a little. Besides, there are giant mermaids out there just waiting for us… Stay well Sanji!"

Sanji tugged on his bottom lip, hesitating for a long moment there. He just couldn't leave the old man, Zeff, alone that easily… but those mermaids kept popping up in his mind.

I left the deck and prepared with my crew to set sail.

Meanwhile… Zeff prepared his entire staff to fire Sanji from the restaurant. They blamed his 'terrible' soup and threw it away on the ground. Before Sanji could start a fight for wasting a good soup, I drank the soup and complimented it.

In the end, Sanji cried tears when he secretly heard the staff compliment the soup and how it was all an act to make him leave to live his dreams.

I rejoiced when I got my latest recruit and his talent for both cooking and fighting...