Chapter 18: The Sea Restaurant - The Older, the Wiser

Inside the large dining hall.

At that moment.

Most of the guests had paused their meals.

They were watching the commotion, their attention drawn to Sanji, who was arguing with a customer.

The elegantly dressed woman glanced around.

Seeing that everyone was watching her, she sneered. An idea flashed in her mind, and she deliberately dumped the remaining half of her fried rice onto the floor right in front of Sanji.

Sanji's eyes widened in shock.

The woman then stepped on the rice with her foot, grinding it into the floor, and sneered, "Didn't you say you hate seeing food wasted? Why don't you go ahead and eat the rice off the floor? I've already paid for it, so think of it as a gift from me. Don't be shy."

"You…" Sanji trembled with rage.

"Oh, dear," the woman said in mock surprise. "What's wrong? All talk and no action? It's disappointing, really. You should know better than to demand others do something you wouldn't do yourself!"

Her words drew some laughter from the surrounding crowd.

A few people thought she was going too far, but no one spoke up to stop her.

Sanji stared at the dirty, trampled rice on the floor. His clenched fists loosened, tightened, and then loosened again.

Finally, Sanji took a deep breath and said, "If I eat the rice off the floor, you have to eat everything on your table."

The woman narrowed her eyes and ground the rice under her foot even more.

"Fine," she scoffed. "If you eat that floor rice, I'll eat everything on this table!"

"Alright, you said it."

Without hesitation, Sanji knelt on the floor, scooped up the dirty rice with his hand, and shoved it into his mouth.

"Mom, is that guy stupid?" the woman's son laughed, pointing his spoon at Sanji. "Ha ha ha! He actually ate the floor rice! Is he a beggar? Ha ha ha…"

At this, some of the other diners couldn't help but murmur amongst themselves.

"What kind of person bullies a kid like that?"

"No way, did he really eat it? I thought he was joking."

"Hey, lady, the kid ate the floor rice. You should keep your promise and eat what's on your table."

"Yeah, go on, eat it up."

The chatter from the crowd only made the woman angrier. She glared at Sanji, who was still on the floor, eating the rice she had trampled.

Furious, she clenched her teeth, grabbed the fried rice her son had scattered across the table, and shoved it all into her mouth. Then, dragging her son by the hand, she stormed out, muttering, "What a rotten restaurant. You just wait, you little brat!"

Meanwhile.

Takumi, enjoying his drink with the appetizers he ordered, observed the situation with Sanji.

Many might think that Sanji didn't need to argue with the woman over such a small matter.

Or that he definitely didn't need to eat the dirty rice off the floor.

But if Sanji ignored such things, he wouldn't be Sanji.

After all, wasting food and hitting women were two things he could never tolerate.

So, everything Sanji did was exactly what Takumi expected.

At that moment.

Patty, carrying a large tray of desserts, came out of the kitchen. His cheerful expression quickly darkened when he saw what was happening with Sanji.

He hurriedly delivered the desserts to Garp.

Then he marched over to Sanji, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and lifted him off the floor.

The mother and son who had wasted the food had already left.

Patty didn't know exactly what had happened between Sanji and those customers.

But seeing the mess of dirty rice on the floor and the grain stuck to the corner of Sanji's mouth, he had a pretty good idea.

"Let me go, you jerk, Patty!" Sanji struggled as hard as he could.

But at nine years old, he was no match for the much larger and stronger Patty.

No matter how much Sanji struggled, he couldn't break free from Patty's grip.

Patty smacked Sanji on the head with his other hand. "You little punk! You were fighting with customers again, weren't you? Do you know how many customers you've driven away this month? Do you even realize how much money we're losing because of your antics?"

Sanji, defiant, shot back, "Money, money, money! That's all you care about! Can money fill your belly?"

Patty gave him another solid whack on the head. "Of course it's about money! How else do you think we buy the ingredients? You idiot!"

As he lectured Sanji, Patty dragged him towards the kitchen. "You freeloading brat who can't do anything right, get in the back and start washing dishes!"

"Shut up, you lousy cook!"

"Ha? You, who wants to become a lousy cook, have no right to call me that!"

Takumi quietly watched as Patty dragged Sanji into the kitchen.

His goal here was to complete his progress task.

It was clear that Baratie, being a dining ship, didn't have guest rooms available for lodging.

Unless he decided to work here...

Takumi quickly dismissed the idea.

There was no way he'd work for someone else. Not in this lifetime.

The only other option was to talk directly with Zeff, the captain and head chef of Baratie.

Based on his experience in Shimotsuki Village, it was possible that talking to Zeff could trigger a progress task.

With that in mind, Takumi finished the last bite of his meal and took one last swig from his sake gourd.

He was just about to get up and head upstairs to find Zeff when...

Suddenly.

Garp, sitting nearby, tossed a donut in his direction.

Takumi casually sidestepped and caught the donut in one smooth motion, giving Garp an annoyed look.

"Ha ha ha!" Garp laughed heartily. "Nice reflexes, Takumi! Ever thought about joining the Marines?"

What?

An out-of-the-blue invitation to join the Marines?

Just like that?

"No!" Takumi shot back, tossing the donut right back at Garp.

Garp laughed even harder as he caught the donut and took a bite. "Wasting food is against the rules at Baratie, you know."

Takumi was speechless.

You were the one who threw it at me first!

Garp continued to laugh. "Ha ha ha! Don't rush your decision, kid. Think it over."

Despite his carefree attitude, Garp's sharp eyes didn't miss a thing.

The moment he saw Takumi, he knew this quiet kid was no ordinary boy.

What really caught Garp's attention was the drink Takumi was sipping.

Though the scent was subtle, the faint aroma of cherry blossoms mixed with the unique flavor of specially brewed grains was unmistakable. It confirmed that this kid had definitely been to Shimotsuki Village's Isshin Dojo.

Garp had visited Shimotsuki Village once while on duty and spent two days at the dojo, where Koushirou had served him this special brew.

When Garp left, he had asked Koushirou for more of the sake, but the swordsman had refused to give him even a small flask.

Yet here was this kid, with an entire gourd full of it.

It was clear that Koushirou had high hopes for Takumi.

What further intrigued Garp was the small sailboat docked outside, clearly meant for just one or two people.

The design was unmistakably from Windmill Village, and Garp recognized it immediately.

That's why he had asked if Takumi had come to Baratie alone.

When Takumi confirmed that he had come by himself, it pretty much sealed the deal that the small sailboat was his.

And then Garp remembered his conversation with Shanks, who had mentioned meeting a kid who might one day shake the world.

Looking at Takumi now, Garp was almost certain that this was the kid Shanks had talked about!

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