Chapter 17: The Sea Restaurant - The Boy Who Refused to Waste Food

Takumi had been sailing for an entire week since leaving Shimotsuki Village.

Finally, on the eighth day, just around noon, he spotted the silhouette of the Baratie.

Baratie was a renowned sea restaurant in the East Blue.

One of the core principles at Baratie was strict—wasting food was absolutely unacceptable.

Due to the presence of numerous well-armed combat chefs, Baratie was also known as the "Fighting Restaurant."

Takumi knew well that the head chef and owner, Red-Leg Zeff, and the future sous-chef, Sanji, would likely play key roles in completing his progress tasks.

Takumi's small boat slowly approached the Baratie.

Since it was lunchtime, many ships were already docked around the floating restaurant.

After finding a spot between two large ships, Takumi secured his boat with a rope.

As soon as he stepped onto the Baratie's deck, the familiar system notification chimed in his mind.

[Beep! Congratulations, host, on successfully arriving at the check-in location, the Sea Restaurant Baratie. Progress +10%. Current total progress: 10%. New skill unlocked: Flash Step Lv1. System space expanded tenfold. Current system space: 100x100x100 cubic meters.]

100x100x100 cubic meters—that was a massive space. If he filled it with food and drink, Takumi could easily sustain himself for an entire year.

As for Flash Step…

When the system integrated the information about Flash Step into his mind, Takumi's eyes lit up.

This was a skill from Bleach, allowing for rapid movement—so fast that the opponent couldn't see him move to their side or farther away.

The advanced form, Utsusemi, even allowed for instant escape from a surrounded position.

For Takumi, Flash Step was an excellent support skill.

He pushed open the red door leading to the dining hall.

Takumi walked in calmly, his demeanor indifferent.

The dining hall was already filled with many guests enjoying their meals.

At that moment, a burly man with a large mouth and a face resembling a gorilla approached Takumi, rubbing his hands together.

"Welcome, kid. We don't serve freeloaders here. Do you have money?" he asked, his tone direct.

Takumi looked up at him.

It was Patty.

Patty was a former pirate who had joined the sea restaurant as a chef and combatant.

Paying for a meal was standard procedure, so Takumi didn't find Patty's question about money out of line.

He casually reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin pouch, jingling it in his hand.

Patty's ears perked up, and he immediately grinned from ear to ear. "The customer is always right. Please, follow me, sir."

He led Takumi to an empty table and handed him a menu, still rubbing his hands together and grinning in a rather unsavory manner. "Please, order whatever you like."

Takumi glanced at the menu.

The prices were indeed higher than what one would find in a restaurant on land, but that was to be expected.

Takumi selected a few dishes without much thought.

Just as Patty finished noting down his order, the door to Baratie opened again.

Two young men in Marine uniforms entered first.

Behind them, a tall, burly man wearing a dog head helmet strode in with large steps.

"Welcome, Vice Admiral Garp," Patty said with a big smile, immediately recognizing the newcomer.

"Ha ha ha!" Garp laughed heartily. "It's been so long since I've had Baratie's desserts. Go, bring me all the best sweets you've got!"

"Right away, sir," Patty responded cheerfully, leading Garp to the table directly to Takumi's right.

The two Marines who had entered with Garp stood straight and tall behind him.

Takumi glanced over.

Indeed, it was Luffy's grandfather, the Revolutionary Dragon's father, the famed "Hero of the Marines," Vice Admiral Garp.

In reality, Garp's strength had long surpassed that of a vice admiral. The fact that he had repeatedly driven the Pirate King, Roger, to the brink of defeat was evidence of that.

However, Garp had repeatedly refused promotion to admiral, so he remained a vice admiral.

Recalling the call Garp had made to Shanks back in Windmill Village, Takumi figured Garp had probably returned to the East Blue to visit Luffy.

Takumi hadn't expected to run into Garp at Baratie.

Taking a sip of his drink, Takumi placed his sake gourd on the table.

Garp sniffed the air and turned to Takumi. "Hey, kid. What are you drinking?"

"Alcohol," Takumi replied casually.

Garp's eyes then fell on the sword at Takumi's waist, Star Fragment. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he asked, "You're a swordsman?"

Takumi continued drinking, not bothering to answer.

Seeing this, Garp burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha! What an interesting kid. What's your name?"

After swallowing the sake in his mouth, Takumi answered calmly, "Takumi."

"You came to Baratie alone?"

"Yeah."

Garp continued his questioning. "Which island did you come from?"

Takumi looked at him with exasperation.

Was this guy trying to check his background?

Takumi ignored him, continuing to drink his sake.

At that moment, a blond boy with several bandages on his face, as if he had just been in a fight, approached, carrying two plates of food.

"Here's your order. Enjoy," the boy said.

It was Sanji, nine years old, and the future chef aboard Luffy's ship, as well as one of its main combatants.

After placing the dishes in front of Takumi, Sanji turned to head back to the kitchen.

But before he could take a step, an irritating sound caught his attention from a nearby table.

"Why is there carrot in my fried rice? I hate carrots! This disgusting stuff shouldn't even exist!" a young boy's voice whined.

"Oh, darling, if you don't like it, just leave it. We'll order another one without carrots, okay?" his mother, a young woman dressed in luxurious clothes, replied.

Sanji glanced over at the table where the boy and his mother sat.

And what he saw nearly made his blood boil.

The boy had dumped the entire plate of fried rice onto the table and was now stirring it around with his spoon, playing with the food. Occasionally, bits of rice would fall to the floor.

For someone like Sanji, who had once been on the brink of starvation, such waste was unforgivable.

"Hey!" Sanji shouted, marching over to the boy who was wasting the food.

The boy's mother, seeing Sanji approach, quickly said, "Oh, good timing. We'd like to order something else."

But Sanji ignored her and demanded, "Do you know how many people in the world are starving? How can you waste food like this?"

The young woman blinked in surprise, then furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about? I bought this food with my money, so I can waste it however I like. What's it got to do with you?"

"Damn it! So what if you have money?" Sanji clenched his fists, his anger rising. "In a place where there's nothing to eat, can money fill your belly?"

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