Chapter 104

"Finally! We're here!" Terzo celebrated as he stretched his body the moment he and Soma got out of the train.

Terzo and Soma were currently standing on the train station of Pucci, the island city popular for its food and cuisine. It was no wonder that Pucci was also called 'The Gourmet City'.

The thought of food alone made Terzo's stomach growl. He had no idea he was hungry.

"Let's go," Soma said, walking ahead to lead the way. "Cooking is nice, but I wanna focus more on eating for a change."

"You looking to expand your menu, oh dear cook?" Terzo asked, falling into step beside Soma.

"Exactly," Soma said. "That's the whole point of me coming here."

"I'd be surprised if there's a better cook than you out here."

"That's high praise," Soma said, rather embarrassed at Terzo's words. "I'm sure there are lots of cooks out there better than me."

"I guess we'll see about that," Terzo said, just as they got out of the train station and into the city itself.

The first thing that Terzo and Soma saw was a tall concrete wall. Soma's experience as a cartographer allowed him to estimate that the wall was around sixty meters tall in just a quick glance.

"That is one tall wall," Terzo said. "This place a frequent target of pirates or something?"

"More like it's a guard against the sea," Soma said. "Aqua Laguna, remember?"

"Ohh, right." Terzo scratched his head. "That big scary flood. I guess this place is also affected."

"In any case, we're really lucky," Soma said. "That old grandma we met told Ace that Aqua Laguna just passed. We won't have to worry about that."

"We can eat to our heart's content!" Terzo said before looking around with squinted eyes. "Now, where's-?"

"Everyone, over here!" shouted a woman's voice. "The Pucci Gourmet Tour is about to start!"

Terzo and Soma's gazes drifted over to where they heard the shout come from. There was a woman in uniform in front of a gathering crowd. She had a sign held up that read 'Pucci Gourmet Tour'.

"Look. It's an actual tour," Soma said to Terzo. "A gourmet tour, huh? It's my first time seeing one."

"Don't tell me you want to join them?" Terzo asked with an eyebrow raised at Soma.

"Why not? I bet it'll be an organized tour around Pucci, showcasing all its unique cuisine," Soma said.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Terzo asked.

"Adventure? What are you talking about?"

"We're in unfamiliar territory, Soma!" Terzo said. "Don't you want to discover all the good places yourself?"

"The fact we're somewhere we don't know is exactly why I want to join a tour!"

"Fine, suit yourself. I bet I'll find better places than your boring tour," Terzo said with a smirk before waving goodbye.

"Oi, you think it's a good idea to split up?" Soma asked.

"Bah, we're in a city of food!" Terzo said, dismissing Soma's concern. "We'll be fine. I know you can take care of yourself~!"

Soma watched Terzo run towards the tall wall surrounding Pucci. His antics earned him the attention of the other people around them.

"What is that man doing?"

"Where's he running to?"

Terzo kept running straight towards the tall concrete wall. Even when he got near it, he showed no sign of stopping or turning and just kept going straight.

"He's gonna crash into the wall!"

"Is there a play or something?"

Much to the surprise of the average people watching Terzo, he didn't crash or turn. Instead, Terzo jumped up. He then ran along the wall, going upwards. His eyes were locked on to the peak of the wall.

"Look, mommy! That man's running on the wall!"

"That's dangerous!"

"How is he doing that?"

Terzo showed no sign of stopping. All the activity outside the train station stopped to witness his success or failure. Even the tour guide for the gourmet tour stopped shouting into her Transponder Snail megaphone.

The crowd watched with bated breath. They haven't seen such a ridiculous feat yet. Their eyes were glued to Terzo who showed no sign of stopping. He was already more than halfway up the tall wall.

"Go! You can do it!"

"You're nearly there!"

Seemingly empowered by the crowd's cheers, Terzo's actions got more vigorous. When he was ten meters away from the peak of the wall, he stopped running.

"Oh no!"

"He's falling!"

The crowd started panicking. Soma, however, wasn't worried. He knew Terzo would be fine.

At the height of his momentum, momentarily stopping midair, Terzo jumped. He jumped in a manner that once again utterly surprised the normal people that were watching: Terzo jumped in the air.

With that last spurt of effort, Terzo reached the top of the wall and disappeared behind it. The crowd cheered and clapped.

"Pfft. Showoff." Soma scoffed at Terzo's stunt, but there was a smile on his face.

Soon, the people in the crowd returned to their business. Soma went ahead and approached the tour guide who was once again doing her job.

When Soma got close, he felt a wave of disgust well up inside him. The tour guide was a beautiful young woman. She looked great. Her uniform hugged her curves well.

Soma, however, didn't react how a normal boy his age would. Instead of attraction or appreciation, he felt like beating up the young woman in front of him.

That was not a normal reaction and Soma knew that. He calmed his breathing and remembered the lessons Owner Zeff taught him: if you can't see them as a person, think of them as a customer.

"Excuse me?" Soma approached the young tour guide with a practiced amiable smile.

"Yes? What is it, sir?" the young woman asked.

"I couldn't help but notice that you're guiding a gourmet tour," Soma said. "Is there any chance I can join?"

"Oh! Uhmmm…"

Soma didn't like the face the tour guide was making. It seems that joining the tour at this moment wasn't a simple affair.

"I'm sorry, sir," the young tour guide said. "People usually book in advance to join this tour."

"I see," Soma said. "Well, that's too bad."

Soma was slightly disappointed. If he knew that he wouldn't be able to join the tour in the first place, he would've gone with Terzo.

Left with no other choice, Soma walked away. But, he wasn't too disheartened. Terzo's words still held true. There was fun to be found in discovering things on your own.

"Wait!"

Soma only walked a few paces when he was stopped. He turned around. It wasn't the young tour guide that called out to him, but someone else in the crowd.

The crowd parted like a tide to reveal who it was that spoke. The moment Soma saw her–no, them–he grimaced. It wasn't difficult to imagine why the crowd made way for them. They were the spitting image of spoiled rotten rich young women.

"We have an extra ticket," said the 'leader' figure of the small group of women. She looked the bitchiest of them all, in Soma's opinion. "Or boy toy was a no show. We'll take him."

The tour guide turned to Soma. Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't too pleased with these women either. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she had no choice but to ask Soma.

"Will that arrangement be alright with you, sir?"

"No thanks."

Soma's reply came as quickly as lightning. In an instant, he turned down the 'kind' invitation with a smile.

"What?" The woman who invited Soma was flabbergasted. She never imagined that she'd be rejected.

"I said, no thanks." Soma repeated his words with the same smile on his face.

"But why?" the woman asked.

"Just because," Soma said with a shrug.

"This is hilarious," the woman said, but she didn't seem amused at all. "Here I was being so kind to invite you, and you reject me? Do you have any idea who I am?"

"No," Soma said. "And frankly, I don't really care."

The woman stared daggers at Soma who was as composed as he ever was. The staredown continued for a moment. Then, the woman relented.

"Fine," she said. Soma thought she was giving up, but that wasn't the case. "Here."

The woman handed Soma a ticket. It was the ticket to joining the tour. Soma stared at it with a raised eyebrow.

"You have guts, I'll give you that," the woman said. "I like boys playing hard to get."

The woman went closer to Soma and placed her hand, along with the ticket, on Soma's chest. She was blatantly flirting. She then put her lips close to Soma's ear for a sultry whisper.

"Before the day is over, I'll have you."

The woman thought that she was seducing Soma. She couldn't have been farther from the truth. It took almost all of Soma's willpower not to beat the crap out of the woman just now.

Instead, Soma took the ticket and gently pushed the woman away.

"Good luck with that," Soma said, still with the same smile on his face.

And with that, Soma's gourmet tour began.

On the other side of the wall, just when Soma and the rest of the tour entered the city, Terzo was already inside a shabby restaurant.

Terzo looked around at the rather derelict restaurant that at this point in time looked more like a shady pub. 

The walls had its paint peeled off. The wooden floors were blackened from many months of going without a scrub. The main source of light came from a lonely long ceiling light that gave off a dim white glow. The furniture looked old and rickety, as if one strong thump from an average man is more than enough to break the chairs and tables.

The people currently inside matched the place's mood and atmosphere. In one glance, one could easily say the sparse gathering of people inside the restaurant Terzo found himself in were the hooligan types with the old lightly tattered and crumpled clothes they wore along with the sword or guns at their hips.

Despite the arguably unwelcoming mood of the restaurant that was now a makeshift pub, Terzo didn't feel even slightly afraid or unwilling to enter. He confidently went and sat right in front of who could only be the bartender.

"You guys serve food here?" Terzo asked the bartender, to which he received a stiff nod. "Great! I'd like to see your menu, please."

The bartender raised an eyebrow at Terzo. Instead of doing what Terzo asked him to do, the bartender went back to wiping his dirty glasses. Funnily enough, Terzo observed that no matter how much the bartender wiped the glass, it didn't seem to get any cleaner.

"You're not from around here, are you?" the bartender asked, making Terzo chuckle rather amicably.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Your clothes give you away," the bartender said with a jerk of his head. "You're dressed rather nicely to be in this part of town."

"Well, I do have a tendency to go wherever I please," Terzo said.

"Then take my advice. If you're looking for a place to eat, this ain't it," the bartender said. "This is the shittiest place to eat in Pucci. Just ask around and you'll know. 'Old man Gebop is the shittiest cook!'"

"Gebop? Is that you? I came to the right place then!" Terzo laughed. "Show me what you can do, and I'll be the judge of those words!"

Gebop only scoffed in response. He then stopped for a few moments before reaching for something behind him. It was a small brochure which apparently contained the place's menu.

Terzo received the menu from Gebop. Despite being most likely from Gebop's ass, Terzo didn't mind and opened the menu. He then chose the most expensive, yet rather simple dish.

"One hamburg steak, please!" 

Terzo paid upfront, much to the delight of the old man Gebop who only sees Terzo as a stupid guy he could take advantage of. After all, the menu was rather overpriced.

Gebop hurriedly took Terzo's payment and wordlessly went away, probably to where the kitchen was. Terzo's guess was right since he heard the sizzling of oil a few minutes later. Apparently, old man Gebop was both a bartender and a cook.

Terzo waited patiently for his order. He sat relaxed in his rickety chair, leaning back and pushing his feet against the floor. He tried doing something to entertain him for a while, which was eventually a little game where he tried to overhear the hushed whispers of the people around him.

"-it real?"

"-he wins…"

"If that's true…"

"-trike gold!"

"Shh!"

"-wait…"

Eventually, Terzo gave up. His ears weren't as perceptive as others in the crew. With the people around him being cautious for some reason, he had no way to properly eavesdrop.

A few minutes later, old man Gebop came out of the kitchen. Business was apparently incredibly slow in this place as no one else other than Terzo ordered something.

"Here," Gebop said rather roughly and dismissively, short of tossing Terzo's plate on the table.

Terzo didn't mind. He gratefully began eating. To his surprise, the food tasted far better than he thought it would.

"This is good!" Terzo said in between mouthfuls of rice and meat. Gebop just stared wide eyed at him, seemingly doubting the sight in front of him. "Were you lying when you said you were a shitty cook?"

"Wh-?" Gebop had no words for Terzo. He just watched the strange man in front of him gobble down the 'trash' he cooked up.

"Thanks for the meal!" Terzo leaned back on his chair, fully satisfied after wolfing down the meal Gebop cooked for him.

"There's really something wrong with you," Gebop said, finally finding his words.. "How could you eat that shit I made? Like… like it's the most delicious thing in the world…"

"Don't flatter yourself, old man," Terzo said with a laugh. "That was not the most delicious meal I ate… but it's far from being the worst one."

At that moment, someone who also looked like a no good hooligan entered Gebop's shabby restaurant and went straight to a group of men in the corner. Terzo ignored this and stood up to pat Gebop on the shoulder.

"You're a pretty good cook, old man!" Terzo said. "Don't sell yourself too short. Have some confidence!"

At that moment, Gebop's eyes started watering. 

"Those words you uttered earlier… I know they weren't yours," Terzo said. "Are you really gonna let other people tell you how to see yourself?"

A few strands of tears fell from Gebop's eyes. Almost. He was the kind of old man who'd rather not show weakness in public, so he barely held his tears.

To hide his tears further, Gebop bowed to Terzo. It was a deep bow, showing his equally deep gratitude.

"Those… were the kindest words anyone ever said to me," Gebop said. "Thank you, young man…"

"You're welcome, old man," Terzo said before putting a few stacks of Berry in Gebop's pocket. "Not sure how much that would help… but I'm sure you'll need it more than me."

Terzo didn't wait for a response from Gebop. He walked directly towards the same door he entered from. His hand was already on the knob when an excited conversation entered his ears.

"I did it! I found one!"

"You did?"

"Yeah! Look! HAHAHAHA! With this poster, we can join the Blackbeard Pirates!"