Chapter 304: Meeting Kuina
Hearing this, Kuina was stunned for a moment. Taken away!? How could that be? When pursuing the Rock Pirates, the Marines had already confirmed that their captain was on the ship. They had been trailing this vessel the whole way, far enough to roughly see their situation—how could they not know he had been captured?
"Really, I'm telling the truth!" The pirate, seeing the disbelief in Kuina's eyes, grew anxious and swore solemnly: "It was when our ship's mast broke. A person appeared on the ship, cut down the captain with one slash, and then grabbed him and left. It all happened in just five or six seconds—we didn't even have time to react!"
Kuina then recalled the moment she had seen the Rock Pirates' mast suddenly collapse from the Marine ship. She had thought it was just a problem with their vessel, but hearing this now, it seemed that wasn't the case at all!
So, Kuina walked over to examine the fallen mast.
Upon closer inspection, Kuina's eyes narrowed sharply the moment she saw the break. She recognized it instantly—it had been cut by a flying slash. It seemed someone had indeed beaten the Marines to it and captured the Rock Pirates' captain.
She immediately walked back and asked the pirate: "Which direction did the person who took your captain go?"
"It... it seemed to be that way!" The pirate pointed out over the sea.
Kuina walked to the ship's bow and looked into the distance. In the far-off position ahead, a strange, large ship was anchored—it was the Baratie.
"Take them back to the Marine ship and lock them up!" Kuina ordered immediately. "Set sail! Let's go check out that ship!"
"Yes, Lieutenant!" The Marine soldiers on board snapped to attention and shouted.
Soon, the Marine ship weighed anchor and began moving. Kuina stood on the deck, gazing at the Baratie ahead. She had already learned about this sea restaurant from some of the Marine soldiers.
"Who would dare to snatch a pirate right under the Marines' noses? Maybe once I get to that restaurant, I'll find out..." Kuina thought to herself.
……………………
Meanwhile, Ian had already rowed his small boat back to the Baratie.
Carrying the pitiful Rock Pirates captain, Ian walked into the restaurant. When he returned, Zeff was already waiting with Sanji, Patty, and the other chefs in the dining area. Ian tossed the Rock Pirates captain in front of Zeff and said, "Here, my meal payment!"
Zeff was a bit speechless—the blood was dirtying his restaurant—but he couldn't say much. He gently kicked the Rock Pirates captain over with his prosthetic crutch-leg to get a look at him.
Patty was holding a stack of wanted posters, comparing them. He said to Zeff: "Boss, this guy is the Rock Pirates' captain, Rursi. His bounty is one million four hundred thousand Berries—a small fry!"
Zeff nodded and looked up at Ian: "His bounty is more than your meal cost!"
"Then keep the change!" Ian wasn't generous enough to say "keep it all." Over a million Berries—he was short on cash right now, so why would he give up the change? He said: "Convert it into food. I'll come back to pick it up later!"
Then Ian grinned at Sanji: "You're making it, got it?"
After returning to Shimotsuki Village to see Master Koushirou, Ian would need to set out for the Grand Line to go to Alabasta. He could stop by the Baratie on the way to pick up the food for the journey. Sanji's cooking was excellent, and Ian had enjoyed it thoroughly, so he naturally wanted to specify him.
Hearing this, Sanji immediately grew annoyed. He shouted: "Hey, you bastard, why do you always make me cook!?"
For Sanji, his greatest joy was cooking for beautiful women, his second joy was cooking for the hungry, and his least favorite was cooking for men. But Ian had singled him out, which frustrated him greatly.
The Rock Pirates captain had a bounty of one million four hundred thousand Berries. Even after deducting Ian's meal cost, there was still one million three hundred thousand Berries left—that was a lot of food value. What a hassle!
Ian raised an eyebrow and said nothing. Who told that pervy chef, Sanji, to abandon him the moment a beautiful woman called out? Ian was annoyed by his "women over everything" attitude, so he was deliberately trying to give Sanji trouble, even if it was just making him cook!
Seeing Sanji's gloomy expression now, Ian felt quite pleased.
Sanji noticed Ian's smug look and grew even more irritated. He was about to say something when Zeff, who was standing with his arms crossed, spoke up: "Hmm, we'll prepare food worth one million three hundred thousand Berries for you. But let me be clear—I won't hand this guy Rursi over to the Marines for the bounty!"
"Oh!?" Ian was surprised. "You want to let him go? Let him keep being a pirate?"
"No," Zeff shook his head. "I'll take him in and make him a waiter or a chef here. After all, we were once pirates ourselves. Even though we've retired, there's no reason to turn a fellow over to the Marines."
"Fine, whatever you say!" Ian nodded. "He's yours now. Do what you want with him—I don't mind, as long as it covers my meal cost! But I think the Marines will be here soon. You'll have to deal with them yourself!"
Zeff didn't reply. He just said to Patty: "Take him downstairs and get his wounds treated. Carne, clean up the bloodstains!"
Then Zeff left. Patty hoisted the unconscious Rock Pirates captain Rursi onto his shoulder and left the restaurant, while Carne, wearing his small round sunglasses, called the chefs to get cleaning tools and start wiping up the blood.
Seeing that there was nothing left to do, Ian shrugged and prepared to leave. The Marine ship pursuing the Rock Pirates would likely arrive soon. From what he'd heard, it seemed to be a ship from the Loguetown Marine base. He didn't want anyone recognizing him and causing trouble. Ian was currently trying to avoid drawing the attention of the World Government's intelligence agencies.
If they noticed him, going to Shimotsuki Village would expose his hometown's location, and going to Alabasta to find Nico Robin would alert the World Government that he had a Poneglyph. Either scenario would be quite bad.
As for Hawkins or Zepp recognizing him, that was fine—they wouldn't say anything. As long as the World Government or the Marines didn't identify him, he'd be fine. Once he finished his business, it wouldn't matter.
However, just as Ian was about to leave, Sanji appeared in front of him again. This time, though, he just had his hands in his pockets and didn't try to block him.
"What's up?" Ian asked with some amusement. "Thinking of going to sea with me as a pirate?"
Even as he asked, Ian knew Sanji wouldn't follow him.
Sure enough, Sanji shook his head: "No, I'm a chef at the Baratie. I'm not leaving here!"
Sanji was staying to repay Zeff's kindness for saving him back then. He wouldn't just casually go to sea as a pirate.
However, Zeff didn't want Sanji to waste his entire youth on an old man like him and wanted him to leave. In theory, Ian, as a Warlord of the Sea, might be a good choice, but Zeff didn't know Ian well enough to entrust Sanji to him. Ian understood this, so he only mentioned it casually.
The reason Sanji stopped Ian was just to ask a question.
"You're strong. The old man won't let me fight you—he says I can't beat you..." Sanji stared at Ian. "But... why do you insist on me preparing your food? Do you really like my cooking?"
Ian didn't lie to him: "Yeah, my crew has a great chef too. His cooking is excellent, and you're on par with him!"
For a chef, there was nothing more pleasing than praise for their skills. So Sanji's opinion of Ian improved slightly. Hearing Ian's words, he grew a bit curious about Ian's chef and said: "Really? Maybe someday I can meet your chef. I could exchange ideas with him."
"Maybe!" Ian smiled and waved his hand. "I'm off. I'll come back when I need to pick up the food."
But before Ian could leave, a crowd of Marine soldiers suddenly rushed into the restaurant entrance.
These soldiers were all carrying rifles, so they obviously weren't there to eat. Seeing this, Sanji called out: "Hey, what are you Marines doing here? Don't disturb our restaurant's guests!"
He was, of course, playing dumb. Anyone could tell the Marines were there for Rursi. But since Boss Zeff had agreed to take the guy in, Sanji naturally had to help fend off the Marines.
The Marine soldiers ignored Sanji entirely. Just as Sanji was getting annoyed, a voice rang out: "Guests? Do you consider a bleeding, injured pirate a guest?"
With those words, Kuina walked into the restaurant, her hand resting on her sword hilt. As soon as she entered, her sharp gaze locked onto Sanji.
When Ian saw the Marine soldiers appear, he had been planning to slip out through a side door. But as he reached the door, he heard the voice and couldn't help turning back to look.
The moment he saw her, he froze.
"Tashigi?" Ian stared in surprise at the female Marine lieutenant who had entered. But then he realized something was off: "No... that's not Tashigi, is it? Where are her glasses!?"