"A... a Seven Warlords of the Sea?!"
"It's impossible! Why would someone of that level come here?"
The few who had been calm moments before were now trembling, their foreheads slick with sweat.
CRASH!
Gin's gun slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor. The other diners were equally stunned, even more so than when they'd heard the name 'Krieg.' Only Luffy looked utterly bewildered. He had no idea what a Seven Warlords of the Sea was.
"Is the Seven Warlords of the Sea delicious?" he asked, tilting his head.
Crocodile, standing in the doorway, smirked. She never thought her parallel-world self's reputation would reach the East Blue. She pulled his coat tighter and stepped out of the shadows, revealing her face to the crowd.
"Wait, is Crocodile that pale?"
"That's a woman!"
"Hahaha! What a joke! A woman in fishnet stockings pretending to be the sand crocodile?" Laughter erupted throughout the restaurant.
Gin breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen firsthand the terror of a Seven Warlords of the Sea. Their fleet of 50 ships had lasted just seven days in the Grand Line before being single-handedly annihilated. A real one couldn't possibly be here.
Fullbody straightened his suit, walking past Rodin and straight towards the woman. "Hahaha, beautiful. Of all the people you could pretend to be, you chose him?" he laughed. He leaned in, his right hand cupped beside his mouth. "Listen, I'm a Marine Captain. I can actually contact the Seven Warlords. Imagine, if you pretended to be someone else…"
He kept talking, oblivious to the menacing glint in Crocodile's eyes.
"Don't worry, just play along with me for a few… Ugh, ugh, ugh!"
Fullbody was suddenly silent, his words cut off. Crocodile had stretched out a hand, and a whirlwind of sand enveloped him. In an instant, his body shriveled into a piece of dried jerky.
"Somebody… help me… water… I need water…" he lay on the floor like a dead branch, his body curled up in agony.
The laughter in the restaurant died, replaced by a deafening silence.
Zeff's brows furrowed. A shockwave of realization hit him. "That ability…"
"Old man, what's wrong?" Luffy asked, peering around Zeff's side.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile, has that ability," Zeff explained. He had sailed the Grand Line for a year and knew many of the famous pirates. Crocodile, hailed as the hero of Alabasta, was a Logia Sand-Sand Fruit user. And this woman had the same power?
"Sorry for interrupting your dinner," Rodin said, unfazed by Crocodile's actions. "By the way, Old Man Zeff, I've worked as a handyman for free for three years. Isn't my time almost up?" He smiled. "I'm here to say goodbye."
"You idiot, stop talking nonsense! We'll talk about this later," Zeff snapped, pulling Rodin to the side. "There's a lot going on today, don't you have eyes?"
This kid had been begging to quit for ages, but this was a terrible time to bring it up.
"It's fine," Rodin insisted. "The woman at the door is my subordinate. Don't worry."
"Are you insane?" the burly chef Patty leaned in, looking horrified. "That's a Devil Fruit user!"
"Believe what you want," Rodin said with a shrug. "Just don't tell anyone I worked here for three years." He didn't want them getting into trouble because of him. With that, he walked out of the restaurant, ignoring everyone.
"That guy has a death wish," Patty said, his eye twitching. "I'll go drag him back!"
Zeff's braids shook with anger, but he and Patty both froze in their tracks. Their expressions turned to deep consternation.
The mysterious and powerful woman at the door stepped aside, letting their waiter walk past her. She then followed him out of the restaurant.
"This…" Patty turned to Zeff, his face pale. "Chef, you're the worldly one. Was Rodin telling the truth…?"
"How would I know?" Zeff put his long chef's hat back on. There were too many bizarre events happening today. Even a Marine Admiral would be confused.
But Zeff knew one thing for sure. Rodin was on his way to greatness.