Don Krieg, clad in his gaudy golden armor, bellowed at the cowering chefs inside the restaurant. "You! Prepare one hundred meals for my crew! Now! Or else..." He let the threat hang in the air, a cruel smirk twisting his features as he hefted his massive, one-ton war spear and pointed it menacingly at the crowd.
The chefs trembled, utterly intimidated by his presence.
"Hey, you. Move aside. You're blocking the entrance."
The casual, dismissive voice from behind made Krieg scowl. Who dared to be so insolent?! He turned to see a young man followed by four strikingly beautiful women.
"Who said that?!" he sneered, looking down on the group with contempt. He was already in a foul mood, and now some fool was provoking him? Did they think they were Mihawk?!
"I did. What about it?" Nami shot back, planting her hands on her hips, her expression fierce and unyielding.
"Leo, do you know him?" Kaya whispered, leaning closer to Leo.
Leo gave Krieg a brief, disinterested glance. "That's Krieg. The piece of junk ship outside is his."
The women looked surprised, then studied Krieg with newfound, almost amused curiosity. This was the supposed "Ruler of the East Blue"? He looked like a overcompensating blowhard.
Nami was also taken aback for a second, but her fearlessness quickly returned. A 17 million Berry bounty? That was only three-quarters of what Arlong was worth. Who was he trying to impress?
"You ignorant brats! Since you know who I am, how dare you—" Krieg's attempt at a threatening monologue was cut short as a crackling lance of pure lightning materialized, its tip hovering an inch from his chest plate.
Nami stared him down, thoroughly annoyed. "If you want to live, get lost. You're ruining our appetite."
Completely bored by the spectacle, Leo simply walked past the frozen Krieg as if he weren't there, heading for an empty table. Kaya, Makino, and Nojiko followed suit.
The other patrons in the restaurant felt a chill of dread. This was not going to end well.
Krieg trembled with pure, unadulterated rage. The audacity! The sheer disrespect! In all the East Blue, few dared to slight him, let alone deliver such a blatant, humiliating challenge. Today, unless Hawk-Eyes Mihawk himself walked through that door, he was going to teach these fools a bloody lesson.
"You little bitch! DIE!!" Krieg roared, his sanity snapping. He swung his colossal war spear in a devastating arc.
"What a nuisance," Nami sighed, rolling her eyes. She clenched her fist. The lightning lance shot forward. Arcs of devastating electricity, like frenzied serpents, wreathed Krieg's body, crawling over his golden armor.
BZZZT! CRACKLE! POP!
Krieg's large frame convulsed violently under the electrical assault. Black smoke began to pour from his mouth and the seams of his armor. His war spear clattered uselessly to the floor.
"Just as annoying as Arlong," Nami muttered. With a casual flick of her wrist, a small whirlwind materialized, scooped up the twitching, smoking Krieg, and unceremoniously hurled him through the air. He sailed over a dozen meters before landing with a loud SPLASH in the open sea.
...
Silence.
A dead, stunned silence filled the restaurant.
Did that just happen? Had she just defeated the "Ruler of the East Blue" in a single move?
The patrons stared at Nami, their eyes wide with disbelief.
After a long moment, a voice trembling with fear broke the quiet. "Nami... that's Nami, the navigator of the Leo Pirates!"
A patron frantically pulled out a newspaper he'd bought that very day, comparing the picture to the woman before him. The orange hair. The control over lightning. It was a perfect match.
Which meant...
The man's Adam's apple bobbed as he slowly, stiffly, turned his head to look at Leo and the others.
Holy crap. That was indeed Leo, the captain of the Leo Pirates.
"You... you're...!" he stammered, starting to rise from his chair in panic. These were individuals with bounties even higher than Krieg's!
Seeing they'd been recognized, Leo frowned slightly. "There's no need to be afraid," he said calmly, his voice cutting through the tension. "We're only here to eat. We won't cause you any trouble." He then walked over to the nervous man. "May I see that newspaper?"
The patron nodded so vigorously it seemed his head might fall off, handing the paper over without hesitation.
Taking it, Leo returned to his table. Seeing that he genuinely meant no harm, the other patrons gradually relaxed and returned to their conversations, though the atmosphere remained charged. Pirates weren't uncommon at the Baratie, but they had feared Leo's crew might be as brutal as Krieg's. Clearly, they had worried for nothing.
"The Marines work fast. Wanted posters are already out," Leo remarked, scanning the paper with interest. But his expression soon shifted to a frown.
His reaction piqued the curiosity of the women, who gathered around him to look.
The bounties listed were only for Leo and Nami.
[Leo: Captain of the Leo Pirates. Suspected Cloud-Cloud Fruit user. Bounty: 30,000,000 Berries!]
"Wow, Leo! Thirty million!" Kaya exclaimed, her eyes shining as she gave him a thumbs-up. A starting bounty that high was a clear sign of how seriously the Marines were taking him.
Nojiko and Makino nodded in agreement, impressed.
"What about me? Do I have one?!" Nami asked, buzzing with anticipation. She had, after all, taken down Arlong, who was worth 20 million. Her bounty should be respectable.
They looked further down the page.
[Nami: Navigator of the Leo Pirates. Suspected Rumble-Rumble Fruit user. Bounty: 50,000,000 Berries!]
"Fifty million Berries?!" Nami shrieked, snatching the paper. "Am I reading this right?! My bounty is higher than his?!" She read it several more times to be sure.
"Leo," she said, a triumphant, smug grin spreading across her face as she turned to him, hands back on her hips. "My bounty is higher than yours. From now on, you should call me Big Sis Nami."
"It's quite rare for a crew member to have a higher bounty than their captain," Makino noted with a rare, playful smile.
Kaya and Nojiko covered their mouths to hide their giggles. Now they understood why Leo's face had darkened.
Leo looked at Nami, a dangerous, knowing smile playing on his lips. "Is that so? Well then, we'll have to have a very... thorough... sparring session tonight to settle this hierarchy." Big Sis? She had some nerve. This was outright rebellion. He'd show her who was really in charge tonight.
Nami's bravado evaporated instantly, like a deflating balloon. "I was joking! My most respected and powerful Captain!" she backpedaled rapidly, her voice sweet. "I could never be more amazing than you. You're the best! I'm so hungry from waiting, let's just order, okay?" She desperately tried to change the subject. The memory of the Heal-Heal Fruit's ability to grant limitless stamina was a terrifying prospect she did not want to experience as punishment.
Kaya and the others, understanding the unspoken threat, immediately fell silent as well.
Seeing the women properly chastised, Leo let the matter drop. He then flagged down a waiter and proceeded to order a feast fit for a king, the issue of bounties—for now—temporarily forgotten.
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T/N :
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