Chapter 38: Oden and the Price of Dreams
"You're absolutely right, Ralph!"
Lufia nodded vigorously with fish cakes stuffed in her mouth, her words muffled but her agreement clear as she supported Ralph's viewpoint.
"Uncle must have put tremendous effort and time into making oden this delicious! This is truly an extraordinary achievement!"
Boss Ganzo had already been wearing a gratified smile upon hearing these two customers sincerely praise his cooking skills.
This young man named Ralph had even articulated his deeply buried dream—to create the world's best oden!
This filled his heart with the joy of meeting someone who truly understood him.
Plus, this young couple was helping persuade his stubborn grandson, putting Uncle Ganzo in such high spirits that he waved his hand generously:
"Since you both have such refined taste and spoke up for me, this oden meal is on me! No charge!"
"Wonderful! You're such a kind person, Uncle!"
Lufia immediately beamed with delight, unceremoniously wielding her chopsticks with lightning speed to pile another mountain of food into her bowl.
Uncle Ganzo took the opportunity to tell his grandson Tobio:
"Did you hear that, Tobio? Even customers say Grandpa's oden is a remarkable dream! Stop fantasizing about becoming a Pirate and just honestly inherit this small shop to carry on our oden tradition!"
At this moment, Lufia suddenly swallowed all the food in her bowl, her expression shifting to one of strong disagreement.
"Wait a moment, Uncle! Although your oden is absolutely delicious!"
Her tone turned unusually serious, "But shouldn't people follow their hearts when it comes to dreams? How can you force your own dream onto Tobio?"
Uncle Ganzo's smile instantly froze on his face.
He looked at Lufia's "righteous" expression, then at Ralph nodding slightly in agreement beside her, suddenly realizing these two youngsters weren't here to help but to cause trouble.
Frowning with some suspicion, he asked: "You two... what exactly do you do?"
Lufia puffed out her chest and answered matter-of-factly: "We're Pirates!"
"Pirates?!"
Uncle Ganzo's voice suddenly rose sharply, all his previous goodwill vanishing instantly. His face darkened as he extended his rough palm, "Then please pay your bill! That'll be 11 Berries!"
"11 Berries?!"
Even Ralph was shocked this time.
He only remembered Ganzo's oden was cheap, but had forgotten the exact price—never expecting it to be this inexpensive!
An ordinary cotton candy cost 50 Berries, the latest newspaper cost 100 Berries.
Earlier, he and Lufia had nearly cleaned out every ingredient type from the stall, and given Lufia's appetite, she almost ate the pot itself.
And the result... only 11 Berries?
Uncle, with pricing like this... are you running an oden stall purely as charity, powered by love alone?
Even if all the ingredients were freely gathered from the sea, the fuel and labor costs would exceed this price!
Seeing Ralph's astonished expression, Lufia leaned over and whispered: "What's wrong, Ralph? Is this price expensive?"
"Expensive?" Ralph didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "It's so cheap it makes me want to vomit blood!"
However, Ralph wasn't in a hurry to pay.
His mind began racing, contemplating how to "invite" this culinary master's secret recipe aboard the Going Merry.
If he could keep such delicious food readily available, wouldn't Lufia's affection points skyrocket?
It was already at 95%—just one final push away from that dreamlike 100%!
Perhaps this seemingly ordinary bowl of oden was the final key to unlocking a new stage in his relationship with Lufia!
Uncle Ganzo noticed the two whispering without reaching for their money, his expression darkening with suspicion:
"What? Are you trying to dine and dash?"
He seized the opportunity to lecture his grandson, "Tobio! See this? This is the kind of pirate you want to become! Not only do they skip out on bills, they're so poor they can't even afford 11 berries!"
Tobio flushed crimson, stiffening his neck in protest:
"That's not true! The Woonan I admire isn't that kind of pirate! He's a righteous thief who specializes in punishing villains! Eldoraggo and the others have already found Woonan's treasure map, proving Gold Island is nearby! When I find Gold Island and meet Woonan, I'm going to ask to become his crewmate!"
"Woonan?"
Lufia's attention was immediately captured, her eyes sparkling, "If he's really such an amazing pirate, then I want to find him too and make him my crewmate!"
"What?!"
Tobio acted like he'd heard the joke of the century, pointing at Lufia, "You? Why would a legendary pirate like Woonan ever become your crewmate? Don't overestimate yourself!"
Lufia didn't get angry, merely using her finger to lightly lift the brim of her straw hat, revealing a brilliantly confident smile:
"Why? Because I'm the woman who's going to become the Pirate King! Isn't it natural that I'd seek out amazing people to be my crewmates?"
"Pi... Pirate King?!"
This time, both Uncle Ganzo and Tobio simultaneously gaped, their mouths open wide enough to fit an egg.
This goal was far more outrageous than just becoming Woonan's crewmate!
Tobio stammered, "Wh... what makes you think you can do that?"
Lufia's smile remained pure and resolute, as if stating the simplest fact: "Say whatever you want, but the dreams I believe in will never waver!"
With that, she turned gracefully and nimbly jumped back onto the broken plank they'd arrived on, waving toward the oden stall: "Well then, goodbye! Thanks for the meal, boss!"
However, her cool moment lasted less than three seconds.
Boss Ganzo skillfully grabbed a rope loop nearby, flicking his wrist to send it flying like a living creature that accurately snared Lufia, then pulled hard—
"Eek!"
Lufia yelped in surprise, getting yanked back directly and landing seated on the deck.
"Hmph! Trying to skip out on the bill? No way!"
Boss Ganzo grumpily tightened the rope, "Don't think you can get away with just spouting some big talk!"
"Who's skipping out!"
Lufia struggled, her face showing both frustration at being tied up and a hint of guilt at getting caught in dine and dash, mixed with some childish indignation, looking... actually kind of cute?
"I'm just temporarily short on money! How about... I give you my autograph! The future Pirate King's personal signature will be worth a fortune someday!"
Nearby, Ralph watched while massaging his forehead.
Their captain usually seemed careless and lacking common sense, but who knew she'd be so clever when it came to "dining and dashing"!
Still, seeing Lufia in such an awkward yet adorable state made Ralph feel this entire encounter was worth it.
Without hesitation, he reached into his pocket and flicked his fingers.
"Clink!"
A glittering gold coin traced a graceful arc through the air, landing perfectly in Boss Ganzo's palm.
The boss stared at the valuable gold coin in his hand, stunned: "This... honored customer, I can't possibly make change for this!"
Tobio mercilessly commented from the side: "That's because you hardly have any customers anyway. Where would you get change from?"
Ralph waved his hand calmly: "No need for change. Consider this gold coin payment for your oden recipe."
He directly stated his intention—he wanted Ganzo's secret oden recipe!
Then he turned to the confused Lufia and explained: "If we have the recipe, we can cook it ourselves on the Going Merry! Then you can eat this delicious oden whenever you want!"
Lufia's eyes instantly shone brighter than the stars in the sky, her face full of excitement.
"Really? That's amazing! Ralph, this idea is absolutely wonderful!"
However, Uncle Ganzo firmly refused!
"Impossible!"
His voice carried undeniable determination: "This small shop, and the oden recipe I've spent my whole life perfecting, are my most precious possessions! How could I possibly sell them like merchandise?!"
After speaking, he unhesitatingly tossed the gold coin back to Ralph, not even asking for the original 11 Berry meal payment, directly waving them away: "Forget the meal payment, please leave immediately!"
Seeing this, Lufia immediately changed her stance, nodding seriously: "Uncle is right! The oden is uncle's most precious thing. If we forcibly take the recipe, that would truly be too much!"
"Too much?"
Even more "excessive" ideas kept emerging in Ralph's mind.
Since when do pirates need to reason so much when they want something?
If temptation doesn't work, can't we just threaten?
A small shop, a grandson... with two obvious weaknesses in hand, why worry about this old man not complying?
These dark thoughts came so naturally that even Ralph himself was slightly startled.
He realized that if he weren't bound to the system centered around Lufia, in this dog-eat-dog pirate world where he was pushed to the brink, he didn't know what he might do.
Fortunately... Lufia was here.
Ralph glanced at the righteous Straw Hat Girl beside him, and the wicked thoughts that had just surfaced in his heart were instantly suppressed.
These plans simply couldn't be implemented in front of Lufia.
He took a deep breath and said to Lufia: "Don't give up so quickly. Let's try to negotiate a bit more."
The two of them actually stopped being in a hurry to leave.
Ralph began trying to reason with Boss Ganzo, appealing to his emotions:
"First of all, boss, we absolutely must pay for the meal—it's a matter of principle. If you won't accept gold coins, I can stay and work odd jobs to repay the debt."
"If that doesn't work, I could even become your apprentice and learn your craft!"
"Look, you do have a grandson, but what difference does it make? He's dead set on becoming a pirate; inheriting your oden shop isn't part of his life plan at all."
"Who will inherit this family legacy then? Will your delicious oden recipe be lost forever?"
"What do you mean, 'I'd rather pass it to anyone but a pirate'? We're not your average pirates!"
"We're pirates determined to cross the Grand Line, travel around the entire world, and pursue our dreams!"
"Just imagine—if we inherit your oden recipe, it will spread across the four seas with our pirate ship, becoming famous throughout the entire world! People from different islands and seas will all get to taste this ultimate flavor! By then, 'the world's best oden' won't just be your personal dream—it'll be a fact recognized by the whole world!"
Ralph spoke with genuine emotion, and the grand blueprint he painted was truly moving.
That enormous "pie in the sky" he sketched out actually left Boss Ganzo stunned, a flicker of hesitation and yearning flashing in his eyes.
But the old man pressed his lips tightly together, gritted his teeth, and ultimately shook his head without relenting.
Even Tobio listening nearby was dumbfounded! He never expected that his grandfather's dream of preserving the shop and his own dream of sailing the seas could be combined in such a peculiar way!
Seeing this, Ralph remained unfazed.
He knew very well that, according to the "plot" development, this oden-selling boat would ultimately head toward Gold Island too.
And with Nami the money-grubber aboard the Going Merry, they would absolutely not pass up the chance to search for Gold Island.
As for the safety of the other crew members on the Going Merry? With Zoro the fighter around, it should... probably... maybe... not be a problem, right?
However, things often don't go as planned.
Just as Ralph was trying to win over Boss Ganzo with "sentiment" and "grand promises," the situation on the Going Merry—which had been washed ashore on Gold Island by the waves—wasn't looking good.
Zoro had merely gone ashore to scout the surroundings but ended up completely lost, unable to find his way back to the ship, wandering off to who-knows-where.
Only the cowardly Usopp was left, trembling with fear.
And all of this was clearly seen through a telescope by Nami, who had successfully infiltrated the pirate Eldoraggo's ship.
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