Chapter 216: Baratie

"I'm truly insane to have actually run over here with you... Captain, you'll protect me, right!"

Nami grumbled incessantly while steering the small boat forward, and Uchiha Feiyu also picked up an oar, making the entire small boat advance as if flying.

After all, the manpower in the One Piece World is sometimes more monstrous than the power of machinery; Rayleigh could even swim directly across the Calm Belt, so it was no difficult task for Uchiha Feiyu to use an oar to accelerate his small boat seven or eight times over.

"Less chatter, hurry up... I see the battlefield!"

A moment later, Uchiha Feiyu and Nami both saw the large ship floating in the distance, along with some scattered wooden debris and the large ship, which was being sliced in two, slowly sinking.

"Tsk... looks like the battle is already over..."

Observation Haki swept across, but Uchiha Feiyu did not sense the aura of a powerhouse on the level of Dracule Mihawk, so he couldn't help but shake his head.

However, the battle had not yet completely ended; a certain Straw Hat boy was currently fighting a tall pirate wearing golden armor.

That pirate should be the captain of the Krieg Pirates, the "Admiral of the East Blue" Krieg, with a bounty of 17 million Belly.

This famous Great Pirate of the East Blue supposedly had 5,000 men and 50 ships under his command, and he had ambitiously headed for the Grand Line, wanting to carve out a great career (most likely because he was afraid of the old man Garp, who liked to go home and bomb fish ponds).

As a result, while sailing on the Grand Line, he unfortunately encountered the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Dracule Mihawk, who was (allegedly) huffing and puffing while rowing his boat with a Black Blade, and was miserably wiped out (or so it seemed), being chased all the way back to the East Blue.

Later, while starving and freezing, this guy had his life saved by the chefs of the Baratie, only to turn around and try to occupy the Baratie, which led to the battle with Luffy.

"Gum-Gum Hammer!"

The giant rubber fist hammer descending from the sky directly knocked Krieg to the point of vomiting blood and fainting; there was no suspense to this battle—Krieg's Power Level was just so-so. His ability to dominate the East Blue relied half on the messy equipment and poison gas on his body, and half on his ruthlessness and treachery. His true strength was still far from enough to face a cockroach-like character like Luffy.

It was only after the battle ended that Uchiha Feiyu and Nami arrived at the Baratie.

Since Dracule Mihawk had already left, Uchiha Feiyu was naturally in no rush. Watching from afar how the Straw Hat boy beat up Krieg and recalling the original manga and anime was quite interesting.

So they waited until the battle was over before leisurely arriving at the Baratie, ready to eat.

While arriving at the Baratie, Nami muttered:

"Captain, the money spent this time is all mine... you'll have to pay me back triple later!"

"Tsk... you woman who fell into a money pit, you're truly hopeless. If I hadn't helped, wouldn't the 80 million Belly you saved have all been handed over to the Arlong Pirates?"

"That's not the same, is it? Dealing with the Arlong Pirates and the Slippery-Slippery Fruit were the costs for you letting me work on the ship. The money spent now is my own money!"

Nami's appearance of arguing logically and refusing to give an inch left Uchiha Feiyu with black lines all over his head.

In the original story, the small treasury Nami left behind to buy Cocoyasi Village was eventually left to the villagers of Cocoyasi Village as compensation.

However, this time, because the Marine compensated the victims in the nearby sea area with all the money from Arlong Park and the bribes taken by Rat, Cocoyasi Village also received a lot of compensation, so Nami brought her own small treasury onto the ship this time.

"Tsk... fine, I'll pay you double later... hmm? Maybe you won't need to pay."

Uchiha Feiyu, who had stepped onto the Baratie, turned his head to look at the unconscious Krieg on the ground, stroked his chin, and a smile appeared on his face:

"Tell me, how about we sell this Captain Krieg? If we send him to a Marine branch, we could at least exchange him for 17 million Belly!"

"Ah!? This... this isn't very good! We didn't defeat this pirate..."

"Then let's trade that Gin instead... he's also worth 12 million Belly!"

"Uh..."

Nami was still feeling a bit dizzy; how did it fast-forward to exchanging pirates for bounty money so quickly? And it was taking someone else's spoils of war... tell me, are you treating the others as dead?

"Hey, you guy over there, this Krieg was defeated by me, why are you taking him to exchange for a bounty!"

Just at this moment, the thing Nami was worried about happened. Hearing Uchiha Feiyu's uninhibited discussion, Luffy jumped out immediately, pointed a finger at Uchiha Feiyu's nose, and shouted loudly.

Although he had endured quite a few attacks like poison gas and explosions, Luffy still looked full of energy, as if he hadn't been affected at all.

"Then are you planning to take the heads of this Krieg and Gin to exchange for the bounty?"

"Who would take heads to exchange for a bounty?! Isn't that what Bounty Hunters do? I'm going to be the Pirate King, not the King of Bounty Hunters!"

The Straw Hat boy chattered on for a bit, and Uchiha Feiyu nodded upon hearing this:

"Look, isn't this very normal? Just like on the street, if someone threw tens of millions of Belly on the ground, would you go pick it up?"

"Of course I'd pick it up, who wouldn't pick up money?!"

Luffy picked his nose slightly and spoke. Although he had a rubber brain and low intelligence, he was at least slightly better than a moron; even he could understand the good thing of picking up money on the road.

"Yeah, since that's the case, why can't I pick up a few pirates to exchange for money?"

Uchiha Feiyu spoke with a smile. Luffy scratched his head, feeling something was wrong, but he couldn't say what was wrong. After his brain turned twice and almost heated up his brain matter, he simply gave up thinking and nodded:

"Is that so... seems like there's some logic to that..."

"What logic is there? How can pirates be the same as money? Luffy, you idiot!"

The one speaking was Sanji, who still had blood on his face. This guy had just fought a battle with Gin and had also suffered quite a few injuries.

However, seeing that Uchiha Feiyu was about to take action and grab people, he couldn't help but block Uchiha Feiyu's path:

"The Baratie doesn't allow guests to be snatched away for bounties; it will damage our restaurant's reputation!"

"As far as I know, these two guys didn't pay when they ate, right?"

"Guests who dine and dash are still guests. We can beat such guests up, or we can keep them in the back kitchen to work, but we can't send them away for bounties. This is a matter of principle. Otherwise, this Straw Hat boy would have been sent to a Marine prison long ago!"

Sanji took a puff of his cigarette, blew a smoke ring, and said indifferently.

"Ah, so that's how it is!"

Luffy patted his head as if he had just realized it, yet Uchiha Feiyu directly retorted:

"It wouldn't be because this guy is a money-losing item even if sent away, with absolutely zero bounty to collect, so he can only stay in the back kitchen to work!"

With a *crack*, the excited Luffy acted as if he had turned into a stone statue, squatting on the ground:

"I'm so sorry, I've been at sea for so long and I'm still a useless pirate with zero bounty; it's truly too shameful!"

"Hey, hey, don't get all depressed just like that!"

Ignoring the Naruto who was unintentionally acting the fool over there, Uchiha Feiyu looked at Sanji blocking his way, turned his head, and spoke to Nami behind him:

"This guy is handed over to you; you come and help me persuade him!"

"Hey, hey, hey, make it clear, what is handed over to me, what persuade him! This kind of thing..."

"I'll give you seventy percent of the bounty money I collect!"

"Leave it to me, Captain!"

Nami, whose eyes had turned into the shape of Berries, stood out at the first opportunity and blocked the way in front of Sanji:

"Hey, handsome curly-haired guy, could you please move aside? Don't hold us up from making a fortune~~"

Sanji, who had just exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke and worn a look of melancholic handsomeness, had his composure broken in almost a second; his eyes turned into heart shapes, and he ran into the Baratie without hesitation, returning shortly after with several iron chains.

"Do you need help, beautiful lady? Could you tell me your name? Ah~~ your orange hair is just too beautiful~~ it has completely captured my Soul~~"

Nami's mouth twitched twice, but as a little cat burglar, she still had professional ethics—after all, she had already used her looks to deceive Pirates more times than she could count. She was seen smiling all over her face as she took the chains from Sanji and said in a soft, gentle voice:

"Thank you, Mr. Curly-Brow, my name is Nami~~"

"Nami~~~ what a wonderful name~~"

"Hey, hey, hey, he's been completely bewitched, the speed at which he switched sides is too fast!!"

A group of chefs at the Baratie complained loudly, and Zeff walked over immediately, sneering: "The brat is having another episode, I'll cure him!"

"Chef's Fake Leg Flying Kick!"

Zeff leaped into the air and landed a flying kick with his wooden prosthetic right leg onto Sanji's head. Sanji, who had been obsessed with Nami's beauty, went flying with a thud, crashing directly into the wall with a bang and leaving a large hole in the wooden wall.

Sweat dripped down Nami's forehead; this bunch of chefs... they didn't seem like people to be trifled with!

This guy Zeff was a chef now, but he was a Pirate back in the day, and a Pirate who had ventured through the Grand Line at that. Although he had only sailed the Grand Line for a year before returning with a broken leg, that was considered an incredible credential here in the East Blue.

Moreover, this guy wasn't the type of Pirate who had completely lost his spirit and quit sailing; his strength hadn't regressed at all. If it weren't for his missing leg, there wouldn't be many Pirates in the entire East Blue who could beat him.

However, Uchiha Feiyu only glanced at this guy once. Sanji's chivalry was learned from this old guy, so Zeff also had one trait—this guy also didn't hit women!

Uh... of course, some women with "special" appearances might be an exception. When Sanji faced Big Mom, he attacked without the slightest hesitation. Perhaps in everyone's eyes, Big Mom had transcended the limitations of gender and belonged to another race.

"Nami, what are you still standing there for? Give me the chains, it's just the right time for me to take them away!"

"Hey, mister, these two Pirates were defeated by the employees of my restaurant. How they are handled should be left to us to decide!"

Zeff didn't want to cause conflict with Nami, so he turned his body, also blocking the way in front of Uchiha Feiyu, and spoke with a serious face.

"You old geezer... what are you doing?!"

Sanji pulled his head out of the wall and complained loudly, but this kick had at least sobered up the lovesick man a bit. He also walked behind Zeff and looked at Uchiha Feiyu:

"To think you'd let that beautiful lady deceive me! You guy, you don't look like a good person at all!!"

Uchiha Feiyu: "..."

So, every man standing next to a beauty isn't a good person? By that logic, wouldn't the least good person be Luffy? After all, he is the sweetheart of the most beautiful woman in the One Piece World.

However, looking at Luffy, who was still wearing a silly, happy expression because his brain's CPU was overloaded, Uchiha Feiyu sighed inwardly. This rubber-head didn't look like a good person or a bad person no matter how you looked at him—after all, an idiot can't tell the difference between good and bad.

"Luffy, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and come help!"

Several chefs also blocked the way in front of Uchiha Feiyu and reminded Luffy at the same time. Luffy scratched his head; although he had been a bit confused by Uchiha Feiyu just now, this guy had one merit: as long as his companions wanted to do something, he would do his best to help:

"Okay, I'm coming! You'd better leave obediently, or watch out, or I'll punch you away!"

"Heh, Straw Hat kid, do you believe that I can make you run away in fear without even lifting a finger?"

Uchiha Feiyu glanced at Luffy, as if thinking of something, and a smile curled at the corner of his mouth. Luffy blinked and raised his head:

"Hahaha, what stupid things are you saying? Who would run away before a fight even starts..."

"Luffy kid, I have some very unfortunate news for you: your grandfather Garp already knows that you've gone out to sea as a Pirate, and he is currently rolling up his sleeves, preparing to teach you a lesson and drag you back!"

"Grandpa, Grandpa... Grandpa?!! Where is he? Where is he? No, no! I have to leave here quickly!!"

Luffy shouted twice, zoomed off, hoisted the still-severely-injured Zoro onto his shoulder, and finally grabbed Sanji:

"Sanji, hurry and come with me! Let's get on the ship and run far away, don't let Grandpa catch us!"

"Are you crazy! If you want to run, run yourself, why are you grabbing me?"

"Aren't you the chef on my ship?"

"That's clearly just you talking to yourself, when did I ever agree to be a chef on your ship!"

(End of this chapter)