Chapter 146: Sanji: Is my cooking not enough?

Until evening,

Sanji collapsed onto the floor, exhausted, leaning against the cupboard as he looked at the emptied food storage, a look of defeat on his face.

"Is that little girl a Poseidon transformed?"

He lit a cigarette, his fingers trembling as he tucked it into his mouth.

Changing back into his previous waiter attire, Sanji tidied himself up and returned to the dining area, arriving at the table of the two special guests.

"It is an honor to serve you both. I wonder, how was it?"

For a highly skilled chef, especially one who encounters guests that allow him to go full throttle and cook to his heart's content, it is a truly memorable experience.

Especially when hearing, from the guests' own mouths, that the food he made has been recognized.

He wore a look of pride, mixed with a hint of anticipation, as he watched the beautiful white-haired porcelain doll, A Fu, whose lips were moving in preparation to speak.

"Delicious."

A Fu gave a heartfelt answer.

Although it was not as delicious as some of the special food her master had redeemed for her, looking across the entire Pirate World, it could already be called a top-tier item among ordinary food.

The smile at the corner of Sanji's mouth stiffened slightly.

Although A Fu said it was delicious, judging by her tone, she seemed to still be wanting more.

Could it be that there is still a chef in the entire East Blue capable of making even more delicious food?

Fang Yi smiled and said, "Don't mind it. The special food the little girl has eaten before cannot be compared to the dishes of this world. As the Vice Chef of the Baratie, your culinary skills, even if brought to the New World, would be enough to be valued by those great Pirates and treated as a guest of honor."

When A Fu would cry or crave food, he would sometimes consume a tiny amount of origin energy to create dishes that left a deep impression in his memory.

Those foods all came from special worlds of culinary rules; food blessed with origin energy naturally cannot be compared to the ordinary food of the Pirate World.

This is very unfair to a chef.

"Even if it were the Four Emperors, I would have no interest in being their chef."

Sanji frowned slightly and said, "However, I cannot just ignore what you said about the special food that I cannot compare to."

Hearing someone raise doubts about his culinary skills, no chef with a chef's spirit could turn a blind eye.

Fang Yi sized up the curly-browed Sanji, revealing an appreciative gaze.

The kind of player the Samsara Game lacks most is someone like this, who has pursuits and is willing to take action for those pursuits.

Inside the restaurant,

Some old patrons who often came to dine at the sea restaurant, as well as kitchen colleagues who had finished their busy work, were also attracted by Sanji's words here.

"It's Vice Chef Sanji. Someone actually said his dishes don't compare to other chefs?"

"I am a famous gourmet in the East Blue. I have traveled the entire East Blue and have never eaten at a restaurant more delicious than the Baratie Restaurant."

The old patrons wore strange expressions.

It was the first time they had heard someone dare to say that the dishes made by the Vice Chef of the Baratie Restaurant could not compare to other chefs.

Patty, who had a fierce appearance and was a former Pirate now serving as the Combat Captain of the sea restaurant, narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Are the two guests dissatisfied with the taste of the dishes?"

He looked at the two of them with a scrutinizing gaze.

It wasn't that there hadn't been customers who questioned the dishes; most of them were the type who wanted to dine and dash after being full, intentionally finding fault to avoid paying.

Although Fang Yi and the exquisite porcelain doll following him did not look like Pirates who would find fault and skip out on the bill.

But there is a saying: anything can happen on this ocean, and one must never judge by appearances.

"Patty, put away that Pirate act of yours."

Sanji glanced at him and said in a calm tone, "Providing food for those who are hungry is the natural duty of a chef, but I am indeed very curious—is there really a deficiency in my culinary skills?"

This was not just Sanji's confusion;

It was also the confusion of all the patrons and chefs in the restaurant. If they weren't intentionally finding fault to skip the bill, could there really be a stronger chef in the East Blue?

"Sorry, you misunderstood. I didn't mean to question your culinary skills..."

Stared at by countless eyes, Fang Yi's smile remained unchanged as he corrected, "Your culinary skills are very strong; this is already the limit that an ordinary chef can reach. But this is your highest achievement. A higher level of culinary mastery is not a degree that you can reach at this moment."

Silence.

All the old patrons who loved the Baratie Restaurant became dissatisfied because of this sentence.

What the other party said was too arrogant.

It was as if he were saying that Sanji was just a fledgling novice chef, and the dishes he made were inferior products that could never reach the height of the top-tier chefs in his mind.

It even disparaged this group of old patrons along with him.

"Bastard, are you trying to cause trouble?"

If Patty could tolerate the previous words,

He absolutely could not continue to endure this kind of posturing, as if he had tasted ultimate delicacies and looked down on the Baratie Restaurant in the process.

Just as he was about to kick Fang Yi out,

"Patty, stand still!"

"Although you are the Vice Chef, this matter concerns the reputation of the Baratie Restaurant. Do you want to stop me?"

Patty was a violent chef by nature; having received such a provocation, he wanted to beat the guest up even if they were a customer.

"If this meal is on the house, can you let me see a higher level of culinary skill?"

Sanji took a deep breath.

Even though the other party's words were absurd, he had a strange feeling that if he were unwilling to believe it, he might very well miss an opportunity.

An opportunity that would make him wring his hands in regret for the rest of his life.

Patty was so angry his face turned red. He ripped off his pink neckerchief, grabbed Sanji by the collar, and said, "Five hundred plates of seafood fried rice, two hundred bowls of seafood soup, two whole giant sea fish and four head of prized beef were eaten up. Do you know how much that costs?"

The ingredients alone were worth two or three million Beli, enough for a Pirate crew to hold a small banquet with wine and meat!

"According to market prices, this meal is five million Beli."

After roughly calculating the meal cost, Fang Yi asked, "A higher realm of culinary art requires a great price, but for merely tasting, this money is barely enough. Do you agree?"

Culinary art is also classified as a Life Skill by the Samsara Game.

If one wants to cultivate it, the starting cost is tens of thousands of Reward Points; a few hundred Reward Points cannot even buy the proficiency lost after a failed attempt at making food.

However, if one is just buying food directly, it is indeed barely enough.

Patty was so anxious he nearly jumped up, kicking Sanji in the butt and cursing, "Idiot Sanji, do you really believe him? You want to take five million Beli to buy the lies coming out of his mouth?"

"A very clumsy lie. I believe there are stronger chefs in the East Blue, but a realm gap compared to Sanji is pure nonsense!"

The regular diners and chefs also spoke up to dissuade him, and some glared angrily at Fang Yi.

Pirates also have the concept of a realm gap.

Something like the gap between a fledgling Swordsman and a Sword Master would be called a realm gap.

To be able to have a realm gap with a top-tier chef like Sanji, just how strong would one have to be?

They couldn't even imagine it; could the food produced possibly bring the dead back to life?

"I agree."

Sanji turned a deaf ear to the voices of dissuasion.

He looked at the mysterious man before him; perhaps, as everyone said, he was a swindler with clumsy lies.

But even so, upon hearing about a higher chef realm, he still couldn't help but want to explore it.

It was just like hearing news of a legendary sea; even if it were just a rumor, he wouldn't want to miss it.

Fang Yi smiled and said, "Since that is the case, then you shall taste it yourself."

He raised his hand, picked up a brand-new, untouched silver-white plate from the dining table, and covered it with a hemispherical food cover used for keeping it warm.

"Please."

(End of this chapter)