Navigator?!
Luffy's eyes lit up. He had just been talking about finding a navigator, and here one shows up.
"Okay, okay!" Luffy said excitedly. "Let's go, navigator! To Orange Town, and then we'll smash that guy Gato!"
Orange Town?
Nami became even more suspicious. Orange Town was indeed Gato's stronghold, but how did these two know?
She joined the two, of course, not to deal with Muzan together. In her opinion, these two were idiots for trying to fight that monster, utterly reckless.
Nami had seen the Upper Rank demons, who were like monsters. In her mind, those Upper Ranks were invincible, let alone Kibutsuji Muzan, who was above them.
Humans couldn't fight demons. Nami felt both anger and fear towards those demons. While she wished someone could defeat Muzan, she thought it was impossible for anyone in the East Blue to do so.
Besides, if Muzan were to be defeated, what about Bellemere? She was a demon now too, and if anyone were to take on Muzan, Bellemere couldn't stand by idly.
So Nami definitely didn't want to resist Muzan now. She just wanted to find that blue spider lily as quickly as possible and give it to Muzan. That way, they could return to their normal lives.
She joined the two just to gather some information about them, to see if they were genuinely capable or just impulsive fools.
Nami had been in this restaurant before, so she saw how starving the two looked. Coupled with their ravenous appetites, Nami figured they had probably encountered rough seas. So she decided to join as a navigator.
The result was satisfactory, or rather, the straw-hatted guy was too foolish; he agreed to her joining after she said just one sentence.
Nami's lips curved up slightly, but then she was dumbfounded.
Because when the three of them had eaten their fill and were ready to pay the bill, the straw-hatted Luffy...
had no money?!
"You had no money and ran so fast!" Zoro was stunned. Seeing the increasingly unfriendly looks from the surrounding waiters, he grabbed Luffy by the collar and widened his eyes. "You ordered a table full of meat before I even got here, and now you're telling me you have no money?"
"I'll pay with the treasure I get when I become the Pirate King!" Luffy mumbled, his collar pulled tight. He had paid like this since he was a child in Windmill Village.
*Smack!*
Zoro slapped his forehead. He did have money, but not much on him. Most of it was left on his ship, which was currently docked on the island where he started his bounty hunting mission.
He had come with Luffy's ship, thinking that a pirate like Luffy would have some savings, but he never expected him to not even have money for a meal.
"Are you trying to eat for free?"
Noticing the situation, more and more chefs gathered around. They flexed their muscles, each looking extremely fierce.
"Huh?!"
Nami, as the temporarily recruited navigator, was naturally by Luffy's side. She was now surrounded by the chefs as well, cursing inwardly: What kind of extreme pirates are these? They can't even afford a meal.
Seeing their captain, Luffy, looking at her with sparkling eyes, Nami couldn't help but step back.
No way...
They're not expecting her to pay, are they?
For Nami, who was extremely fond of money, this was like asking for her life!
Nami regretted her decision again. Was it really necessary for these two to have her infiltrate them?
She couldn't help but step back further. Just as her heart was about to bleed, Sanji, with hearts in his eyes, rushed over.
"How can we let such a beautiful lady pay? And I distinctly remember, it was just the two of you who were eating," Sanji, who had been ogling Nami earlier, suddenly glared fiercely at Zoro and Luffy.
"But Nami is our navigator..." Luffy was about to say more, but a calm voice interrupted him.
"What's wrong?"
A door nearby was pushed open, and a rather sturdy man walked out. He had a red scar on his left cheek. As soon as he appeared, the previously clamoring chefs fell silent.
Zoro's pupils contracted as he looked at the man. He sensed an extremely powerful pressure emanating from him. This man...
must be a chef from the Big Mom Pirates who came from the New World to the East Blue, right?
As expected of a subordinate of a Four Emperors, even a chef possessed such an imposing aura. Zoro instinctively reached for the swords at his waist.
"Wait!" Seeing the man emerge, Nami made a quick decision. "We'll pay!"
Although her heart was bleeding, Nami didn't want to anger the man in front of her. She knew his identity and naturally didn't want to provoke this pirate who had come from the Grand Line to the East Blue.
"Master Jie, why did you come out?" Sanji, who had been surrounding Nami, ran over.
Master Jie, Shell, is from the manga Chuka Ichiban (Chinese Cuisine Master), nicknamed "Steel Bar Shell." He is a special-grade pastry chef. This character was indeed drawn by Genichi. For the sake of his early arrangements, he conducted many 100,000-level character draws.
Although their combat power was no longer very useful to Genichi, they could still be helpful in the early stages of Luffy's voyage.
And perhaps because the world had changed so much, Genichi didn't even find the pirate Red-Leg Zeff. He might have been arrested by the Marines early on, or he might not have set sail at all due to the butterfly effect.
In any case, since Red-Leg Zeff couldn't be found, Genichi had Jie Liu adopt Sanji and continue to run a maritime restaurant in the East Blue.
And the fact that Jie Liu is a chef in the Big Mom Pirates is also correct. After drawing Shell, he did have Jie Liu join the Big Mom Pirates. Later, upon discovering the absence of Red-Leg Zeff, he resigned and left.
Leaving the Big Mom Pirates is certainly not easy, but with Jie Liu backed by Genichi, nothing is difficult as long as it doesn't involve Luffy.
So he returned from the New World and...
brought back new power.
Although Jie Liu could make extremely delicious cuisine, his combat power was not strong. Even among the 100,000-level character cards, he was considered on the weaker side. However, combined with another item drawn with positive emotion points, it became a different story.
"Food Cells: Originating from the world of Toriko, these cells were discovered by the God of Food Acacia in phantom jellyfish in the deep sea. They can be implanted into the human body, activating human cells. Human life can evolve after enjoying food, and their strength will surpass that of ordinary humans, exceeding human limits."
----
You can read 30 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi