Seeing his reaction, the Nyaban Brothers were stunned once again.
"Could it be that Boss Zeff also...?!"
Zeff did not answer them. Unwilling to bring up the past, he simply shook his head and said,
"I've already forgotten about the past. Now, I'm just an old man who knows how to cook."
"These old bones can't handle being tossed around anymore. I appreciate the high regard, but forget about me being a pirate."
More than a decade ago, he might have entertained the thought of starting over, but now...
"The All Blue..."
"Such self-righteous dreams belong only to the hot-blooded days of youth."
Zeff sighed, a hint of loneliness in his expression.
He had forgotten when it started, but the burning dream he once harbored had gradually sunk into the deepest depths of his heart's ocean.
Becoming increasingly out of reach...
Turning around and pushing past Patty and the other chefs, Zeff limped toward the stairs, leaving the bewildered group behind.
"Looks like the recruitment failed..."
Allen shook his head with a smile. Picking up a half-empty bottle of liquor from the table, he strode toward the door.
"The All Blue, huh? I didn't expect the boss to be a dreamer who once sailed the seas in search of such a fool's paradise."
"The legendary golden sea where all the fish from the East, South, West, and North Blues gather—the ultimate dream destination for every chef."
Allen walked past Sanji and stepped out onto the exterior corridor. Leaning one arm against the railing, he tilted his head back, took a swig of liquor, and chuckled casually.
"It would be nice to have the fortune of seeing it with my own eyes."
By the doorway, Sanji kept his head down, silently smoking his cigarette. His gaze was as calm as still water, as if he were lost in deep thought.
A long time passed.
"Have you heard the legend of the All Blue too...?"
"Yeah."
"Don't you think it's ridiculous?"
Sanji asked flatly as he stepped outside. He stopped next to Allen, turned around, and leaned his back against the railing.
Looking up at the sky, which was as blue as a mirror, Sanji slowly exhaled a long trail of smoke.
"Countless people flock to it, embarking on a journey to find that sea, only to die in a foreign land, their wishes unfulfilled even in their final moments."
"Even so, there are still those who ignore the mocking voices and stares of others, clinging to an unrealistic dream, vainly attempting to find that legendary sea..."
"Don't you think they're pathetic? Risking their lives to set sail and bitterly searching their whole lives for a legend they heard from who knows where."
Sanji sighed emotionally, his low voice sounding almost self-deprecating.
"Your tone doesn't sound like you're denying them."
The corners of Allen's mouth curled up slightly. He turned his head to glance at him before shifting his gaze back to the ocean.
"Who knows? Anyway, no one can prove that the All Blue doesn't exist. There are some things you just can't imagine without seeing them with your own eyes, like..."
Pausing for a moment, Allen tilted his head back to take a drink of liquor. He wiped the corner of his mouth and asked with an intrigued tone,
"Sanji, have you ever seen the Sky Island floating ten thousand meters in the air, or Fish-Man Island sunken ten thousand meters beneath the sea?"
"Stop talking nonsense. How could places like that..."
Sanji blurted out instinctively, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
As if realizing a certain possibility, he glanced sideways at Allen, his pupils dilating slightly with a look of disbelief.
"Could it be that you..."
"No, I haven't been there."
Allen smiled and shook his head, saying softly, "But they do exist."
"Ten thousand meters deep beneath Marine Headquarters, there's a massive hole in the wall of the Red Line that connects the first and second halves of the Grand Line. Fish-Man Island is right there."
"Every year, a large number of pirates pass through Fish-Man Island to reach the New World. I've even gone on several missions to intercept them."
Coming from Allen, these words carried a high degree of credibility.
In his shock, the cigarette dropped from Sanji's mouth and hit the floor with a soft thud. He stared at Allen in astonishment.
"Fish-Man Island... Hey, are you saying..."
"That legendary dreamland where beautiful mermaids live...!"
"Fish-Man Island...! It actually exists?!!"
Sanji grabbed Allen by the shoulders and shouted his question, shocked beyond measure.
"Are you kidding me?! You're not lying to me, are you?!"
At that moment, an inexplicable urge surged within Sanji's heart.
It drove him to want to dive headfirst into the sea and swim all the way to Fish-Man Island in one breath!
*'The effect of this tactic is a bit too good, isn't it?'*
Looking at the fanatical expression on Sanji's face, Allen couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth before adding,
"Of course it's true. Although rumors of Sky Island are rarer, I believe they're true as well."
"I heard it's filled with angelic beauties sporting pure white wings."
Allen raised his index finger as he added that detail.
Hearing this, Sanji pressed his lips tightly together. Two streams of hot air blasted from his nostrils like a bull, and his eyes grew even more feverish.
*'Angelic beauties!!!'*
Never for a moment had he desired to enter the Grand Line as much as he did now.
But the moment he thought of Zeff...
Sanji clenched his fists tightly, his entire body trembling uncontrollably as his inner turmoil finally erupted.
"Damn it!!"
Sanji dropped to his knees with a thud. Gritting his teeth tightly, he pounded the floor in anger and regret.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
"Why! Why did you have to tell me these things?! Are you a devil?!"
"Beautiful mermaids! Angelic beauties...!!"
"Damn it! Damn it all!!"
Tears squeezed out of the corners of Sanji's eyes as he lay sprawled on the floor, his expression filled with absolute remorse.
"..." Allen was speechless.
*'To think there's actually someone in this world who could be this much of a simp... it's simply unbelievable.'*
Just then, two more people walked out of the restaurant.
It was the Nyaban Brothers.
The two of them looked at Sanji on the floor with utterly baffled expressions.
Then, they exchanged a glance, walked over to Allen, and spoke hesitantly.
"Boss... um..."
Sham gritted his teeth and mustered the courage to ask,
"Were you serious about what you said earlier regarding the Grand Line?"
"Yeah, I was."
Allen nodded, then continued, "I originally planned to wait a while and tell you guys after we found a navigator."
"This..."
"But that place is known as the pirate graveyard."
Seeing Allen's resolute attitude, the Nyaban Brothers couldn't help but look troubled.
The corners of Allen's mouth stretched into a grin as he stared at the two brothers with a domineering gaze.
"A pirate graveyard? No, it's a graveyard for cowards."
"For the ambitious! For dreamers and adventurers, the Grand Line is the most perfect paradise!"
Allen swept his arm out, his black cape fluttering in the wind. Reflected in the slightly widened pupils of the Nyaban Brothers, he declared with boundless heroism,
"Come! It's time for you to make a choice. I don't need timid, cowardly, third-rate pirates on my ship!"
"Will you bet your lives and follow me to conquer the seas?"
"Or will you quit the pirate crew right now and cower in this tiny sea until the day you die?!"
Meeting Allen's unwavering gaze, the Nyaban Brothers looked hesitant.
Finally, Sham cautiously probed,
"Um... what happens if we quit the pirate crew?"
"Well about that..."
Allen raised his steel-hard fist and smiled, a hint of threat flashing in his eyes.
"Of course, I'll tell you after you've made your choice."
*Gulp.*
Watching him sway his iron fist from side to side, the Nyaban Brothers' throats bobbed as they swallowed hard.
*'You never planned on letting us go in the first place, did you?!'*
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