https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-71-Merit-Served-on-a-Silver-Platter/13535843/
Chapter 72: The Big Eater Girl
Chapter 72: The Big Eater Girl
Killing Devil Fruit users isn’t the best option because once they die, their Devil Fruit regenerates and can be consumed by someone else.
If that new user turns malicious, the problem remains.
Thus, captured Devil Fruit users are usually trialed and imprisoned in Impel Down.
Most people only know Impel Down has five levels, but insiders know there’s a sixth, deepest level for heinous criminals.
Someone like Buggy wouldn’t qualify for the sixth level, but the fifth is guaranteed.
Though Enies Lobby was destroyed, its judicial functions persist. After interrogation there, Buggy will be sent to Impel Down to rot for eternity.
…
But Kuro knows nothing of this.
At Baratie.
The warship stops nearby, and Navy officers lower a small boat to ferry Kuro and his companions toward Baratie.
Though Captain Krieg once inflicted heavy damage, Baratie has long been repaired.
As Kuro’s group enters, they see customers chatting and laughing—a scene of harmony.
East Blue remains calm and peaceful. Major pirates are absent, and minor ones pose no threat to Baratie’s battle-ready chefs. With its famed cuisine, the restaurant draws confident patrons.
“Welcome—”
Before the sentence finishes, Patty pops out of nowhere, hands rubbing eagerly. But spotting Kuro’s group, his face pales, especially locking eyes on Lida, who wears a gleeful smirk.
“L-Lida!”
Patty stumbles backward, then bolts toward the kitchen, shouting,
“The Big Eater Girl’s here! Prepare for battle!!!”
Watching the perverted Popeye impersonator flee, Kuro sighs, ruffling Lida’s hair.
“See? You’ve scared them.”
“Stop messing with my hair!” Lida swats his hand, pouting. “I paid last time. Why are they so scared?”
Patty’s entrance triggers a crowd of chefs emerging from the kitchen, eyes blazing with determination. Their warlike stance makes Lida instinctively step back.
What’s their deal? She didn’t offend them! She paid, and they even kept a bounty criminal for her. That should’ve been enough.
Could they still be scared?
Lida tenses, ready to fight if they charge.
“Finally found you!”
Zeff limps forward, wearing his tall chef’s hat and a wooden prosthetic leg. He leads the chefs, shouting,
“Lida! Since your last visit, we’ve trained hard. This time, every chef’s ready to cook! Baratie will make every guest comfortable! Right, chefs?!”
“Right!!”
The chefs roar. Ever since Lida’s monstrous appetite knocked them unconscious last time, they’ve been humiliated. A restaurant’s staff should never collapse from a guest’s appetite! Today, they’ll prove themselves.
“Oh, that’s it,” Lida relaxes. “I thought you were mad about something else.”
“Don’t be silly! In Baratie, customers are gods! Please, sit.”
Zeff chuckles, pulling out chairs. As the trio settles, he asks Kuro,
“Heard you went to the Grand Line? Miss that place.”
His face softens with nostalgia. “Ever been to Water 7?”
“Oh? You’ve been there?” Kuro’s intrigued.
Zeff smirks. “A bastard there… probably a stinking old man by now.”
“Guests, here’s your newspaper and water.”
Patty beams, placing papers and lemonade. “Read to pass time before meals.”
Zeff glares. “You think I can’t handle guests?”
“Customers are gods! Even you, head chef, can’t force them to chat! They do as they please!”
Patty stubbornly retorts, then morphs into a grinning chrysanthemum bloom, hovering near Kuro, hands rubbing temples. “Right, dear guest?”
This man’s a big spender—a million Beri meal eater!
Patty’s philosophy: Customers are gods. Rich customers are gods among gods!
Kuro grimaces. “Don’t hover so close. It’s gross. Go cook.”
“At once, dear guest! Your wish is my command!”
Patty retreats, vanishing into the kitchen.
Kuro picks up a newspaper, lights a cigar, and offers one to Zeff. “Smoke? Top quality.”
Zeff eyes it. “You must’ve hit it big. This stuff’s rare.”
“Eh, free anyway. Took a crate from Lucius Kro before leaving. Enough for now. After Whitebeard falls, I’ll get more.”
“No thanks. Smell affects my cooking.”
“Your loss.” Kuro shrugs, puffing his cigar while flipping through East Blue’s news. He’s read the latest, but older editions linger.
“Hmm?”
An old headline catches his eye—a half-page image of ruins. Above it floats an island, structures visible below. Once a town, now destroyed.
The caption reads:
“Shocking! Floating island crashes, obliterates town!”
Klah peers over. “This isn’t the first. East Blue had similar reports.”
“Not the first? Not a fluke?” Kuro raises a brow.
East Blue has no Skypiea, which rides clouds and never falls. Could floating islands be malfunctioning?
“Natural disasters. Can’t help it. Hope no one’s hurt.”
Kuro drops the paper. The Grand Line defies logic—weather that defies reason, Sea Kings lurking beneath, shipwrecks aplenty. That’s why he hates it. Too many perils beyond enemies.
(End of Chapter)
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