Chapter 50: Demonic Slash
Inside the restaurant, the smell of blood permeated the air.
However, that suffocating sense of oppression dissipated with Don Krieg's death.
Tatsuya slowly withdrew the biting killing intent radiating from his body.
Turning his head, those eyes—which had returned to their black color—looked at the still-smoking Sanji with a smile.
"How does it feel, Mr. Chef? This is the person you were just risking your life to protect."
Tatsuya pointed at the headless corpse on the floor:
"Facing me, who wanted to kill him, he was so scared he didn't dare move, even begging for mercy like a dog;"
"But facing you, who wanted to save him and give him food, he chose to sneak attack and plunder without the slightest hesitation."
"It's what's commonly called—bullying the weak and fearing the strong, repaying kindness with enmity. This is the nature of pirates; this is the taste of reality."
Sanji fell silent for a moment, but he didn't show any of the expressions Tatsuya expected to see.
"Phew..."
He took a deep drag of his cigarette and then slowly exhaled a ring of bluish-white smoke. His gaze remained calm, not wavering in the slightest due to the danger he was just in.
"As long as he ate, it's not a joke."
"For a chef, there's nothing more satisfying than seeing a guest lick their plate clean."
Saying this, Sanji glanced at the corpse on the floor and then looked back at Tatsuya, his tone softening slightly:
"But I also approve of your actions. After all, if it's the kind of beast that bites after being fed, it's only right to dispose of it. Thanks."
"Hee hee hee!"
Luffy, who had been watching from the side, suddenly tilted his head and looked at the two of them with a bright smile on his face.
"What's this! Don't you guys get along great? I thought you were really going to fight just now! I worried for nothing!"
"Ha?!"
Tatsuya and Sanji exchanged a glance, then with perfect synchronization, they both turned their heads and roared at Luffy:
"Who gets along with him!! Are you an idiot?!!"
Luffy shrank his neck from the roar but still scratched his head, saying as if it were a matter of course:
"See, such synchronization, that's what you call getting along great!"
By the second-floor railing.
Zeff had his arms crossed, watching the scene below with a profound gaze.
He took a long look at the black-haired youth and muttered in a low voice:
"That red-eyed brat... he acts decisively and kills fiercely. He has a decisiveness that makes him more like a pirate than an actual pirate."
"And... that Straw Hat kid..."
Zeff's gaze lingered on the three bickering individuals, the corner of his mouth curling into an imperceptible arc.
Immediately after, his expression hardened, and he let out a thunderous cold snort at the group of chefs downstairs who were still dazed and terrified.
"Hmph! Hey! What are you useless lot still standing there for!!"
Zeff roared, making the ceiling tremble. "Hurry up and clean this up for me!"
"The blood on the floor, and that pile of trash! Is my restaurant still open or not! Do you want to scare all the guests away?!"
"Yes!! Boss!!"
The chefs snapped out of it instantly. Although their hearts were still pounding, the boss's authority was clearly more terrifying.
They immediately began to get busy, picking up collapsed tables and chairs, comforting the frightened guests, and sweeping away the leftovers on the floor.
As for that corpse...
"You... you go move that head!" Patty's face was pale as he poked Carne beside him with a fork.
"Bastard! Why me!" Carne was so scared his sunglasses went crooked, and he desperately pushed Patty away.
"You do it! Don't you usually brag about being the bravest? Hurry up! Or the boss will get angry!"
"I... I'm not going..."
Just as the two were passing the buck to each other, a weak voice sounded.
"Please... leave it to me..."
Gin's body trembled as he struggled to stand up from the floor.
He looked at the decapitated Don Krieg, his eyes filled with both grief and confusion.
As a subordinate, he should seek revenge for his Captain.
But as a human being, he couldn't blame Tatsuya, because he had seen Don Krieg's despicableness and ingratitude with his own eyes, and he had also seen Sanji's kindness.
Moreover, if Tatsuya wanted to kill him, it would likely be effortless.
"This... is my final responsibility."
Gin turned around and, without any hesitation, kowtowed heavily to Luffy and Sanji.
His forehead hitting the floor made a dull thud.
"I'm sorry... and, thank you."
Then, under the complex gazes of everyone present,
He absentmindedly picked up Don Krieg's head and dragged that massive, incomplete body, step by step, staggering toward the restaurant's exit.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell on his back, making it look exceptionally desolate.
Sanji leaned against the railing, watching Gin's dejected back. His lips moved, but in the end, he didn't speak.
"Phew..."
He exhaled another puff of smoke, his gaze becoming somewhat melancholy.
"Ah... I hate this world..."
"Cough, cough..."
Tatsuya had just withdrawn his gaze from Gin's back when a thick cloud of second-hand smoke hit him head-on, causing him to frown and cough lightly twice.
He waved away the smoke and looked at the curly-browed man beside him with an unfriendly gaze.
"It seems you really want to go smoke in the sea. You damn curly-brow, you definitely did that on purpose, right?"
Sanji's originally melancholy, artistic face instantly broke character, and he glared back with a face full of black lines:
"You guy! Stop ruining the atmosphere!"
Just then, the restaurant's door was pushed open again.
"Hey! Luffy! What happened here? There was such a big commotion!"
Usopp, carrying bags of all sizes, poked his head in at the door.
When he saw the shocking spray of blood on the wall, his eyes almost popped out.
"Waahhh!! So much blood!! Is someone dead?!" Usopp cried out, clutching his head.
Zoro, who followed behind him, didn't panic. He scanned the messy restaurant, his hand always resting on his sword hilt, before his gaze finally landed on Tatsuya.
"I heard some noise over here, so I came to check. It looks like it's already over?"
"Ah, Zoro! Usopp! You guys are here!" Luffy waved his hand in greeting.
...
Meanwhile.
On the sea outside the restaurant, aboard Don Krieg's dilapidated, giant pirate ship.
The scene here was like a living hell.
Hundreds of emaciated pirate crew members were lying all over the deck, lacking the strength to even move a finger.
"Ah... I'm so hungry..."
"Water... give me water..."
"Why hasn't Leader Don Krieg come back yet... if he doesn't return soon, we're really going to starve to death..."
A pirate lying by the ship's edge mustered his last bit of strength.
He gripped the railing with both hands, wanting to poke his head out to look for Don Krieg's figure, hoping to see a sign of food.
However.
When he raised his head to look at the distant sea, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his bony hands couldn't stop trembling violently.
On the sea, where the mist was gradually dissipating, a small boat shaped like a coffin was slowly approaching.
And on that small boat sat a man with a giant black blade on his back and eyes as sharp as a hawk's.
The demon who had once destroyed their fleet of fifty ships in the Grand Line all by himself!
"Ugh... ugh..."
The pirate let out a desperate howl and used all his remaining strength to scream at his companions on the deck:
"Run!!! That... that demon!! He's followed us here!!!"
But it was too late.
The man slowly drew the black blade from his back.
With just a casual swing.
"Swish—!!!"
Two suffocating green slash waves, like cutting through tofu, instantly sliced through the sea surface and headed straight for the giant ship.
Without any obstruction.
"Bang!!!"
Accompanied by a deafening sound of snapping, this giant three-deck pirate ship was, in an instant, neatly sliced into three sections!
Huge waves splashed up, and countless weakened pirates, along with broken wooden planks, fell into the cold seawater like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
"The ship's been cut in half!!"
"Ah!! Help!!"
"Why! Why are you still hunting us all the way here!!"
That man, the Worlds Greatest Swordsman—Hawkeye Mihawk. He had arrived.
Loving Book So Far Check Out 80+ Chapters In Advanced At Pa Treon:
patreon.com/FicTonic1