Escape to the Grand Line

"She is perfect."

On the deck of the stolen frigate, Flameheart Jr. stood tall. Though it wasn't his former ship, he knew any vessel could serve its captain with reliability as long as there were people to serve it. Nearby, Karma and the rest of the Eviction's crew stood at the ready, ready to follow their captain's every command.

Karma nodded. "Junior, I'm pleased to see that I met your preferences. With some additional cannons and modifications to the hull, it could even compete with the Eviction in firepower."

Flameheart Jr. shook his head in response. "I wouldn't say that," he countered. "A galleon's larger deck size allows for greater gun capacity, making it difficult for a frigate to match in firepower. And investing in a frigate requires a significant amount of resources. However, I believe this ship will serve me well going forward, especially as your journey to the Grand Line nears its end."

"Uh… yeah. Anyways… are you sure sending us there is already wise to do?"

Junior pauses, taking in a hollowed breath, sort of a wheeze more than a sustained inhale. "Hmm… your actions will have caught the ears of many. As your friend Larc has said, the World Government would need to take action if you were revealed. Certainly, my actions here will be reduced in terms of efficiency. However, that's the purpose of the next step."

"Right...we'll be revealing ourselves in Loguetown. I'm still uncertain about what Elon, the Gold Hoarder, meant when he mentioned his own story. Leaving him alive might not have been the wisest decision."

"Do not fret, there's always problems along the seas. I myself have been in that situation of a bad choice. What result was out of my control but what I did do was make the most out of that mistake."

Karma nodded, his head held high after Flamehearts Jr's words. "So… are you going to set sail?"

"Indeed. The seas beckon and the islands around East Blue will be the beginning of our true mission for real piracy."

"If that's the case… I can lend you the marine turned pirates and a few of the original crew if you want?"

"That's for the best, I apologize for taking some of your crew. Knowing how long you have built them up reminds me of my experiences building up from nothing."

"It's no trouble at all… well, we'll see you around I guess? We have Transponder Snails so it's going to be alright when we communicate."

Junior chuckled. "Go on then, the Grand Line awaits. You'll have to spread our name wide and defeat foes to topple this world's shackles in the form of the World Government. Your crew will be feeble as you sail further, East Blue is filled with the weak and soon you have to expect worse. Especially this 'Strawhat' crew you have warned yourselves about."

Karma let out a sigh, feeling conflicted about their potential clash with the Strawhats. While they didn't necessarily need to engage in a battle with them, the Reaper's values on true piracy were at odds with Luffy's idealized vision of adventure piracy.

"Yep, it's gonna be tough. As always... may the flame burn forever."

After exchanging a few more words, the crews parted ways, with Karma heading towards the Grand Line. The two ships sailed away, Karma's vessel facing southwest and Flameheart Junior's frigate sailing northeast. It was only a matter of time before the world took notice of the new upstarts on the horizon.

~

The kitchen reverberated with the sounds of sizzling flames and clanking cookware, while smoke billowed out to sea as each dish was expertly prepared. A man strolled down the aisle, meticulously overseeing each operation.

As the dishes were finished, the chefs rushed to the front to serve them to the customers. Despite the lack of servers, they worked efficiently and the head chef offered guidance to his team.

"Table ready for pickup!"

"Right away!"

As new orders poured in, the chefs returned to their stations and focused intently on their work. Despite the sweltering heat, each member of the team persevered, their faces as red as the flames that cooked their food.

The server chef interrupts, breathless, "Head Chef Zeff, there's a problem!" Zeff narrows his eyes, motioning for the chef to continue. "The pirate ship from that strange wanted poster, it's here!"

Everyone stops moving, another ship of notoriety arrived as they were still reeling from the incident with Don Krieg's armada and the recent departure of their gifted chef, Sanji.

Zeff strokes his magnificent moustache, twanging it upward with a springing noise, defying the laws of physics in the One Piece world. "Oh? Then we'll prepare for a large order."

"But Zeff!"

"We serve customers!" Zeff brashly said. "Have you all not learned that from last time? So get moving before I make all of you regret stopping for a moment!"

All of the chefs continue their work as the server nodded and headed back to serving tables - anticipating the arrival of a ship that somehow got its own bounty.

The customers of Baratie had taken notice, a ship engulfed in flames sailing towards the sea-faring restaurant with haste. All of the sails closed on their own, just as the rumours had spread around from survivors of its cannons.

As the almost mythical galleon sailed closer and closer, the customers would rather stare or contemplate leaving. No one had ever seen first-hand what pirates sailing a rumoured cursed ship would do near a restaurant but not many were willing to know if they tried to run.

The keyword was 'try', many now had heard of the ship's unnatural ability to sail faster than its class of ships, oftentimes outsailing a supposed more agile ship than it. Zeff was no different when it comes to figuring out details like this.

Zeff was a former pirate and already experienced a fearsome ship docking at his restaurant, nearly a month ago and now, it looked like another troublesome ship had sailed to nearby waters.

"Zeff." A large man said next to Zeff uttered. "Would you like me to kick them out if they are like the ones last time?"

"No, Patty. We serve our customers, end of the question. Cursed, infamous or dangerous, no mouth left unfed will be left unattended, especially by chefs of Baratie."

Patty simply nodded with a stern face before fixing his cheeks and opening up a smile. The Eviction had got to anchor and affixed itself near the entrance. Hundreds would be expected from a ship this size and Zeff anticipated that.

Three people walked in, one girl, one woman and a man. All of them wearing some form of black coats lined with yellow and within their ensemble lay various kinds of red, some deeper in colour.

"Welcome, you dirty bunch of crooks! How would you like your service? Beaten or thrown out?" Patty greeted, much to everyone's horror in the room.

"Oi, you-" Xed started before getting a sword's hilt slammed to his head. "Ow! Damnit, Larc!" He whispered to Larc behind him with a scowl.

Larc responded in a low tone, "Patty talks to everyone like that. We're pirates, and the chefs here survived a similar incident with Don Krieg. Let's not make things harder for ourselves. Remember, all the food we eat is either dried or fruit. If we kill anyone here, we can say goodbye to any good food for a while."

For any other pirate, much like Don Krieg, demanding what you want is common but sometimes, even men like the Reapers have to compromise. Even Flameheart Jr. wasn't one to offend those who give you needs like food, repairs and common services.

True piracy might all be about looting but even a seasoned pirate doesn't know how to cook or properly fix their ship without a dock. Plus, killing everyone would just be bad for piracy, it's counter to the belief but without villages and ports left to live, where could trade goods be looted?

It's a fact that destroying everything is reckless since income from piracy comes from a thriving economy, you can't have an economy to loot when everyone is dead. At least that's what Karma and his crew believe in.

Xed slowly rubbed the back of his head as he returned to stare back at Patty, who still gleefully smiled at their presence. "Thanks for the greeting, dumbass, can we get food for a couple of hundred people? We four will dine in but our captain will be late for a while."

Patty didn't bat an eye at the insult and continued. "Right here, cheeky brat. Do you have the money to pay?"

"Of course, popeye-looking pear-head." Xed casually mentions, Krys and Larc exchanged a look of exasperation before both of them simultaneously covered their faces with their palms. A quick glance around the kitchen revealed that the other chefs were doing the same thing.

The three sat down while Zeff stared at them from a distance, he noticed how the one with the glasses kept looking at him… with… was that happiness? Larc didn't notice it himself but he was quite adamant about sneaking a peak.

"Dude, are you gay or something?" Xed bluntly asked, making Larc roll his eyes. "I know strong men are kind of your thing now because you've been staring at Zeff this entire time. You act like a goddamn middle-school girl seeing her crush."

"Your feet don't reach the floor and at least I literally don't look like an underaged child, unlike you, cheeky brat." Larc snapped back. "It's amazing seeing them, it's like VR but it's real life… so instead of Virtual Reality it's just… Reality?"

"That sounds dumb but I get it. Although I don't have any games that have that kind of lore thing attached to them." Xed responded with a shrug. "I only play survival games and mobas."

While the conversation continued, Krys lounged contentedly, relishing the rare opportunity to enjoy good food in a pirate's life. As she savoured the moment, her gaze fell upon a chef holding up not one, but two bounties.

"Guys, shush for a moment." The two stop their conversation immediately and Krys elaborates. "Look at that. Since we don't have access to newspapers for some reason, we needed to know if we're wanted or anything and it looks like at least one of us is."

The two look toward the chef holding up the bounties. "Yeah, I imagine us being wanted for killing royalty is kind of bad for us… how would you know that based on a chef holding onto those papers?" Larc pointed out.

"They're staring at us and looking confused… I think we know who they're looking for."

Just then, the doors held a silhouette of a figure clad in the Reaper's attire. Almost in perfect synchronization, the customer goers, already wary of the pirates get solidified in fear. They did the same with a high-ranking member of the Don Krieg pirates, yet even Karma didn't know how much their actions could've made them infamous.

He walks slowly, looking through each person before setting his eyes on his crew sitting at a table. Before he could even get to his seat, a lot of murmurs came. With each comment, he had his own thoughts to remark.

"No, isn't that their captain?" the man in the formal tie asked, his gaze fixed on Karma. "That's Karma…"

Karma listened in on the conversation with interest. 'So that Gold Hoarder really did spread out my name, that or it just spread normally,' he thought to himself. 'Let's just hope my name ends with just sinking ships and not killing royalty.'

"Karma? Just that?" another person said, breaking the silence comically. "Don't pirates usually get a title or something?"

"Well, I heard the navy did have a name for him and his crew after it was leaked that the navy headquarters up north was attacked," another man chimed in.

Karma kept listening, hoping to learn more. "Ah! I remember that they were also involved in the burning of the town by some nobles in the Goa Kingdom!" another person shouted, shocking Karma that news had spread so quickly.

"I think I know what title the navy gave him, 'Navy's Bane' Karma. They say all the news on the navy losing so many ships in a week was done by him!" said another.

"No, I think it was the 'Charred Conqueror'! Rumours say that the reason how he destroyed most ships was that they lost control of their own ship! It's cursed!" someone else added.

Karma was surprised at how much attention he had garnered in just a week. 'I'm not sure how I feel about having something on my name,' he thought. 'I think Karma is just okay, there's no need for a title when action is enough.'

"Come on guys, it's obviously 'Dawnbringer' Karma! There are stories out there that during the night you mistake the orange glow of the sun for his ship and when you realize it, it's too late," another person said.

Karma couldn't help but roll his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. 'Can't they keep the conversation until later?' he wondered. 'Am I just not that infamous enough to make people take me seriously or something?'

The conversation pretty much killed the silence that preceded it. Karma had walked to the table and sat down, Patty giving his usual welcome without batting an eye and confirming their orders.

Soon, most if not all their food was being prepared, an order of a hundred meals for their crew and a dine-in of four. As expected, every single one of them couldn't believe what they were tasting. It was simple, even Xed had to complain at how plain looking some of them were.

"Holy shit, this is way better than that dried noodles mixed with peanut butter concoction I made during finals," Karma said while eating, the others did much of the same.

Krys pretty much had the same sentiment, although, unlike her friends, she's the most descriptive. "The creamy Arborio rice was cooked to perfection, the texture smooth and velvety. The risotto was garnished with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, which added a nutty and slightly salty taste to the dish. It's also accompanied by sautéed mushrooms and crispy pancetta, which added a meaty and savoury flavour. The scent of the truffle oil was the first thing that hit me as I took my first bite. The combination of the rich flavours and creamy texture of the risotto with the umami taste of the mushrooms and the salty crunch of the pancetta made for a delightful explosion of flavours in my mouth."

"You sound like an episode of Food Wars, …is this what a month at sea does to someone?" Xed commented from the side, he was having the same reaction to food stuffing his gullet.

"Well excuse me if I enjoy good food, I don't have the diet of a starving middle-income student preparing for the day by deep frying their sense of taste before chowing down on a year-old expired pop tart."

Xed froze, he recognized the story being told and he almost shot up in protest. "That was one time, I didn't know pop tarts have expiry dates!"

Krys had to pause mid-drinking wine. "You thought pop tarts didn't have expiry dates? Are you an idiot? Actually, don't answer that, it's clear that you are. Anyways, I think I'm done, I'll get the food we ordered and get it to the ship."

The brief lunch they had gotten was rejuvenating in many ways. Larc was still held up on trying to stay for long since he felt like he was in an amusement park, as they each finished their meals and went back to the ship to give the crew their own share of the food, Larc was the last to leave.

"Larc? Are you still going to say goodbye or not?" Karma stood close to him, eyeing the same direction as Xed. "Oh my god, you're not gonna be gay now are you?"

"Shut it." Larc didn't even wait for Karma to stop chuckling as he went over to Zeff. The chefs all looked weary but Zeff stood strong.

"Where do you think you're going, esteemed bastard?" Patty immediately stepped in, seeing one of the pirates approaching.

"I just wanted to say my thanks to the chef. Can you pass it on to Zeff? Oh and, don't worry I'm sure Sanji will make a name for himself out there and maybe find All Blue. You all will be proud, adios compadre."

Patty was caught off guard by Larc's bombshell revelation, leaving him unsure of how to respond. It was a concerning piece of information that could easily shake anyone to their core. Larc, anticipating the questions that would follow, swiftly departed after expressing his gratitude.

With their next destination set as Loguetown, they knew they needed to make a big entrance. This was all part of a larger strategy to divert the attention of the marines away from East Blue, where Flameheart Jr. would carry out his own plans.