18 Everybody Hates Krieg.

The next day, things went as normal as before, Kaizo cooked and did some waiter job, Luffy pestered Sanji about becoming their chef, Zoro was still banned from the restaurant and his food was handed to him outside of the restaurant while he was training.

Overall, a pretty normal day. However, Zeff began to tell Sanji to quit the Baratie, which pissed the blond cook quite a bit. Both of them got in a heated argument in the kitchen.

"Oi! You damn geezer! Am I not the chef's chief assistant? What the hell do you mean when you say; 'you don't need me anymore?'" Sanji.

"You're always fighting our clients, spend your time flirting with any woman that catches your eyes and you make shitty dishes. Need I say more? You're nothing more than dead weight for this restaurant! That's what I meant." Zeff.

"The fuck?!" Sanji.

"Also, no one likes you. Why don't you become a pirate or anything else? Anything as long as you leave this place!" Zeff.

"The hell…I've done nothing and you're already making a scene, you damn geezer?! I don't give a crap about what you say, but I will not tolerate you insulting my cooking skills! However, no matter what you say…I'll remain being a chef in this restaurant! If you don't like it then that's your problem!" Sanji.

Sanji grabs Zeff's collar.

"How dare you hurt your own boss! You little eggplant!" Zeff.

Zeff throws Sanji against a wall. Zeff retires unto his bedroom.

"I'll be a chef here until you die!" Sanji.

"I wont die, I'll live for another 100 years." Zeff.

"Obstinate geezer." Sanji.

"Isn't that great?! He gave you permission to leave, let's be pirates together!" Luffy.

"Fuck off! Get out of here and serve the clients!" Sanji.

Luffy leaves in a hurry and snatches food along the way.

"DON'T STEAL THE FOOD FOR THE CLIENTS!!!" Cooks.

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Kaizo.

"You think that's funny?!" Sanji.

"You bet, because you'll be the one suffering from that once you become our cook." Kaizo.

"Great…now I have one less reason to NOT be part of your crew." Sanji.

"What about Nami? She was quite eager to sail alongside you." Kaizo.

"Nami-san said that?! NO! I'm sorry, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave this restaurant." Sanji.

'Sanji resisted the request from a lady---er no, woman---no, not that either, someone of the female gender---yes, that should cover all the bases ahem, and not obey its demands?! Now that's some butterfly effect at its highest.' Kaizo.

'Maybe you underestimate his loyalty towards Zeff?' Zanpakuto.

'The man almost betrays Luffy in more than 2 occasions due to a woman (Pudding and Violet), if what you say is true then, Sanji is the most treacherous member of the crew.' Kaizo.

Kaizo didn't dwelled in this matter and decided to focus on improving his cooking skills.

And with that, 3 more days passed with nothing new, except Nami becoming a VIP that doesn't pays for her food.

[4th day (Which is a Foggy Day)]

"He…it's been four days already. I'm sick of this place. We'll leave this place soon, right?" Usopp.

"No idea. At the very least we'll wait for the whole week in case Mihawk appears." Zoro.

"Are you sure you have to battle him? They don't call him the World's Strongest Swordsman for nothing you know?" Nami.

"I don't care, my dream is to surpass him, if I die due to that then at the very least, I can die without regrets." Zoro.

"Suit yourself then." Nami.

Kaizo then appeared smuggling some food with Luffy.

"Oi! Luffy, Kaizo, weren't you supposed to convince that cook to join us?" Usopp.

"*MUNCH* Yeah." Kaizo.

"Then what are you guys eating food?" Usopp.

"It's good. *MUNCH*" Luffy.

"Ha…you guys seem to never mature." Nami.

"Oh yeah, Nami. I have to speak with you privately." Kaizo.

"Just so you know, I don't do those kinds of deals, no matter the price." Nami.

"What types of deals are you talking about?" Kaizo faked being innocent.

"Yeah, now I'm curious too." Luffy.

'Checkmate Nami, how will you escape this awkward situation?' Kaizo.

(Note: Kaizo always hated that Nami got away almost every time due to everyone else's fear of standing up to her.)

"I'll wait for you in my room." Nami.

'Damn! She escaped before I could retort.' Kaizo.

Kaizo enters Nami's room and she's acting as if nothing bad is going to happen.

"So, why did you call me here?" Nami.

"I'll get straight to the point…Arlong." Kaizo.

Nami's face darkens as soon as she hears that. She felt that the air was leaving his lungs and couldn't breathe.

Nami composed herself and saw Kaizo standing by the door, she thought of escaping but discarded the thought since she knows how strong Kaizo is.

"The rest don't know." Kaizo.

Nami's eyes widened in confusion.

"I noticed that tattoo of yours, it's a mark of his Jolly Roger, but for you its more like a livestock tag." Kaizo.

"Why did you bring me here? To silence me? Blackmail me? Steal all my treasures?" Nami.

"No, I came here to give you two options. You can either go back to Arlong and foolishly believe in his words or, you could come with us ask for our help, and we'll kick Arlong's ass so hard that he'll become a flatfish." Kaizo.

Nami was shocked after what Kaizo said, she knows that he is strong, it was the others who worried her. Perhaps they would be able to fight the fish-men without any problem? Without... dying.

Kaizo taps on Nami's head and speaks.

"I know you and I are like cats and dogs but, let me tell you something, the moment you became our navigator, was the moment Luffy decided to help you with anything that bothered you. If you leave thinking he'll forget about you and move on then forget it, he'll go to Cocoyasi Village and beat Arlong." Kaizo.

Kaizo reaches the door and before leaving summons his soul pocket and takes out the equivalent to 100 million Berries.

"Take this, it should be enough for you island, right?" Nami.

"How did you…" Nami.

"Villains tend to put their prices in the hundred range, if it was only a hundred thousand you would've gotten it long ago, so, I guessed it was around a hundred million."

"Make your choice, but remember, no matter what choice you make…the Straw Hat crew will have your back." Kaizo.

Kaizo leaves the room and Nami is alone with her newfound riches.

'It's over, with this much, I'll definitely be able to buy the village. So, why? Why does the decision feel so hard to make?' Nami.

Nami feels her tattoo pulsating and she remembers the horrible experiences she suffered at the hands of Arlong and his kin.

'No! I can't risk the lives of the people at the village! I brought this upon myself, I'll get myself out of this. Sorry, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and you too…Kaizo but I'll go by myself. And do anything to help my village, even if I have to get on my knees, I'll make Arlong follow his debt through.' Nami.

Kaizo was standing against the door while Nami recollected her money.

'My sixth sense is telling me that she will definitely go back to Cocoyasi Village as in canon, such a shame…I wanted to stir things up a notch.' Kaizo.

Kaizo leaves and sees Luffy looking at the horizon.

"What's the matter Luffy?" Kaizo.

"I feel the presence of someone...despicable." Luffy.

At the horizon, the Krieg Pirates were sailing towards the Baratie on their damaged galleon.

Slowly but surely, the massive galleon arrived at the Baratie, scaring everyone with its presence, since everyone knows about the might of the Krieg Pirates.

"Hey, we're in trouble! Let's get the heck out of here!" Usopp.

"Such a massive galleon!" Nami.

"Luffy, Zoro! Trouble will arrive shortly. Brace yourselves." Kaizo.

"Yeah!" Luffy/Zoro.

Sanji comes out of the restaurant and takes a better look at the ship.

"What happened, Sanji? Is there something with the ship?" Luffy.

"More or less, look at the damages of the galleon." Sanji pointed out.

The galleon was severely damaged by unknown marks all over it.

"It doesn't look like a cannon did it." Sanji.

"They're slash marks." Kaizo.

"Slashes?" Nami/Usopp/Zoro/Sanji/Luffy.

"Are you crazy? There's no way anyone could slash an entire ship in half." Nami.

"This is the work of Mihawk." Kaizo.

Zoro gripped his three swords and walked towards Kaizo.

"Is he near?" Zoro.

Kaizo made a meditating pose faking that he's reaching towards Mihawk.

"Yes, he's quite far from here. I esteem that he'll arrive in an hour or so." Kaizo.

"Then I'll leave the small fries to you, I have to save my energy for the duel." Zoro.

Zoro went back to the Merry and went to sleep.

"I-I-I-I-is h-he really able to c-c-cut a who-whole s-s-s-hip?" Usopp asked scared.

"Yeah, the problem is his lack of desire. He could've sunk the entire fleet without breaking a sweat, but a ship managed to escape all the way to here, what does this tells you about this guy?" Kaizo.

"What?" Luffy.

"He's extremely lazy about things he considers mundane. I can bet that he's just killing some time due to his boredom." Kaizo.

Before more questions and answers could be made, Don Krieg appeared in front of the Baratie begging for food.

"Excuse…me…could you…give me…some…food…? I…don't remember…the last time… I ate…" Don Krieg spoke with a weak voice.

The people and cooks began to talk about how weak the Don Krieg's captain was and that they shouldn't be scarred of them.

As Sanji ignored the mocking of his fellow cooks and the clients, he gave Krieg a full plate of cooked rice.

Meanwhile, the cooks were reprimanding Sanji for heling a pirate as vicious as Krieg. From infiltrating in a Marine Ship and steal it after killing everyone on board, to using their flags to arrive at cities and plunder everything they have.

Just as they were gossiping about Don Krieg, he gets up and tries to Lariat Sanji, however, Kaizo foresaw this and not only stopped the Lariat, he countered by breaking his golden armor with a punch.

Don Krieg was sent flying and took a wall down with him and fell to the ocean.

"Don!" Gin went to help Krieg, who was puking due to the hit.

"One thing is being a pirate, the other is being an ungrateful son of a bitch." Kaizo.

One after another, the clients that remained made their swift escape out of the restaurant, fearing for their lives.

"What's happening inside?" Usopp.

"Guess we'll find out soon." Zoro.

Nami was still conflicted about what to do. If she leaves the ship, Luffy and the rest will look for her and fight Arlong, and if she told them her problems, they will fight Arlong. The situation was a bad ending either way for her.

While Nami debated about his inner fears, Krieg finally got up and angrily called out for Kaizo.

"You brat!!!" Krieg.

"Boss, I'm taking my 10-minute break, can I?" Kaizo.

"Sure just, don't break anything else." Zeff left and entered the kitchen alongside Sanji.

"How much people do you think are fasting?" Zeff.

"I'll say…more than a hundred." Sanji.

"Let's see if that brat can keep Krieg entertained while we cook." Zeff.

Zeff activated a mechanism that made wood platforms appear in the sides of the Baratie.

Both Gin and Krieg climbed up said plat forms and looked at Kaizo.

"Kaizo came out of the restaurant and looked at Krieg with disdain." Kaizo spoke while narrating.

"You brat…!" Krieg.

"Despite getting his ass handed to him, Krieg seems to not comprehend how Kaizo overpowered him. Nevertheless, he's always been a weakling." Kaizo.

"The hell did you say?!" Kireg.

"Due to some unexplained reasons, Don Krieg seemed to get even angrier at Kaizo." Kaizo spoke while making a mocking face.

"Oi, Kaizo! Need help?" Zoro called from the ship.

"Nah! This guy's a weakling, he mostly relies on his armor, which I broke." Kaizo.

"Oh, suit yourself then." Zoro went back to sleep.

Krieg lunged towards Kaizo and tried to attack him but Kaizo effortlessly dodged his attacks. Krieg swung his fists as fast and hard as he could but to no avail, Kaizo was just too fast for him to catch.

Krieg got tired due to him puking the recently made food and not digesting it properly. He fell on the floor and kept looking at Kaizo with hatred.

"That's all? I guess fake pirates like yourself can only reach this level." Kaizo.

"You…!" Krieg.

Suddenly, Zeff appeared from the restaurant with a bag full of food made by him and Sanji.

"Here, there must be enough food there for you and your crewmembers, after you eat, leave this place immediately!" Zeff.

Krieg wanted to talk back but he knew that if he couldn't overpower Kaizo with his strength alone, he would do it with numbers.

Both him and Gin took the food and gave it to their crewmates.

"This will be troublesome, Luffy! You and I will fight these guys, practice your Haki while fighting, got it?" Kaizo.

"Ok, seems way more fun than keep watching anyway." Luffy jumped from the restaurant, after snatching more food, and landed on the platform.