Chapter 45

Astonished that his cooking dragged Gin back from the brink of death, Luffy asks the chef to set sail with him. Sanji reveals the kitchen's secret instead: Zeff once roamed the seas as a pirate, every cook here is a fighter at heart, and as for the restaurant itself, the old man treasures it above anything. Because timid waiters could never stomach the brawls, they all walked out. Luffy grasps why Zeff demanded a year of his labor and repeats the pitch, but Sanji refuses outright and will not explain himself. Gin, who answers to Don Krieg, cautions Luffy never to set foot on the Grand Line.

In the kitchen the other chefs warn Patty that shaming Gin may bring Don Krieg down on them. The captain's menace lies in a force of five thousand men split into fifty separate fleets. Patty refuses to flinch, arguing that free meals would sour the paying clientele and reminding them that the cooks have driven off raiders many times before. Zeff arrives to defuse the quarrel before fists fly. Outdoors, Luffy and Sanji watch Gin sail off, and Sanji flings the plate he used into the waves to wipe out any trace that he fed the starving officer.

Naming himself the new chore boy, Luffy shatters several dishes and is sent to serve customers, where the sight of his idling crewmates infuriates him. Sanji then drapes Nami in flowery compliments, prompting Zeff to snap that he may as well go off and become a pirate. Far away, Gin reaches his captain, drawn only in shadow, and reports that he can lead the crew to the restaurant. Carne debuts in this chapter, and its color cover later served Volume 6 and turned up during the credits sequence of the first One Piece film.