“Isn’t that Wilson? You’ve brought some newcomers too?”
“Lady Delia?”
“Don’t be so nervous. It’s not like I’m here to borrow money from you. I’m just picking up some medicine.”
Stretching lazily without the slightest concern for her image, Delia turned her attention to the newcomers Wilson had brought with him.
“More new doctors? Work hard, okay?”
She patted each newcomer on the shoulder as if welcoming them, but Law broke out in a cold sweat. There was only one reason: the number on Delia’s neck was far too eye-catching.
Among the older generation, Delia and Mandrell were among the very few who had managed to defend their positions and continue climbing higher.
Twenty extra years of effort weren’t something newcomers could casually surpass. Her number had now become 3, and while Page One was still growing, she had perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be a master of unfavorable type matchups.
Mandrell, however, remained the ultimate holdout. According to his logic, he now carried the responsibility of a family on his shoulders. How could he afford to fall so easily?
Her fingers still looked slender, but Law knew that if he made any suspicious move right now, those hands could snap his neck at any moment.
His weapon wasn’t suited to him. A surgical knife wasn’t enough to instantly kill Doflamingo, so he could only suppress the urge in his heart for now and continue maintaining his identity as a new doctor.
“What are you standing around for? Keep moving. You haven’t finished your work yet, have you?”
“My apologies, Lady Delia, but did something happen to your eye?”
Wilson hadn’t left immediately because he’d been observing Delia’s eye. After all, she had suddenly started wearing an eyepatch despite seeming perfectly fine otherwise.
“This… is none of your concern. Just go do your job.”
“Understood.”
Wilson waved his hand, signaling the newly hired doctors behind him to hurry up and follow. There was actually nothing seriously wrong with Delia’s eye; there was just a dark bruise around the socket.
As for the reason…
The Beasts Pirates had violence engraved into their very bones, a result largely caused by Kaido himself. When even the captain regularly beat up his own daughter, the managers under him were naturally not the type to remain calm and reasonable all the time.
King valued Delia highly—that was one of the reasons he’d personally hunted Blackbeard back then—but that didn’t stop him from punching her when she annoyed him enough. Minor injuries like this were extremely common in the Beasts Pirates. Queen was another obvious example.
After Law disappeared from sight, Delia turned her attention back to Doflamingo and Señor. Only after their treatment ended and the two left the hospital did Delia leave as well.
“Cheating! That’s cheating! Boss Kaido, I protest!”
Inside Onigashima’s central control room, Kaido, Queen, and the others were watching live footage secretly being recorded by a Gastly. Everything Delia had done had been seen clearly by Queen.
If Law had attacked Doflamingo just now, it would have meant he had violated Wano’s regulations. Whether Doflamingo lived or died afterward, Law would have exposed himself, which would have given Queen victory in their wager.
When placing his bet, Queen had wagered that Law would be the first to break the rules and reveal himself. But Delia had suddenly intervened and forcibly changed the outcome.
“I disagree. Delia didn’t do anything. She just stood there and said a few words. It was Law himself who gave up whatever thoughts he originally had. That doesn’t count as cheating.”
“If she hadn’t been standing there, none of this would have happened!”
“But you can’t be sure that Law would’ve attacked if she wasn’t there.
Just now he didn’t do anything at all, he was only looking around! What gives you the right to assume he was about to make a move?”
While Queen accused Delia of cheating, Yamato argued against him. Her reasoning was simple as well: she hadn’t bet on Law being the first to expose himself, so naturally she didn’t want Law’s actions just now to count for anything.
“Both of you, shut up! Delia didn’t use force, and besides, she only went to the Pokémon Center because of King, right?”
Kaido interrupted the argument between Queen and Yamato and turned toward King.
“Cough! That’s right, Boss Kaido. She got a little out of control after drinking last night, so…”
“I understand. Since they only happened to run into each other by chance, we’ll leave it at that. The wager continues. As long as the officers don’t resort to force, simply appearing near these people doesn’t count as a violation. If you’re interested, you can do the same.”
Kaido’s ruling settled the matter. This wasn’t some official gambling event to begin with. It was merely a game Kaido had started on a whim, and all rights of interpretation belonged to him. If he thought Delia’s actions were reasonable, then no matter what Delia had done, the result was reasonable as well.
Delia hadn’t actually interfered with anyone through force. She had merely used her status to influence someone’s judgment, skirting the edge of the rules.
However, Kaido hadn’t broken fairness either. Since he deemed Delia’s actions reasonable, he also implicitly allowed everyone else to use similar methods, making the game even more interesting.
Meanwhile, outside the Pokémon Center, Delia lay directly on a bench and bought a pile of beer from a vending machine before drinking away.
The unique privilege of having a black card that granted free purchases throughout Wano Country was quite meaningful to her. At the very least, she no longer had to worry about living expenses afterward.
“Phew, thank goodness I ran into him. If I’d lost, I’d have taken a huge loss.”
Running into Law had been a coincidence, but striking up that conversation definitely wasn’t.
“That punch was actually worth it. Still, Boss King is unbelievable. I only clung to him for a few hours after getting drunk, and he actually hit me. He is really insensitive.”
“Lord Arceus, please bless me. Let that Straw Hat expose himself first. I really want to know what it feels like to borrow money from the Governor-General.”
While Delia was praying to the god, a new visitor had arrived at Onigashima. Inside Onigashima’s kitchen, a group of newcomers was competing in a cooking contest.
“I know some of you aren’t convinced, but in this kitchen, I’m the boss! Not everyone gets to be a head chef. Only those with sufficient skill are qualified to cook the ingredients. If you can’t pass my standards, you’ll be stuck as assistants.
“We’re pirates, and even though this is the main island, seafood remains the staple. So today’s entrance test will be fish dishes. On top of that, you’ll need to create a dessert using the unique ingredients available here!”
Standing in the center of the kitchen was a heavily muscled woman. Her physique resembled a female bodybuilder, creating a striking contrast.
She was Lexi, head chef of Onigashima and the person responsible for managing all the cooks.
“I know you’ve all come from different seas, so feel free to choose whatever ingredients you need.”
Lexi punched the wall beside her. As a brick was driven into the wall, an entrance to an underground pool appeared on the kitchen floor, inside which countless dark shadows could be seen swimming.
“You can find fishes from every sea here. How you prepare them is up to you!”
There were South Blue Elephant Tunas, East Blue Golden-Scale Swordfish, Grand Line Flathead Bonitos, and even Sky Fish from the Sky Islands.
“Isn’t this… the All Blue…”
Sanji, who had already passed the preliminary screening, couldn’t help muttering as he stared at the shadows in the water.
The legendary sea where all fish gathered was the dream he had always pursued. He had never imagined that the first time he saw something resembling the All Blue would be in this way.
In theory, sufficient wealth could create such a place, but no ordinary person would ever bother. After all, the transportation costs alone would be ruinous.
Many chefs didn’t even believe such a place existed.
“Sharp eye! This is the miniature All Blue I’ve created. Not many chefs keep chasing that dream. Kid, let me see your cooking skills!”
Sanji’s whisper hadn’t escaped Lexi’s ears. Her dream was also the All Blue, but she had no idea where the legendary sea was and didn’t believe she had the ability to find it herself.
So her dream was to use her cooking skills to conquer a group of powerful people and make them create an artificial All Blue for the sake of satisfying their appetites—raising every kind of fish from around the world to obtain a perfect repository of ingredients.
Born in a non-affiliated nation, she had earned a bit of fame through her culinary skills before eventually accepting Tesoro’s recruitment and becoming Onigashima’s head chef.
“Oh, right. Onigashima’s chefs can’t be weaklings. You’ll have to catch your own fish. What are you waiting for? If you wait any longer, the ingredients will all belong to someone else!”
Lexi waved her boning knife and urged them into action.
Soon, the kitchen was filled with the constant sound of knives chopping away. During the process, Lexi also introduced Onigashima’s unique seasonings. Berry juice and specially made spices gave the chefs even more options.
While the cooking competition was in full swing, Hercules was staring blankly at an empty patch of grass. Under normal circumstances, Luffy should have been waiting there for it, but all it found was a Machamp.
“Heraaacross? (Have you seen a human wearing a straw hat?)”
“Mac~hamp… (Yeah. He said he’d go to work for me, just as long as meals are provided.)”
“Heraaacross… (What’s your job?)”
“Mac~hamp… (Delivering food to Udon.)”
“Heraaacross?!”
Hercules looked like a monkey struck by lightning. Before leaving, it had repeatedly warned its master not to leave the circle it had drawn. Yet when it returned, its master had still been carried off by monsters.
Hercules had only gone to gather a few Berries. For someone who ate five meals a day, missing breakfast was a terrifying prospect. But while it was gone, several people and Machamps had passed through carrying loads of dango.
The dangos were rations for the prisoners of Udon. The Machamps all carried enormous loads, with four shoulder poles packed to the brim. Carrying them was also part of their training.
The Machamp resting here had previously slipped and injured its back and shoulder. After witnessing the accident, Luffy accepted the leader’s invitation to help transport the food.
After all, news of Luffy’s appetite had already spread through the nearby work sites, and nobody wanted to hire him.
Luffy still remembered that he was supposed to be working. The moment he heard there was a job available, he agreed without hesitation.
Four loaded shoulder poles meant nothing to him. Walking at the rear of the line, he kept pace with the Machamps. However, when the Machamp had fallen earlier, a crack had formed in one of the food baskets.
“Smells so good… It shouldn’t hurt if I eat one, right?”
Seeing that nobody was paying attention, Luffy stretched out his tongue like a chameleon and snagged a dango through the crack.
The plain rice dangos were not particularly delicious—merely enough to fill the stomach, with hardly any seasoning inside. But Luffy didn’t care. His tolerance for food was extraordinarily high. As long as it tasted decent, he’d eat it all even if it were poisonous.
And when he was hungry, there was only one word left in his mind:
Eat.
After swallowing the first dango, he completely lost control. By the time he arrived at the destination with the convoy, the cracked container was already completely empty.
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