"What a disappointment…" Luffy and Leo muttered at the same time, watching the battered pirate barely stand with his subordinate's support.
"What's with that reaction?" Nami asked, frowning, while Zoro merely scoffed.
Glancing toward the commotion where Sanji was already preparing to feed the broken man, despite the other cooks trying to stop him Luffy sighed.
"I was looking forward to fighting him. They said he commanded five thousand men… the strongest in the East Blue. But now, looking at him like this…"
"There's no fun in beating a man who's already broken," Leo finished Luffy's sentence.
"You two are idiots," Nami muttered.
Nearby, Sanji ignored the protests and fed the starving pirate anyway, bound by his unshakable code—never let anyone starve, friend or foe.
As expected, Sanji was repaid with a brutal lariat, followed by a cold declaration, "Baratie now belonged to Don Krieg."
Moments later, Krieg's first demand came: food for the hundred starving men aboard his wrecked galleon and Sanji, ever devoted to his craft, agreed not out of fear but principle.
Leo watched, faintly impressed.
If Luffy hadn't already set his sights on recruiting him, he might have tried himself… though he doubted it would've worked. Sanji's irritation toward him, fueled by jealousy toward his looks made it highly unlikely that he would join his crew.
"Aren't you guys going to do something about him?" Usopp asked, pointing his nose at Krieg, now clad in golden armor bristling with weapons, as he tore through the helpless waiters with gunfire.
"I will," Leo replied evenly, "But not like this, I will fight him when he is at full strength."
"Hey, I'll beat him," Luffy cut in, clenching his fists. "Maybe the old man will free me from this chore duty if I defeat him."
"You can both stand down," Zoro spoke, resting a hand on his sword. "You guys can take care of leftovers after I am done with him."
For a brief moment, tension sparked between them as their gazes clashed.
The chaos settled when Zeff, the one-legged owner of the Baratie, personally stepped forward and handed food prepared for all hundred pirates. Watching him, Leo realized the old man wasn't much different from Sanji.
"Where are you going?" Usopp asked as Leo stood, his plates already cleared.
"Adventure's calling," Leo replied simply, stepping out.
In the heat of the moment, he failed to notice a small, delicate hand slipping in his pocket quietly stealing the Devil Fruit.
For the first time since setting sail, Leo had allowed himself to relax among the group, the tension of his long journey finally easing. That moment of carelessness cost him his treasure.
The thief, however, had no idea what it meant to cross him.
By the time Leo stepped outside, Luffy was already charging ahead and Zoro followed in silence their gaze fell upon the massive galleon looming before them, its hull torn, dented, and barely holding together.
At the Baratie's entrance, the pirates named Jin broke down, recounting their ordeal, how they had faced monstrous weather, devouring sea vortices, and a single man who had annihilated their entire fleet of Fifty ships and five thousand men. Only this one vessel had escaped, carrying a mere hundred survivors, all pushed to the brink of death by the journey.
"The Grand Line isn't meant for wanna-be pirates like you…" Leo spoke in an audible tone as he passed him.
"But a single man nearly wiped them out and according to him, he didn't even have Devil Fruit powers. Looks like I underestimated the Grand Line… another monster, just like your grandpa Luffy," Leo remarked.
Before Luffy could respond, the once-silent galleon burst into life shouts echoing as exhausted pirates suddenly surged with renewed energy.
"Afraid?" Luffy grinned. "You can always join my crew. Shishishi…"
"Make me captain, and I might consider it," Leo shot back, Luffy only stuck out his tongue in response.
"Hey, Mister," Luffy called out, cracking his knuckles, "if I beat these guys, I'm free from my chore duty, right?"
"Yes, you useless troublesome chore boy…" Zeff growled and Luffy just smiled wider.
Moments later, Krieg's men began pouring onto the Baratie, leaping from the galleon with wild shouts, eager to claim the floating restaurant as theirs. The chefs met them head-on, gripping knives and fishing tools, ready to vent their fury and then, everything stopped.
The sea, calm just seconds ago, turned violent.
Invisible slashes tore through the massive galleon and everything split.
In an instant, the entire ship was torn apart, collapsing into shattered wreckage as bodies of dead pirates and ship debris sank into the sea.
"What the hell…" Luffy muttered.
"Dracule Mihawk… one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and world's greatest swordsman," Leo said quietly, eyes locked onto the lone figure seated in a small, coffin-shaped boat like he had merely brushed aside an inconvenience.
Leo recognized him instantly. One of the names he had memorized from the newspaper as a child, back when his ambitions had first taken shape to recruit figures like him in his crew. A goal no sane kid would ever dream of.
"You monster!" one pirate shouted, trembling. "You followed us here, why are you trying to kill us?!" Mihawk's gaze barely shifted.
"You ask why I hunt you?" he said calmly. "For fun."
Leo exhaled faintly. 'Of course.' Pirates like him didn't need reasons. That was the freedom he desired.
Without another word, Roronoa Zoro stepped forward, moving past the Baratie and onto the open debris of the galleon. His eyes never left Mihawk.
What followed wasn't a conversation but a challenge.
"You might want to find a new swordsman soon," Leo said, watching him go. Even he wasn't sure how long he'd last against that man, so why would Zoro, who clearly hadn't reached that level yet, step forward so willingly?
"Zoro won't die," Luffy said, calm but absolute. "I won't let that happen." yet they didn't intervene.
Because what stood before them wasn't just a fight, it was a man staking his dream against his life, and for that, Leo felt Respect.
'If Mihawk decides to kill him… how exactly is Luffy planning to stop him?' Understanding dawned on him that Luffy don't think that far ahead.
As if answering that question, Mihawk finally moved.
He drew a tiny dagger from the cross-shaped pendant around his neck.
A weapon so small it bordered on mockery and just like that the duel began.