57: Section 57

That's the Navy, damn it!

A colonel is leading the team personally, and there are four warships guarding outside!

Most people here know exactly what kind of situation this is.

Because of that, Sanji restrained his usual nature for once.

He walked straight through the restaurant and came to the side of the three men and one woman.

He bowed slightly like a gentleman to the Navy colonel leading the group, then gestured slightly to the others, before serving the desserts and tea from his tray one by one.

Only then did he leisurely pick up the menu and bow elegantly to one of the delicate, cute, and heroic-looking women:

"My beautiful lady, welcome to the Baratie floating restaurant. May our service bring the warmth of home to someone as perfect as you."

Tashigi's expression stiffened as she hurriedly took the menu:

"Ah, this... you... um, thank you."

Seeing that his subordinate, the master sergeant, couldn't handle it, Smoker, who had a cigar in his mouth, waved his hand impatiently:

"Leave. We don't need a waiter here!"

"Waiter?"

Sanji's face turned black.

He was about to lash out, but then he glanced at the menacing warships outside.

Sanji decisively put on a smile full of amiability:

"Understood. If you need anything, just call out..."

After saying that, Sanji turned and left.

If he stayed any longer, the little flame in Sanji's eyes wouldn't be able to be hidden.

But if that happened... the Baratie would likely be reduced to ashes by cannon fire!

"Tashigi, are you sure the Rebel Child's route will definitely pass through these waters?"

The... the Rebel Child?

The moment they heard this name, the guests in the restaurant turned pale.

The one who had only recently become famous.

The one who had a bounty of 35 million berries placed on him the moment he went out to sea!

The great pirate who supposedly destroyed the Shells Town Navy branch single-handedly?

Waaah! So unlucky!

We're going to get caught in the crossfire, aren't we? Definitely, right?

"Yes, Colonel Smoker!"

Tashigi replied solemnly:

"Our intelligence is correct. Furthermore, the Loguetown branch has mobilized its entire force this time. As long as the Rebel Child appears in these waters, we will receive intelligence immediately!"

The... the entire force?

The diners, who were already terrified into silence, were now even more panicked.

That was the Loguetown branch, the ceiling-level armed force of the East Blue, and the elite troops guarding the key passage to the Grand Line!

Run! Must run!

Chapter 64: The Official Debut of Midnight Rose

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

A loud boom echoed.

Outside the Baratie restaurant, a wall of water over ten meters high came rolling in.

At the same time.

A massive black shadow broke through the sea surface, rose seven or eight meters into the air, and then slammed into the sea with a boom.

An even higher and thicker wall of water overtook and covered the previous wave at a faster speed. A super tsunami was almost forming!

"What's going on?"

Smoker's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly got up and ran outside.

Tashigi followed closely behind, saying anxiously as she ran:

"Colonel Smoker, our warships and soldiers are still outside!"

"I know!"

Gritting his teeth, Smoker went outside and, without saying a word, unleashed his power to the fullest.

He thrust both hands out with a boom. An excessive amount of white smoke spewed out frantically, quickly gathering into a thick sea of clouds!

Boom! The head-on confrontation between water and smoke exploded.

In theory, no smoke could block the violent advance of a tsunami!

But... the sea of smoke clouds derived from a Devil Fruit ability could!

Moreover, Smoker didn't intend to clash head-on with the tsunami. He was guiding it, dissipating its force, and trying to use his Devil Fruit ability to calm the ocean's rage!

But because of this, the Baratie and the ships docked around it were all affected.

Even the diverted and guided waves still caused these ships to sway wildly, almost capsizing and sinking!

"It's, it's over!"

"My ship... my cargo... waaah! I might as well be dead!"

"Can it be salvaged? My ship also capsized and sank!"

"Just wait to die! This sea is a thousand meters deep; I shouldn't have dropped anchor, damn it!"

"Zeff? Right, where did that old geezer Zeff go? Hurry, find him and have him take us with him to escape!"

"That's right! Damn it, that tsunami just now... it wouldn't be the prelude to war, would it?"

"Zeff... he seems to have gone to purchase ingredients!"

"As expected... we're doomed!"

Smoker had no time to pay attention to the noise behind him.

Pushing his Devil Fruit ability to the limit, the veins on his forehead were bulging, his teeth gritted, and he was already using all his strength!

Without doing so, how could that tsunami, comparable to a natural disaster, be calmed down so quickly?

Without doing so, it wouldn't just be the Baratie restaurant. The four warships of the Loguetown branch, along with nearly two thousand Navy soldiers on board, wouldn't be able to be saved!

Finally! As Smoker's stamina was mostly exhausted, the tsunami rolling in from afar subsided by more than half.

"Phew! That was close!"

Wiping his white hair hard, Smoker roared angrily:

"Which damn bastard is causing trouble?"

"C-Colonel!" Tashigi pointed tremblingly to the front, where, amidst the smoke that had not yet dissipated, a large ship with a vaguely discernible outline was floating on the sea as steady as a mountain!

Smoker's anger stopped abruptly.

The noisy waves of sound in the restaurant also froze in an instant.

Click! The sound of a lighter rang out, lighting a crumpled cigarette.

He took a deep drag. Ignoring the dissuasion of other chefs, Sanji walked straight up to Smoker and questioned:

"Hey! Navy! That ghost thing... you guys provoked it, right?"

A hideous and sharp half-ram pierced through the mist, shining with the luster of white jade in the sunlight.

But looking closely, one could tell. That was definitely not white jade; that was bone, damn it!

More importantly, looking at that jade-like bone ram and the exposed part of the hull, one knew that the material of this ship was definitely problematic!

"Curly-browed brat, don't speak so aggressively! However..."

He turned to look at his lieutenant: "Tashigi, did you see how this ship appeared?"

Reaching out to push up the teetering glasses on the bridge of her nose, Tashigi shook her head with difficulty:

"No! I didn't see it, Colonel!"

Sanji was just about to flatter her, but at that moment, tap-tap! Footsteps came from afar.

Accompanying them was a gloomy humming that played like background music!

There were no specific lyrics, no specific rhythm. What there was, was that gloomy, deathly silence that went deep into the bone marrow, that deadly attraction of death approaching, yet so beautiful that people couldn't move their feet!

It was enticing you to listen quietly. It would induce you to immerse yourself in it. It wanted to guide you toward death, to step into the realm of death!

Tap-tap! The sound of footsteps, like trampling on bones, got closer, and the humming of death surrounded them like a nightmare.

The audience under the stage was subjectively anxious, but they couldn't help their objective dullness and infatuation. They still wanted to listen, they still wanted to immerse themselves in this poignant, mournful singing, even if... it meant sacrificing their lives for it!

Clang! Tashigi couldn't hold back and was the first to draw her sword.

Sweat appeared on Smoker's forehead. Gritting his teeth against the increasingly bizarre atmosphere, he gripped his seven-foot jitte.