A fragile peace, born from the terror of Mihawk's departure, had settled over the sea. But it was a peace destined to be shattered. Don Krieg, standing amidst the wreckage of his once-mighty flagship, was not a man to be deterred. His eyes, burning with a furious, desperate ambition, were fixed on the fish-shaped restaurant.
"That ship…" he declared, his voice a low, commanding growl that carried across the water to his recovering crew. "The Baratie… will be our new flagship!"
His words, a potent cocktail of terror and greed, worked their magic. The pirates' fear was replaced by a fanatical, desperate fervor. With a collective, savage roar, the Krieg Pirate Armada began its full-scale assault, swarming from the wreckage towards the Baratie.
Back on the restaurant's deck, the chefs braced themselves, their hands gripping their weapons. But before they could enact their own defensive plan, their new chore-boy moved.
"Alright, old man!" Luffy yelled back towards the restaurant, a wild grin on his face. "Time to pay off my debt!"
He faced the oncoming horde, crouched low, and grabbed the sturdy wooden railing of the Baratie with both hands.
"Gomu Gomu no…"
His arms stretched back, and back, and back, his body pulled taut like a human slingshot.
"ROCKET!"
He let go.
Luffy shot across the water with the speed of a cannonball, flying over the heads of the charging pirates and aiming directly for the largest piece of the Dreadnaught Sabre's wreckage, where the bulk of Krieg's forces were massing.
He crashed into them with a thunderous impact, sending a dozen pirates flying like bowling pins. The momentum carried him skidding across the slippery, tilted deck. To keep from flying off the other side and into the sea, he stretched out an arm and wrapped it around a splintered mast, swinging his body around in a wide, chaotic arc.
The pirates on the deck, recovering from the initial shock, turned to converge on him. Seeing himself surrounded, Luffy grinned. He was still anchored to the mast, his body dangling over the sea. It was the perfect position for a sweeping attack.
He swung his body, building momentum, and then stretched his leg out in a massive, horizontal arc.
"Gomu Gomu no Ōgama!" (Giant Scythe!)
His leg, now dozens of meters long, swept across the entire section of the wrecked ship like the giant blade of a scythe. It cleared the deck in a single, devastating motion, sending another score of pirates screaming into the ocean.
Luffy's body swung back around, and he deftly landed on the mast, looking down at the chaos he had created.
Don Krieg stared, his eyes wide with a mixture of surprise and annoyance. "So, the rumors were true," he growled, recognizing the impossible physics of the attack. "Another Devil Fruit user. This sea is crawling with freaks."
His surviving men, now enraged, began their charge towards the Baratie again, this time with a clear target for their vengeance.
Luffy was about to leap after them, but Patty's voice boomed from the restaurant's deck.
"Hold it, chore boy! You've had your fun on their turf!" The fighting cooks now stood at the ready. "Let us handle the ones coming for our house!"
With a series of loud clanks and the grinding of gears, a massive, folded wooden platform was released from the side of the Baratie. It unfolded onto the sea's surface, creating a wide, flat battlefield.
"We don't fight inside the restaurant," Carne explained with a grin. "It's bad for the customers' digestion."
The Krieg pirates charged onto the new floating stage.
"Now, for a real taste of the Baratie's hospitality!" Patty roared. He and Carne ran to the front of the restaurant, towards the giant, grinning fish-head figurehead. With the pull of a massive lever, the entire fish head detached from the main restaurant, splashing into the sea. It was a separate vessel, a bizarre, weaponized paddle boat.
"BEHOLD! THE SABAGASHIRA NUMBER ONE!"
They paddled it out, cannons firing from its gills, causing chaos. They aimed the main cannon, located in the fish's mouth, directly at Don Krieg himself.
But Krieg just laughed.
As the Sabagashira No. 1 charged him, he simply reached out and caught it. The wood splintered against his Wootz steel armor, but he held it firm. With a great, guttural roar, Krieg lifted the entire massive boat over his head.
"Is this pathetic toy all you have?!" he mocked.
And then he hurled it back at them. The Sabagashira No. 1 flew through the air, aimed to smash the main dining hall of the Baratie into splinters.
The chefs screamed, unable to do anything.
But at the last possible second, a black-suited blur appeared on the railing.
It was Sanji.
He leaped high into the air, his body a whirlwind of motion. His black-shoed foot extended.
KICK.
The sound was a deep, resonant BOOM.
The Sabagashira No. 1 stopped dead in its tracks. With a final, powerful push from Sanji's leg, the massive weapon was kicked back towards the Krieg pirates, crashing amongst them and exploding into a thousand pieces.
A stunned silence fell over the battlefield.
Sanji landed gracefully back on the railing, calmly straightening his tie. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, the flame flickering in the sea breeze.
He took a long drag, blowing a puff of smoke towards the stunned Don Krieg, as if he had just done something completely and utterly trivial.
His true strength, the power of his black leg, had finally been revealed