Sizzle~ Sizzle~
High-grade snowflake beef, paired with a black sauce and a sprinkle of white sea salt, released a rich aroma.
Unlike the inferior rum essential for sea voyages, the aroma of fine wine was distinctly layered, and combined with the taste of flame-grilled snowflake beef, the entire beach was filled with the exquisite flavors of land-based ingredients.
"Mmm, truly delicious!" Nero cut off a piece of beef, her face entranced, as if she had eaten the most delicious food in the world.
Swirling her red wine glass, this wine was made using a special technique from the Nicuss Empire, preserving the fragrance of the grapes without losing the mellowness of the liquor.
"Mmm, if you bow to me and make a sincere request, it's not impossible for me to share this delicacy!" Nero squinted at the members of the Roger Pirates.
"This taste is unique to the Nicuss Empire; there's only one such flavor in the whole world. If you miss it, you might never have it again in your life."
"How comical. Do you think you can win us over with such a method?" Buggy scoffed with disdain.
"What do you take pirates for, you guy?" Shanks had a similar expression.
"Mmm? How about you close your mouths before saying that? Your drool is almost reaching me!" Nero looked at the two with a disgusted expression.
"Damn it! Captain!" x2
Shanks and Buggy barely managed to close their mouths and looked at Roger, only to find that Roger himself was no less eager than they were.
Wiping the drool from his mouth with his sleeve, Roger turned his head away: "That's right! Little Emperor, if you think mere delicacies and fine wine can make us yield, you're gravely mistaken! Right, Rayleigh?"
He turned his head to Rayleigh, only to find that he was no longer in his original spot.
"Please, Great Majesty, bestow upon me delicious food and wine! I'm eternally grateful!"
Next to Nero, Rayleigh bowed deeply, his attitude sincere.
"Mmm, you surrendered so easily!" Nero looked at Roger with a feigned innocent expression.
"Rayleigh!"
"Vice Captain!" x2
"Don't you have any pride as a great pirate, you guy?" Roger was furious.
"Well~ After all, it's a delicacy that might only come once in a lifetime; it would be a shame to miss it." Rayleigh waved his hand dismissively, half a pot of wine already gone: "Oh, don't tell me! It really does have a special flavor."
"Heh heh~ Of course. Even in the Nicuss Empire, this kind of high-class wine is a delicacy that only I and a small number of nobles can taste."
"Is that so? Then I must savor it now!" With that, Rayleigh took two more gulps and let out a satisfied burp.
"Hmph~" Roger gave a thumbs down, despising Rayleigh's unprincipled behavior: "To act like this for a mere craving, Rayleigh, I misjudged you!"
"Is that so? Then you might have misjudged quite a few people."
"What?!"
"Please, Great Majesty, bestow upon me delicious food and wine! I'm eternally grateful!" xN
It turned out that besides Roger and the two, all the other crew members, just like Rayleigh, bowed ninety degrees and shouted in unison.
"You guys!" Roger stood on the spot, hopping mad.
"Sorry, Captain!"
"A pirate's bottom line is very flexible!"
"I'll work hard for the Captain's share too!"
"Roger, Shanks, and Buggy, don't be so stubborn. Just bow your heads and come over!"
"Mwahahahaha! Idiot, what do you say? If you bow to me and beg, it's not impossible for me to share a tiny bit of deliciousness with you."
Nero laughed wildly, raising her red wine glass and arrogantly eating the meat Hathaway fed her. Her height of over a meter somehow exuded an aura of seven and a half meters.
"Damn it! I will never bow to you! I still have Buggy and Shanks!"
Roger pulled the two into a hug: "Idiots! Fools! A bunch of unprincipled guys!"
Buggy and Shanks, who hadn't had a chance to go over yet: "..."
Is it true that the brave ones enjoy the world first?
..."Gulp~ Gulp~ Gulp~ Ha! Truly delicious!" Carelessly wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, Roger exclaimed, met by the disdainful gazes of his crew.
What's wrong with being a great pirate? I'm already a pirate, what's wrong with a flexible bottom line? At least I held out till the end compared to my own crew!
"Shanks! Buggy! Try this meat! It's so fragrant!"
"Captain, you should also try this wine; the taste is truly unique!"
"What?! Then I must definitely try it!"
...Everyone watched the 'True Fragrance Trio' speechless. Having such a Captain, everyone felt utterly humiliated at this moment.
"How about it? I told you this trick would work. Look, all these guys fell for it, didn't they?"
Nero's face was flushed with a beautiful rosy hue due to the alcohol, and she kept shaking Hathaway's arm.
"Oh! I thought that even if famous great pirates from the sea were a bit eccentric, they wouldn't..." Hathaway was utterly speechless to see her Majesty's plan actually work.
"Mmm, because I'm a genius!" Nero put her hands on her hips and raised her head.
"Sorry, I don't see what this has to do with being a genius." Hathaway looked helpless: "Also, Your Majesty, you're drunk!"
"Mmm, how could I get drunk on this little bit of wine? Hathaway, you worry too much!" Nero waved her hand, signaling no need for further words... "Mwahahahaha! Continue!"
"Hahahahaha! Again!"
Nero and Roger, arm in arm, were holding up oak wine glasses. The wine brought from the palace was finished; now they were drinking the rum from Roger's ship.
"Mmm, you even know about Skypiea (Xandora)? Is it really covered in gold everywhere?"
"As plentiful as pebbles on the roadside; there's no problem using it to build houses!"
"Then will there be enough to replace all my palace with gold?"
"Enough! Definitely enough! I heard it's a Sky Island, and if you exchange things from the land, the locals would absolutely be very willing!"
"Mmm! Then I'm going to bring all the gold back to Nicuss! I want a Golden Palace!"
Nero raised her wine glass and clinked it fiercely against Roger's, then drained it in one gulp.
"That's a truly great idea!" Roger was equally unhesitant, downing his wine in one breath.
"By the way, since there's so much gold there, why are you still running around? Just take the gold and become a rich person, wouldn't that work?"
"Ah, that! Of course, it's to reach the Final Island; only then will it count as circumnavigating the world!"
"Mmm, what's on the Final Island? More gold?"
"Hahaha! Possibly! After all, it's a place no one has ever reached! Only by reaching there will my voyage be complete!" Roger slapped his thigh, laughing boisterously.
"Mmm, that sounds truly romantic. It's decided, I'm also going to the Final Island, and then to Skypiea (Xandora) to build a Golden Palace!"
Nero grabbed a bottle of wine, pulled out the cork, and drank directly from the bottle, then smashed the bottle fiercely, her figure swaying as she made her vow.