Baratie Arc

After Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Usopp receive the The Going Merry, Usopp has painted the gang a Jolly Roger and they head for the ship’s restaurant Baratié together with Johnny and Yosaku (two old friends of Zoro). Once there, Luffy manages to deflect a cannonball fired at the Going Merry so that it hits the restaurant ship. The owner of the baratié “Redfoot Jeff” condemns Luffy to work on his ship for a year to pay for the repairs.

At the restaurant, Luffy meets the head chef there, Sanji, who gives a starving member of a dangerous pirate gang (named Gin) some food and saves his life. However, Sanji initially declines Luffy’s invitation to join his gang. A few days later, the supposedly most dangerous and powerful pirate in the entire East Blue shows up at the baratié with his ship – Don Krieg. He too is starving and asks the cooks there for something to eat. Sanji, against the opinion of everyone else (except Jeff), gives him something to eat.

After Don Krieg has eaten his fill, he attacks Sanji and makes it clear that he plans to hijack the restaurant ship. Before this confrontation can degenerate into a fight, however, Creek’s ship is first completely destroyed. It turns out that Creek has returned from the Grand Line, where his entire armada of 50 ships has been destroyed by Mihawk “Hawkeye” Dracule, the best swordsman in the world. It is this one who has just destroyed Don Krieg’s flagship. As he says himself, he did this merely to pass the time. Coinciding with the destruction of the ship, Nami throws Johnny and Yosaku off the The Going Merry and steals the ship. Zoro, who has the goal of becoming the best swordsman in the world, challenges Hawkeye to a fight, which he loses handily and in which Hawkeye inflicts a very serious wound on him. However, Dracule Mihawk acknowledges Zoro’s potential and iron will and tells him to keep training so that he may one day find a worthy opponent in Zoro.

After the fight, Zoro, Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku head off to catch up with Nami while Luffy, Sanji, Zeff, and the other chefs prepare to fight Don Krieg and his gang. Zeff assures Luffy that he will no longer have to work as a kitchen boy for Zeff should he manage to defeat Don Krieg. During the fight, it is learned that Sanji was stranded on an island for 180 days as a child with Zeff, who was still a famous and powerful pirate at the time and who saved his life. Because of this, both Sanji and Zeff feed anyone who is hungry and that’s why Zeff lost his right leg, which put an abrupt end to his pirate career. In the fight, it turns out that Gin is the first mate of Don Krieg. Gin fights Sanji, but leaves him alive when he wins. As a result, Don Krieg expels Gin from his gang. After a tough fight, Luffy manages to defeat Don Krieg. Sanji joins the Straw Hat gang shortly after. Meanwhile, Yosaku returns to the Baratié and reports to Luffy that Nami is in Arlong Park. Luffy, Sanji and Yosaku set off in Sanji’s ship to retrieve Nami.