Sanji didn't expect Lin Mo to come looking for him.
Not only did he come, but he also made Sanji break a plate...
This really pissed him off.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Sanji complained, "Because of you, I broke a plate!"
Lin Mo chuckled. "Did I break it with my own hands?"
Sanji paused, then frowned. "No..."
Lin Mo replied, "So what does that have to do with me?"
"Eh?" Sanji, realizing he was at fault, could only swallow his frustration, "Damn it! You guys are all the same, always picking on me. The chefs do it, that old man does it, even you, an outsider, do it! One day, I'm going to make all of you look at me differently!"
Just then, Patty stormed into the kitchen, grumbling, "A poor guy dares to come to Baratie to eat? What an ignorant guy!"
The busy chefs burst into laughter.
"Patty, did you throw someone out the back door again?"
"Hahaha, that's totally Patty's style."
Upon hearing that Patty had thrown a penniless person out, Sanji stopped washing the plate.
Lin Mo calmly watched him.
From what Lin Mo knew about Sanji, he was the kind of guy who couldn't ignore hungry people.
Sure enough, Sanji secretly grabbed two loaves of bread and a bottle of milk.
When he noticed Lin Mo was watching him, he made a "don't say anything" gesture.
Then, while everyone else was distracted, Sanji snuck out of the kitchen.
Lin Mo followed him quietly.
Sanji arrived at the back deck.
There, a scrawny, starving man was lying on the deck, seemingly in despair.
Without a word, Sanji placed the bread and milk beside the man.
"Eat," Sanji said, sitting beside him and watching.
The man weakly turned his head to look at him, then shakily grabbed the bread and milk. He devoured them hungrily without hesitation.
After finishing, the man teared up and said, "Thank you, thank you so much! I almost thought I was going to starve to death out here on this sea."
Sanji smiled and asked, "Feels good to have something to eat, huh?"
The man nodded and smiled, "Yes, I've never felt so happy to have food before. I don't know how to thank you."
"No need to thank me," Sanji said, shaking his head. "Food is a gift from nature. All I ask is that you promise me you won't waste food, even when you're rich one day."
"Okay, I promise you!"
"Good." Sanji nodded, then turned to leave.
When he came back up the spiral staircase, Lin Mo was leaning against the wall by the second-floor stairs.
As Sanji passed him, Lin Mo said, "Hot food is always better than dry bread, right?"
Sanji froze in his tracks.
Lin Mo's words felt like a knife stabbing straight into his heart.
"Hey! What do you know!" Sanji couldn't help but get angry. "I want to cook for those hungry people too, but the food I make tastes terrible! That old man won't teach me, and I'm really frustrated!"
"Heh." Lin Mo sneered.
Sanji gritted his teeth, "Are you mocking me? What gives you the right to mock me?"
"With your aptitude, why should Zeff teach you?"
"What!" Sanji's body shook in anger. "You wanna fight?"
With that, Sanji lunged at Lin Mo, throwing a punch.
Lin Mo sidestepped.
Sanji's punch hit the wooden wall behind Lin Mo, and he jumped in pain, stomping his feet in frustration.
Lin Mo was speechless.
Looks like this guy hasn't even started learning leg techniques...
He's still using his hands to fight?
A chef's hands are for cooking.
A skilled chef should use his legs in a fight.
That's how Zeff does it.
And Sanji will do the same in the future.
It's just that he's too slow to catch on.
As Lin Mo thought about this, an idea struck him.
Maybe this was the key to progressing his current task!
With that thought in mind, Lin Mo spoke up, "Does your hand hurt?"
Sanji, frustrated, grumbled, "Of course it hurts!"
Lin Mo smirked. "Do you know why Zeff refuses to teach you how to cook?"
Sanji froze for a moment, then huffed, "Who knows what that old man is thinking? You, an outsider, don't even know why."
"I know."
"What?" Sanji couldn't believe it. "What are you talking about? How could you possibly know after just meeting that old man?"
Lin Mo asked, "What's your dream?"
"Hey, what's with that question?" Sanji, though displeased, answered truthfully, "I want to surpass that old man, and after he dies, I'll set sail to find All Blue."
When Sanji mentioned All Blue, his eyes lit up.
Lin Mo responded indifferently, "Oh."
And with that, he snapped Sanji back to reality, "What's with that casual 'oh'?"
"Someone who spends all his time complaining has no right to talk about dreams."
"Eh? You bastard! You don't know anything!" Sanji clenched his fists and charged at Lin Mo again.
This time, Lin Mo didn't dodge. "Hands are a chef's most important tool. If you hurt them, how do you plan to cook with your legs?"
Sanji's fist stopped less than five centimeters from Lin Mo's face.
Lin Mo smirked, then continued, "Someone who can't even make an effort has no right to talk about dreams."
After speaking, Lin Mo sidestepped, intending to wander around Baratie and familiarize himself with the place.
He had said what he needed to say.
Sanji looked at his hands, then glanced at Lin Mo's retreating figure, and couldn't help but ask, "What exactly were you trying to tell me?"
Lin Mo didn't turn around. "Figure it out yourself."
Sanji stood there, staring at Lin Mo's back, before looking down at his own hands again.
Scenes from the past flashed in his mind.
He had never seen Zeff use his hands to fight.
Whenever someone caused trouble or reprimanded the kitchen staff, Zeff always used his feet to kick them!
Yeah!
Hands are a chef's life!
How could they be used for fighting?
Sanji clenched his fists, determined. "It's decided. From now on, I won't use my hands to fight!"
After that, he started thinking about what Lin Mo had said.
Always complaining and unable to make an effort... Was he really that bad?
He'd worked so hard for these past few months, washing dishes and cleaning the restaurant, yet he wasn't trying?
Wait...
Suddenly, Sanji had a moment of clarity.
Sanji broke into a cold sweat.
"Ah! What the hell have I been doing these past few months?"