One Piece: Under the Throne

The sun was about to sink into the sea, and the second day of competition was about to end. Lord Grady took his time to step onto the main stage. He was about to announce the list of the top eight tomorrow. Thinking of Charles's desperate expression, he couldn't help but feel a little better.

Grady opened the envelope and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, let me announce the final eight chefs."

"Chef Mickey from the South China Sea... Chef Zhepu from the East China Sea... and..." Lord Gridi paused when reading the last name, and even his face was a little distorted, as if he was going to tear the list into pieces in the next second.

"And Chef Charles from Star Island." After finally squeezing out Charles' name from between his teeth, Grady angrily walked off the stage. He didn't know how Charles got rid of those pirates.

Back in the afternoon, Leo, Charles and Will gathered in a small circle and plotted.

"Charles, in a moment you will put on my cape and leave here to compete on another island. I will disguise myself as you and drag the pirates along."

"You can't do this, idiot. We are not allowed to open new restaurants after the cooking competition begins. It won't help even if I go to another island."

"You are so stubborn. If you don't have a shop, can't you just borrow someone else's? With carrots and sticks, there will definitely be many hopeless chefs willing to give up their positions."

Charles looked up at the starry sky with lingering fear and said: "But you can't cook at all. If those pirates find out, they will beat you to death." Leo was so angry. It's already this time and you still have the mood to worry about me. Besides, those pirates don't look like they are here to eat.

"Just focus on the competition, don't worry about other things. Although I can't cook, I'm good at persuading people, and I will definitely not let those pirates complain."

This not-so-clever trick of passing off a fake as real actually helped Charles complete his KPI and successfully qualify for the quarterfinals. When Leo heard Grady read out Charles' name, he clapped excitedly, and behind him there was a row of bruised cheerleaders celebrating with him.

……

After Grady returned to the study, he smashed almost all the decorations in the room. "Damn it, those losers couldn't even deal with a young boy, and Charles succeeded anyway."

After venting for a long time, Grady's anger subsided a lot. Anyway, he couldn't stop Charles from advancing, so he would let him experience a deeper level of despair in the final. As long as he could enter the final, there would be a big surprise waiting for him. At that time, he could watch him fall into the abyss from a close distance. It was really exciting to think about it.

After deciding on the next plan, Grady went to request an audience with the Celestial Dragons.

"Saint Kamael, Lord Grady of Star Island requests an audience."

"Oh my, it's that annoying fly again. Never mind, just bring her here." Grady tried to flatter the Celestial Dragon for two days. Although the Celestial Dragon didn't remember his name, he was still willing to be more patient with him.

"Merciful Saint Kamael, your humble servant Gretti has something to report. I have some new ideas about tomorrow's finals." Gretti's face completely changed in front of the Celestial Dragons. The flattery that came from his bones made the CP agents next to him shiver.

"Heh! How are you going to please me, you guy?" The celestial dragon asked casually without even bothering to raise his eyelids.

"Saint Kamael, I just received news that there will be a tsunami in the waters of Star Island tomorrow afternoon." Having said this, Griddy deliberately paused.

"What did you say? Hai... Hai Hai Hai Hai? You bastard, why did you tell me such important news just now? Are you trying to murder me? CP, escort me away immediately."

“Saint Kamael, please don’t worry. The scale of this tsunami will not endanger the Lord’s Island. At most, it will submerge the surrounding islands. You can enjoy the ugly scene of those civilians running for their lives here tomorrow. There are also many talented chefs in this cooking competition. Don’t you want to know whether the so-called geniuses value cooking more or their lives more?”

As expected, Grady's suggestion successfully attracted the attention of the Celestial Dragons. Anyway, he would not be in danger, and he could also watch the ants struggling to survive. This was much more interesting than a cooking competition.

"Great, I'm going to film all of this and show it to my brothers when I get back. Hahahaha, the collision of dreams and life and death, I'm really looking forward to it! They haven't seen such a scene before. Your name is Grady, right? I'll remember you."

"Thank you very much for your recognition." Grady knelt down at the feet of the Celestial Dragon, and from his movements it seemed that he wanted to kiss the other's feet.

……

On the final day of the Star Island Food Festival, eight chefs with outstanding culinary skills stepped onto their own stage amid the cheers of everyone, making final preparations for today's competition.

"Charles, don't you really want to consider making Stargazing? That dish best reflects your determination to fight against fate." Leo suggested seriously.

"There's no way to compete. That kind of thing should be called dying with regrets. Do you want to scare the judges to death?" Charles yelled at Leo with a frown on his face.

Soon the draw for the competition was over, and Charles' first opponent turned out to be the popular insect cooking chef.

The referee announced the start of the competition, and the chefs all got into the groove, their knives flying up and down, breaking down all the ingredients in an instant. The one-hour cooking time passed quickly, and the showdown between the masters was a feast for the eyes.

The insect chef brought out a very beautiful dish [Steamed fluorescent eggs with golden beetles]. On the plate, there was a golden beetle with its wings spread out, and the white protein was covered with emerald green eggs. The combination of the two colors made Leo feel a bit like gold inlaid with jade.

On the other hand, Childs served a very ordinary-looking seafood fried rice.

"Charles, give me back my hard work. You're making seafood fried rice for such an important competition. If you want to give up, just tell me directly." Leo was so angry that his face turned red. If Will hadn't stopped him, he would have rushed onto the stage and kicked Charles twice.

The judges looked at the two dishes in front of them and thought the insect dish was more attractive, so they tried the fluorescent insect eggs first. After just one bite, the judges' eyes glowed green, and the fragrance made them feel as if they were in a primitive jungle. The judges were intoxicated as they ate, and gave it a high score of 8.

Next was Charles' ordinary seafood fried rice. He scooped up a spoonful and put it into his mouth to taste it carefully. It looked much more ordinary than when he tasted the insect dish just now. Suddenly, the judge's hair stood up and he unconsciously opened his arms, as if he wanted to embrace the whole world. It took a long time for the judge to regain consciousness. When he wanted to take another bite, he found that the plate in front of him was already empty. Without any hesitation, the judge gave it a score of 10.

"This tastes like heaven, Sbarasi!"

Many viewers were confused. How could it be just a plate of ordinary fried rice and taste better than the gorgeous insect dishes? Suddenly, there were waves of discussions among the crowd.

"Chef Charles's seafood fried rice is not just any ordinary seafood fried rice. The white rice grains are actually deep-sea guppy roe, which is the best ingredient. What's even more rare is that Chef Charles didn't break any of the guppy roe when he cooked it. This is simply a god-like skill."

Roar, roar, roar, amid everyone's cheers, Childs successfully advanced to the semi-finals.

"Congratulations Charles, I was almost scared to death when I saw you making fried rice!"

"Tsk! How can my cooking be so simple?" After saying that, Charles handed two plates of peacock roe fried rice to Leo and Will.

After a short break, Charles returned to the stage, and his opponent in the semi-finals was actually Zeff.

The two of them chose sashimi dishes at the same time. It seemed as if the two chefs on the stand were performing a dance between the kitchen knife and the ingredients. Twenty minutes later, Charles and Zeff finished their dishes at the same time and brought them to the judges for evaluation.

Zhepu took a look at Charles's cooking and said, "You are young and promising. I didn't expect you to choose star jellyfish to cook. This is the most difficult ingredient to handle. The surface of star jellyfish is very smooth. To cut it into such thin slices, Charles, your knife skills alone are indeed qualified to be called the world's top chef."

If you don't look carefully, Childs' plate looks like an empty plate. Only when you turn the plate can you see a thin layer of food inside. The flesh of the star jellyfish actually reflects rainbow colors.

The judges were also very interested in the super rare food ingredient, the starlight jellyfish, which is not a delicacy that can be easily eaten. Picking up a piece of jellyfish sashimi as thin as a cicada's wing and putting it into their mouths, the judges felt as if they were in the night sky, with a continuous sense of weightlessness. Just when the judges were a little dizzy and about to lose their balance, a little starlight bloomed in the darkness.

The judges shed tears of emotion: "Full marks must be given. I gave this dish 10 points because the full mark is only 10 points. Any other score would be a blasphemy to such a delicacy."

Seeing the judges like this, Zhepu was not nervous at all. Although the dish he served was just a simple plate of saury sashimi, after Charles's first cooking performance, the judges did not dare to underestimate him.

The judges began to taste Zhepu's dishes, and from the first bite, Leo felt that this judge was glowing little by little.

When the judges finished eating and put down their forks, they looked like little golden men. "This is really a duel between masters. Mr. Charles's unparalleled knife skills and the world's top ingredients have made the dish perfect, while Mr. Zhepu has given life to ordinary ingredients. The whole saury seems to come alive again in my mouth. Your cooking skills are so high that I cannot evaluate them. So I suggest that you try each other's dishes and judge the winner for yourselves."

This was an unexpected result. The winner had to taste each other's food. This was a real test of the chef's character. But both Charles and Zeff were pioneers in the pursuit of top-notch delicacies. How could they make a judgment against their will?

Charles and Zhepu tasted each other's food at the same time. After tasting it carefully, Zhepu spoke first: "I lost. Your knife skills are impeccable. You actually cut along the skin texture of the star jellyfish. I can't do this kind of knife skills. Is your hand a kitchen knife?" Zhepu looked at Charles in disbelief.

Charles didn't let Zeff be surprised for too long. He transformed his hand into a kitchen knife in front of him and said, "I am the user of the Cold Weapon Fruit. You guessed it right. The kitchen knife is a part of my body. But compared to my cooking, Mr. Zeff is more admirable. You can make top-notch dishes with ordinary ingredients. You are the real chef at sea."

"Haha, I don't care whether the ingredients are top-notch or ordinary, as long as they can make people happy, the most important thing is not to waste food."

Roar, roar, roar, the audience cheered for Charles generously. The kid who kept fighting despite repeated defeats now made it to the finals stage.

At this moment, Charles was as sharp as the kitchen knife in his hand. He stared at the direction of the Lord's Island and said, "Greedy, here I come. This time I must take back the honor that belongs to my family."