One Piece: I, the Strongest Intern of the Roger Pirates

The moment Fang Yi spotted the warship, he snapped awake. He quickly scanned the area—no signs of Marines. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wangcai, go wake up the Captain and the others."

He patted the dog's head and whispered.

"Woof! Woof!"

Wangcai barked twice and immediately ran off in Roger's direction.

A moment later, the deck echoed with the same pained howls Fang Yi had made earlier when Wangcai woke him up.

"Captain Roger… Mr. Rayleigh!"

Fang Yi waved and called softly when he saw the two waking up, pointing at the Marine ship docked next to theirs.

"Hmm?"

Roger and Rayleigh both blinked, glanced at each other, then turned to Fang Yi.

"When did the Marines show up?"

"I'm not sure," Fang Yi shook his head.

"Wangcai woke me up just now, and I saw the ship already docked. But there doesn't seem to be anyone on board."

Roger and Rayleigh walked to the railing and peered over at the warship.

Sure enough—there were no visible Marines.

"Maybe they disembarked right after docking and haven't noticed us yet?"

Rayleigh frowned.

"Mr. Rayleigh... our flag is that huge. You're telling me they didn't notice?"

Fang Yi pointed up at the massive Jolly Roger flying boldly from the mast.

"Wanna go check it out?"

Roger grinned with excitement.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Rayleigh shook his head.

"We don't know why they haven't approached us, but there's no reason for us to poke the bear."

Unfortunately, Roger wasn't listening—he had already leapt onto the warship before Rayleigh could finish his sentence.

"Mr. Rayleigh… now what?"

Fang Yi turned to the exasperated first mate.

"Go after him, Fang Yi. Most of the crew's still sleeping, so I need to stay here."

Rayleigh glanced at the groaning, hungover pirates scattered across the deck and sighed.

"Understood, Mr. Rayleigh!"

Fang Yi nodded. Just as he was about to jump across, he noticed Wangcai waking Shanks.

"Can I bring Shanks with me?"

"Go ahead—but be careful, both of you."

Rayleigh nodded with a warm smile.

With Roger already ahead and no detectable life force on the warship (Rayleigh had confirmed this with Observation Haki), there didn't seem to be any immediate threat. That was probably why Roger went in the first place.

Fang Yi waved to Shanks, and together they jumped onto the warship. To their surprise, Wangcai followed them over.

"What are you doing here?! This is an enemy ship—you wanna get caught and turned into someone's dinner?"

Fang Yi scolded, trying to put on a stern face.

"Woof, woof!"

Wangcai wagged his tail and barked twice as if to say, "There's no enemy here."

Fang Yi sighed.

"Fine, you can come. But stay quiet—got it?"

Wangcai nodded excitedly.

With no time to waste, Fang Yi and Shanks hurried toward the ship's interior to catch up with Roger. This was still a Marine vessel after all, and staying close to the captain was the safest move.

But when they entered the cabin, they found no trace of Roger.

Even more strange, the warship seemed like it hadn't been lived in for some time.

"Big Bro Fang, something's wrong... this place doesn't look like it's been used recently."

Shanks pointed at the thick dust covering the chairs and furniture.

"Yeah. It looks abandoned... but if no one's steering it, how did this warship get here—and docked perfectly next to ours, no less?"

Fang Yi furrowed his brows.

"Let's find the captain first. We can explore more along the way."

Shanks suggested.

"Let's go. Wangcai, find the captain!"

Fang Yi gave the order.

Wangcai took off in a specific direction, tail wagging, and the two boys followed.

They eventually found Roger inside the captain's quarters, standing still… staring off into space.

"Captain Roger…"

Fang Yi stepped forward and called out gently.

"Ah—Fang Yi, it's you! What are you two doing here?"

Roger turned and smiled.

"Mr. Rayleigh was worried about you, so he asked us to check on you," Fang Yi replied with a small grin.

"Captain… this warship doesn't show any signs of recent human activity."

"That's right," Roger nodded.

"I just checked the entire ship. No signs of life."

"So this is… a ghost ship, then."

Fang Yi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Ghost ship?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Roger and Shanks both looked horrified.

"What's with those faces?"

Fang Yi flinched, turning around instinctively—but saw nothing.

"You mean... like there's a ghost on board?!"

Roger asked, his face lighting up with excitement.

"Captain…"

Fang Yi was speechless.

A ghost ship didn't mean it was haunted. It referred to an abandoned ship that had drifted at sea, either because the crew died or disappeared for various reasons.

"But… It's a warship. Wouldn't that kind of vessel never be abandoned?"

Shanks asked, realization dawning as he listened to Fang Yi's explanation.

"Exactly. Which means something must have happened. Maybe the entire crew died... and the ship drifted into port with the current, docking right next to us by chance."

Fang Yi nodded.

"Hahaha! Impressive, Fang Yi! You know your stuff!"

Roger laughed and patted him on the back.

"Captain… next time, don't just go running onto strange ships like that," Fang Yi said seriously.

"There could be deadly bacteria on board—maybe that's what wiped out the original crew. We could get infected too."

After all, Fang Yi hadn't forgotten that Roger died young from an incurable illness.

"No way?"

Roger looked startled.

"That's one of the most common reasons ghost ships appear. Other causes could be extreme weather, or starvation due to lack of food and water."

"Alright, got it!"

Roger nodded sincerely.

He may not always act like it, but Roger did respect the opinions of his crew. That said… Fang Yi had a feeling he'd still be the first to charge in next time.

"Woof! Woof woof—Grrr… woof!"

Suddenly, Wangcai growled fiercely in a specific direction, baring his teeth. It was a posture Fang Yi recognized well—he only acted this way when real danger was near.

All three immediately went on alert.

But after carefully surveying the area, they saw nothing out of place.

"Wangcai? What did you see?"

Fang Yi trusted the pup. He wouldn't act like this without a reason.

"Whine… woof…"

Wangcai turned in circles, whining with a confused and frustrated look.

"What's going on?"

Roger and Shanks looked to Fang Yi for interpretation.

Out of the whole crew, Fang Yi was the one who understood Wangcai best.

"He says… something just got close to us. But then it disappeared."

"Could it be… a ghost?"

Roger and Shanks said in unison.

Fang Yi's face darkened.

Looking at their excited expressions, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In this world, aside from powers brought on by Devil Fruits, ghosts and the supernatural didn't exist. Fang Yi preferred to believe any so-called "ghost sightings" were just hallucinations or legends made up by overactive pirate imaginations.

But then, Wangcai began spinning in place again, barking wildly in all directions.

The door to the captain's quarters suddenly slammed shut.

Fang Yi even felt the temperature drop slightly.

"Captain…"

He looked at Roger.

Roger's expression grew serious. He activated his Observation Haki—but found nothing.

Still, his instincts were screaming at him:

Something was nearby.

"Both of you, get close to me."

Roger's voice was low, commanding.

A chill ran down Fang Yi's spine.

It felt like watching a horror movie alone, where you just know something is lurking behind you, waiting to strike.

"Grrr… WOOF WOOF!!"

Wangcai's growls deepened as he bared his fangs, absolutely convinced something was approaching.

Fang Yi drew a dagger and stood back-to-back with Shanks, scanning the room intently.

A bow would be useless in close quarters, especially when you couldn't even see the enemy.

They waited... nothing happened.

But just as they began to lower their guard, the sound of footsteps echoed from beyond the door.

The three of them immediately turned toward the noise, locking all their killing intent onto the entrance.

Whatever was out there—ghost, Marine, or monster—it was about to get a very rude welcome.

Creak—

The wooden door opened slowly.

At that exact moment, Fang Yi and Shanks lunged forward from either side.

Roger stepped in front and threw a devastating punch directly through the center.

"Aaaahhh—!"

A scream of pain pierced the air.