Doubts

Looking at the husky, Rogge no longer knew what to say. He had never raised a dog before; he had only seen the mutt next door. As for huskies, he had only heard rumors about them and had never witnessed what they could really do.

Now that he had to raise one himself, he still did not know what to say. He poured it some dog food, tossed it to Ares to look after, and headed up to the crow's nest on the mast to train.

"Hey, what's with this dog? The floor's broken!" Cook shouted from below. Out of sight, out of mind, Rogge kept doing push-ups.

His training room should originally have been in the cabin, but Rogge had insisted on putting it on the mast. First, the cabin was too stuffy. Second, he would not be able to see what was happening outside, and if something occurred, he would be unable to arrive at the scene immediately.

So, following Sunny's design, Rogge turned the crow's nest on the mast into a training room. Although the space was a little small, he had to admit that the view from up there was broad and the air flowed freely.

Rogge knew that he could not rely too heavily on his Devil Fruit powers. Even though his ability was powerful, he had never heard of anyone becoming a great pirate by relying solely on their Fruit. Which true great pirate was not a monster among monsters?

He still had a long road ahead of him. Only by constantly growing stronger could he survive and obtain what he wanted.

Lifting iron could become addictive; that was no joke. Anyone who persevered would find enjoyment in the gym equipment. Rogge enjoyed the soreness in his muscles, and with Ares, a doctor, around, he received the best recovery after every workout before throwing himself into another round of training.

In the dining room, Rogge arrived punctually every day to enjoy the delicious food Jelly cooked.

Whenever Jelly saw Rogge eating like a starving ghost, he could not help complaining, "You alone eat enough food in a day for ten of us."

"Don't you people have anything better to do? You're all playing cards. I'm different from you—I'm your captain. I train hard every day to become stronger, so what if I eat a little more?" Rogge did not even look up, continuing to bury his head in huge chunks of meat.

Watching Rogge ruin the premium beef he had carefully prepared, Jelly felt like his daughter had been violated by a pig. What the hell.

Sailing was absolutely the most boring thing in the world. Do not think life at sea was fun. They were only in the West Blue, yet after three days without setting foot on land, the group was already going stir-crazy.

Of course, Rogge was not. He happily lifted iron every day; the only thing missing was something.

He had always felt that training needed stirring music. That was the only way to lift with rhythm.

"Are we not at the Red Line yet?" Jelly lay over the mast, teasing Billy. The past few days had been too boring. Even Jelly, who normally disliked Billy, could not resist coming over to pat the dog's head.

"Soon. We should arrive today." Ham took out a map.

"Great! We can finally leave the West Blue. This place is so boring." Jelly immediately perked up a little, but he soon slumped back down again.

"If you really cannot stand it, go find the captain. He trains hard every day," Ham said.

"I do not want to turn into a walking pile of muscles. I'd rather keep the dog company, right, Pigtaro?" Jelly said, rubbing Billy's head.

"What did you call it?" Ham froze.

"Pigtaro. Billy is disgusting. I suspect Rogge named him that on purpose just to disgust me," Jelly said.

"I think you're overthinking it," Ham said with a chuckle.

"One training madman, one research madman. The two of them have it easy, while we're the ones watching the ship." Jelly lay on the deck, limbs spread wide in the shape of a giant character.

"By the way, why is Billy tied up here, and why was another layer of wooden planks added?" Ham asked, looking at Billy, who kept jumping around.

Jelly replied weakly, "That dog is way too destructive. It may be small, but just look at the deck."

"Whoa!" Ham looked over and saw streaks of claw marks across the deck's painted surface. There was no need to ask; none of the few of them could have done that. The only one capable of it was this dog.

"Did Cook make it?" Ham asked with a smile.

"Yeah. He made a doghouse and added an extra layer of planks around the area where it moves," Jelly said.

Ever since Rogge brought the dog aboard, he had not paid it any attention. Looking after Billy had been handed to Jelly and Cook. Rogge lifted iron, Ares hid in his room doing research, and Ham had no time for it, so the responsibility could only be dumped on the remaining two.

Boom!

The sea surface burst open as Cook leaped out of the water. A large sack was slung over his back, and dripping wet, he tossed it onto the deck.

"Looks like we're getting an extra meal today." Seeing Cook return, Jelly immediately perked up and went over to open the sack.

"I really envy you Fish-Man Tribe people. You can swim freely in the sea," Ham said.

"You would not envy us," Cook said flatly.

"Why wouldn't I? You're naturally stronger than humans, can live in the sea, and do not have to worry about all sorts of disasters on land. The sea makes up most of this world. I even wish I could become one of the Fish-Man Tribe," Ham said.

"You'll understand someday. You do not understand fish-men at all." Cook did not say more. He checked on Billy, then returned to the helm.

Seeing that Cook was unwilling to elaborate, Ham said nothing else and merely shrugged.

"Why is it all shellfish? Are there no fish?" After sorting through the contents of the sack, Jelly found only shellfish, seaweed, and similar things—not a single fish.

"The Fish-Man Tribe does not eat fish," Cook said.

"There's such a thing?!" Jelly and Ham exclaimed in surprise.

"Fish are like our own kind. We would never eat our own kind. Some have even said that fish-men originally mutated from fish, so whether they are fish-men or members of the Merfolk Tribe, they do not eat fish. Shellfish and seaweed are our food," Cook said.

"So that's how it is." Jelly and Ham nodded.

"I kind of want to visit Fish-Man Island now. Beautiful mermaids." Jelly smiled.

"Yesterday, the captain was bragging that Fish-Man Island is like a crystal castle. He talked as if he had seen it himself," Ham said with a laugh.

"The captain was not bragging. Fish-Man Island really is like a crystal castle. Don't you think the captain is mysterious? He buries himself in training all day, and sometimes he casually says strange things," Cook said.

"Does he?" Jelly looked up.

"You may not know much, but my instincts tell me the captain is not simple. His outlook is far broader than most." Cook nodded seriously.