A Killer Close at Hand

"Captain, someone wants to join us," Ham told the battered Rogge.

"I'm not interested in every random nobody who comes along." Rogge kept his head down and ate.

"I think this one's worth considering," Ham said.

Rogge paused and looked up at him. "Are you serious?"

He had high standards for his crewmates. He would rather have a small crew of elites. Ares might look useless, but he could make a difference when it counted, especially since he was a doctor.

The other three needed no explanation. Before Rogge got the Chop-Chop Fruit, he was probably the weakest of them all.

But that was part of his plan. He did not need many people yet. Once they entered the New World, he could recruit stronger subordinates there. In the First Half, he would only pick elites as prospective officers, much like Blackbeard had. He had no intention of gathering a thousand people right away to build a pirate crew that looked impressive but had no substance.

"Who is it?" Rogge stopped eating and looked at Ham.

Jelly was curious too. He had come back to hear that someone wanted to join, and he wanted to see who was blind enough to pick their crew.

"The Golden Hunter, Simon. He's a well-known bounty hunter on the Grand Line," Ham said.

"What can he do?" Rogge picked up another piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

"He's a sniper," Ham said.

"Oh."

That caught Rogge's interest.

Ham continued, "Simon used to be a bounty hunter in the North Blue, where he made a name for himself. He hunted down more than a dozen wanted men on his own. He's killed plenty of pirates since entering the Grand Line, too. But someone's after him now. He only showed up on Tavern Island because he's being hunted."

"Are you sure he isn't after my head?" Rogge asked.

"Eighty percent sure he is," Cook said.

Jelly laughed. "You're eighty percent sure, and you still want to take him in? Do you want Rogge dead?"

"What do you think, Rogge?" Ham ignored Jelly and turned to him.

"We'll take him. If he's here to kill me, all the better. I need someone like that." Rogge grinned cruelly.

"Have you lost your mind?" Jelly shot to his feet. "Simon wants to kill you, and you're going to keep him close? That's like keeping a ticking bomb beside you! I don't want to live alongside an enemy."

"Ham probably wants to put some pressure on the captain," Ares said.

"You're insane. Both of you!" Jelly shouted. "You're bringing an enemy aboard just for that, and we'll have to watch him every second. What else would you call it?"

"It's fine, Jelly. This is for our own good. Bringing Simon aboard might even be fun. You said the voyage was boring, didn't you? Now you'll have something to do. We can watch him make his move. A killer whose intentions we all know, right there on our ship, with all of us watching our backs. Doesn't that sound fun?" Rogge said with a smile.

Jelly had to admit it would make the voyage more interesting, but he still struggled with the thought of a bomb that could go off at any moment sitting beside them. He gritted his teeth. "You really are all insane. Ham, Cook, do you both agree with this?"

"I think it's necessary. Come on, Jelly, it'll be fun. Besides, the captain's his main target. He's the one under pressure. Don't you trust him?" Ham said with a smile.

Jelly had nothing more to say. Rogge had made his decision, so all Jelly could do was help watch Simon and make sure Rogge did not actually get killed. For a training maniac like Rogge, having a killer nearby might even be exciting. It would certainly keep him alert.

"Where is he?"

Rogge stopped eating. He had cleared every plate on the table.

"You ate it all? You bastard, I haven't eaten yet!" Jelly stared at the empty table, dumbfounded.

"You'll see him tomorrow. I told him to wait in town," Ham said.

"Then I'll see him tomorrow." Rogge waved a hand. "Hrrr..."

"He's asleep!" The four of them gaped at Rogge, who had fallen asleep in a second.

"Ham, I think we've made a mistake," Cook said grimly.

Ham swallowed hard and looked at the other three. "How about we go kill Simon right now?"

"You think Rogge would agree?" Jelly said with a cold laugh.

"Forget it. Let's trust him." Ham sighed.

Watching Rogge sleep soundly, none of them felt quite so confident anymore. They each let out a sigh.

But just as they turned to leave the room, something round came bouncing in. At the sight of the blood on Rogge, it leaped up, spread its claws, and pounced on him.

Bang!

A small shape was plastered against the wall. Rogge slowly lowered his hand.

"What..."

The four stared at Rogge in shock. He was clearly still asleep, yet he had reacted in an instant and sent the thing flying.

"A reflex?" Cook said in surprise.

"Looks like we worried for nothing." Ham laughed.

"Pigtaro!"

Jelly cried out and pulled Billy off the wall. The silly dog's tongue hung out, but he was still breathing.

Ares leaned in for a look. "He's fine. Just knocked out."

"Rogge must have held back. If he'd put his power into that punch, Billy would've burst," Cook said.

"Let's go."

Jelly carried Billy out. He had grown somewhat fond of the dog over the past few days, though whenever he called him Pigtaro, the dog tilted his head and looked at him as if he were an idiot. Jelly did not like that one bit.

Call him Billy, though, and he would bounce around happily.

Rogge got up early the next morning. Still covered in blood, he immediately took a bath, changed his clothes, and left his room.

The hotel was empty apart from them. They had taken it over, and even the owner had fled.

The others were getting up around the same time. They greeted one another.

Jelly headed to the kitchen. Rogge had sent Billy flying with one punch yesterday, but the dog seemed to have forgotten all about it. He had been knocked unconscious, woken up today without a scratch, and forgotten how he had been hit. He bounded over to Rogge and tugged at his trouser leg with his teeth.

"Go on, get out of here." Rogge nudged the silly dog away with his foot. Every time he saw that face, he felt as though the dog was looking at an idiot. Who the idiot was depended on whom Billy was looking at.

Ham came in from outside with a man nearly three meters tall behind him, about Aokiji's height. The man wore a cap and a white cloak, with a rifle two meters long slung across his back.