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

"Captain, it's the Dire Wolf Pirates. Their captain is Dire Wolf Weis, with a bounty of 130 million Berries. He's a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user!"

Golan took just a glance at their pirate flag and immediately reported the information.

"Captain, should we go help?" Fang Yi asked Roger as he climbed down from the mast.

"Of course. The Dire Wolf Pirates are notorious for their bloodthirst. Hopefully, we're not too late." Roger's usual grin faded as he nodded firmly.

"Alright!" Fang Yi's face lit up with excitement.

He loved battles—not just because they were good opportunities to gain combat experience, but also because defeating enemies now earned him system points.

Yes, ever since unlocking the shop after touching the Poneglyph, he could earn points by defeating opponents. Depending on their strength, he could gain a few points or even a dozen or more per fight.

Although the points he earned each time weren't much, as his strength grew and his opponents became stronger, his gains would naturally increase too.

Even though he didn't have enough points for a single lottery ticket yet, he was still filled with anticipation for the battle ahead.

However, when they drew closer, they realized the battle was already over. The Dire Wolf Pirates had finished their slaughter and were now looting the merchant ship, carrying off food and treasures.

"Petem!" Roger's face darkened as he shouted toward the sniper, Petem.

The sea surrounding the merchant ship was stained deep red—they all knew exactly what that meant.

Bang!

With a gunshot from Petem, one of the laughing pirates dropped dead instantly.

"Who's there?!"

Seeing one of his men suddenly killed, a burly man radiating an aura of violence roared in fury.

"Captain! It's the Roger Pirates!" A pirate quickly reported to their captain.

"The Roger Pirates?"

Dire Wolf Weis squinted at the Oro Jackson now alongside them and bellowed, "Everything here belongs to me! Brats, are you looking to start a fight with us?!"

Roger calmly drew the sword from his waist and declared, "Take them down!"

"Yeah!!"

The moment Roger gave the order, the crew all drew their weapons, ready for battle.

Whoosh!

Fang Yi, hearing Roger's command, instantly loosed an arrow at the nearest pirate. His target dropped dead on the spot, the loot in his hands scattering to the ground.

He didn't bother targeting the enemy captain—his chances of success were too low. It was more effective to focus on the underlings.

Bang!

Clang!

Like Fang Yi, Petem also took the first shot, aiming directly at the enemy captain, Weis. Unfortunately, his seemingly certain shot was blocked by one of Weis's subordinates.

In situations where both sides were already aware of each other's presence, such sneak attacks rarely succeeded—unless the difference in strength was overwhelming. That was exactly why Fang Yi didn't target the enemy captain.

"Tch!"

Seeing his shot blocked, Petem clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You bastards! Boys, kill them all!"

Enraged by Fang Yi and Petem's attacks, Dire Wolf Weis roared and gave the order to attack.

With their ships already alongside each other, the two crews immediately clashed.

Fang Yi, like Petem, remained aboard the Oro Jackson, holding the line from the ship, while the rest followed Roger and Rayleigh straight into the enemy ranks.

"Woof! Woof!"

Wangzai wasn't new to such situations either. It charged at the incoming pirates, contributing its strength to the fight.

Whoosh—Thud!

One pirate, distracted by Wangzai, was immediately struck down by Fang Yi's arrow.

"Congratulations, Host! You have defeated a pirate and earned 10 points!"

"Good job!"

Hearing the system's prompt, Fang Yi praised Wangzai and kept searching for new targets.

"Woof! Woof!"

Wangzai barked proudly, then continued darting around to draw more enemies' attention, giving Fang Yi more openings. The two worked together seamlessly.

"Elio, watch out!"

From the second-floor railing, Petem sniped down a pirate who was attempting to ambush Elio.

"Thanks! These bastards love their cheap tricks!" Elio laughed and waved at Petem.

The pirate Elio had just fought had been wielding a dagger laced with poison—Elio had narrowly avoided getting hit and didn't notice the ambush from behind.

The Dire Wolf Pirates weren't just numerous; they also favored poison and sneak attacks. Fortunately, their overall strength wasn't too high, allowing even Fang Yi to take down several of them.

Soon, most of the pirates who had boarded the Oro Jackson were wiped out.

"RAARGH! You bastards! You're dead meat!"

Suddenly, Fang Yi heard an enraged roar coming from the merchant ship.

Dire Wolf Weis had gone berserk. With a howl, his body rapidly expanded, transforming from a human into a hulking gray-furred werewolf.

"What the…?"

Fang Yi's eyes widened—not because he hadn't seen Zoan users before, but because Weis's transformation looked eerily similar to the Wolf-Wolf Fruit model used by that CP9 agent during the Enies Lobby arc in the future. They looked almost identical.

"Well done—you've managed to enrage me! Now it's time for you to pay the price!"

Weis, now in his beast form, exuded newfound confidence.

But Roger had no intention of letting him act tough. He immediately charged in and began pummeling Weis mercilessly, leaving the werewolf stunned.

Weis was a Devil Fruit user, after all!

Zoan-type users were famed for their strength and speed, not to mention their enhanced recovery and durability. They were notoriously hard to put down.

Yet for the first time in his life, Weis regretted having such an ability. Against Roger, he was utterly helpless, completely overwhelmed.

"Divine Avoidance!"

Finally, Roger seemed to lose interest. With a finishing blow, he sent Weis flying off the merchant ship and into the sea.

Seeing their captain defeated and their first mate lying unconscious at Rayleigh's feet, the remaining Dire Wolf Pirates panicked. They quickly grabbed their unconscious first mate and fled in a frenzy.

Though this battle wasn't particularly difficult, most of the enemy weapons were coated with poison. Many of the Oro Jackson crew suffered from poisoning, forcing the ship's doctor to rush about frantically treating everyone.

Thankfully, the poisons weren't too exotic, and the doctor could handle them. Otherwise, the casualties might've been severe.

"Everyone, search the area! See if anyone survived!"

Once the fighting ended, Rayleigh began organizing the collection of spoils. Since no one on the merchant ship had survived, leaving the supplies there would only waste them. So, Fang Yi and the crew began moving all the usable goods and treasures onto the Oro Jackson.

"Captain! Over here—there are survivors!"

Just as they were nearly done and preparing to leave, a crew member called out after discovering some hidden survivors.

"Hey, are you alright?"

As it turned out, the "survivors" were just three people—an oddly dressed, severely wounded man and two children.

"T-Thank you for saving us… cough cough..."

The strange man weakly expressed his gratitude toward Roger and the others.

But as Fang Yi approached, his attention was immediately drawn to the two children. He recognized them instantly—there was no mistaking them.

One had striking red hair, and the other had a bright red, oversized clown nose. Together, they could only be Red-Haired Shanks and Buggy the Clown.

"I… I won't make it. It's just a shame that I won't get to see my homeland again before I die..."

After exchanging a few words with Roger, the wounded man seemed to realize his fate was sealed.

The crew wasn't sure how to console him—his injuries were far too severe to recover from.

"Where's your homeland?"

Fang Yi, noticing the man's samurai-like attire and distinct accent, asked with a sudden hunch.

"My homeland… is Wano Country!"

Sure enough, the man's answer matched Fang Yi's guess.

"Wano Country?"

"No way! Is there a Wano Country? We've sailed these seas for years and never heard a peep about it!"

"He's from Wano? Is he one of those legendary samurai?!"

The entire crew was shocked by the revelation—even Roger and Rayleigh were visibly surprised.

"To think you're from Wano Country! We've sailed the seas for so long, and we've only ever heard about Wano—never met anyone from there!" Roger chuckled in amazement.

"Heh… My homeland enforces a strict isolation policy. Citizens aren't allowed to leave, so it's normal that you've never met any of us. Cough cough…"

The samurai gave a bitter smile. "I only left Wano by chance many years ago… I never managed to return, and now it seems I'll die in a foreign land."

Roger chatted with the man for a bit longer and also asked about the two children with him. However, the man seemed hesitant to speak about them, so Roger instructed Fang Yi to escort Shanks and Buggy back to the Oro Jackson first.

"You two brats—introduce yourselves."

Though Fang Yi had already guessed their identities, he still asked them to introduce themselves.

"Hello, I'm Shanks!"

The red-haired boy hesitated for a moment before answering politely.

"Hmph! You're a brat, too! And when you ask others to introduce themselves, shouldn't you go first?"

Buggy, with his bright red nose, wasn't as easygoing as Shanks and immediately snapped back.

"Heh… Still a little troublemaker, huh?" Fang Yi smirked. "But this world works differently—strong people don't need to follow rules. And as far as you two are concerned, I'm the strong one here!"

With a strange laugh, Fang Yi suddenly flashed forward right in front of Buggy, a dagger appearing in his hand, already pressed against Buggy's throat.

But just as he touched Buggy, the system notification rang out:

"Congratulations, Host! You have successfully checked in with Buggy the Clown. One spin at the prize wheel has been granted!"