One Piece: Transmigrated as Crocodile

Rosen returned to his luxurious suite as usual. He didn't always dine with the crew; he didn't mind either way, but whenever he was present, the atmosphere would grow notably quieter, as if everyone were trying to avoid disturbing the boss during his meal. To make things easier for them, Rosen would eat in his room instead. After all, he had a maid to attend to his dining needs, so he had no problem with that.

"BOSS, it's time for dinner." A maid placed a silver platter with food and utensils on the table beside Rosen, while another maid set down a plate with fruits, red wine, and a glass for the wine.

The maids were always obedient, not speaking a word as they placed the food and gently retreated. However, Rosen spoke up, "Send Robin to me."

"Understood."

The ghostly rumors he had overheard had caught Rosen's attention. If they were true, it would be rather unsettling, but if they weren't ghosts and were instead enemies, that would be far more concerning. 

The food was delicious and well-prepared, though the fruits were a rare luxury. After all, they were on a ship, and fresh fruits were hard to preserve. As a source of nutrition, they didn't provide enough energy and took up a lot of space. In comparison, dried meats offered many more times the energy within the same amount of space.

"I don't know what kind of beef this is, but it's so tender and juicy, and it provides plenty of energy, so I don't need to eat much every day." Rosen was quite satisfied with the meals here. 

It was thoughtful of them to cut the steak into smaller pieces for him since he only had one functioning hand. It made eating much easier.

As he ate the steak and sipped the wine, he recalled how they had mainly eaten dry food for the past few days. Dry food was quick to consume, didn't take much time, and provided enough energy. Tonight, having steak was a nice change of pace. As for the wine, Rosen wasn't an expert, but it was smooth and had a pleasant fruity taste that he could accept.

By the time he finished eating, there was a knock on the door.

"BOSS."

"Come in," Rosen said, putting down his utensils and using the white cloth napkin on the corner of his plate to dab his mouth.

"I need to ask you something. I overheard some crew members discussing the presence of a ghost on board today. What do you think about it? Do you have any guesses or clues?" Rosen had not forgotten Robin's abilities. If there were truly an enemy hiding on the ship, Robin would surely be able to sense them. The only issue was that if there was a ghost, it wouldn't be so easy to track.

"I don't think such absurd rumors should be spreading, especially since we've only been at sea for a few days. Everyone's spirits are high, and there's no shortage of food. There's no reason for anyone to be hallucinating, unless we've been at sea for a long time, and even then, it could be understandable." Robin said, analyzing the situation step by step.

"What kind of problems typically arise on a long voyage?" Rosen asked, curious. He'd rarely been out to sea and never on long journeys—his experiences had been limited to vacations or brief excursions near the coast. He didn't know much about sailing issues.

"It depends," Robin began. "If a ship gets lost at sea for a prolonged period, anything can happen—people may turn on each other for food, resort to cannibalism, betray one another, and even plot against each other. These things happen on pirate ships, where people can't always be trusted because they live for themselves."

"Alright, let's focus on the present issue," Rosen said, feeling a sudden cold chill from Robin's words. He wasn't wrong, though—if a ship ever got lost, whether it was a pirate ship or a merchant vessel, such things were very likely to happen.

"I don't have any ideas either. I only heard about it today, but from what I gathered from the crew, it seems that every night, a ghostly figure has been appearing," Robin continued, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know what to make of it."

"Have you used your abilities to search the ship? Are you sure it's not stowaways?" Rosen frowned. He didn't fully understand Haki yet, but it was becoming more and more apparent that he needed to learn it. He would have to spend some time carefully considering the lessons that Rayleigh had once imparted to Luffy.

"Yes, I've searched the ship, and it's definitely not stowaways. There's no one unfamiliar aboard. I recognize all the faces here, and there's no chance of anyone impersonating someone else—unless they have some kind of special Devil Fruit power," Robin explained.

Rosen gazed out the large glass window, watching the snow fall heavily outside. Earlier, there had been a golden hue from the sunset, but now the sky had turned a dull gray. Night was fast approaching. If this problem wasn't resolved soon, not only would the crew be affected, but he himself would never feel at ease.

"If this happens every night, we'll stake out the crew's living quarters tonight and see for ourselves what this ghost really is. The ship's almost at the dock, and we can't let everyone run down from anxiety." 

"Right. Let's have Bones and the others join us. Have them do a thorough search of the entire ship. Instead of letting the crew worry about something unknown, it's better to let them know there's an intruder. But don't mention the ghost story." Rosen thought for a moment and then formulated a plan.

"Understood. I'll take care of it right away," Robin replied, nodding before she turned to leave.

Soon, the entire crew of the *Dawn* was mobilized. In groups of three, they carried out a thorough search of the ship. The *Dawn* wasn't a small vessel, so it took some time to search every corner. 

Given the snowstorm, it was harder to search than on a clear day. Some areas were covered with thin layers of ice, and Rosen, though still a bit cold, was grateful that Crocodile had good taste when it came to clothing. Even though the clothes weren't the most fashionable, they were functional.

Rosen hadn't expected the search to yield any results, but unexpectedly, they did find something. Chaos soon erupted on the ship.

"Something's happened in the armory! Hello? Is anyone there?" came an urgent voice through the communication tube. Every room on the *Dawn* had these tubes, allowing communication across the ship.

Rosen, too, had one in his captain's room. When something important was happening, they could use it to summon the crew. It was far more convenient than using the Den Den Mushi, and only available aboard the ship.

The voice through the tube was quick and anxious—it sounded like one of the more competent sailors, if he remembered correctly, it was Miggs Ronald, a sailor who Robin had recommended for promotion due to his management skills. 

Rosen had no words for the situation as he heard the urgency in the voice. It seemed something had gone wrong during the search.

"What happened?" Rosen asked, moving toward the communication pipe. It was quicker than dialing and didn't require the use of a phone bug.

"Aban and his group were attacked while searching the armory. They opened the communication pipe, but all I heard were screams," came Miggs's reply, clearly worried.

"Gather all the crew and surround the armory. I'll be there immediately," Rosen ordered as he quickly donned a thick coat to brace the cold, opened the door, and stepped out, his face grim.

(End of Chapter)