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Chapter 3: Enter the Pirate Hunter

"So who is this Roronoa Zoro anyway?" William asked as they were on the final approach to the navy base that supposedly held said person.

"Wait, you're telling me you never heard of him?" Koby asked, surprised by the question.

"Up until those pirates mistook me for him I never knew he existed."

That's when Koby gave him a grim look. "They say he is a demon given form, hunting down those with bounties like a mad dog."

"Sounds like he's the real deal." William gave a serious look as the boat arrived at the docks. "But I want to see this so-called mad dog with my own eyes."

"We're finally here!" Luffy exclaimed as he stepped off the dinghy and onto the docks of Shells Town, a quiet little town all things considered except slapped in the middle of it was a large navy base with two large towers that overlooked the entire town. He then turned around to see Koby tying the boat to the docks. "I can't believe you actually got us here Koby! You're amazing!" Koby looked at Luffy with a concerned look.

"Of course I did, knowing how to navigate the ocean is the bare minimum requirement for anyone who wants to sail."

William was stretching on the docks, it had been a few days since they all set off on the dinghy and it got a little cramped on such a small vessel. "Yeah, Koby is right, we can't just float around the ocean forever, we're going to have to find a navigator sooner rather than later."

Luffy however was too busy laughing with joy to pay attention to anything his friends were saying as he began to walk into town. Koby and William looked at each other, sighed, and followed Luffy. While they were walking through they passed a market with a bunch of vendors and people shopping.

"Luffy, you seriously aren't going to ask him to join your crew." Koby said, trying to talk him out of it.

"I haven't decided yet. I still want to see if he's a good guy." he replied nonchalantly.

"He's imprisoned because he's a bad guy!" Koby shouted back.

"How bad could Zoro be, maybe the stories about him are just embellished." William offered. The moment his name was mentioned everyone in earshot immediately went into a state of panic and jumped away from the trio with looks of fear plastered on their faces.

"Maybe we shouldn't say his name out loud." Koby whispered to the others.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." William whispered then decided to pivot the conversation. "So Koby, excited to finally join the marines?"

Koby gave him a weak smile. "I'm actually a little nervous."

"That's natural but once you get over it you'll be fine." William gave Koby a warm smile.

"I saw on a poster that Captain Morgan is in charge here." Surprisingly when the Captain's name was mentioned the people around them gave the same reaction as they did when they heard Zoro's name. Looking at the trio with the same level of fear.

Luffy began to laugh at the crowd's reaction. "Hahahaha! This town is hilarious!"

Meanwhile Koby and William's reaction was more of shock and confusion. " That's strange, why are they so afraid of the Captain's name?" Koby asked.

"I don't know but something is not right here." William replied.

"Are sure they didn't just get carried away?" Luffy asked casually with his hands behind his head.

"Nobody would do that!" Koby shouted back.

The trio soon found themselves standing at the gate of the navy base. It was massive, towering over them with the logo of the marines plastered on it.

"I'm finally here!" Koby said with tears of joy in his eyes, wiping the tears from his eyes he turned to look at William."I guess this is where we part ways." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yeah I guess so." William said, trying to hide his own sadness. "But it's not like we won't see each other again. Like you said, we're bound to cross paths sometime in the future even if we end up clashing blades." He then gave Koby a warm smile to which the boy returned in kind.

Koby then began to turn around. " Luffy, I just wanted to say…'' but both his and William's confusion he wasn't there anymore. "Luffy?"

"Now where is this Demon?" While they were having a heart to heart Luffy had made it to the top of the wall and was scanning the courtyard for the pirate hunter.

"Luffy! What are you doing!" Koby shouted frantically.

"What? I'm looking for Zoro." He replied as he continued to look.

"Do you see him?!" William shouted up to Luffy.

"Not yet!"

Koby just let out a sigh "He's not going to be out in the courtyard. They probably have him in a cell somewhere inside."

"There he is!" Luffy yelled as he jumped down and ran around the wall to get a better view. William and Koby ran after him until he stopped and scaled the wall again with the other two following suit. When they reached the top of the wall they saw a young man no more than nineteen tied to a cross post and slumped over. He wore a green bandana, plain white shirt, black trousers, and had a haramaki wrapped around his waist. It looked like he had been tied to the post for a while as his body was covered with scrapes and bruises.

'T-thats him!" Koby whispered in both complete shock and fear.

"Is he even alive?" William asked.

"Let's cut him down and find out." Luffy said as he began to drop down however Koby stopped him.

"Are you insane?! If you cut him loose he'll kill us all!" he shouted but Luffy just looked at him with a big smile.

"Don't worry! I'm really strong!"

While Koby was taken aback by Luffy's sheer confidence in his abilities all William could do was smile and give a small chuckle.

"Hey, you three!" A voice shouted. The three of them looked to see who was talking to them. It was none other than Roronoa Zoro who slowly looked up at the trio. "You guys are an eyesore, get lost."

While it did not intimidate Luffy or William it sure did for Koby.

"See what I mean! There is no way you would survive with him on your crew!"

As Koby continued to tell Luffy how it was a bad idea, next to William a ladder was set against the wall going all the way to the top. The sound of it hitting the stone wall caught the other two's attention. Climbing the ladder was a little girl, when she reached the top of the ladder she scanned the area for any marines and when the coast was clear she jumped down the wall and began to make her way to the restrained Zoro.

"Hey! Come back! You're going to get yourself killed." Koby shouted at the kid who was paying no heed to his pleas. "William, Luffy, you have to stop her before something bad happens." But neither of them said or did anything, they just watched as the girl had finally made her way to the pirate hunter.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

The little girl then pulled something out of her pocket. " I thought you were hungry so I made you some rice balls."

"You got a deathwish kid? You heard that kid up there, get out of here before you get yourself killed." Zoro tried to intimidate the girl just like with Koby but she paid no mind to it. As she unwrapped the rice balls

"Here it's my first time but I tried really hard." She said with a big smile on her face.

Zoro for a moment was taken aback by her kindness but almost immediately went back to having a scowl on his face.

"Didn't you hear me?! Get lost!" he shouted, causing the girl to flinch.

"B-but.." she muttered.

"Now now Zoro, that's not very nice of you." a voice called out catching everyone's attention. Walking into the courtyard were three figures, one of them was a blonde man wearing an expensive purple suit and had a smile that reeked of smugness and arrogance while the two flanking him were just regular marines. Zoro, recognizing the pompous man, looked at him with disgust.

"Thank god, the marines are here." Koby said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now the girl will be safe."

"That girl was safer with Zoro." William muttered with his eyes fixated on the blonde man as he approached the girl.

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, are those rice balls?" The man asked, pointing at the ones still in the little girl's hands but before the girl could give a response he snatched one of the rice balls. "Don't mind if I do."

"Hey!" The girl shouted as the man took a bite. His face went from one of sheer delight to pure disgust as he spit out the rice ball onto the ground.

"That's too sweet! You're supposed to use salt, not sugar!" He yelled at the kid causing her to tear up.

"I'm sorry. I thought they would taste better sweet." She said meekly when the man slapped the rice balls from her hand and stomped on them, grinding them into the ground.

The girl fell to her knees and began to cry. "I worked so hard to make them."

"What a horrible person." Koby muttered to himself while William began to grip the wall in anger to the point the wall was beginning to crack.

The man then reached into his suit and pulled out a piece of paper. "Didn't you read the notice!? Anyone caught helping criminals will be executed, signed by Navy Captain Morgan." A wave of fear came over the girl at the mention of the name and the implication of the notice.

"Looks like even little brats like you are scared of my dad." He sneered.

"Dad?" Luffy questioned.

"That's Captain Morgan's son!?" Koby was shocked that such a despicable person was the offspring of a navy captain.

"However, today I'm feeling generous so I won't tell my father about this little incident." The man then turned to one of the marines standing at parade rest. "You, throw this girl back over the wall."

"Sir!?" The marine asked, confused.

The man then grabbed the soldier by his shirt and got in his face. "I said throw her over the wall! Can you do that or do I have to tell my father there is a weakling in his ranks!?"

"No sir! Right away!" The marine said frantically. He then walked over to the girl and picked her. "I'm sorry." He whispered to the girl as he threw her over the wall. William jumped off the wall to the girl and caught her midair and fell on his back, absorbing the damage from the fall.

"T-thanks." The girl said still clearly shaken from the event.

Koby then came sprinting over to the pair. "William! Are you alright!?"

William began dusting himself off. "Yeah I'm fine."

"I can't believe how awful that guy was."

"Hey Koby, where's Luffy?

The boy then began to look around in confusion. " He was right behind me a second ago."

William then thought about it for a second and it hit him. "I have an idea where he is, take the kid home and make sure she's safe." He said as he began to scale the wall once more.

The courtyard was filled with the cackle of Captain Morgan's son.

"Damn you." Zoro spat as the man walked past him.

"I'm honestly surprised to see you still breathing Zoro."

"I only have ten days then it will have been a month and I'm out of here!"

The man let out a small chuckle and began to walk away. " Assuming you will live that long." Him and the marines left the courtyard, leaving the pirate hunter alone with his thoughts or at least that's what he thought until he looked up to see the boy in the straw hat from earlier standing in front of him.

"You're still here?"

" Being strung up for all to see, are you really that strong?" Luffy asked.

"How about you mind your own business!" The swordsman shouted back.

Luffy then gave Zoro a big smile. " If it were me strung up, I would have starved in three days."

"That's because I have more spirit than you." Zoro then gave the straw hat a cocky grin. " I will get through this, I swear it!"

"You really are a strange person, well take care!" Luffy then turned around and began to walk back to the wall.

"Wait!" Zoro shouted. He then looked down at the smushed rice ball. " Can you give that to me?"

Luffy looked at him puzzled by the strange request. " Are you sure you want to eat this? It's practically a mud ball at this point."

"Just shut up and give it to me!"

Luffy bent down grabbed what remained of the rice ball and fed it to Zoro who struggled to chew it but was able to swallow it.

"See, I told you." Luffy said.

"It was delicious. Thank you for the food." Luffy was surprised by Zoro's response at first but then he began to smile contently.

William, sitting on top of the wall, saw the whole thing and like Luffy was smiling.

"I'll make sure she knows." Luffy walked back to the wall.

"Need help, captain." William said with his hand stretched out to which Luffy grabbed it. When the pair landed on the other side of the wall William looked over at Luffy.

"So have you made up your mind?" William asked with a grin.

"Yep!"

"Did he really say that?!"

The pair had joined back up with Koby and the girl who introduced herself as Rika. They were now sitting in an alley behind her mom's bar.

"Yep, said it was the best rice ball he ever had."Luffy said with a smile, he then pointed at William. "Ask him, he saw the whole thing."

"It's true, I saw him eat the whole thing."

"That's wonderful." The girl said beaming with confidence.

"So was Zoro as evil as they say he is." Koby asked the pair.

"He's not evil!" The girl shouted at Koby. "If it weren't for him me and my mom would be up there."

"Why do you say that?" William asked with his eyebrow raised.

The girl looked down at the ground. " It's all Helmeppo's fault."

"Helmeppo?" Luffy asked, tilting his head to the side.

"He's Captain Morgan's son. It all started three weeks ago."

In the streets of Shells Town was Helmeppo flanked by two marines as he walked his 'dog' which was nothing more than a wolf. As they walked the beast snarled, frightening everyone who saw it, even the marines were uneasy around it. Helmeppo just laughed at his pet's antics.

"Isn't he just adorable?!" He cackled, he then looked around and saw some people grabbing weapons in case the beast would attack them or their families. "And if anyone tries to stop him they'll have to answer to my dad!"

The wolf then picked up the scent of food and barged into the bar, scaring almost everyone inside including Rika who had been sweeping the floor and now was clutching her broom for dear life as it hopped up onto people's tables and ate their food.

"Hey that's not yours" The girl yelled as she swung her broom to ward off the beast but it was too engrossed with the food to pay her any mind.

"Stop it Rika, you're going to get us in trouble!" Ririka yelled, causing Rika to freeze for a second. This would be a big mistake as Helmeppo's 'pet' had finished licking a poor customer's plate clean and now noticed the girl and all it saw was another meal. It slowly walked, its lips salivating until it got in range and pounced. Rika closed her eyes and prepared herself for its vicious bite only for its snarls replaced by a loud crash and a yelp. When she opened her eyes she saw a man standing over the wolf with pieces of a broken chair scattered around it. Everyone in the bar was left stunned, especially Helmeppo, whose jaw hit the floor as he looked down at his precious pet. The mysterious man then went back to this stool at the bar and continued to eat his meal.

"Just who the hell are you!?" he shouted as he drew a cutlass on the man, as he looked he noticed the clothing of the man particularly his green bandana and a wave of fear came over him.

"D-don't tell me, your Roronoa Zoro?!"

"So what if I am?" The pirate hunter asked in between bites, not bothering to look at Helmeppo instead just focusing on his food.

"Why would you defy the navy!" He said waving his sword like a child with a stick.

"Why don't you shut up and let me eat in peace!" Zoro grumbled tired of his whining.

This struck a nerve with Helmeppo, no one had ever disrespected him like that and as long as he had any to say about nobody ever will. He gripped his blade with both his hands and arced it over his head. "Why, you!" he shouted, bringing his sword down ready to kill Zoro who still hadn't even spared him a glance. Just as the blade was about to make contact Zoro leaned back causing Helmeppo to miss and ended up with it stuck into the bar where with little effort kicked the blade into the ceiling, embedding it. Helmeppo was stunned but the feeling would not last. Zoro punched him in the face causing him to fly into the wall and slump over, as he tried to get up the pirate hunter drew his blade and pointed it at the now frightened Helmeppo's neck. However this fear was momentary as his eyes glanced over to the left and a now devious smile was plastered on his face as he let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Zoro asked with his eyebrow raised.

"When my father finds out about this he'll have everyone involved executed." Helmeppo then looked past Zoro causing him to turn his head and see the terrified Rika and Ririka.

Helmeppo used this distraction to stand up. "Tell you what I'll make a deal, you get strung up in their place for let's say, a month, you and by extension them get to live." He then stretched out his hand. "What do you say?"

Zoro looked at the hand for a few seconds then looked up at Helmeppo. "One month?" he asked to which he nodded. He then reached out and shook his hand. "Deal."

As Rika's side of the story came to a close the trio was left to their thoughts. Koby was stunned by how an organization meant to keep the peace and uphold justice could have someone so mean and uncaring, For Luffy the story had only reinforced his previous opinion of Zoro and just made him want to have him on his crew even more and for William his feelings were a mix of both. On the one hand he was angry that a group his grandfather was a part of would allow members like this and on the other he got a better understanding of who Zoro really was deep down. Their trains of thought were disrupted however by a very familiar laugh coming from Rika's mom' s bar. Peeking through the backdoor they saw Helmeppo flanked by two marines as usual leaning back in a chair with his feet propped up on a table.

"Hey I'm hungry, let us eat here for free." He demanded as the marines behind grimaced at their 'superior' and his behavior. All Ririka could do was nod, fix the brat his plate, and set it on the table.

"Oh yeah that reminds me, I've been bored lately so I decided to execute Zoro tomorrow. I expect everyone to be there to watch." He said before taking a sip of wine.

"What about your promise?!" Rika shouted, starting to tear up.

"Promise?" Helmeppo raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, the promise you made to Zoro!"

The captain's son then started to laugh, catching the girl off guard. " Oh you mean that! That was just a lie, I still can't believe he actually bought that!"

The realization of what it all meant caused the girl to break down and fall to her knees. As she cried the sounds of Helmeppo's laughter echoed throughout the bar making everyone in the building cringe at the noise. Koby couldn't help but be sorry for the girl while Luffy just looked at the man with nothing but anger. He went to walk towards Helmeppo but he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning his head he saw William.

"He's mine." He growled as he began to walk over to the arrogant man too busy laughing to pay any attention to his surroundings. William's slow and methodical steps soon turned into a full blown sprint as he cocked his arm back ready for when he entered striking distance. When he finally did, he held nothing back, slamming his fist into the side of Helmeppo's head, launching him off his chair and into a brick wall. The two soldiers ran over to check on him and to their surprise he only had minor injuries.

"Y-you hit me!" He yelled, clutching the side of his head as William loomed over him. "D-don't you know who my father is!?" This only served to make him more angry.

"Does it look like I care!" As went to take a step towards him, he felt something pulling him backwards.

"William! Calm down!" Koby pleaded, grabbing ahold of his arms. He looked down at him for a second before turning his gaze back at the cowering man.

"Get out of my sight."

Those words were all Helmeppo needed to hear, picking himself up and sprinting out the door along with his escorts. As their steps became more distant William let out a big exhale and turned to face the group.

"Do you understand what you've just done?!" Koby asked him with a look of both fear and concern on his face.

"Yeah I did go a little overboard, sorry…"

"Don't apologize." Both Koby and William were surprised by Luffy's words. " That guy was scum anyway." He then began to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Koby asked.

The pirate captain looked at him with sheer determination. " I'm going to ask Zoro to join my crew."

"Then we should probably get a move on before they alert the base." his crewmate suggested, he then took some money out of his pocket and set it on the bar. "Sorry for the trouble." He told Ririka before walking to the door, as he went to walk out he turned to look at Koby. "You coming?"

All Koby could do was let out a big sigh and regroup with the others outside as they made their way to the base.

Back at the bar in a far removed corner sat a certain orange haired girl. She had seen everything that happened and couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh. This was supposed to be easy but then they had to show up and cause a ruckus which will probably put the whole base on high alert. But then she thought about it for a moment, if they draw all the marines to the courtyard then the base will have less soldiers to worry about. Letting out a small smile she then stood up, paid for her drink, and walked out the door before immediately ducking into a nearby alleyway. Maybe getting to the safe might be easier than she initially thought.

"I am… great!" Captain Morgan proclaimed, sitting in quarters and looking out the window which gave him a view of the entire town.

"Yes sir! You're the greatest!" a marine said while standing at attention.

"Then tell me, why have the tributes from the townsfolk been getting smaller!?" he grumbled.

"W-well the citizens' wallets do have their limits Captain." The soldier offered as small beads of sweat began to form on the man.

Morgan then took a big puff from his cigar and let out a long exhale. " The issue is not money but respect for me. Wouldn't you agree?"

Before the soldier could say anything Helmeppo came bursting into the room with the bruise from his altercation still very visible on his face. "Daddy!" he cried out.

Morgan turned his head slightly to look behind him. "What's wrong Helmeppo?"

"There's someone I want you to kill!"

And with that Chapter 3 comes to a close. I want to start this by saying sorry for taking so long with this.

But now that this chapter is out I want to ask you guys a question. With how I plan to write this story William will not be present for certain important moments, parts of major arcs, and even entire arcs themselves. The question being should I still include these parts of the story or omit them? On the one hand most One piece fans know what happens but on the other I want to write this like if I was writing One piece and if I skip them then a lot of important story and character moments would be missing and the narrative itself would take a nosedive in quality.

Whatever I end up doing I'm just happy there are people who have enjoyed the story so far. Again thank you to everyone for reading and hopefully the next chapter won't take as long.