One Piece: Control Fruit

"You're amazing Rono laughed too, though it looked worse than crying. Still, when it came to knowledge of the Sea Train, there truly wasn't anyone—human, fishman, or mermaid—who could top Granny Kokoro. Rono chose to trust her.

Granny Kokoro, after finishing cleaning the train with Chimney, returned to the conductor's room to continue driving.

Rono was extremely bored and suddenly had a thought: "System, system, let's stir up some trouble."

"…Hey, system?" Rono scratched his head. "Forget it, it probably went off to mess around on its own again. I'll just ignore it."

Rono trotted cheerfully to the conductor's room. "Train conductor, how much longer until we reach Enies Lobby?" He had completely given up resisting. As the saying goes: life is like XX—if you can't fight it, enjoy it. You had to admit, Rono had nerves of steel.

Besides, Granny Kokoro's experience as a veteran driver over the past decade was still something to trust.

Rono's eyes darted around a few times, then lit up. He grabbed the front of the train and climbed up.

"Ah, ~ the sea breeze at night feels so good~" Rono lay on the train's front, enjoying the rare beauty.

The deep night sky held a full moon as if hanging directly above, and twinkling stars dotted the heavens like diamonds on a blue-black silk ribbon.

"Big brother, I want to come up too! I want to come up too!" Chimney was unhappy that the fun was happening without her.

Granny Kokoro tossed an empty bottle onto a pile of others. "Young man, mind lending a hand?"

Now she's calling me "young man" when asking for help?

"Yay! Granny Kokoro is the best!" Chimney spun around excitedly.

"Big brother, hurry up, hurry up!"

"Sigh, I really can't say no to you." Rono gave in with a smile.

Chimney lay down next to Rono and closed her eyes.

Rono closed his eyes too. After who knows how long, a tiny, exquisitely dressed little boy suddenly appeared in front of him. He was really small, barely the size of Chimney's palm. If Rono hadn't had his eyes shut, he would've probably mistaken him for a bug and swatted him dead.

"Hey! You little punk, don't recognize your grandmaster anymore?" The boy tugged hard at Rono's hair. Rono opened his eyes—the boy was still there, floating in the air, staring at Rono, wide-eyed.

"Smack!" With lightning speed, Rono clapped his hands together. Ah, peace.

"Ahhh! Rono, I'm gonna kill you!" the little boy yelled, kicking and punching Rono without a scratch on him.

"You think you're the system or something? Let me tell you, the last one who said they'd kill me has grass growing on their grave." Rono rolled over, full of sarcasm.

"Big brother, who are you talking to?" Chimney had opened her eyes at some point and asked curiously. She couldn't see the little boy.

"Oh, nothing. Thought I saw a giant mosquito and squashed it," Rono replied casually.

"Young man, Enies Lobby is coming up. Mind if I ask what you're headed there for?" Granny Kokoro shouted toward Rono. She had to shout—otherwise, he couldn't hear.

"I'm going for a job, Granny!" Rono shouted back.

Honestly, their communication relied on yelling.

An island appeared in Rono's line of sight—it wasn't far off now.

Rono grabbed Chimney and jumped down from the train's front, handing her over to Granny Kokoro. "Granny, I'm going to get my luggage."

"Hic~"

"Rono, you bastard! Aaaahhh!" the little boy screamed, latching onto Rono's ear and biting it.

"You wanna die, huh?" Rono grabbed the boy with one hand and growled fiercely.

The boy gritted his teeth. "If you manage to get any sleep tonight, I'll eat crap and die!"

"Smack!" Rono slapped him against the wall where he stuck—transformed into a "meat patty" version of his former self.

Ignoring the little sideshow, Rono picked up his flowerpot and luggage. Just as he reached the exit, the door opened.

"Today my luck~ is good~" Rono sang, lifting his leg to step out—then froze mid-step. "Granny Kokoro! Why is this not land!?"

Rono felt like he'd run out of sarcasm to even express himself.

"Oh, missed the stop," Granny Kokoro answered casually.

"You are something. This your so-called 'proud eight years of veteran driving experience'?" Rono squinted as he forced out one last batch of sarcasm.

After the train moved a little further, Rono confirmed it was safe and finally stepped onto solid ground.

"Ah~ finally saved." Rono set down the flowerpot and wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead.

But he didn't notice—the meat-patty version of the little boy slowly faded away until he vanished completely.

"Ding! Due to the host having just assaulted the system, the penalty is: handstand push-ups until dawn. One second pause results in one electric shock. Less than one second still counts. All final ownership rights now belong to the system."

Rono didn't stay happy for long. Suddenly, a gritting, furious voice from the system echoed in his mind.

"Huh? Assaulting the system? Rono racked his brain, burning through a ton of mental energy, before finally realizing: that little boy was the system's physical form! "System, you can transform now?"

Thinking about what he'd just done, Rono immediately dropped all sense of dignity and bowed to the system's authority.

"System Daddy, please forgive me! A lowly creature like me isn't even worth your time!"

"Hmph! I told you, this system is a high-intelligence AI. With today's update, I can now take physical form. Prepare to be punished, you pig." The system's smug tone made Rono's hair stand on end.

Just then, a richly dressed young man approached with a group of people behind him.

The young man at the front held his nose high in the air and pointed at Rono with a loud voice: "You must be Rono? I'm your great and glorious superior—Spandam~!"

Hearing Spandam's exaggerated tone and seeing his posture, clearly expecting Rono to grovel, Rono blurted out: "Who the hell is this idiot?"

Spandam instantly froze in place like a statue. Dozens of soldiers beside him jumped out to show their loyalty: "Bastard! How dare you speak to Lord Spandam like that? The guns in our hands are no joke!"

Spandam, hearing this, relaxed a bit. His face lightened as he arrogantly said to Rono: "I'll give you one chance—apologize for my shoes!"

"…," Rono was speechless. He looked around, then let out a cold chuckle. "You lot think you can take me on?"

Already in a foul mood, these nobodies coming to mess with him only made it worse.

Enies Lobby had become so untouchable that its soldiers were now just a bunch of useless drunks. Don't forget—Luffy and a few companions once completely crushed its ten-thousand-strong force.

"Watch your mouth, brat," one of the earlier soldiers shouted again, trying to assert his presence.

"Wanna find out the hard way?" Rono wasn't the type to respect superiors or care for subordinates. His skeletal armor spread across his body—he was ready to fight.

Spandam had brought this crowd to intimidate Rono, hoping to show dominance since no one in CP9 took him seriously. He gave the soldiers a signal, and dozens raised their flintlock rifles, aiming at Rono.

"Then… let's begin the slaughter!" Rono grinned with bloodlust. He kicked off the ground, soaring into the air, dodging most of the first volley, and landed right in the middle of the soldiers.

Spandam had already backed far away at the first sign of trouble, terrified of getting caught in the chaos.

Some soldiers reloaded while others drew their Navy-issued long swords and rushed to fight. Rono, relying on the defense of his hardened bone armor, ignored their slashes. His bone claws shot out—one swipe and a soldier was sent straight to the afterlife. Soldiers in the distance resumed fire, sparks flying as bullets hit Rono, but he tore through them like a wolf in a flock of sheep—wherever he moved, people fell.

One nearby marine screamed in terror: "Monster! Monster! Run for your lives!" He dropped his weapon and bolted. His panic was contagious—soon a second, then a third followed suit.

Rono didn't bother chasing the ones who fled. Instead, he walked toward those who were still resisting. Seeing their comrades desert, and the armored demon heading straight for them, the remaining soldiers dropped their weapons and ran too.

Spandam was among the fleeing crowd, full of regret.