One Piece: Control Fruit

Rono felt nothing, sitting there immovably. His consciousness gradually merged with nature through meditation—it was a strange sensation, as if he had become the boat itself, or the wooden plank beneath him.

Huoshaoshan casually tossed the half-length stick in his hand into the ocean, showing no regard for environmental damage. He turned and walked toward the storage room. When he came out, he held a wooden club as thick as a bowl in one hand, a cigar clamped in his mouth. "I don't believe this," he muttered.

Twisting his waist, he assumed a golf swing posture. Then—bam!—Rono's head was smashed directly into a wall, only his head stuck inside the room.

Rono was jolted out of his meditation, yanked his head out, ripped off the black cloth over his eyes, and roared at Huoshaoshan, "Bastard! Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Eh? That little scratch is nothing for you, right?" Huoshaoshan looked at Rono's already healed wound, then at the crack in his club, and muttered, "Looks like I need a replacement."

"Hey! I heard that! You're going to get a bigger one?! Aaargh, you're getting back at me!" Rono snarled.

"I'm not getting back at you. Without the threat of injury, how are you going to develop your Observation Haki?" Huoshaoshan replied righteously. "Well, maybe a little," he admitted inwardly.

Rono took a deep breath and calmed down. "Alright, bring it on." His face was full of noble-sacrifice vibes—not that anyone would comment on it.

"Mhm, I'll go prep. You continue meditating," Huoshaoshan said as he tossed the club into the sea and walked back to the storage room with a sinister stride.

Five minutes later, Huoshaoshan wiped off imaginary sweat and muttered, "This one should do."

Rono was still meditating. Huoshaoshan pulled out a solid iron rod, 10 cm in diameter, from behind his back. Grinning slyly, he swung it down.

Rono suddenly felt a jolt in his chest and instinctively retracted his neck. Whoosh—a wind-cutting sound reached his ears—bam!—Huoshaoshan backhanded him, knocking him flat to the ground.

"Continue," Huoshaoshan said calmly. Rono gritted his teeth and sat up in pain. As soon as he rose, he heard, "Here it comes!" Reflexively, he shrank his neck, but this time Huoshaoshan swung from below. Wham! Huoshaoshan, having tested the force in earlier swings, had a good sense now of how much would hurt Rono without causing real harm.

"Get up."

"Damn it!"

Bam!

"Keep going."

Whoosh—

Dodged it!

Bam!

"Got cocky just because you dodged one?"

"I…"

Wham!

…

At the dinner table, Rono's head swayed like it wasn't even his. Damn it, why always the head? Would it kill you to hit somewhere else? If you mess up my genius brain, can you even afford the compensation?

He grabbed a piece of meat and bit into it. Crunch—the meat's bone shattered.

Everyone: "…"

"What? I just like eating bones. Got a problem with that?" Rono spat out a piece of bone, patted his head, and glared at everyone around the table.

"…" The man in sunglasses ignored him, continuing to eat his dinner with elegance. If not for the stack of empty plates beside him, he would've looked just like a proper nobleman.

The others followed suit, eating their meals quietly. A strange silence settled over the dining room.

Getting no response, Rono pouted, then swallowed the meat and the bone in one gulp.

—

That night, Rono returned to his room to resume his afternoon meditation.

On the deck, the man in sunglasses stopped Vice Admiral Huoshaoshan. "He's my man now. Watch yourself." It wasn't a request—it was a command.

"Eh, the beginning's always rough," Huoshaoshan replied, lighting a cigar. "Besides, with that healing ability of his, he'll be bouncing around again by morning." He blew a smoke ring. "You planning to recruit him into CP0?"

"He's far from ready," the man in sunglasses scoffed.

"Haha, so I was right. I'm off." Flicking his ash, Huoshaoshan chuckled.

"Mind your own business, Navy dog."

Huoshaoshan shrugged and walked past him, heading back to his room.

Only after Huoshaoshan left did the man in sunglasses touch his chest. The faint pain in his heart reminded him that he didn't have much time left.

"Damn you, Whitebeard. I'll kill you sooner or later."

With that, he turned and returned to his room.

—

Rono opened his eyes, ending his meditation. "System, this meditation method is amazing. I don't even feel tired."

"Of course! Do you even know who I am? This is a top-tier system buff!" the system boasted. Then it opened Rono's daily status panel—no changes in stats. Next up was the nightly simulation training.

The same pitch-black space appeared again. But this time, it didn't shift—rather, a black staff appeared, almost blending completely into the darkness.

"Ding. Observation Haki training initiated."

As soon as the words fell, the black staff slammed into Rono's head. He gritted his teeth in pain—it felt just like that iron rod from earlier.

"Ding. Attempt one—failed." A cold electronic voice rang out.

"Second attempt—begin."

In the pitch black, Rono could see nothing and hear nothing. He had no way to defend himself.

Worse yet, that black staff didn't only target his head—it struck his neck, abdomen, arms, thighs, back, waist… basically every part except his little JJ.

"Ding. Attempt 176—failed."

…

"Ding. Attempt 266—failed."

…

"Ding. Attempt 537—failed."

"Ding. Training session complete. Returning host to base space."

"Ding. The host detected mental exhaustion. Initiating electrotherapy."

"…What the hell?! Electrotherapy?! System, are you made by Yang Yongxin or something?! All you ever do is shock me—now it's 'therapy' instead of 'punishment'!"

The string of exclamation marks showed just how agitated Rono was.

But it was no use. The system "dutifully" began electrotherapy mode.

"Ahhhhhh~" Rono moaned… quite sensually. "Huh? It doesn't hurt? It's all tingly… kinda… nice…"

System: "…What the hell?! That scream was so convincing I almost believed it!"

The electrotherapy felt like tiny hands gently stroking Rono's body, with a slight tingling sensation. Rono felt like he was floating in bliss… and soon drifted off to sleep.

Once Rono started snoring, the system popped out again.

"Analyzing Observation Haki… Resolution: 1%… Uploading to database… Upload complete."

—

The next morning, Rono was back at it, bouncing with energy as he started training—so noisy he woke up half the ship. The remaining crew were either on night duty or just about to sleep between shifts.

"WOLF RONO! You bastard, I'm gonna chop you up one day!" a swordsman sergeant roared. Chaos erupted with a stream of curses filling the ship.

"Haha, rise early and seize the day!" Rono replied cheerfully.

"All right, back to sleep, everyone!" Vice Admiral Huoshaoshan stepped in. No one dared disobey, and they all grumbled their way back to bed.

"You—keep it down!" Huoshaoshan barked at Rono and slammed the door shut.

"Caw, caw!" A News Coo bird flew by, landing beside the box of feed specially prepared for them on the warship. It chirped happily as it ate.

Rono's eyes lit up. He approached the bird, gently stroking its soft neck. The News Coo didn't resist. Reflexively, Rono pulled it into a hug, ready to execute his long-unused "hug-the-bird killer move"—when a voice suddenly rang out.

"Wow, you like animals too?"

Rono froze, instantly switching to stroking the bird's feathers instead. He turned around and smiled awkwardly at the newcomer. "Of course! I'm known as the beloved guardian angel of animals—Lord Rono!"

"Sugo~i! I love animals too! But… they're all afraid of me…"