Captain's Cabin
Rono's muscle tissues visibly pushed the bullets out of his body. Without a word, he stood up, arms wide open. Blue veins bulged, and one by one, pale bone spikes extended from his joints. From his wrists, they protruded out from below his palms. Densely packed tiny bone spurs jutted out from the sides of his bones—he looked like a grotesque monster.
"Whoosh!"
Rono took a deep breath, stomped the floor, and with the recoil force, charged at the pirate captain. The tremendous force left a dent in the floorboards.
The pirate captain wasn't slow to react either. He sidestepped Rono's first blow and countered with a slash of his sword.
"Dua!"
The sword strike was completely blocked by Rono's bone spikes.
Without pausing, Rono struck back with a backward elbow and pressed his whole body toward the pirate captain.
"Pshhk!"
Rono's bone spike pierced the pirate captain's abdomen. He then lifted it upward—slicing a gaping 30 cm wound in the man's gut. There was no way he would survive.
The pirate captain's sword slipped from his hand. His knees hit the ground. Eyes wide open, he collapsed forward. His eyes were filled with regret:
"If only I had eaten that Devil Fruit… If only… If only I hadn't raided that ship…"
With the Devil Fruit and treasure, he could've just sailed to the East Blue and lived a life of luxury…
But Rono's eyes remained indifferent—cold as a killing machine.
"Captain! He killed the captain! Everyone, kill him! Avenge the captain!"
Although the scene was described in detail, in reality, less than a minute had passed. By the time the other pirates arrived, their captain was already dead.
Rono stayed silent. He turned and walked toward the pirates…
---
Ten minutes later
A red-haired youth stood frozen on the blood-soaked deck, his clothes tattered, body drenched in gore. His expression was dazed.
"System… what just happened? Near the end, why… why did I lose control?"
He paused.
"System, open the character panel."
"Beep! Just now, the host accidentally activated the system's Combat Mode—Berserker Template. In this mode, combat awareness increases, emotions are suppressed, and integration of learned skills becomes more fluid."
The system's voice, usually stern, calmly explained the cause.
"Character Panel Opened..."
Body Strength: 31 (Upgradeable)
Bone Strength: 36 (Upgradeable)
Abilities: Regeneration Factor, Bone Claws, Devil Fruit (Manipulation Fruit)
Combat Mode: Berserker (5-minute duration, 24-hour cooldown)
Available Upgrade Points: 3
> Note 1: A famous berserker once said, "Come, come, one slash each. You first—dodge this, you [bleep]! Dare you?"
Note 2: You now have the power to crush small fry—but keep going, the revolution hasn't succeeded yet!
Note 3: Hard work builds power; real battle proves results.
"Oh! So that's what it was. But… can we remove the emotion-suppression? I don't like being out of control!"
"…Eh? Why is the mode limited by time? And has a cooldown too? Am I playing a game here?! Σ·д·"
Rono clapped his fist into his palm and stared at the Combat Mode.
"Beep! This limitation exists because your mind can't handle it. If used for over 5 minutes, with your current mental state, you'll likely lose yourself and become a mindless killing machine. The cooldown exists for the same reason. Both will improve over time."
The system's electronic voice was matter-of-fact.
> "So, young man! Train hard—that's what youth is all about!"
"…Wait a minute, system. Can you talk normally? What's with that Guy-sensei voice? Are you planning to give me a watermelon-patterned outfit too?"
Rono stopped complaining, but memories of the battle scene flashed back in his head.
"Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!"
He clutched his head and twisted his body like a noodle, thrashing around on the corpse-strewn deck.
System: ￢_￢ … "I'm just watching. Not saying a thing."
---
Since the pirate ship had already sailed for quite a distance, Rono couldn't return to the freighter. But it didn't matter. He was going to randomly find a place to join the Navy anyway—he was a stranger to wherever he went.
As for why he wanted to be a Marine?
Of course, it was because of the justice in his heart!
To help the people of the world live happily!
Definitely not because he was alone, didn't know how to navigate, and had no way to sail solo!
In any case, Rono began his journey toward the nearest port. Meanwhile...
---
Back on the freighter
Captain Asia and the surviving crew searched the ship top to bottom but couldn't find Rono.
Nick, whose right hand was wrapped in bandages, suddenly recalled something.
"Captain! I remember now! That little brat ran off alone to the pirate ship! Said he was going treasure hunting!"
Everyone knew how hard Rono had been training these past days, so no one thought he went to throw his life away. But... those pirates had escaped. Which meant Rono had intended to 1vSn the whole crew?!
The group fell silent.
An old sailor sighed and began collecting the corpses for burial.
The others slowly dispersed, returning to their own tasks.
In their hearts, they had already declared Rono dead.
Even though the pirate captain wasn't particularly strong, he still had a 16 million bounty—not someone a 15-year-old kid like Rono could handle.
And since the battlefield was on the freighter, which was already wrecked, all they could do was wait for rescue. Catching up to the pirate ship? Impossible—it was faster.
---
"Sixteen million, five million, seven million… Wahaha! I'm rich! Filthy rich overnight!"
Rono held a stack of bounty posters, comparing them to heads.
Anyone without a match—he kicked into the sea.
Anyone that matched—he tossed to the side and stacked them.
After cleaning up the scene, Rono opened his character panel again—this time to upgrade.
After a bit of thought, he figured his whole fighting style relied on his bones. Since he couldn't die anyway, why not go full offense?
Happily, Rono poured all three points into Bone Strength, raising it to 39.
He extended his bone claws. They even looked a bit smoother and more polished—maybe it was just his imagination.
He casually slashed at the railing.
"Dua."
The bone claw got stuck in the wood.
"…∑·д·lll What the hell?! I thought it was supposed to slice five times per second! And cut through iron like mud! Why can't it even cut a piece of wood?!"
"Who the hell told you it could cut through iron like mud?"
"With your current strength, even with a top-grade sword, you might not cut it cleanly!"
The system seriously regretted not having a physical form. Otherwise, it would've hung Rono up and beaten him.
"Oh!⊙0⊙ So no one said that? I must've misheard. Ahahaha…"
Rono scratched his head and pulled his bone claw out.
"You were totally daydreaming just now! I saw you sigh! And that disappointed look in your eyes!!"
The system squinted as it complained (even though it didn't have eyes).
"Haha, don't worry about the details! It's no big deal!"
Rono waved it off casually.
"......"
---
Blue skies, clear seas.
A black-flagged, triple-masted pirate ship slowly approached a small town in the distance…