"Axia, I ate too quickly just now. I threw away the bones without looking, haha. See? I ate everything. Mmm, it was delicious."
His stomach churned, but Rono forced down his urge to vomit and smiled at Axia.
"Really? Axia thought it was so awful that Mr. Rono threw it away."
Axia opened her large, watery eyes.
"Was it good? I specially prepared an extra piece for you. Axia knows that Mr. Rono has a big appetite."
"..." Rono's mouth twitched. No wonder Mo Williams had been so kind as to let Axia prepare food for him. So that was his ulterior motive. And Rono couldn't even refuse. For a moment, Rono seemed to see Mo, radiating dark energy, standing with his back to him and laughing sinisterly.
Give me back that one minute of emotion!
After shuddering, he forced out a smile. "That's great. I really like the food Axia makes."
Axia happily took out a small food container. Inside was only a piece of meat that looked nine parts identical to the blackened steak Rono had eaten, with some vegetables underneath. It was obvious that Axia had put a lot of effort into making it.
"Chomp, gulp." Rono took the container and poured everything into his mouth, swallowing it without even chewing. With his freakish constitution, it was impossible for food to kill him. At the very least, he wasn't afraid of anything for three years. How could he fear this?
"Then I won't disturb Mr. Rono's cultivation." Axia skipped away.
"Ugh—" Rono clutched his stomach and knelt on the ground, feeling as if his stomach no longer belonged to him.
After recovering for more than half an hour, Huo Shaoshan walked in with a cigar between his teeth.
"Well, well. You're actually not cultivating. That's a rare sight."
"Cultivating? Cultivating!" Rono's eyes widened as he hurriedly opened the system. His training progress was still less than halfway complete.
I'm doomed, I'm doomed. If even my little buddy stops working, what do I need lolis for?
"Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan, due to various reasons, I can't cultivate with you this afternoon." Rono wore a solemn expression. Even Huo Shaoshan felt that his figure had become imposing, golden light radiating from behind him. Narrowing his eyes to ease the visual impact, Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan examined Rono. "It's fine if you don't cultivate today, but you have to tell me why. Could it be..." Huo Shaoshan raised his brows, removed his cigar, and brought it close to Rono. "Axia?"
"Of course—not! I'm only fifteen, old man!" Seeing Huo Shaoshan's expression that said I understand, I understand everything, Rono suddenly understood a little why Mo wanted to hit him. Suppressing his agitated emotions, Rono continued, "Although Axia is part of the reason, no matter what, I haven't completed the cultivation goal I set for myself. How can I fail to complete even my own goal? Don't you agree?"
"..." Huo Shaoshan put the cigar back between his teeth, took a deep drag, and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. "I'm actually speechless."
He turned and left without the slightest hesitation.
Just as he had come quietly, leaving not a single cloud behind—except that he had blown smoke all over Rono's face.
"From now on, I have to finish the mission as quickly as possible." Rono abandoned his Haki cultivation for the day without hesitation and began the Hell Training.
Why cultivate Haki? Isn't it for the rewards? If even my little buddy stops working, what am I supposed to do with those rewards—eat dirt?
After an afternoon of frenzied training, he finally completed every task before sunset. He took a comfortable hot bath, changed into a clean Marine uniform, and walked toward the dining hall while peeling an orange.
Sunglasses Man Mo was already sitting in the corner with Axia, preparing to eat. Ignoring Mo's murderous glare, Rono carried four standard meals over and sat beside Axia. "Axia, how are you? Oh, and the Mo 'old man' beside you!" Rono emphasized the words "old man," reminding Mo that he was already an old bachelor and shouldn't set his sights on a cute little loli.
"Hello, Mr. Rono. Did your cultivation go smoothly today?" Axia greeted him politely.
"Hmph." Mo wore an icy expression.
Rono didn't care. He chatted with Axia while eating.
Snap—the chopsticks broke... It was fine. He switched to another pair and continued.
Bleh, bleh. Why was the chef so careless today? How did so much sand get mixed into the rice?
He drank some water to rinse his mouth. Cough, cough. How had he managed to choke on that?
Mo kept a blank expression, but he was laughing wildly inside. Hahaha, trash. You dare approach Axia without Armament Haki? Hahaha, I can't take it anymore. Look at that idiot.
Mo silently wiped his mouth. "Axia, I'm full. Keep eating. Come to my room later."
"Okay, Uncle Mo. But Uncle Mo ate so little today." Axia obediently nodded.
"Ah, I'm not hungry today." Mo said goodbye elegantly.
"Wait. He just asked you to go to his room?" Rono stopped eating and looked at Axia.
"Yeah. Is there something wrong? Uncle Mo checks my homework every night." Axia finished off the food on her plate. "There, Mr. Rono. Axia is leaving first."
"Phew—it was just that. Oh, okay. Take care, Axia."
The place where Axia sat was extremely secluded. First, Mo's powerful presence and murderous gaze alone could drive away eighty percent of the Marines who wanted to sit nearby. Second, the Marines on the ship roughly understood Axia's Devil Fruit Ability, and no one wanted to invite misfortune for no reason—especially the men who spent all year sailing the Great Sea. Even Mo's adjutant sat far away from their table.
Unable to endure the bizarre food any longer, Rono poured it straight into the slop bucket. Missing one meal wouldn't starve him to death.
A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Rono finally completed Hell Training (II).
However, the two-month voyage was also about to end. Speaking of which, he had to thank Rono for that. If he hadn't recklessly stepped on the propulsion vehicle for the sake of the mission, they couldn't possibly have arrived so quickly.
Rono turned into a stone statue, standing motionless as he watched everyone disembark one after another. Sob, sob. You're such a scammer, system. You must have known that the voyage would last only a month, which was why you issued such a generous mission. Damn it, even Luffy with his cheat-like abilities couldn't finish it.
"Mr. Rono, thank you for taking care of me during this time." Axia bowed, picked up her luggage, and left with Mo.
"Hey! Brat, why aren't you coming down yet? You still have to go to Enies Lobby. You can't just loiter here." Huo Shaoshan came back, carrying his Tachi and grinning.
"How did you get taller again? How about we measure you later?"
"Hey~" The salted-fish Rono dragged his feet as he walked off the ship.
"Ahahaha, men, remember to assemble tomorrow afternoon!" Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan returned to Marineford in high spirits. After receiving his subordinates' responses, he put an arm around Rono and took him to measure his height.
"Two meters thirty-six. Tsk, tsk, not bad." Rono had already recovered from his disappointment and was very satisfied with his height. He was only fifteen. By the time he turned eighteen, he could probably grow past three meters.
In the world of the Pirate King, you didn't dare call yourself tall unless you were at least three meters. For example:
Whitebeard: estimated seven to eight meters
Blackbeard: three meters four
Kaido: estimated seven to eight meters
Big Mom: estimated five to six meters
Doflamingo: over three meters
Moria: over five meters
Jinbe: over four meters
Kuma: over seven meters
23333. If you weren't three or four meters tall, you'd have to jump just to fight.
Before you continue