The Fatal Sniper

Rono's extended bone whip coiled around the sniper rifle and flung it south. The tornado's immense suction made Rono unstable. He leaped towards a nearby wall, dodging the tornado's path. Bone spurs shot from his feet, embedding into the wall and exploding, anchoring him.

Seeing this, Crocodile unleashed another tornado, larger than the last, tearing the roof apart and making the surrounding walls groan under the strain.

"A troublesome ability," Rono's eyes glowed redder. He retracted the bone spurs from his feet and covered his entire body in a layer of them, leaving only his hair and eyes exposed. Tiny bones interwove over his eyes, preventing sand from entering and affecting his vision. He stomped his feet, and the already groaning wall collapsed. Rono charged directly into the first sand tornado.

The bone armor scraped against the sand, making clanging sounds. Puff~ Rono passed through the first sand tornado and appeared before Crocodile. Crocodile didn't have time to unleash a third sand tornado, or rather, it wouldn't have mattered.

Rono's fist, covered in Armament Haki, shot towards Crocodile's face. Crocodile's years of neglecting his physical combat skills cost him. He could only raise his left hand's Golden Hook, covering it with a thin layer of Armament Haki, which Rono estimated to be around level one according to the system's ranking. Rono scoffed, "Weak as hell."

Bang-- Cracks appeared on the Golden Hook. Rono wasn't planning to stop there. He retracted the bone armor on his forearm, replacing it with his Crimson Muscle Group, which bulged with explosive power! Bang-- The Golden Hook shattered. Crocodile used the momentum to retreat. Just then...

"Swoosh—Bang—Bang bang bang~" Four consecutive shots hit Crocodile's chest and abdomen.

Observation Haki saved Crocodile's life. He dodged the two shots aimed at his head and neck by turning to sand. However, it was useless.

"Seastone! Cough cough~ You actually..." Crocodile couldn't finish his sentence before Rono's bone claws plunged into his head. "I don't know what's going on, but you aren't going to live." Rono's icy tone pronounced Crocodile's death sentence.

Then, the bone armor on his body retracted. His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Just in time. Ten more seconds and I wouldn't have been able to control it anymore," System Loli wiped the sweat from his brow and breathed a sigh of relief.

Forcing the use of Armament Haki and overusing his Devil Fruit Ability, Rono's stamina had plummeted. The fight with Crocodile seemed easy, but if not for those four Seastone Bullets, Rono would have entered a killing frenzy within ten seconds and collapsed from exhaustion half a minute later. This was even with Super Regeneration. Without it, he would have died on the spot.

A moment later, a young man with a sniper rifle arrived. He checked Rono's breathing and let out a sigh of relief.

Sairona looked at Rono's height of 2.5 meters (yes, he grew again) and felt troubled. How was he supposed to carry him? He was only 1.7 meters tall. Sairona pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He laid a tattered wooden board on the ground and rolled Rono onto it. After searching everywhere, he found a bundle of rope downstairs and tied Rono up. Sairona slapped his forehead and removed the two Seastone Bullets from Crocodile's body. He wanted to recover as many as possible.

Dragging Rono on the wooden board, he finally reached the dock after immense hardship. The dock was deserted; everyone had fled from the battle, which saved Sairona a lot of trouble. He quickly found the boat they had arrived in. After a thorough inspection, he settled Rono in and prepared to return to Enies Lobby.

Sairona found an Eternal Pose for Enies Lobby in Rono's room. This was good news; the return journey would be much easier.

Perhaps Lady Luck was on Rono's side, as they encountered no severe weather for three consecutive days. And Rono finally woke up.

In the Afternoon, Sairona casually dealt with lunch and, as usual, went to check on Rono. Just as Sairona finished checking on Rono and was about to leave, a sound as faint as a mosquito's buzz reached his ears. Sairona didn't hear it clearly, but that didn't matter. He hurriedly fetched a cup of water, preparing to give it to Rono. In typical plots, a cup of water in such a situation would be enough to wake someone up. Sairona couldn't help but praise his own cleverness.

Gulp, gulp. The cup of water was quickly finished. Sairona stared at Rono's face, waiting for him to wake up.

"..." After nearly five minutes, Rono showed no signs of waking. Sairona sighed; it wasn't that simple after all.

"..." Sairona saw Rono's lips move, as if he had said something. This time, he didn't fetch more water but leaned close to Rono's mouth.

"Meat~ I want to eat meat~"

"..." Sairona's face turned black. Nima, he's still thinking about meat in this state. However, Sairona still brought him some stored Cooked Meat and a barrel of wine.

Sniff, sniff. Rono closed his eyes, his body naturally walking to the table. He grabbed a meat bone and took a bite, muttering, "Delicious, so delicious." He then picked up the rum next to the bone and took a big swig, finishing half a bottle in one go.

Sairona watched Rono feast quietly, his heart collapsing. Eating so skillfully even while asleep, just how much of a foodie was he?

Rono ate quickly. After clearing away the food and drink, Rono paused, turned, and lay down on the bed. Soon, he was snoring.

Sairona tidied the table and went to maintain his sniper rifle.

Night. Sairona was making dinner when a voice came from the restaurant entrance, "Yo~ Sairona, long time no see! Hmm, make a bit more meat."

The moment Sairona heard the voice, he put his hand on his gun holster. Only after confirming it was Rono's voice did he sigh in relief and say, not entirely pleased, "Don't you know you scared me just now? I almost drew my gun." "Aiya, don't mind the small details~" Rono's tone carried a hint of salted fish.

He wasn't like this originally, but ever since he saw the system, he had become this way.

System · Character Panel:

Name: Wolf Rono

Age: 15

Height: 2.51 meters

Abilities: Self-Healing Factor (regenerates at an extremely fast speed)

Bone Claws (bones stronger than normal bone, they will bring you great help)

Devil Fruit · Control-Control Fruit:

Fruit Ability:

Bone Planting Armament (Bone armor formed from bones provides extremely high defense, Stamina Consumption: Moderate)

Crimson Armor (Breaks free from the shackles of skin, erupting with more powerful strength and speed, Stamina Consumption: Severe)

Combat Mode: Berserker Mode (Enhances Combat Awareness, strengthens Combat Comprehension Ability, treats combat from the most rational perspective)

Duration: 5 minutes

Cooldown: 24 hours

Physique: 49 (You will grow quickly during your developmental period) (Can be enhanced)

Bone: 66 (Can be enhanced)

Observation Haki: 1 (Can be enhanced)

Armament Haki: 3 (Can be enhanced) (Cannot be used)

Enhancement Point: 13 points