"Mr. Rono, are you all right?" Axia asked, looking at Rono nervously, afraid something had happened to him.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. You know I have a somewhat unusual constitution," Rono said, waving a hand casually.
"Um, Rono, I have a question. Who's Gelu? Why doesn't he come out and join us?" Mo looked at Sairona as he ran toward the room, then at the words he'd said. His expression darkened. That was a slap in the face! He might not have eaten the Face-Face Fruit, but as CP0's Number 3, even the Elder Stars had to show him some respect.
"Oh, he's..." Rono hadn't finished speaking when a loud cry rang through the courtyard. "Gelu~ Gelu~" a child's voice called.
"He... is your son?" Axia stared at Rono in shock, with a hint of disappointment mixed in.
"What? ∑(O皿Oll) We haven't seen each other in just two years, and you already have a son! I was wrong about you! You scumbag, prepare to die!" Mo radiated killing intent. His whole body turned pitch-black (other people just get dark-faced; Mo here went full African, lol).
"Huh? Axia, you can understand what he's saying?" Rono asked curiously. He'd only been able to understand thanks to System Help.
"Ah! It's a natural ability of mine. Uncle Mo, wait—that isn't his child, and he's not even human." As Axia answered Rono, she saw Mo approaching with Armament Haki activated and hurriedly hugged him to hold him back.
"Mm... to be precise, I really am his father," Rono said, stroking his chin in thought.
Mo suddenly felt the force restraining him disappear. He didn't think twice; he lunged forward and punched the Thinker Rono, sending him flying.
"Waaah—Gelu~" A Little Treant about a meter tall (91 centimeters, to be precise) ran out, tears welling in its big amber eyes.
"I'm desperate too. I can't help it," Sairona said dejectedly. Every time Gelu saw him, he screamed, dealing a huge blow to Sairona's young heart.
The Little Treant was the color of an ordinary tree, with red vein-like patterns covering its body. The patterns grew denser higher up, and its hair was just a dark red stump-like mass, sticking up in uneven spikes. It had no teeth, and its two big, round eyes were brimming with tears.
"Waaah!" Gelu charged at Mo and pounded his shin with his little fists.
Thump, thump, thump. Mo dispelled his Armament Haki, afraid he might hurt the Little Treant. No matter how much of a bastard Rono was, he couldn't take his anger out on a child, right? Then Mo clutched his shin and crouched down. Damn, why was the kid so strong? It hurt, it hurt, it hurt!
"Gelu, come to Daddy." Rono ran over and opened his arms for a hug.
"Gelu~" The Little Treant stopped hitting Mo, took off with its tiny legs, and leaped into Rono's arms.
Axia stood to one side, her expression complicated as she watched the father and son dote on each other. Mo stood up. "Are you some kind of monster? How'd you end up with a freak like that?"
"Waa—" Gelu glared at him with big eyes, looking fierce. Well, pretty cute, actually.
"Gelu, you mustn't use bad language," Father Rono lectured.
"He says, 'You ugly, black piece of crap! How dare you hit my dad? I'll kill you!'" Axia translated. Mo's eye twitched. The kid really was like his dad.
"End up with him? I don't have a girlfriend yet," Rono said, completely baffled.
"Ahem. Let me explain," Sairona said, unable to watch any longer.
Here's what happened:
Half a year ago... on a sunny morning, Sairona was cleaning his Sniper Rifle while Rono, with nothing to do, decided to stir up trouble. At System Loli's suggestion, Rono planned to develop the second stage of the Control-Control Fruit—controlling nonliving things. System Loli had put it this way: "Hey, Rono, it's not that I look down on you, but your Fruit development is so shallow you can only control your own body. You're way too weak."
"Damn, then tell me how to do it! What's the point of running your mouth if you don't know?" Rono immediately took offense. System Loli's lips curled up. "Hook, line, and sinker."
"Who do you think I am, the great System? I'm way beyond the likes of a weak AI like you. Hmph. See that tree over there? Right, the one you bought." Rono looked at the Strange Tree he'd bought and grinned smugly. "Hahaha, you admire my taste too, don't you? No exaggeration, even I admire my own eye for this stuff."
"..." System Loli fell silent. A panel appeared before him, and he tapped it twice. A line appeared on it: "Thick Skin LV2, Integrity -100."
"Why not try controlling that tree? Controlling something outside yourself is way more impressive than controlling your own body."
"How do I do it?" Rono asked, his expression serious. This was a matter of prestige. He prided himself on having a high level of prestige, so how could he pass up a skill that would boost it? Damn, what was with the sudden change in art style? System Loli looked at Rono, who had abruptly transformed into a Dragon Ball character, and grumbled.
"Mm... first, put your hand on the trunk."
Rono did as he was told.
"Control it the way you control your muscles."
He did that too.
Five minutes later... ten minutes later...
"System, are you messing with me?" Rono demanded, looking at the unchanged Strange Tree.
"So it really doesn't work?" System Loli wondered. But he still said, "Why are you in such a hurry? That was only the first stage. Next, send that power into the tree."
"Oh! So that's how it works! I'll try." Rono trusted the system, so he did as instructed without a second thought.
Then Rono exploded. Sairona had already gone to practice shooting, and he was so used to Rono's strange (idiotic) behavior that he hadn't given it another thought when he left. Rono felt something inside him being drawn through his palm and into the Strange Tree. It went on for a full hour. When the pulling sensation finally stopped, his whole body went limp and his eyelids grew heavy, as if he'd been staying up all night for a week straight. With a thump, Rono toppled backward and fell fast asleep.
System Loli floated onto a branch of the Strange Tree. "Uh, I might've overdone it. That must've used up a lot of life force, right? It'll take at least a month to recover. But... it wasn't a total loss. Something interesting is about to be born. Does this count as having a child out of wedlock? I guess it does..."
When Sairona came back that night (yes, they lived together), he saw a huge lump lying on the ground, snoring. Sairona nudged it with his foot, kicked Rono aside, and didn't even consider putting him in bed (don't read too much into that; if you do, play the Great Compassion Mantra on repeat).
The next day, after washing up and getting ready to eat, Sairona realized Rono still hadn't woken up and began to sense something was wrong.
Before you continue