The Pirate Captain reacted quickly too. He dodged Rono's first strike with a sidestep, then swung his sword back at him. Dua! The attack was completely blocked by Rono's bone spikes. Without pausing, Rono followed up with an elbow strike, driving his whole body into the Pirate Captain.
Pfft! Rono's bone spikes pierced the Pirate Captain's abdomen. He immediately jerked them upward, the sharp spikes tearing a gash more than thirty centimeters long across the man's belly. He was as good as dead.
The Pirate Captain's sword fell from his hand. He dropped to his knees, eyes wide, then pitched forward onto the deck. Regret filled his gaze. "If only I'd eaten that Devil Fruit. If only... if only I hadn't robbed that ship." With the Devil Fruit and all that treasure, he could've sold them in the East Blue and enjoyed the rest of his life...
Rono's eyes remained utterly calm. He was as cold as a killing machine.
"Captain! He killed the captain! Let's kill him together! Avenge the captain!"
Though the fight seemed to have gone on for a while, less than a minute had actually passed. By the time the pirates arrived, the Pirate Captain was already dead.
Rono remained silent and turned toward the pirates... Ten minutes later, the red-haired boy stood dazed among the bodies strewn across the deck, his clothes tattered and his whole body spattered with blood. "System, what happened to me just now? At the end, why did I... lose control?" The boy paused. "System, Character Panel."
"Beep! The Host inadvertently activated the system's Combat Mode just now: Berserker Template. While the mode is active, the Host's combat perception improves and emotions are suppressed, making it easier to bring his skills together."
The system was usually quite serious as it explained the reason to Rono.
"Character Panel opened..."
Physical Strength: 31 (Enhanceable) Bone Strength: 36 (Enhanceable) Abilities: Self-Healing Factor, Bone Claws, Devil Fruit (Control-Control Fruit) Combat Mode: Berserker (5-minute time limit, 24-hour cooldown) Enhancement Points Available: 3 Note 1: A famous Berserker once said, "Come on, one blade each! You go first—dodge this, you dumbass! Dare you?" Note 2: Though you're now strong enough to beat the crap out of the small fry, you still need to keep working hard. The revolution has yet to succeed! Note 3: Hard work builds strength; actual combat tests the results.
"Oh! So that's how it is. But can you turn off the emotion suppression? I don't like feeling controlled!... Wait, why is this mode time-limited? And why does it have a cooldown? Am I playing a game? Σ·д·" Rono clenched his right fist and smacked it into his palm as he stared at Combat Mode.
"Beep. That's because your mind can't handle it. If you go over five minutes, with your current mental state, there's a good chance you'll lose yourself and become a killing machine. The cooldown is for the same reason. The effects will worsen over time." The system's standard electronic voice rang out.
"So, young man! Keep training hard! That's what youth is all about!"
"By the way, system, just say what you have to say! What the hell is with Might Guy's voice? Are you going to give me a Watermelon Outfit too...?" Rono stopped complaining and pictured the scene in his mind. "Aaaaaah!" Clutching his head, he twisted his body like a noodle and threw a fit on the corpse-strewn deck.
System: "¬_¬..." It just watched in silence.
Since the Pirate Ship had been underway for a while, Rono couldn't get back to the cargo ship. But he'd only planned to go somewhere and join the Navy anyway; it didn't matter where, since he knew nobody anywhere. As for why he wanted to join the Navy, of course it was because his heart overflowed with justice and he wanted everyone in the world to live happy lives. It definitely wasn't because he was alone and couldn't sail without knowing how to navigate!
Anyway, Rono set off for the nearest port. Meanwhile...
Aboard the cargo ship, Captain Asiya and the surviving crew searched the entire vessel but couldn't find Rono. Nick's right hand was wrapped in a bandage. "Captain, I remember now! That little brat went aboard the pirate ship by himself! He said he was going treasure hunting." Everyone knew how Rono had been training these past few days, so they hadn't thought he'd gone to his death. But those pirates had run off! That meant Rono was planning to take on a whole bunch of them by himself, right? Everyone fell silent. An old sailor sighed and went to gather the dead. The others slowly dispersed to get back to their own tasks. In their minds, Rono was already a dead man. The opposing Pirate Captain wasn't especially strong, but he had a bounty of sixteen million. A fifteen-year-old like Rono couldn't possibly beat him. The battle had taken place on the cargo ship, so it was now a wreck and they had to wait for rescue. There was no way to catch up to the pirate ship, especially since it was faster than theirs.
"Sixteen million, five million, seven million... Wahaha, I'm rich! I've gotten rich overnight! Too bad I left that Good Grade Sword on the ship." Rono held a stack of wanted posters and matched each one to a head. If there was no match, he kicked the head into the sea; if there was, he set it aside in a pile.
After taking care of everything, Rono opened the Character Panel again, this time to enhance himself. After thinking it over, he decided that his strength was basically all in his bones. Since he couldn't die anyway, he might as well focus entirely on offense! Delighted, he spent all three Enhancement Points on Bone Strength, bringing it to 39. He extended his Bone Claws and thought the bones looked a little smoother and rounder, though he wasn't sure if it was his imagination. He casually swung them at the railing. Dua! His Bone Claws got stuck in the wood. "..." ∑·д "What the heck? I thought they were supposed to cut through iron like butter? How come I can't even chop through a piece of wood?"
"Who the hell told you they could cut through iron like butter? With your strength, even a Great Grade Sword might not be able to cut through it, right?" The system regretted not having a physical form. If it did, it would've hung Rono up and beaten him.
"Oh! ⊙0⊙ Nobody said that? So I must've misheard. Ahahaha." Rono pulled out his Bone Claws and scratched his head.
"You were clearly just fantasizing! I saw you sighing—you had such a regretful look in your eyes!" The system narrowed its eyes as it complained, even though it didn't have any.
"Ahaha, don't sweat the details. It's no big deal!" Rono waved his hand dismissively. ·ε·
"..."
Blue skies and clear seas stretched around a Black Flag Three-Mast Sailboat as it sailed toward a small town in the distance.
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