Gelu's New Skill

"You absorbed it? I think? Do you feel like you've gotten taller?" With System Help, Rono understood what Gelu meant. He gestured with his hands but couldn't tell.

"I'll measure him." Sairona got off the camel, took out a measuring tape, and measured Gelu's height.

"Hmm, he did grow one centimeter. But he probably grew that over the past few days, right?"

"Gelu Gelu!" Gelu waved his little hands excitedly.

"True. You only grew two centimeters in two years. There's no way you got taller just from sailing the seas." Rono nodded, believing Gelu's words.

"Son, you might grow to one and a half meters!" Rono said with gratification.

"..." Sairona was speechless. One and a half meters? That'd only be up to your ass, and that's just a possibility... Why the fuck are you feeling gratified? There was an MMP that needed to be said immediately. "MMP."

"? What's wrong now? ⊙_⊙" Rono was dumbfounded.

"Nothing. Let's go," Sairona replied calmly.

"Oh, okay." Rono nodded blankly. "Hahaha, stupid Rono! Ahahaha!" The System Loli laughed so hard he hammered Rono's head.

"If I slap you, you might die," Rono said flatly.

"Haha—ack..." The System Loli's laugh got stuck in his throat. Damn it, try killing me then?

"Come on, face me head-on. If you dodge, you're a coward." The System Loli pulled out a toothpick—or so it looked to Rono—and poked Rono's straw hat as he issued the challenge.

"Fine." "Pia~" The System Loli turned into a shooting star and vanished.

"Gelu." Gelu scrambled up onto Rono's shoulder.

"All right, all right. We'll have a feast. Xil... Uncle is waiting for us. Though, isn't this a little slow?"

"Isn't it because you said you wanted to take a look around Rainbase? You never bothered before, but you insisted on it this time," Sairona criticized.

"...I just wanted to experience the local customs," Rono muttered quietly, knowing he was in the wrong.

"Gelu Gelu."

"See? Gelu is happy too." The moment Rono heard Gelu's words, he perked right back up.

"Gelu, let's go, let's go!" Rono eagerly urged the camel into a run.

"Um, Mr. Sairona, Mr. Rono is always this..." The waiter stopped himself. Some matters weren't his place to discuss.

"Unreliable? Heh. Why else would I have boarded his ship? Without me, he'd get himself killed within a month. He's long wanted to do things like explore the Calm Belt or feel Whitebeard's beard to see whether it's comfortable." Sairona remained perfectly calm.

"..." The waiter didn't want to speak. "You've truly had it hard." He even used an honorific.

"Hey—Sairona—why are you so slow? The loser doesn't get lunch!" Rono waved from the distance.

"Gelu Gelu." Gelu chimed in as well.

"Did I promise him anything?" Sairona asked the waiter.

"???" The waiter was filled with question marks.

"As expected, no. Don't mind them. Let's take our time. How about you tell me about Alabasta's history?" Sairona smiled gently at the waiter.

"That I can do." The waiter slowly began recounting Alabasta's history.

The waiter had lived in Alabasta since childhood and could be said to know the country inside out. Between its historical chronicles and ghost epics, his account was incredibly immersive. Rono had already scampered back and was listening to the story with Gelu. Every now and then, he would ask, "Could I beat them?"

"-＿-ll" At Sairona's signal, the waiter did not respond to Rono.

It wasn't until nine that evening, after traveling nonstop, that Rono's group of four finally reached Rainbase. Xil had already brought people to wait for them. Seeing Rono approach, he opened his arms for a hug—well, for Sairona. Who the hell would hug Rono? Xil was only 2.2 meters tall himself. Hugging Rono around the waist would make him look like his son.

Rono's outstretched arms froze stiffly in place as he watched Xil pass him by and embrace Sairona.

"Hahaha, serves you right for growing so tall." Ever since the System Loli had failed to break Rono's defenses, he could only get his kicks through verbal jabs.

"Gelu Gelu." Gelu patted his father's shoulder. It wasn't comfort. He meant, I want a feast. Where's the feast Dad promised me?

"I see! Xil, I want a feast!" Rono forcibly pulled apart the two men who were hugging.

"All right. The food is ready. We were just waiting for you." Xil shrugged after Rono dragged him away. Xil's voice was steady, though he was actually only in his twenties. At first, Rono had mocked him mercilessly for it.

"The king of Alabasta wants our Baroque Works to lend him money. What do you think?" Xil asked Sairona. Though Rono was the captain, he was useless at everything except fighting. Oh, no—that wasn't quite right. He also had the navigation skills funded by the system.

"I learned something from the waiter just now. Alabasta's king was originally one of the Celestial Dragons. I think we should ask the Gongdongtalio Family for their opinion." After thinking for a while, Sairona decided it was best not to wade into this mess.

"The family's position is that as long as someone of that bloodline survives, that's enough—just like the Donquixote Family." Xil stated the family's stance.

"I understand. Don't lend him anything. Continue providing relief to the civilians instead. They are Baroque's fresh blood."

Although Baroque Works had not changed its name, what it did had become vastly different from before. Apart from the assassin organization it had retained, Baroque Works had nearly monopolized maritime trade along this route. Not all goods were sold directly by Baroque Works itself. A large portion was handled through branches established by Baroque Works, with other trading companies collecting goods and conducting trade while Baroque Works took thirty percent of the profits.

Because of Rono, pirate crews in these waters either joined the Red Devil Pirates or had their ships destroyed and their crews killed. As for merchant ships that did not fly the Baroque Works flag, those pirate crews would receive tips from Baroque Works' secret agents and destroy those ships. Over time, almost all merchant ships trying to exploit loopholes were wiped out. The rest obediently fell in line. The Marines had no way to intervene, because they were considered subordinates of Red Devil Rono, one of the Shichibukai. Besides, compared to other sea routes, merchants here faced practically no pressure at all. For this reason, the nations across these waters gradually came to remember the name Baroque Works. Every young man dreamed of joining it and contributing to his homeland.

"All right, Sairona. After dinner, I'll give you the intelligence on those three pirate crews and Fire Fist Ace."

"Thank you for your trouble," Sairona said.

After dinner, Sairona and Xil went to his office. Xil took a stack of documents from a drawer and handed them to Sairona. "The family has some objections to killing Fire Fist Ace. They think there isn't much profit in killing him now. They want to hand Ace over to the Marines for a public execution. First, it could crush the pirates' morale. Second, it might lure out some big fish."

"You should ask Rono about that. He's the captain. And the family doesn't absolutely insist on taking Ace alive, does it?" Sairona looked calm. People at their level basically knew that Ace was Roger's son; after all, CP1 through CP8 were no pushovers. Ace was also a Logia Devil Fruit User, which drew even more attention.

"All right, but I'd still have to trouble you to speak to Rono about it, Sairona. I really can't stand his personality." Xil smiled bitterly. Discussing matters with Rono was pure torment. You might go on and on about something, only for him to reply, "What meat are we having for lunch?" That kind of rage-inducing response was on par with "Oh." More than once, Xil had wanted to pull out a gun and kill Rono—if only he could win.

"Ah~ our captain's personality is indeed rather awful. Fine, I'll pass along the message. Is there anything else?" Sairona wholeheartedly agreed.

"There is one more thing. Sairona, you haven't eaten a Devil Fruit, right?" Seeing Sairona shake his head, Xil took an exquisite box from a hidden compartment in the wall. "This is a Devil Fruit the family found for you—the Zoan Bird-Bird Fruit, Eagle Form. Not only can it give you aerial superiority and reduce the chances of taking damage, it can also grant you an eagle's vision."

Sairona was tempted, though he did not show it. "What kind of eagle?" There were many kinds of eagles.

"That, I don't know. The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia doesn't say." Xil shrugged. It was up to luck.