Huo Shaoshan tossed the half-length wooden stick in his hand into the Great Sea, not caring at all about polluting the environment. He turned and headed for the supply room. When he came back out, he was holding a wooden club as thick as a bowl, with a cigar between his lips. "I refuse to believe it."
He twisted his waist and struck a golf swing pose. Then—Bam! Rono's head slammed straight into a room, with only his head inside.
Rono jolted awake from his meditation, pulled his head out, tore off the black cloth, and roared at Huo Shaoshan, "You bastard! Are you trying to kill me?"
"Aw, come on. A little injury like that is nothing to you, right?" Huo Shaoshan looked at Rono's already-healed wound, then at the cracks in the club in his hand and muttered, "Looks like I'll have to get another one."
"Hey! I heard that! You're going to get an even bigger one? Aaargh, you're definitely taking revenge on me!" Rono bared his teeth.
"I'm not taking revenge on you. Without the risk of injury, how are you supposed to develop your Observation Haki?" Huo Shaoshan declared righteously. Maybe I am a little.
Rono calmed himself down. "All right, bring it on." I'll spare you the comment about that look on his face, like he was heading to his death.
"Mm. I'm going to get ready. You keep at it." Huo Shaoshan tossed the club back into the sea and headed toward the supply room with an evil stride.
Five minutes later, Huo Shaoshan wiped away a bead of nonexistent sweat and muttered, "This should be about right."
Rono was still meditating. Huo Shaoshan pulled a solid iron rod ten centimeters in diameter from behind his back and swung it at Rono with a wicked grin.
Rono suddenly felt a chill in his heart and instinctively ducked his head. "Whoosh"—the sound of the rod cutting through the air reached his ears. "Bam!" Huo Shaoshan backhanded him with the rod, knocking him to the ground.
"Again." Huo Shaoshan's voice was calm. Rono got up, wincing in pain, but just as he'd risen, he heard, "Here I come!" He reflexively ducked his head, but this time Huo Shaoshan swung upward from below. "Bam!" After testing his strength a few times, Huo Shaoshan had figured out how hard he could hit Rono to hurt him without causing serious injury.
"Get up."
"Damn it!"
"Bam!"
"Again."
"Whoosh—"
He dodged it!
"Bam!"
"You let your guard down. You think that's something to be proud of?"
"I..."
"Bam!"
At the dining table, Rono shook his head. It didn't even feel like his own anymore. Damn it, he kept going for my head! Would it kill him to hit somewhere else? If he damages this brilliant brain of mine, can he afford to pay me back?
He grabbed a piece of meat and bit down. Crunch! The bone inside it shattered.
Everyone was silent.
"What? I like eating bones. So what?" Rono spat out the bone, patted his head, and glared at everyone.
"..." Sunglasses Man ignored Rono and continued eating his dinner elegantly. If you didn't look at the stack of empty plates beside him, he'd have looked like a perfect nobleman.
The others followed suit and ate their dinner, minding their own business. An eerie silence settled over the dining room.
Rono got no reaction, so he pouted and swallowed the meat and bone together.
That night, Rono returned to his room and continued meditating.
On the deck, Sunglasses Man stopped Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan. "He's with me now. Watch yourself." It wasn't a suggestion, but an order.
"Aw, it's always a little tough at first." Huo Shaoshan lit a cigar. "Besides, with his recovery, he'll be full of energy again by tomorrow morning." He blew out a smoke ring. "You want to recruit him into CP0?"
"He's got a long way to go." Sunglasses Man sneered.
"Haha, looks like I guessed right. I'm off." Huo Shaoshan flicked away his ash and laughed.
"Mind your own business, Marine."
Huo Shaoshan shrugged, walked around Sunglasses Man, and returned to his room.
Only after Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan had gone back to his room did Sunglasses Man touch his chest. The faint pain in his heart told him that he didn't have much time left.
"Damn you, Whitebeard. I'll kill you sooner or later."
With that, he turned and went back to his room too.
Rono opened his eyes and emerged from his meditative state. "System, this meditation of yours is great. I don't even feel tired."
"Of course. Do you even know who I am? This is a System buff!" After boasting, the System opened the daily Character Panel. None of his attributes had changed. Next came the nightly Simulation Training.
It was the same pitch-black space, but this time it didn't change. Instead, a Black Rod appeared, almost blending into the darkness around it.
"Ding! Observation Haki training begins."
As soon as the words fell, the black rod struck Rono on the head. Rono gritted his teeth in pain. It was almost as bad as that iron rod.
"Ding! First attempt, failed." The cold electronic voice rang out.
"Beginning second attempt."
It was pitch-black. He couldn't see or hear, and Rono had no way to fight back.
And the black rod didn't just attack his head. It went after his neck, stomach, arms, thighs, back, waist... Every part of him except his little buddy got a turn.
"Ding! Attempt 176, failed."
"Ding! Attempt 266, failed."
"Ding! Attempt 537, failed."
"Ding! Training time has ended. Host returning to space."
"Ding! As the Host is mentally fatigued, electric therapy will now be administered."
"...Damn it! Electric therapy! System, were you made by Yang Yongxin? You definitely were, weren't you? It's all electricity! First electric shocks, now electric therapy!" The strings of exclamation marks showed just how worked up Rono was.
But it was no use. The System "diligently" activated electric therapy mode.
"Ahhhhhh~" Rono let out a soul-shaking scream. "Aw? Why doesn't it hurt? It's all tingly and feels so good!"
The System thought, Damn, that sounded so real. I almost believed him.
The electric therapy felt like a pair of little hands gently stroking Rono's body, with a slight tingling sensation added in. Rono felt like he was in heaven. Then he quietly drifted off to sleep.
Once Rono started snoring, the System popped up again.
"Observation Haki analysis... Analysis progress: 1%. Recording data... Record complete."
Early the next morning, Rono was up and full of energy, starting his training and waking up more than half the crew with all his noise. The rest were either on night watch or still awake because they hadn't yet been relieved.
"Wolf Rono! You bastard, I'll cut you down sooner or later!" A sergeant who wielded a sword roared. In an instant, all kinds of curses filled the ship.
"Aw, come on. A year's plans begin in spring, and a day's plans begin in the morning!"
Rono replied with a grin.
"Enough, everyone back to bed!" Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan stepped in and gave the order. No one dared disobey. One by one, they lay back down to catch up on sleep.
"You brat, keep it down!" Vice Admiral Huo Shaoshan reminded Rono, then slammed the door shut.
"Caw, caw." A News Bird flew past and stopped beside the feed box prepared for it on the warship, happily eating. Rono's eyes lit up at the sight. He went over and stroked the News Bird's soft neck. It didn't mind, and Rono instinctively pulled it into his arms. Just as he was about to try the long-unused Hug Bird Kill, a voice spoke up. "Oh, do you like little animals too?" Rono froze, then switched to stroking the News Bird's feathers. Turning back to the newcomer with a smile, he said, "Of course! I'm the great Rono, known as the Animal Lover Little Angel!"
"Amazing! I love animals too, but they're all afraid of me..."
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