After wandering around the island for an entire day, Rono returned home to review his gains.
The moment he opened the System panel again, he realized his strength had undergone a qualitative leap.
[Host: Rono][Age: 17][Strength: 245 (Lieutenant Colonel level)][Speed: 185 (Lieutenant Colonel level)][Stamina: 223 (Lieutenant Colonel level)][Haki: Conqueror's Haki (Intermediate)]
"Not bad," Rono murmured. "I should be stronger than an ordinary Lieutenant Colonel now… and I've got Conqueror's Haki on top of that."
He didn't need the numbers to tell him. His body felt nothing like it had yesterday—like it had been reforged.
And that wasn't all. He'd picked up a handful of surprisingly useful abilities, too.
[Ding~ Congratulations, Host picked up: Cooking (Beginner)!][Ding~ Congratulations, Host picked up: Shipbuilding (Intermediate)!][Ding~ Congratulations, Host picked up: Navigation (Intermediate)!][Ding~ Congratulations, Host picked up: Medical Knowledge (Beginner)!][Ding~ Congratulations, Host picked up: Brewing Craft (Top-tier)!]
It was an unexpected windfall—exactly the kind of support he needed if he was going to set sail.
All of it had dropped from ordinary island residents. Most of the skills were only beginner or intermediate, but for someone preparing to go to sea, it didn't matter if a skill was "mediocre."
You could be bad at it.
You just couldn't be missing it.
Especially navigation. Without it, even reaching the Grand Line could take years.
Rono didn't have years.
Maybe when his parents were still alive, he hadn't cared much about the timeline of this world.
Now, he had no choice but to care.
It was Sea Circle Calendar Year 1483. According to the original story, Luffy wouldn't set sail until 1520—thirty-seven years from now.
Thirty-seven years was absurd.
He couldn't wait that long to avenge his parents.
So Rono fixed his eyes on a single point in time:
God Valley—one year from now.
That battle was a legendary slaughter launched by the infamous pirate Rocks, aimed directly at the Celestial Dragons.
The fighting was so catastrophic that although the original story never spelled out every detail, one thing was certain:
God Valley was wiped off the map because of it.
If it hadn't been for Garp and the man who would become the Pirate King—Roger—joining forces, the Celestial Dragons might already have become history.
For Rono, that war was the perfect chance for revenge.
Because the Rocks Pirates were stacked with monsters.
Whitebeard. Shiki the Golden Lion. Charlotte Linlin. Wang Zhi. Silver Axe. John—names that would one day shake the world.
If Rono could join the Rocks Pirates, he'd grow at a terrifying pace—
—and he'd be able to "pick up" truly horrifying abilities from those monsters.
So his goal was clear:
Join the Rocks Pirates first. Then follow them into the God Valley war one year from now.
But Rocks had standards. He didn't take weaklings.
Which meant that before Rono went to the Rocks Pirates' base—Hachinosu (Pirate Island)—he needed to train until even Rocks would look twice.
...…
Late that night, Rono slipped out alone to an empty place to test what he'd gained today.
A granite boulder about as tall as a person sat ahead of him.
Rono clenched his fist—and drove it into the rock with everything he had.
CRACK—!
The granite couldn't take it. It shattered into fragments.
Pain flared in his knuckles from the recoil, but it didn't matter.
When he remembered the way his parents had died, there was only rage left inside him.
Just now, he'd treated that boulder as if it were a Celestial Dragon.
Good.
Very good.
His strength was worlds apart from what it had been.
If he'd had this power back then, he could've killed that pig-dog Celestial Dragon on the spot and avenged his parents immediately.
Of course… the price would've been endless pursuit—by the World Government and the Navy.
Next, Rono tested his speed.
A hundred meters in roughly six seconds.
Fast—so fast he was already brushing the edge of the Navy's Six Powers… Soru (Shave).
After all, Soru could cover a hundred meters in around four seconds. At this rate, he believed he'd comprehend Soru soon.
When he woke the next day, he wandered around the island again—but the gains were obviously worse than the first day.
Maybe it was because he'd already reached Lieutenant Colonel level. Getting attribute drops from ordinary people wasn't going to be easy anymore.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Rono opened the System panel again—then smiled.
He discovered that his Strength, Speed, and Stamina had all reached Colonel level.
At this point, he could no longer pick up any attributes from the island residents at all.
And as for Soru—
He'd naturally grasped it, as if it had simply clicked into place.
Even a standard Colonel would probably lose instantly against Rono now—between Conqueror's Haki and Soru.
Since there was nothing left for him to gain here, Rono began preparing to leave.
The most urgent thing was simple:
He needed a ship—one that could actually sail.
Luckily, he'd picked up intermediate shipbuilding. The quality would never compare to a professional like Franky, but building a seaworthy sailboat was absolutely within reach.
He spent three days gathering materials—timber, screws, canvas, thick rope, and more.
Then he found tools: a hammer, a mallet, screwdrivers—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
He worked through the night.
In a single day, he finished the sailboat.
Staring at a ship roughly the same size as the Going Merry, Rono—exhausted to the bone—felt something stir in his chest.
He lifted his head, eyes cold and burning at once.
"Celestial Dragons…"
"I'm coming."