Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1483—one year before the God Valley Incident.
East Blue.
A boy of about seventeen was sobbing as he slammed his fists into a boulder over and over—so hard his knuckles split, flesh turning raw and bloody—yet he didn't stop.
"Celestial Dragons… damn you Celestial Dragons!" His voice cracked into a hoarse scream. "Scum. Animals. The filth of this world… One day—one day I'll erase you from it!"
"One day…!"
His name was Rono—and he was a transmigrator.
More than ten years ago, he'd crossed into the world of One Piece. Back then, he'd been only a child.
In a sea where powerhouses were everywhere and pirates roamed like stray dogs, a lone kid should've been dead within a week. But Rono had been lucky: a kind young couple found him and took him in.
For over a decade, they raised him with patience and warmth. They fed him, taught him, scolded him, laughed with him—until somewhere along the way, Rono stopped thinking of them as "adoptive."
In his heart, they were simply his mother and father.
Then—two days ago—tragedy arrived.
His parents were murdered by Celestial Dragons.
The reason was as absurd as it was monstrous: the Celestial Dragons had gotten bored… so they lifted their hunting guns and started firing into the crowd for fun.
To them, it was as ordinary as eating and drinking.
To the "world's nobles," commoners weren't people. They were livestock. Dogs. Cattle. Creatures too filthy to breathe the same air.
And if something was livestock—then of course you could kill it whenever you pleased.
Rono's mother had been unlucky. A stray bullet tore into her, and she died on the spot.
His father saw his wife drop, and rage flooded him so fast it drowned reason. He grabbed an axe and charged—desperate to avenge her.
The ending was obvious.
The Celestial Dragon's guards—and the Marines with them—turned him into a target. Gunfire hammered his body until he was riddled through, his death brutal and final.
Rono watched it happen.
His legs went weak.
Pain—real pain—twisted through him like a blade.
It felt as if someone had ripped his heart and lungs out and left nothing but a hollow, screaming void.
Revenge.
He had to avenge them.
Rono clenched his fists and lurched forward, ready to throw himself at the Celestial Dragon even if it meant dying—
"Rono! You have to hold it in!" A neighbor grabbed him with both arms and wouldn't let go. "That's a Celestial Dragon! If you go now, you'll only die. Don't be reckless!"
At the critical moment, several villagers joined in, dragging him back. They refused to let him run to his death.
Because that was the truth: Celestial Dragons weren't enemies a civilian could touch.
"Those filthy commoners died so fast," the Celestial Dragon muttered lazily, as if commenting on the weather. "How boring… I thought they'd struggle a little more."
He spat thickly onto the bodies—and strolled away with his entourage, unhurried, untouchable.
Rono fought against four or five grown adults and still couldn't break free.
He could only watch the murderer of his parents walk away.
"Damn it… damn it!"
His nails bit into his palms. His teeth ground so hard his jaw trembled.
He couldn't accept it.
He couldn't swallow it.
He couldn't—
"I'll make you pay," he rasped. "You'll pay…"
Blood.
They would pay in blood.
Kill.
Kill them all.
Kill every last one of those beasts—avenge Mother, avenge Father.
That thought sharpened inside his skull until it became the only thing left.
And Rono understood something else just as clearly:
If he wanted revenge, he needed strength.
The Celestial Dragons were "world nobles." They were guarded by monsters. Touching them meant the Navy would send overwhelming force—even an Admiral.
If he truly meant to wipe them out…
Then he would need power terrifying enough to stand against both the World Government and the Navy Headquarters.
"Kill…!" Rono's voice rose again, ragged with hatred. "Kill them!"
"For Father… for Mother… I will—!"
His emotions detonated.
The next instant—
[Ding~ Detected extreme emotional fluctuation. Conqueror's Haki acquired. God-tier Pickup System activated!]
The voice sounded inside his head.
Rono froze—then snapped upright as if someone had slammed life back into him.
A System.
As a transmigrator, he knew what that meant.
It meant a shortcut to power.
It meant hope.
With a System… he could grow strong—fast.
Rono's breathing turned harsh, but now it wasn't only grief in his chest. It was something else: a fierce, burning certainty.
The God-tier Pickup System.
As the name implied, it allowed him to pick up abilities.
Not just numbers.
Not just trinkets.
Everything.
The three forms of Haki. The Navy's Six Powers (Rokushiki). Martial arts. Swordsmanship. Physical conditioning—any and all capabilities could be "picked up."
More than that, he could even absorb Devil Fruits to rapidly strengthen a specific aspect of himself.
Which meant his potential ceiling was… absurd.
Haki. Devil Fruits. Swordsmanship. Body techniques. Even raw talent.
He could raise them all—until he reached the peak of the world.
He would become the most terrifying existence on this sea.
He would climb to the Holy Land—Mary Geoise—and slaughter those Celestial Dragons who were lower than pigs and dogs.
For his parents.
Rono tightened his fist until his knuckles whitened.
Then he spoke, steady and cold:
"Open the System interface."
The panel appeared at once.
Rono scanned it, wanting to know exactly how far he still had to climb.
[Host: Rono][Age: 17][Strength: 13 (Average Human: 10)][Speed: 9 (Average Human: 10)][Stamina: 19 (Average Human: 10)][Haki: Conqueror's Haki (Intermediate)][Other Abilities: None][Devil Fruit: None]
He exhaled slowly.
Aside from awakening Conqueror's Haki, he was—right now—still just an ordinary person.
But the helplessness that had crushed him earlier was gone.
In its place sat confidence.
Not arrogance.
Certainty.
He also noticed something else: perhaps because of Conqueror's Haki, his entire presence had changed.
The harmless-looking boy he used to be was… different now.
Even standing still, he carried a quiet pressure—an unspoken authority that made the air feel heavier.
The next day, Rono decided to test exactly how the System's "pickup" worked.
He headed for the busiest place on the island—the street with the most people.
"Poor kid…"
As he walked, villagers who knew what had happened looked at him with pity and gentle concern.
Rono didn't respond. He didn't have the attention to spare.
Because he saw it.
From every passerby, card-like objects kept slipping loose and falling—just like item drops in a game after you defeated a monster.
[Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 5 Strength.][Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 3 Strength.][Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 4 Speed.][Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 8 Stamina.][Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 3 Stamina.]
All of it was basic—Speed, Strength, Stamina.
It made sense. These were ordinary villagers. No Devil Fruit users. No Haki wielders. Otherwise the drops would've been far more impressive.
Still—better than nothing.
Even "basic" stats could become a massive boost for him.
In this world, physical technique mattered. In fact, there were rare monsters who relied on no Devil Fruit at all—who refined their bodies and skills so purely that they stood at the top of the sea.
And in the end, Speed, Strength, and Stamina determined exactly how devastating your physical combat could become.
[Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 3 Strength.][Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 2 Stamina.][Ding~ Congratulations, Host. You picked up 6 Speed.]
Rono watched his core attributes surge—and felt it in his bones.
His physical quality was skyrocketing, leaping forward as if it were breaking through invisible limits.