One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

Although Robert is not a chef specializing in pastry, he has his own understanding of simple desserts like cherry pie.

Take equal parts high-gluten and low-gluten flour, add butter and milk, mix and knead until smooth, then add eggs and sugar. The shortcrust pastry base for cherry pie is now ready.

While the puff pastry was being heated and set in the oven, Robert continued preparing the custard.

Robert's heart, which had been pounding with tension, miraculously calmed down during the cooking process. Back in his area of ​​expertise, Robert feared no one.

Robert deliberately added extra sugar to the custard, poured it into the baked puff pastry, and put it back in the oven to heat. Finally, he filled the baked pie with pitted cherries and carried four plates out of the kitchen.

Blackbeard and his three companions seemed completely unconcerned about Robert escaping through the back door, and were quietly waiting while drinking the rum the clerk had brought them.

When Blackbeard saw Robert come out carrying a plate, he sniffed and his eyes lit up.

Taking the plate from Robert, he didn't care at all that the cherry pie was still hot from the oven and took a bite out of half of the 12-inch cherry pie.

Robert waved to the bewildered shop assistants standing there: "Close the door, we're not open today. Then go to the kitchen and help Ah San out. Nobody is allowed to come out without my permission!"

Watching the staff walk into the kitchen, Blackbeard laughed loudly, "Tsk tsk, hahaha! Boss! This cherry pie is absolutely delicious!"

Robert smiled knowingly: "So, would you gentlemen be willing to spare my life?"

Blackbeard chuckled as he popped the remaining half of the cherry pie into his mouth, then turned to Van Augur: "Hey, don't you like sweets? How about I have yours too?"

Van Augur shrugged indifferently: "You're the captain, you make the decisions."

Seeing that they were completely ignoring him, Robert had no choice but to speak up: "I was indeed a little disrespectful to this gentleman yesterday, but it was just taking a basket of apples from you. It shouldn't be enough to warrant you all coming to my door to kill me, right?"

He looked at Doc Q, who was slumped over the table looking like he was about to die, but before Doc Q could speak, Burgess said:

"Oh? He took your apple too? Hahaha! You're so silly!"

After Blackbeard finished Van Augur's cherry pie, he reached for Doc Q's, and Burgess quickly pushed his own cherry pie towards it as well.

Blackbeard finished all the cherry pies in a few bites, then grinned at Robert and said:

"What should I do? I'm reluctant to kill you, but you've stolen the reputation that should belong to us. I'm so conflicted."

Robert didn't know what Blackbeard meant. He had imagined many ways he would meet Blackbeard, but he never thought that Blackbeard would kill him the very first time they met.

"Although I don't know what you mean, this is easy to handle. You need as much fame as you want, I'll give you one back."

Blackbeard's smile froze for a moment, then he laughed even louder, and the other three joined in the laughter, as if Robert had told a hilarious joke.

Robert wasn't angry. Even sitting there, the four people in front of him were two heads taller than him, and their strength was unfathomable.

After laughing for a long time, seeing that Robert remained silent, Blackbeard spoke up, "You're really confident. What we want is an opportunity to make our names resound throughout the seas. What makes you think you can give us that?"

Robert laughed as he collected their leftover plates: "Then I'm wondering, what reputation have I stolen from you this time? I didn't even know I was already famous all over the world."

Blackbeard burst into laughter: "Tsk, hahaha! You've got guts, kid, to dare talk to me like that!"

His expression suddenly turned fierce: "Kid, the guy you killed yesterday was prey killed by my men! They were hoping to make a name for themselves with it, but you ruined it. Tell me, how are you going to compensate us?"

Robert quickly figured out what was going on. He had only killed one person recently, and that was Rossio, whom he had finished off with a knife!

"How about I give you a pirate crew worth 200 million as compensation?"

Chapter 20 Join the Blackbeard Pirates!

Robert appeared relaxed, but his palms were actually sweating profusely.

It was only thanks to Blackbeard's lack of Conqueror's Haki, a fact clearly marked on Oda's Vivre Card, that Robert dared to act tough in front of him.

Otherwise, if the other party only needed to release a little bit of pressure, their mental attributes, which they barely managed to reach the passing grade for a normal person through stat increases, would probably have been so frightened that they would have wet their pants long ago, and they wouldn't have had the chance to act.

Robert's words left the four of them stunned for a long time before they burst into laughter: "This kid actually said he'd give us a pirate crew worth 200 million! You must be dreaming."

Robert didn't take it seriously at all: "I'm not joking, and this information isn't free; I have conditions."

Blackbeard narrowed his eyes at Robert: "Oh, it seems you're quite confident. Tell me your terms."

Robert laughed: "I acknowledge your strength. I request to join your pirate crew."

Blackbeard couldn't help but burst into laughter again: "Tsk, hahaha! You weakling actually say you acknowledge my strength! Why do you think I'd let you join my crew!"

Robert took a bottle of wine from the wine rack behind him, poured a glass for Blackbeard and himself, and then drank it all in one gulp.

"Ten days ago, I was just a slave. After being sold to this tavern, I poisoned everyone in the tavern that very day and became the owner myself."

Blackbeard's eyes lit up with interest. He picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp. As if that wasn't enough, he took the whole bottle from Robert and gestured for him to continue.

“That man from yesterday was the backer of this tavern. I killed him not to steal your reputation, but because if I didn’t kill him, he would come after me.”

Robert glanced at Bagges with disdain: "So I had someone provide this big guy with some information. He was very loyal and helped me take out that Rossio guy without hesitation. I should thank you guys."

Burgess frowned and stood up abruptly: "What do you mean?"

Poison Q replied sinisterly, "What else could it mean? You were used as a pawn. You're so stupid~"

Enraged by Doc Q's sarcastic remark that he had just used to mock Robert, Burgess raised his fist to strike Robert, but Blackbeard stopped him.

"So, you've offended two of my crew members at the same time. You've really got some nerve."

Robert said, “I didn’t know your identities and strengths before, so I’m sorry for offending you. But as you can see, I’m not very strong, so I have to rely on my brain. And I’ve always believed that strategy is a more powerful force than physical strength, haven’t I, Captain?”

Blackbeard burst into laughter: "Interesting! Very interesting! I haven't seen someone as interesting as you in a long time! But that's still not enough to convince me to let you join my crew!"

He looked at the other three: "Hey, do you guys have anything you want to test him on?"

Although Burgess had a bad temper, he could tell that he only needed to exert a fraction of his strength to smash the little dwarf in front of him into a meat patty, so he just pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

Van Augur, who usually seemed indifferent to everything, shrugged to indicate that he would listen to Blackbeard.

Suddenly, Doc Q gave a sinister smile: "I have an idea, Captain, why don't we leave everything to fate?"

Upon hearing the word "fate," Van Auger seemed intrigued.

Seeing the reaction of his two generals, Blackbeard was also somewhat tempted and slightly raised his chin.

With a grin, Poison Q pulled out another basket of apples from his cloak: "You haven't eaten yesterday's apples yet, have you? I bought some more today. Pick one; fate is often used to measure a person's worth."

Robert almost burst out laughing. If it were any other test, he would probably be badly injured even if he didn't die. But he was completely unafraid of Doc Q's exploding apple!

The first supernatural ability he gained after transmigrating was actually a storage space that allowed him to freely access and store items.

He has two of these spaces: one for ingredients and one for items, much like the categorized backpack pages in a game for storing different types of items.

The food storage space has clear limitations; it can only store food, so the exploding apple simply can't fit in. He tested this yesterday!

With a nonchalant expression, Robert casually reached for the basket of apples and quickly activated the storage and retrieval function of the food storage space.

He couldn't help but curse the bastard in his heart. There were more than a dozen apples in the basket, and Doc Q only put in one real apple!

Robert's ability to store and retrieve items in his space was entirely at his discretion. He covered the apples with his palm, and no one noticed that one of them suddenly disappeared for a moment, only to reappear in the basket in an instant!

Robert casually flicked his hand, seemingly indifferently picking up a piece, and without the slightest hesitation, took a bite.

"It tastes awful. I won't buy apples from that store again."

Doc Q was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, and the other three joined in the laughter.

Blackbeard stretched out his hand: "My ship doesn't have a kitchen, so having a chef on board is really redundant, tsk hahahaha!"

Robert suppressed his excitement and reached out to grab Blackbeard's hand: "So, Captain, our first step is to raise money and get a bigger ship!"

Blackbeard waved his hand dismissively: "Now can you talk about that pirate crew worth two hundred million?"

Robert laughed heartily: "The Straw Hat crew, who just defeated Crocodile, one of the former Seven Warlords of the Sea, in Alabasta, are on their way to Jaya. They should arrive in a day or two at most."

Blackbeard frowned: "The Straw Hat Pirates? Never heard of them before. How do you know about them?"

Robert narrowed his eyes: "Because they have always been my target. If it weren't for the fact that you guys were planning to kill me today, I might have ended up on their ship."

Burgess, with the quickest temper, retorted: "What are you staring at them for? Are they worth that much?"

Robert counted on his fingers and said, "Captain Straw Hat Luffy has a bounty of 100 million Berries; combatant swordsman Zoro has a bounty of 60 million Berries; archaeologist and devil's child Robin has a bounty of 79 million Berries. Do you think they're valuable?"

Blackbeard's expression turned excited, but his mind remained clear: "Then they must be very strong. With your abilities, how dare you even think of targeting them?"

The situation had progressed according to Robert's plan, and he had a firm grasp on the pace:

"Of course I don't have the ability to kill them and collect the bounty, but I never cared about their pitiful bounty anyway. I want them to lead me to the greatest treasure on Jaya Island—the Land of Gold!"

Chapter 21 The Longzhong Decision on the Three Kingdoms

Now that things have progressed to this point, the difficulty is no longer about tricking Blackbeard into leading his men to chase after Luffy and his crew, but rather finding a way to prevent them from making their move immediately.

In the storyline, although Blackbeard and his gang committed all sorts of atrocities, they basically only robbed enough money for their own survival. In a country as large as Drum Island, they robbed the king's treasury and left without disturbing the people much.

This complacent attitude even continued into the Marineford War. After Shiryu of the Rain was rescued from Impel Down, he warned Blackbeard about this issue, saying that a raft made of a few large logs could not reach the New World.

But he wasn't Shiryu of the Rain, after all. Shiryu was highly skilled and daring, and even if he spoke out for justice, he wasn't afraid of being killed on the spot.

When offering your own opinions, you need to be mindful of the art of language.

"Does the captain know about Sky Island?"

Blackbeard scoffed, "I've been there before. What's there to rob in such a barren place?"

In the story, Blackbeard explicitly told Luffy and his crew that Skypiea existed, so Robert had long suspected that he must have known about Skypiea when he was under Whitebeard's command. After all, Whitebeard was the strongest pirate crew of his time, and he had seen all sorts of big battles while traveling the world with Rocks.

Judging from Blackbeard's reaction, he must have never been to Angel Island!

"Since the captain knows about Sky Islands, he must also know that Sky Islands do not refer to a specific island, but are a collective term for all the floating islands that float on the White Sea. And the island located above Jaya Island is most likely the legendary land of gold, Shandora!"

Upon hearing that gold was everywhere, the others didn't react much, but Burgess excitedly shouted, "Gold! How do we get to that land of gold!"

Blackbeard took a swig of wine and smiled disdainfully: "Money is worthless in the face of power. How much gold could that so-called Land of Gold possibly have? If you become a Shichibukai, you can plunder this sea at will. If you become one of the Four Emperors, you can levy exorbitant taxes on the seas under your rule. At that point, wouldn't every place be a land of gold?"

Robert knew Blackbeard would react this way. Their goal wasn't to rob money, but to become famous, to constantly cause big trouble, until they became the kings of the sea.

He smiled confidently: "I underestimated the captain's ambition. In my country, strategists usually don't offer the best option right away. Instead, they provide different strategies for the lord to choose from based on his ambitions. I wonder what kind of vision you have to stand on this sea!"

Blackbeard, unusually serious, declared: "Of course I want to become the sole king of this sea, the supreme king who surpasses the Four Emperors and even the World Government!"

Robert clenched his fist and said, "In that case, we should definitely go to Sky Island!"

He took two books out of the bar drawer. The first was a biographical novel that was easy to get in Jaya: The Great Conman Rolando. The other was a book he had painstakingly written in an aged nautical hand.

"This book is a legend known to all the people of Jaya. When the navigator Roland arrived in Jaya, he saw the legendary land of gold. But when he returned to the North Sea to report to his king, who then led a fleet to search for it, the land of gold was nowhere to be found. Everyone believed that Roland had lied, and the king executed him. From then on, he has been called a great liar ever since."