One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

He glanced at Ark Maxim one last time; the Wind-Blowing Shell could still hold out for about seven or eight minutes, and he had already been lingering on the deck for a long time.

Pulling the lever of Proverb, the Ark began to drift towards the interior of the White Sea. At this speed, the remaining wind from the Wind-Spitting Shell would push Proverb to a stop in the middle of the White Sea, waiting for the day when it becomes powerful enough to sail away.

The golden Robert on the ship remained untouched, since the entire ship would belong to him in the future anyway. He simply placed Enel's golden scepter into the expanded item space as a souvenir before leaving.

Robert leaped from the Ark Maxim, which was about to plunge into the clouds, and looked down from seven thousand meters above the ground, where the islands scattered across the entire sea were clearly visible.

Robert randomly selected an island that looked large and had a bustling town, and activated the Wind Shell on his feet.

Strong winds propelled Robert through the air, and whenever the angle shifted, Robert would instantly transform into an elemental form and then perform a lightning-fast maneuver within a 20-meter radius of his mental field.

Upon reaching the airspace above the large island, Robert deactivated the Wind Shell on his feet, used his elemental teleportation to cancel inertia, and began his descent from the spot.

Having mastered the power of lightning, gravity is no longer a deadly threat; by teleporting in elemental form, the speed of descent can be reset.

To the astonishment of the island's inhabitants, Robert canceled his elemental transformation and landed steadily on the ground.

After straightening his wind-blown clothes, Robert gave a harmless smile: "Excuse me, how do I get to the biggest and best restaurant on the island?"

Even residents of the Grand Line don't see Devil Fruit users every day, let alone Logia-type users like Robert, who are extremely rare.

A quick-thinking teenager immediately pointed Robert in a direction. Robert, who was already starving and had been playing with his elemental form in mid-air nearly a dozen times out of curiosity, lifted his leg and walked towards the restaurant.

Not all chefs enjoy cooking for themselves; in fact, most chefs prefer to eat what others cook rather than cook for themselves.

"Boss! Bring me all your signature dishes!"

Robert swaggered down at a luxurious round table and immediately started copying a book.

He hadn't spent a single penny of the ten million Berries he'd swindled from the Wild Cherry boss, and with this huge sum in his pocket, he was brimming with confidence.

The waiter looked at Robert with suspicion: "Our dishes aren't cheap, are you sure you want to..."

He was interrupted halfway through his sentence by a stack of Berry that Robert pulled out from somewhere, and his expression instantly turned fawning:

"Please wait a moment! We'll serve you your food right away! Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

Robert: "Be slow!"

A large table of dishes was quickly served, and Robert wolfed them down, swallowing some without even having time to chew.

When I was reading the introduction to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the panel mentioned that under normal circumstances, the power recovery rate is one percent of the total power per minute.

Now Robert knows what an abnormal situation is: hunger.

As long as you eat well, even if you run out of energy, it will automatically replenish itself in just one hour and forty minutes.

But just now, Robert almost exhausted all his energy in order to grow taller.

The result was that it only transformed into elements a dozen times in the sky, and didn't even use one-twentieth of the total power. It still hasn't recovered to its maximum value.

It wasn't until he had finished two rounds of food on the table that Robert felt he had replenished his energy and began to eat slowly and carefully.

Robert frowned. He had thought ten million Berries was a lot, but now it seemed that the cost of food alone was a bottomless pit. Ten million Berries probably wouldn't even cover half a month's food expenses. He had to find a way to make some money.

"Blackbeard!"

A loud shout came from outside the window. Robert was so shocked by those three words that he almost crawled under the table. He couldn't believe that even though he had tried to stay as far away from Gaya as possible, he would still run into his creditor as soon as he landed!

Clinging to the last shred of hope, Robert looked out the window in the direction of the sound.

On the opposite bank of the river, a tall figure with a full head of black hair and beard was looking down at someone, seemingly interrogating them.

Even if he turned to dust, Robert would never forget that image. Almost without hesitation, Robert transformed into an element and escaped from the restaurant in the opposite direction.

Now that things have come to this, he can no longer worry about conserving his energy. If he doesn't use his elemental powers to travel without worrying about the loss of 26 points of stamina, it might even be enough for him to escape back to the Sky Island.

Ignoring the commotion behind him, Robert fled frantically across the completely unfamiliar island.

By deliberately turning left and right through the city's alleyways, Robert finally appeared in a small alley.

Even if he had eaten a Devil Fruit, he wouldn't dare to clash with Blackbeard right now.

As for plunging into the sea to escape, that was not realistic either. If he encountered an accident and ran out of power before finding a place to land, he would drown before Blackbeard caught up with him. So Robert was thinking about whether he should first get on a ship and leave the island.

A large hand suddenly pressed down on Robert's shoulder. He instinctively tried to transform into his elemental form to break free, but before he could act, he felt a chilling force strike him. His elemental transformation instantly failed, and he was slammed to the ground.

"You ran fast, kid!"

Chapter 2 A Fateful Encounter

Robert was filled with anger. He had done everything he could, and all he had to do was proceed steadily to succeed.

But it was as if the world was targeting him. He had deliberately piloted the Ark Maxim so far away from where Blackbeard had landed, yet Blackbeard was still able to catch him in the first place.

Robert gathered all the power in his body, preparing to unleash it all at once. After all, he wasn't a complete novice who had just transmigrated. Even if he were to die, he couldn't just cower and surrender.

Just as the electric arcs on his body showed signs of starting, he heard the person holding him down snort again: "You dare to dine and dash and still act so self-righteous!"

Robert's heart skipped a beat. He felt a great terror surrounding him, and he could no longer muster any thought of resistance. The electric arcs that had been surging through his body returned to his body without Robert having to control them.

Robert forced himself not to faint from fright. It was already embarrassing enough that he was ready to fight back but was too weak to move because of fear. If he were to faint and lose his life without even realizing it, he would never be willing to accept it!

The mental tug-of-war lasted for more than a minute, when suddenly the pressure behind him eased, and the man actually released Robert.

Robert flipped himself over, his hands on the ground. The dazzling sunlight cast a silhouette in his eyes. Although he couldn't make out the exact features at first glance, he could tell that it was definitely not Blackbeard!

"Natural abilities are very rare, why not do something productive instead of trying to dine and dash?"

Robert was filled with shame. He didn't want to dine and dash, but Blackbeard was just across the river from him. If he didn't dine and dash, this meal would become his last meal!

As my eyes adjusted to the glaring sunlight, I saw a young man standing in front of me, shirtless and wearing only shorts, with an orange wide-brimmed hat and a face full of freckles, smiling at me.

The initial shame and indignation vanished, replaced by overwhelming joy.

Ace!

Robert, a highly popular character who appears mostly in flashbacks, is very familiar to me. Although he died after appearing for less than two months in the main storyline, it doesn't stop him from being one of my favorite characters in One Piece.

Robert was excited not only because he had met his favorite popular character, but also because before the Banaro Island incident, wherever Ace was, he would never encounter Blackbeard's crew!

After the initial excitement, Robert suddenly realized, "How dare you lecture me! Aren't you the ancestor of those who dine and dash?!"

Ace showed no shame whatsoever: "At least I told the boss before I ran away. You, kid, skipped out on the bill and even used elemental transformation. You've completely disgraced us pirates!"

Robert took a deep breath: "Well, firstly, I'm not a pirate, and secondly, I didn't intentionally want to dine and dash. I was simply frightened when I heard the name of the enemy who was hunting me down."

Robert frowned: "Wait a minute, was that you who shouted 'Blackbeard' just now?"

Ace scratched his head: "Yeah, what happened? I saw someone who looked a lot like him, so I kicked him, only to realize later that I hit the wrong person."

Robert laughed as if he had survived a close call, showing no anger whatsoever at the fact that Ace had scared him so badly he wet himself.

"Damn, that scared me to death! I thought Blackbeard had caught up with us. Hahaha, thank goodness it wasn't him."

Ace's expression turned serious: "You know Blackbeard? Why is he hunting you down?"

Robert got up from the ground first, dusted himself off, and before he could speak, he heard shouts from afar:

"Grab them both! Those two bastards who dined and dashed are actually in cahoots!"

Ace shrank back, put on a smiling face, and said to the people chasing after him, "Hey! I've caught this guy who skipped out on his bill, so please stop chasing me, okay?"

A tall, burly doctor with a thick black beard said breathlessly, "Then how do you expect me to compensate for taking that kick for nothing!"

This delay meant that the two were surrounded by a menacing crowd.

Robert nonchalantly raised his hands to indicate that he was harmless: "It's all a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to skip out on the bill. I just heard my enemy's name and instinctively ran away. You guys can calculate the cost of the meal. I'll pay whatever it is."

The time travel brought Robert too much pressure, and he remained in fear of his own weakness until he ate the Devil Fruit.

Now that he has the power of lightning and has encountered a character he used to love, Robert is in a great mood after being freed from his predicament.

"And this brother's too, I've paid for both of them, so don't make things difficult for him."

Ace exclaimed excitedly, "Really? That's a huge sum of money!"

Robert knew Ace had eaten too much and, fearing he couldn't afford to pay, generously waved his hand.

"I ate a lot too. It's just a meal, how much could it cost! Let's settle the bill!"

The restaurant owner, his face grim, said, "That shirtless bastard's meal cost 300 million Berries, while your well-dressed bastard's meal cost 150 million!"

Robert was momentarily stunned, thinking he had misheard. The purchasing power of the Berries was equivalent to the Japanese Yen, and 4.5 million Berries was equivalent to 200,000 RMB!

"Are you guys running a restaurant or a pirate hideout? You look more like pirates than we are! What kind of meal costs 450 million Berries?!"

Robert is rich, and he can certainly afford 450 million, but he absolutely refuses to be taken advantage of, especially in the catering industry where he excels!

The restaurant owner remained unfazed: "You two ordered the best dishes in the restaurant right off the bat, so we brought out all the top-quality ingredients! Deep-sea clams from Mermaid Island, beauty fruits from Ladyboy Island—those are all expensive ingredients! And now you want to go back on your word?"

Robert, enraged, cursed, "I thought I was eating mermaids from Mermaid Island and ladyboys from Ladyboy Island! I'm going to report you to the Price Bureau and the Food and Drug Administration!"

Ace pulled back the agitated Robert: "You clearly haven't dined and dashed before, let me handle this!"

Robert sullenly stepped aside. He was afraid that if the conversation continued, he would lose his temper and hit someone. He decided to let Ace, an experienced native of this world, handle the situation.

Ace put his hands on his hips and said, "We have no money, so why don't you beat us up to vent your anger!"

Robert's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Brother, we might as well just run!"

Ace grabbed Robert: "Why are you running? Since you ate their meal for free, you should learn to stand still and take the beating! I won't run, and you're not allowed to run either!"

Despite Robert's strength being increased to 20 points, it's still completely insufficient in the hands of a monster like Ace.

"Beat you up? That would be too easy on you!"

"You will be punished with—flowing water!"

Chapter 3 Black-on-Black

Robert pursed his lips; he probably remembered this part of the story too.

Ace's so-called pursuit of Blackbeard basically involved eating and dashing the entire way; he even boarded Buggy the Clown's ship to freeload.

Later cover stories also included a scene where Ace ate and dashed in the Kingdom of Lulusia and mistook Blackbeard for Ace. These kinds of side stories that aren't in the main story are easily forgotten, which is why Robert didn't remember them at first.

What they called a "flowing water trip" was nothing more than being thrown into the river. Looking back now, these townspeople were actually quite kind. Although they were ruthless when they took the money, they wouldn't resort to any extreme measures when they found out you were truly unable to repay.

Anyway, Robb doesn't plan to pay for this obviously overpriced meal. He's in the restaurant business himself, and the restaurant industry has very high profit margins. It's the additional fees that take up the bulk of the profits.

The two were escorted to the riverbank. Seeing Ace's carefree attitude, Robert didn't care. He wasn't incapable of swimming; what was the harm in taking a dip in the river?