One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

"They actually sent you out to deliver food? Let me guess, you don't know anything about cooking, so those guys wanted me to just kill you?"

Robert forced a smile: "You're too kind. Everyone in the kitchen is a good person. I volunteered to show off my skills. I happened to hear that you wanted some meat soup, so I have a meat soup dish from my hometown that I'd like you to try..."

This time, not only the boss, but even the two employees who were wiping the table burst into laughter: "There are actually good people in the kitchen? Kid, you'd better check if your soup has been tampered with!"

Robert, heeding the advice, lifted the lid of the pot, and a rich aroma instantly rose up with the steam. The owner subconsciously twitched his nose: "Hmm? This smell!"

Robert called out to the surrounding staff, "I've made a lot, everyone should come and try my cooking."

As soon as the pot of soup was lifted, not only the staff but even the pirates at the table who were drinking heavily sniffed the air: "Hey, boss, give us a bowl to try too!"

The boss squinted at Robert: "You're actually a pretty good cook. I was originally planning to make you do manual labor for a while and then kill you off as a prop for a show, but it seems..."

Robert shuddered. The boss's smiling, threatening demeanor was far more frightening than those straightforward bastards in the kitchen.

She quickly ladled out a bowl of soup and respectfully presented it to him, saying, "Boss, would you like to try it and see if it suits your taste?"

The boss's eyes suddenly sharpened: "Why don't you try it for me first?"

Chapter 7, the safety manual, is my demolition guide.

Robert's heart was in his throat. He wasn't afraid to taste it, because he hadn't poisoned it yet.

Tetrodotoxin is destroyed and rendered ineffective when heated above 220°C for more than 20 minutes. Although the highest temperature for stewing soup is only the boiling point of water (100°C), Robert dared not gamble that the toxin would be rendered ineffective due to prolonged stewing.

So this pot of soup really is a good pot of soup, but the problem is that since the boss suggested that I drink it first, he must have already started to doubt me. In this situation, if I make even the slightest mistake, I'll probably be killed on the spot.

Ah Da and Ah Er are already beyond my ability to confront head-on. As a boss who makes them tremble with fear, he is definitely not an ordinary person. Or rather, judging from the chaos in this town, an ordinary person could not possibly run a tavern!

Robert had a forced smile on his face. A chef is essentially a service provider, and it wasn't uncommon for customers to call him to their table to explain the cooking process. This formulaic smile was something he had been specially trained for by his company.

Holding the bowl of thick soup that was originally meant for the owner, Robert first took out salt, chopped green onions, white pepper, cumin and other seasonings from the small condiment dish next to him and sprinkled them into the bowl. Then he drank it down without hesitation, and even ate a few bites of mutton and radish.

Seeing him eating with gusto, the boss couldn't help but scold, "I told you to teach everyone how to eat your hometown soup, and you're just eating it so openly! Get back to the kitchen right now!"

Robert pretended to be submissive, quickly put down his bowl, used a large spoon to scoop the gauze bag containing the fish from the pot, and was about to walk back.

"Hey, what did you fish out?"

Having been frightened by his boss, Robert had already abandoned his poisoning plan and intended to dispose of Ah Da and Ah Er's bodies before considering other methods. Hearing his boss's question, he quickly replied:

"This is fish meat added when stewing the soup to make it more delicious. Now we're taking it out so it's easier for everyone to serve the soup."

The shopkeeper yelled, "This is Mogu Town! Don't be so meticulous! Pour the fish back into the soup! Does the fish cost nothing?!"

Robert tried his best to keep his breathing steady, ignoring the extremely high temperature of the gauze pack, and used his hands to untie the hemp thread wrapped around it.

The gauze bag was taken out of the soup pot in front of everyone, and when they saw that it contained fish meat that had been stewed until it fell apart, they had no doubt that there was anything wrong with it.

Robert carefully used a large ladle to hold the gauze bag and poured the fish back into the pot, then stirred it a few times with the ladle.

No one noticed that, where the large spoon was hidden by the gauze, some mashed fish entrails had appeared out of nowhere and were mixed into the soup with the stirring action!

Robert's heart was still pounding even as he dragged himself back to the kitchen in his heavy shackles.

He didn't know how many people could be killed by the toxins contained in a single pufferfish innard, nor did he know how much toxin the pufferfish innard, hastily added to the soup, could release.

There are too many uncertainties in this world. The warden of Impel Down's underwater prison has a poison-poison fruit that is far more potent than the venom of a pufferfish. In the anime, pirates who are poisoned are not instantly killed, and some even manage to survive until someone brings them an antidote.

Although these outsiders are obviously small fry and can't compare to the pirates locked up in Impel Down, pufferfish poison isn't a poison-poison fruit, is it?

Robert dared not place all his hopes on that pot of soup, and immediately got busy as soon as he entered the kitchen.

First, he blocked the kitchen door with a thick, long wooden stick. Once the arrow is released, there's no turning back. Since he had poisoned the food, there was no possibility of him continuing to pretend.

The shackles were made of ordinary cast iron, and the chains connecting the two feet were even rusty, but even so, Robert was not able to break free.

Fortunately, his strength had increased significantly by this time, and the weight of the shackles no longer had such a great impact on his movement.

The boss's casual remark just now plunged Robert's heart into despair: he mentioned that this was Mogu Town!

Mock Town is located in the middle of the Grand Line. A few more stops ahead of Jaya Island, where it is located, you will reach Water Seven, and from there, you will be very close to Enies Lobby.

This place is practically a pirate's den, it's in complete chaos, and being its birthplace would be a hellish start!

Generally speaking, when people travel through time, they start from the beginner village, arrive at the four seas, get some Devil Fruits to eat, learn some kung fu from some hermit masters, and finally enter the Grand Line to fight for supremacy.

Why was I thrown into a place like Magic Valley Town, a hotbed of bad guys, when I was the one who transmigrated? Is that reasonable?

But Robert couldn't appeal to GM, so he had to bite the bullet and look for a glimmer of hope in the cracks.

Looking at the arrangements he had made while simmering the soup, Robert felt somewhat more confident.

I had only been inside for less than a minute when chaos broke out outside. The shouting and cursing lasted for only a few dozen seconds before it stopped, followed by a loud banging on the door.

Robert slowly retreated to the door of the storage room, took a deep breath, and composed himself.

The kitchen door was smashed open in a few blows, and Robert's eyes met those of the boss across the room. Both of them could see the determination to kill the other from his face.

However, the boss was not in good condition at the moment. He was breathing rapidly, sweating profusely, and trembling all over as if he was enduring great pain.

"Boss, are you feeling unwell?"

Robert's voice was no longer submissive; instead, it sounded like he was deliberately trying to provoke him.

The boss was breathing heavily, trying to resist the numbing effect of tetrodotoxin on his nerves, his eyes fixed on the culprit that had caused all of this.

He carried a huge steel knife in his hand and strode toward Robert, but he had only taken one step into the kitchen when he kicked a rope.

The sound of pots and pans overturning came from a shelf taller than a person by the door, followed by a pot of hot oil being poured over the owner's head.

Robert had started heating the oil in the pot while stewing the soup. He only took it off the stove and placed it on top of a shelf that had been prepared beforehand after hearing the commotion outside. A tripwire made of hemp rope was then attached to the pot handle.

Even the strongest boss screamed in pain as the hot oil burned his body. He was already having difficulty breathing because the toxins had paralyzed his entire body. When he screamed, his brain became even more oxygen-deprived, and he swayed a few times, almost falling over.

Robert gritted his teeth. The people in this pirate world are indeed monsters. Even an unknown restaurant owner in Mock Town can withstand this much.

Despite being in excruciating pain, the boss did not collapse. Instead, he seemed to unleash some kind of physical potential and strode toward Robert.

Robert had made more than just this one preparation. He quickly pulled the rope at hand, and several huge sacks suspended from the roof beams by hemp ropes slammed down on the boss like pendulums.

The boss brandished his large knife wildly, and several sacks exploded instantly, scattering the flour inside. The wind from the knife swept through the kitchen, making it look as if a smoke bomb had been thrown in.

Meanwhile, Robert had already locked the door to the storage room and even hid in a pool filled with water.

Robert lit a match and threw it onto the rag soaked in strong liquor on the ground.

Only a small portion of the rags remained in the storage room; the rest slipped through the door crack and remained in the kitchen.

He lit the flames and then ducked into the pool. The enormous explosion could be heard clearly even from underwater.

"As the kitchen's safety supervisor, I know better than anyone what kind of operations can cause serious accidents!"

Chapter 8 was revealed by the law.

The high temperature generated by the dust explosion was already astonishing, and the boss had already been doused with hot oil. When Robert climbed out of the pool, through the blown-open storage room door, he saw the boss engulfed in flames, looking like a demon crawling out of hell.

He lay on the ground, too weak to move, his body convulsing under the scorching flames.

Even so, Robert didn't go over. He had already won, and winners don't take risks.

Your level has increased from 2 to 3.

You have gained 5 attribute points that you can freely allocate.

Only then did Robert feel completely relieved. Holding the boning knife, he didn't even glance at the boss's corpse before walking straight out of the kitchen.

Pirates were sprawled all over the restaurant, foaming at the mouth, clearly showing the owner's generosity.

Robert had no time to rest. He went forward one by one to finish them off. The natives of the pirate world had very high poison resistance, as if they couldn't be killed by poison alone.

After the round, I gained a great deal of experience.

[Level: 3 (312/400)]

Now Robert understood why he had gained so many experience points from making mutton soup; it turned out it was from killing Ah Da and Ah Er.

On average, each pirate can provide Robert with 40 experience points. Robert doesn't feel sorry that fewer people were poisoned this time; he is now only concerned with safety.

First, close the shop door. Mogu Town is already chaotic, and the explosion in the kitchen didn't attract any busybodies.

But Robert didn't dare to let his guard down, because the number of people present was not right.

First, there's the Indian guy. Since we met him during the day, he's been nowhere to be seen. Robert won't be opening champagne to celebrate without seeing him.

Secondly, there were corpses on the ground. There were only the pirates who had been eating at the table, but none of the two shop assistants were there.

Robert didn't realize that the boss had given them both a break and let them go home to rest within the short minute or two he was back in the kitchen.

As for the odd-job staff, they were basically not allowed to taste the mutton soup that they had added ingredients to.

So where did they go?

Robert gripped the boning knife tightly and first brought up the attribute panel to allocate points. If the two shop assistants were still in the shop, he would be facing a head-on battle, and every extra attribute point would increase his chances of winning.

When he tried to further enhance his strength to the extreme, increasing it to three times that of a normal person, he found that he could no longer increase his strength.

Strength and Agility attributes cannot exceed twice the Stamina value.

Robert took a deep breath. That made sense. Endurance can actually be understood as physical strength, which includes the strength of muscle fibers, bone hardness, skin toughness, and so on.

If you focus solely on increasing strength without investing in endurance, you might end up tearing a muscle or straining a ligament before you even throw a punch.

By the end of the day, Robert was exhausted. He had spent several hours cooking to level up and then fought a series of intense battles.

Even when facing enemies already exhausted from the toxins of pufferfish, Robert did not hold back any of his strength and was already completely worn out.

Having realized that endurance is the foundation for strengthening the physical body, he simply added all five skill points to stamina, instantly raising his stamina to 11 points.

My strength seemed to return instantly. Apart from being a little mentally exhausted, the physical exertion of the day seemed to have been wiped out by the 5 points of stamina.

Robert first went to the bar and searched carefully, finding a set of keys on the inner wooden board.

After comparing them one by one, he finally unlocked the shackles on his feet.

The reason I didn't increase my agility earlier was largely because of these shackles.

Robert couldn't guarantee he'd find the key easily. If he encountered enemies while searching for it, even with his high agility, he'd be restricted by the shackles.

Now freed from his shackles, Robert felt even more confident and was about to run away when he heard a sound coming from the stairwell.

"Didn't you say the boss hid all his money in the top-floor room? How could it not be there!"

Another voice said urgently, "I was also confused. I actually agreed to go find money first at a time like this. We should have just gone and killed that little bastard! I won't feel at ease until I kill him!"