One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

Robert waved his hand: "I don't want to fight. I just want to live a peaceful life. I won't do what you did back then. Just tell me how you want to compensate me."

Rayleigh's intelligence is extremely high in the One Piece world, and now that he has no worries, his cleverness has once again taken over the top spot.

"Just tell me what you want, no need to keep testing me."

Robert bluntly stated, "If Ace dies in Marineford, then I really don't need any of you old guys. I'll get what I want myself."

"But before my father died, he left me a task: to find someone to protect Ace and the others for a period of time, until they grow up to be able to protect the family business he left behind."

Rayleigh looked at him strangely: "You want me to be Whitebeard's babysitter?"

Robert was immediately displeased: "Fine, you're not going to Marineford, but now that Ace is alive, are you just going to watch him get eaten alive by those wolves in the New World?"

He stood up: "You're not going, huh? Fine, then I'll go ask Jabba. He's been busy having kids all these years. I want to see if he'll help me get his son into the Whitebeard. Don't worry, I know exactly what your old brothers are up to. I don't believe Roger only befriended a bunch of ingrates back then."

Rayleigh wasn't angry at all: "Look at you, I haven't even said anything yet. It's just about protecting the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates. You can't expect us old guys to protect them forever. There has to be a time limit."

Upon hearing this, Robert was no longer angry and sat down with a smile: "Luffy and the others will need at least two years of training, so how about two years? When Luffy goes to the New World, isn't this also a legacy that your older brother is building for him?"

Rayleigh shook his head: "If Luffy wants to become the Pirate King, he has to fight for everything himself. He can't accept what others give him, and two years is too long. One year at most."

Robert grinned slyly and slammed his hand on the table: "It's a deal!"

The claim that Luffy would inherit the family business was all nonsense; he actually considered the Whitebeard Pirates' territory as his own.

He himself was also the adopted son of Whitebeard, and now the person in charge of Whitebeard's gang was his brother who had risked his life for him. So wasn't Whitebeard's gang's business his own business?

It's only been a month or so since I transmigrated here, and I've already grown to this extent. If I had another year, wouldn't I be asking my little sister Im for a marriage proposal?

At that time, I will be the backbone of the White Team, and I won't need anyone else to take care of me.

So let alone a year, he would agree even if Rayleigh offered to take care of him for half a year. He had received such a great favor from Whitebeard, and he felt he had done right by his spirit in heaven.

Just when Robert thought he had won big, he found that Rayleigh was laughing even more happily than he was:

"Anyway, as long as they don't cause any problems within a year, it's fine, right? No problem. But don't keep bringing up this incident and hurling such nasty insults at them all the time."

Robert suddenly realized that he might have been outmaneuvered, and there must be something he didn't know.

Shakky seemed to think it was immoral for Rayleigh to bully a young man, so she took out a newspaper and handed it to Robert.

The date displayed was today, and the front page headline blatantly featured a large headline—

The New World order is changing again: The Red-Haired Pirates announce an alliance with the Whitebeard Pirates!

Robert slapped his forehead, realizing he had gotten himself into a rut. Whitebeard and Shanks had worked together seamlessly during the Marineford War; one rushed into Marineford to rescue people, while the other covered the rear and provided backup. Nobody would believe they hadn't planned it beforehand.

Whitebeard's final selection of Ace as his successor was undoubtedly partly motivated by a desire to morally blackmail the members of Roger's crew by leveraging Ace's status as Roger's son.

While he was still frantically searching for someone, he never considered that Shanks, who had eaten the Face Fruit, was the most concerned about his image.

It would have been one thing if Ace had died in Marineford, but now that he has returned to the New World alive, anyone who dares to come and take Ace's territory is slapping Shanks in the face.

Robert chuckled, showing no anger whatsoever at being tricked.

Anyway, the result is what I want, the process doesn't matter.

He stood up, patted the wrinkles in his clothes, and said, "Since Luffy won't be back for a day or two anyway, why don't you consider coating our ship with a protective film?"

Seeing that he had changed the subject, Rayleigh felt very pleased with himself for winning the game: "Getting coating done through me isn't cheap."

Since finding the Ark's Proverb, Robert has been incredibly wealthy and extravagant. He casually conjured a fist-sized gold nugget from his spatial storage: "Hey, come and eat!"

Although Rayleigh sensed that Robert wasn't saying anything nice, his eyes were irresistibly drawn to the extremely pure gold: "Cheers! This could buy so much wine!"

Xia Qi accepted the gold first: "You're very generous, kid. Please come and patronize us more often in the future."

Rayleigh was somewhat discouraged. Although Shakky had taken his wages, he didn't dare to complain. He could only carry his coating tools and follow Robert out of the bar.

When he was still nearly a hundred meters from the shore, Rayleigh stopped.

A powerful aura began to rise and coalesce, clashing with another spiritual impact rising from the ship.

Robert took a step to the side, cleverly breaking the balance between the two opposing forces: "I've already been paid, how can someone who does the work get into a fight with the boss?"

Redfield stepped out of the cabin, and his eyes sharpened the moment he saw Reilly.

Reilly was momentarily dazed when he saw Redfield, but quickly a smile appeared on his face.

Redfield's tone was unfriendly: "Why did you bring him here?"

Robert, unaware of any past grievances between the two, spread his hands and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to find someone to coat the ship? I only know one coating master on this island."

Redfield smiled knowingly: "The famous Hades has to make a living as a coating craftsman. How ironic."

Rayleigh was not angry at all; on the contrary, he was very humble and bowed as he said, "There's nothing I can do. My wife is beautiful and spends a lot of money. I don't have any other skills, so I can only do some manual labor to support her."

Redfield looked like he'd just eaten shit, and Robert was speechless for a moment. He absolutely refused to believe there wasn't something fishy going on here.

Seeing Rayleigh's smug look, Robert made a bold guess: Could it be that old man Redfield had also been in love with Shakky, the top succubus, back in the day?

Robert had already guessed that the two probably knew each other. After all, after Roger was executed by the Navy, Redfield went to fight the then Fleet Admiral Cyborg in order to avenge him. He not only won, but also fought Garp. He was captured by the Navy because he was exhausted.

I thought the two were either old friends reuniting or rivals meeting again, and that I could easily mediate and resolve the situation. I never expected it to be such a scandalous affair.

Swallowing hard, Robert really didn't want to get involved in the chaos, so he made an excuse to send his men away and left with Big Luo and Little Luo.

Knowing that Shanks would protect the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates for at least a year, Robert's confidence grew even stronger. After bringing Robinson Crusoe and Robinson Jr. back to India, he immediately gave instructions:

"You booked the Bubble Cable Car to cross the Red Line. I've found two Yonko (Four Emperors) to back you up on the other side. Ah San, I'm giving you a mission. I require that within a year, no matter what business you're in, you must open shops in all the territories of the Whitebeard and Shanks pirate crews!"

The Indian man's eyes widened in disbelief. He had been feeling sorry for the small shop in the Sabaody Archipelago where he had just invested a lot of time and money, but he never expected that in the blink of an eye, the owner would set up such a huge business empire for them in the New World.

Patting his chest hard, Ah San felt that if he didn't do a good job, he might as well just die on the spot.

After seeing off the Indians, Robert figured the two old men should have calmed down by now, so he took Karina back to the ship.

Robert didn't say another word to Karina along the way. He had indeed harbored ill intentions the moment he saw Redfield, but he couldn't tell anyone about his little scheme. Just because Redfield couldn't see through his thoughts didn't mean he couldn't see through others'.

Karina is a smart woman and believes she can make the best choice for herself.

Reilly had already started working, while Redfield, who had just lost, stood to the side with his hands on his hips, gesturing wildly.

Robert brought Karina aboard the ship, cleared his throat, and asked Redfield, "I'd like to bring one more person on board."

While waiting for Redfield to refuse so she could respond accordingly, Karina timidly said:

"Honey, I'll go wherever you go!"

Chapter 8: Three people each share eight hundred thoughts.

Robert almost bit his tongue. This woman was indeed quick-witted; she gleaned two important pieces of information from just one sentence.

First, whether she could stay on the ship was something Robert needed to discuss with the old man in front of him. Second, this old man was the so-called important figure who could read minds.

Redfield frowned as he looked at the two men: "I never build any faction. It's already an extraordinary favor that I agreed to take you along this time."

Robert didn't care about Redfield's refusal at all; instead, he was surprised that his Observation Haki, which was supposed to be able to see through people's hearts, hadn't detected that Karina was lying.

Given the old man's suspicious nature, he would definitely use his Observation Haki to scrutinize a stranger he meets for the first time. However, he simply expressed his disagreement with Karina boarding the ship and did not dwell on the fact that she called him "husband".

The characters in this world may have slightly different abilities than I knew before, but it's impossible that Redfield's signature mind-reading ability has been completely weakened.

The fact that one cannot be mind-read can be initially guessed to be due to electromagnetic interference, but the reason why Karina was able to deceive Redfield is worth investigating further.

Of course, now is not the time to dig deeper. Robert's attitude did not budge an inch: "May I ask if you are a navigator? A ship can be without a cook or a combatant, but without a navigator we can't even decide where to go. And Karina is an outstanding navigator."

Redfield curled his lip in disdain: "Of course I am a navigator, and the best navigator in the world."

Robert was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that the old man must have solid nautical knowledge after sailing alone at sea for so many years.

Karina took the initiative to speak: "Senior, although you may be a good navigator, it's a bit much to call yourself the best in the world. Don't let my young age fool you, I have almost all the world's nautical charts in my head. Shall we have a contest?"

Redfield's eyes darted between Robert and Karina with amusement:

"I originally planned to spend six months teaching you how to practice domineering techniques. If you insist on bringing your little lover along, that's fine too, but the time will be halved. By then, no matter how much you learn, you'd better take your lover and get out of here. I'll also take Padong with me."

Robert agreed without hesitation for even half a second.

Six months is too long; he never intended to spend that much time learning from Redfield, that eccentric old man.

As for Padong, once he gets what he wants, it's just a matter of time before he starts cheating.

As Riley worked, he watched with a smile as Robert and Redfield schemed against each other. Suddenly overcome by a gambling urge, he even considered setting up a bet and finding people to gamble on who would ultimately achieve their goal.

Although the boat stolen from the traffickers was a small sailboat, it would still take Raleigh two days to complete the coating process himself.

Robert arranged for Karina to purchase the supplies needed for the voyage, and then set off alone for the latter half of the New World.

On a deserted island, there are two tombstones. One is inlaid with the Supreme Grade Sword Murakumogiri, and buried inside is Whitebeard, who was once known as the strongest man in the world.

The other one was much smaller, with no distinguishing features, but it prominently displayed Robert's name.

This was Robert's first time visiting his own grave, and he had absolutely no idea what to bring.

Ace, his face covered in stubble, leaned against the tombstone. Hearing Robert fall to the ground, he removed the hat he had been using to shield his face from the sun.

"I thought you weren't coming. You can even skip your own funeral. You're something else."

Robert took out a bottle of wine from his spatial storage and placed it in front of Whitebeard's grave: "Before my father died, he gave me a task. He told me to contact his old friends. We are too weak to protect the family business he left behind. We need to find a powerful backer."

Given Ace's previous temperament, he would never have agreed to be subservient to others. However, the Marineford War had a huge impact on him. It was because he was too arrogant that he took it upon himself to pursue Blackbeard, only to find that he was no match for him. This led to the entire Whitebeard Pirates being mobilized to Marineford to rescue him, ultimately resulting in heavy losses.

Now, Ace not only deeply realizes that his strength is indeed insufficient to compete with true masters, but he also bears the great responsibility of the entire Whitebeard Pirates on his shoulders, so he can no longer be willful.

"Tell me, who have you contacted?"

Robert rolled his eyes: "I haven't been able to contact any of them. His old teammates are either dead or captured by the Navy. At least I ran into one, but he's a loner and won't get involved in our business."

Ace laughed heartily: "It's okay. Shanks promised to protect us for a while. We're all one family. As long as we're willing to work hard, why can't we be our own protectors?"

Robert smiled and nodded: "Let's all do our best. I've already found a mentor, and we'll be training intensively for the next few months."

Ace frowned: "Can't these brothers teach you?"

Robert chuckled: "Learn chess from a terrible player? You'll only get worse! Since you're going to lower yourself to learn from someone, why don't you find a master of the Four Emperors level?"

Ace wasn't angry at all; instead, he thoughtfully patted Whitebeard's tombstone.

"Dad, I can't live in my own world forever."

He looked at Robert with a determined gaze: "I'm going to study on Red-Haired's ship for a while!"

Robert was truly impressed with Ace this time. Only when people learn to accept everything about themselves can they begin to grow.

He had originally tried desperately to get rid of the identity of Roger's son, but now he has finally learned to reconcile with it.