One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

"Let's all work hard, brothers. Although I don't want to be the Pirate King, I can't let anyone take away the legacy my father left behind."

Ace completely agreed with Robert's words. He didn't really want to become the Pirate King. He set sail with the goal of becoming the Pirate King back then, just to prove that he could do what Roger could do.

“One day I will personally capture Blackbeard and bring him here, and use his head to pay tribute to the old man.”

Robert didn't say anything discouraging. Blackbeard was also his target. In any case, even if he didn't target him, Blackbeard would definitely not let him go.

"Then I'll be going. By the way, could you let my people do some small business on the island under my father's protection?"

Ace gave him a "don't bother me with this" look and handed him a Den Den Mushi, telling him to contact "Ice Witch" Whiteybe, who was in charge of logistics for the Whitebeard Pirates.

After mourning Whitebeard and arranging shelter for the Indian, Robert had no more worries.

When he reappeared in the Sabaody Archipelago, he was prepared to be brutally disciplined.

Perhaps unable to bear Redfield's constant fault-finding, Reilly actually worked overtime to complete the coating, and then turned around and left.

Having agreed to let Karina board the ship, Redfield simply washed his hands of the matter and left Karina to direct the ship's journey.

Padon's abilities are not limited to itself. After turning into a pen, Karina writes and draws on the leaves, quickly creating several experienced sailors, including two tall fish-men.

The sailboat successfully submerged and headed straight for Mermaid Island.

The journey of Luffy and his crew to Fish-Man Island is fraught with danger, including treacherous currents and constant harassment from Sea Kings.

However, with Robert on board, any sea monster that gets close will be struck by a powerful electric shock.

Karina summoned crew members who were all powerful individuals in their respective positions, and the ship arrived at the seabed smoothly.

Robert also wanted to visit Mermaid Island. As one of the three Ancient Weapons, Poseidon, he would like to have the opportunity to meet Princess Shirahoshi.

However, Redfield did not give him that chance, coldly ordering that they not dock at Mermaid Island, but instead bypass the Mermaid Kingdom and head directly to the New World.

Since Princess Shirahoshi wouldn't be leaving for the next two years anyway, Robert didn't object. The small boat sailed through the passage beneath the Red Line and arrived at the latter half of the Grand Line.

Redfield stepped out of the cabin. Even though he hadn't yet eaten the Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit in his vampire form, Robert thought his daily routine of staying cooped up in the cabin was just like a vampire's.

"Take this with you."

Robert looked at the ring Redfield had tossed in front of him. He was all too familiar with it; it was a pair of sea stone handcuffs with the chains removed.

Every time he fought against the navy, he would grab one or two pairs of Seastone handcuffs and store them in his spatial storage for future use. He still had some left over.

Judging from Robert's expression, Redfield thought he was afraid to restrict the Devil Fruit's power.

"Have you noticed that most of the world's top powerhouses have never eaten a Devil Fruit?"

Robert shook his head: "I haven't found any. Three of the Four Emperors have eaten Devil Fruits, as have the Fleet Admiral and the Admiral of the Navy. I've also heard that the Five Elders, the World Government's top fighting force, are all Devil Fruit users."

Seeing Robert refuting him by counting on his fingers, Redfield was furious.

"Can you compare to them? They were strong before they ate the Devil Fruits, while you are useless except for the Devil Fruit's power."

Robert grinned and stopped arguing, listening quietly to the old man's profound remarks.

"The power of Devil Fruits is strong, but that is an external force. Anything that comes easily cannot be relied upon as the final solution. For example, falling into the water or being controlled by Seastone. Such external forces can betray you in an instant. Only your own strength is the foundation of everything."

Robert had been distracted by the sea stone handcuffs, but with his spatial storage, he was least afraid of them, so he simply picked them up and put them on his wrists.

Redfield kicked Robert in the stomach, sending him flying until he crashed into the mast.

Robert was instantly enraged and instinctively wanted to remove the handcuffs to retaliate.

But Redfield didn't chase after him to continue the attack; instead, he crossed his arms and smiled at him.

"Don't take it off! You actually have a way to break free from the control of Seastone."

Robert's mind raced. The moment his Devil Fruit power was suppressed by the Seastone, Redfield regained his ability to read his thoughts. Robert had barely even considered putting away the handcuffs when Redfield caught him.

However, Robert had already planned for this situation. He began to clear his mind and focus only on what he was doing, with his mind filled with thoughts of the training he would receive from Redfield.

Seeing that Robert had cleared his mind so quickly, Redfield smiled and asked, "Didn't you awaken Observation Haki? You were quite skilled at using Observation Haki when we fought before, so why didn't you dodge my kick just now?"

Robert instinctively retorted, "I'm still handcuffed. How could anyone dodge a sudden attack like that?"

Redfield said sarcastically, "When you're fighting an enemy, do you expect them to give you a heads-up? If Observation Haki can't defend against a sneak attack, then what's the point?"

Robert instantly realized that Redfield's advice was correct. Although Redfield's kick was a sneak attack, it wasn't very fast. In theory, Robert should have been able to detect and dodge it beforehand.

However, due to the amplification from the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, my Observation Haki was completely automatic, and I didn't need to consciously operate it.

Now that his Devil Fruit powers are restricted, his Observation Haki has been completely reduced to its original form.

Without Robert's reply, Redfield could tell what he was thinking: "For the next three months, you must wear the Seastone on your hands even when you sleep, and you cannot take them off in battle. Only by restricting all external forces can you begin to focus on developing your own power."

Robert would never refuse a request that was truly beneficial to him, and he immediately nodded sincerely.

"I'm hungry, go cook. I want to eat fish today. You have to go fishing yourself. It has to be a sea bass that weighs exactly three and a half pounds. If you don't catch one, you're not going to sleep tonight."

Robert showed no fear of difficulty. Even though he had never fished before, he could guess that Redfield was asking him to use Observation Haki to solve the problem.

Karina winked at Robert, about to steer the ship around, but Redfield stopped her.

"You're not allowed to help him find fish. Do you think you're helping him?"

Karina was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that Robert was undergoing training, and if she used her nautical knowledge to help him, she would actually be doing more harm than good.

Robert smiled at Karina; he had originally intended to refuse as well.

Seeing Robert clumsily baiting the hook and awkwardly casting the line, Redfield narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze to Karina.

"Didn't you say you considered your sailing skills to be no worse than mine? How about we have a competition?"

From the moment Karina received Robert's reminder to spend some time with the old man in front of her, she prepared herself to neither actively guess Robert's schemes nor fail to do her best to help him complete his plan.

The simplest way to achieve this is to let things take their natural course.

Karina showed no resistance to Redfield's invitation: "Of course, what would you like to compete in?"

Redfield glanced at Robert, who was fishing intently in the distance, and said in a low voice, "A voyage with a destination can be done by any mediocre navigator, but the destination of pirates is never known."

"Anyway, that kid's training will take several more months. Let's set a goal and see who can find its location first, how about that?"

Chapter 9 How a Masochist is Made

For the first half of her life, Karina lived almost every day in a world of deceit and intrigue, creating countless personas for herself.

Even she herself has forgotten that she originally went abroad with a musical dream, wishing to hold concerts all over the world.

Her favorite things weren't gold and silver jewelry, but music and sailing. She only picked up the greedy habit after meeting Nami.

Now that Robert has brought her to Redfield's side, the fact that she can't have too many schemes has actually helped her rediscover her original innocence.

Hearing that Redfield wanted to compete with her in a treasure hunt at sea, Karina's deepest passion was instantly ignited.

"We can't be completely without clues, right? To solve a mystery, there must be some mystery to face, right?"

Redfield seemed to be infected by Karina's enthusiasm, and his smile softened as well:

"Of course, the riddle is a nursery rhyme I heard in the Sabaody Archipelago a few days ago. Let me think about how the children sang it."

"I remember now, it seems to say: Heavenly Dragons in the sky, Earthly Flame Gods on the ground. When the Red Emperor reigns supreme, calamities will not come knocking."

Even with Karina's deep and unwavering nature, she was momentarily dazed when she heard Redfield solemnly recite the nursery rhyme from her mouth.

Fortunately, she was quick-witted and managed to resist recalling the scene when Robert casually uttered those few lines of doggerel.

"This is just a children's song. I only know what it means if I'm a Celestial Dragon. I've never even heard of the Earth Flame God or the Crimson Emperor mentioned later."

She wasn't lying when she said that. Robert fabricated this dirty stuff just to annoy Akainu. Regardless of whether you have any rebellious intentions, as long as the World Government's higher-ups think you're not clean, you can forget about becoming Fleet Admiral.

Therefore, Karina genuinely felt that these words had no real purpose, and she felt completely at ease saying them now.

Redfield smiled mysteriously: "The most crucial part of this nursery rhyme is not the Celestial Dragons, nor the Earth Flame God whom I've never even heard of, but the words 'Red Emperor'."

Karina was genuinely confused this time: "The Crimson Emperor? So the competition you're going to have with me is to find the Crimson Emperor?"

Redfield's gaze was firm: "That's right, it's the Crimson Emperor!"

Seeing Karina's blank expression, Redfield explained:

Do you think the Red Line is normal?

Karina's doubts deepened. These natives, born and raised in the world of pirates, naturally believed that the geography of the Red Line and the Grand Line dividing the four seas was reasonable and never questioned its abnormality.

"It towers into the clouds, thousands of meters above sea level, and is incredibly sturdy. Ordinary attacks cannot harm it in the slightest. Yet, apart from the Celestial Dragons who built the city of Mary Geoise at the top of the Red Line, there is not a single other country on the entire Red Line. As a navigator, do you really think it's normal?"

Karina had forgotten all that nonsense and doggerel. The moment Redfield dissected and laid bare the greatest paradox in the world of geography before her, Karina was irrevocably drawn in.

"This is abnormal, this is too abnormal! The Red Earth doesn't seem to be a naturally formed continent; it's more like... a wall!"

Redfield nodded in satisfaction: "That's right, the Red Line seems to have been built by someone. So who exactly built the Red Line?"

Karina, like an eager student, couldn't help but ask, "Who is it? You must know, right?"

Redfield smiled mysteriously: "That is a blank history that is strictly forbidden to be studied by the World Government. It is said that eight hundred years ago, there was a huge kingdom in the world, which lived on the Red Line. At that time, the Red Line was not what it is now."

Although Karina knew that the more she learned about this forbidden knowledge, the more dangerous it would be, she still couldn't resist wanting to know more: "What is this so-called Crimson Emperor?"

Redfield shrugged: "The Crimson Emperor existed even earlier. It is said that he is immortal and rules over all living beings on the Red Earth Continent. That's why I said that the appearance of that folk song is no coincidence. It must be the time when the legendary Crimson Emperor will reappear in the world!"

Karina was momentarily dazed. She even forgot that she shouldn't speculate about her and Robert's past experiences and began to suspect that Robert might have heard the nursery rhyme somewhere and felt that it could be used to trick Akainu, so he coincidentally let her spread it.

"But what clues can we find based on just a nursery rhyme? That's not fair. I don't even know the legend of the Crimson Emperor. I demand that we share information!"

Seeing Karina's unreasonable demand for information, Redfield was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled kindly and said:

"Of course, I won't bully a junior like you. I'll tell you everything I know, and we'll compete fairly."

While the two were exchanging information, Robert was in a real predicament.

He didn't know how to fish to begin with, and for him, sitting still and staring at the float was pure torture. Not to mention that Redfield had now made it a strict rule that he had to catch a three-and-a-half-pound bass.

It's hard to say whether you'll catch a bass all day, let alone the fact that you have to strictly adhere to the size requirements when fishing.

Robert hadn't caught a fish by nightfall. Redfield was even more rigid in disciplining his students than in his personal life; if he said he wouldn't let Robert sleep, he really wouldn't allow him to rest.

Robert first cooked dinner for everyone on the ship, and then obediently returned to the ship's side to fish.

Little Padong had spent the afternoon fishing with Robert, and now that it was getting dark, she thoughtfully lit a lamp to take to Robert.

Redfield picked up Padon and deliberately scolded him in a voice that Robert could hear, "Why are you turning on the light? Do you need to use your eyes to activate Observation Haki? Go to sleep."

After saying that, she carried Padun into the cabin. Karina gave Robert a sympathetic look, but she also knew that Robert didn't need anyone's help at the moment, so she also went into the navigator's room, which had been designated for her to rest.

Robert was now fully engaged in the challenge. As darkness fell, he even closed his eyes, his mind straining to penetrate the barrier of the seawater.