One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

Chapter 16 The Big Exam is Approaching

Since cooking no longer increases experience points, Robert stopped spending all his time cooking in the kitchen. He claimed that he would eventually hand the tavern over to the Indians, so he needed to practice his core skills more.

So, in the eyes of Ah San and his friends, Robert began to become idle and irresponsible, spending his days wandering around to other restaurants in town and eating their food.

On one occasion, she even got into a conflict with a shop owner because she thought the food he made was bad. They agreed to a cooking competition, with the wager that the loser would not be allowed to make cherry pie anymore.

The result, of course, was a resounding victory for Robert, and then Wild Cherry Tavern proudly launched Robert's version of cherry pie.

Robert wasn't doing all this for no reason. His target was never the main characters, but another heavyweight character who made his first appearance in Mock Town—Blackbeard Teach!

Although this guy is a complete villain whose actions make people grit their teeth in hatred, there are some things that villains can do but the main characters cannot.

For example, stealing the Devil Fruit powers from people who have already eaten them!

Their goal was the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, which was said to be the strongest Logia-type Devil Fruit, and there were actually only two ways for a transmigrator to obtain this Devil Fruit.

First, he traveled to the point in the story before Enel ate the fruit, and successfully landed on the sky island of Birka, overcoming numerous obstacles from the natives to seize the Devil Fruit known as Birka's treasure.

Another option is to find a way to take Blackbeard Teach up to the sea of ​​clouds, kill Enel before he pilots the flying pirate ship Ark Maxim to the moon, and then use Blackbeard's ability to extract the Rumble-Rumble Fruit from Enel's corpse!

Many people speculate that if you kill the previous Devil Fruit user while you have a fruit with you, the Devil Fruit will be reborn on that fruit.

But Robert thought this was pure nonsense. If the rules of Devil Fruit rebirth were that simple, why would the Navy build Impel Down? They could just capture pirates and execute them directly.

It's not that they're afraid that after killing a Devil Fruit user, the Devil Fruit will randomly regenerate in various parts of the world and then be eaten by even more dangerous criminals, so they choose to imprison criminals instead of killing them directly.

Furthermore, judging from the later plot, only the Blackbeard Pirates achieved precise hunting by hunting Devil Fruit users everywhere, allowing all members of the pirate crew to obtain a matching Devil Fruit. It is evident that directly plundering Devil Fruit abilities is likely a unique ability of Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit.

So now, what Robert has to do is take a gamble on that one in ten thousand chance.

The first step in this plan is to infiltrate Blackbeard's inner circle!

Besides gathering intelligence, Robert spends his days practicing his marksmanship. Other methods of improving combat power require a lot of time to accumulate, but only firearms like guns can be mastered quickly.

Robert was practicing his shooting at a target on the rocks by the sea when he was interrupted by a shout. It turned out to be Ah San, who was supposed to be in the shop.

"My lord! The person you are looking for has appeared!"

Robert frowned. He had already told the Indian man about the appearance of the Blackbeard Pirates and asked him to keep an eye out for them. Now he finally got results.

Which one is it?

Ah San, panting, said, "We found two people. One is that tall, strange man with the mask; he's been looking for fights all over the docks. The other is that strange man on horseback..."

Seeing that he seemed hesitant to speak, Robert couldn't help but ask, "Where is the person on horseback?"

Ah San said, "The fruit shop I bribed saw him at and immediately notified me!"

Robert put away his flintlock pistol. Now that two members of the Blackbeard Pirates had arrived in Jaya, it seemed the story was about to get back on track.

It's impossible not to be nervous, but after preparing for so long, Robert found himself feeling more excited than nervous!

Robert glanced at the Indian man: "Lead the way."

Ah San looked troubled: "Sir, are you going to find him?"

Robert said impatiently, "Otherwise what? Hurry up and take me there!"

Ah San gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, the owner of that fruit shop is also one of our shop's shareholders. These people are trying to cause you trouble every day... but I've managed to stop them all. If you go there now... I'm afraid..."

Robert narrowed his eyes. This wasn't the first time Ah San had mentioned those minority shareholders. Before, he only considered Rossio, that ruthless killer, as someone who could threaten him. Now, thinking about it, there were no good people in Mogu Town, and these people were probably quite a problem as well.

How did you deal with them?

Ah San scratched his head: "I subtly hinted that our tavern is located behind Xi'ou..."

Robert sighed. Now that Blackbeard's men had appeared, he only needed to hold out for a few more days before he could leave, so it wasn't a bad idea to take advantage of the enemy's banner.

“Just tell them straight out that Rossio is the man behind me. Alright, now take me to see that strange man on horseback.”

As the two passed by their own tavern, they saw Miss Valentine and Miss Golden Week standing unusually at the entrance, seemingly waiting for them.

We're leaving.

Miss Valentine's first words stunned Robert. "You were the ones who were supposed to stay before, but now, only a little over a week has passed, why are you suddenly leaving? What happened to your promise to take care of my biggest threat, Rossio?"

"This is so sudden! What happened?"

After a few days of getting to know each other, Miss Valentine and Miss Golden Week both got along well with Robert, especially Golden Week, who praised Robert's cooking. So when he suddenly suggested leaving, they were a little embarrassed.

“We’ve received news from Mr. 5 that, due to the upcoming Shichibukai Tournament, our captured comrades have been temporarily detained in a nearby detention center. Once the tournament is over, they will be sent to Impel Down, so we must rescue them in the next few days.”

Robert had been thinking about whether he could keep them for a few more days to resolve his worries before leaving, but as soon as Miss Valentine spoke, Robert's attention was completely drawn to the news she was talking about.

"Is the Navy going to hold the Seven Warlords of the Sea Tournament? When is it?"

"Just three days from now!"

Robert felt a chill run down his spine. What was bound to happen sooner or later was going to happen. The Navy's convening of the Seven Warlords of the Sea Tournament was an important milestone, signifying that the Skypiea storyline was about to officially begin!

It was during the Shichibukai Tournament that the entire Blackbeard Pirates gathered on Jaya Island, waiting for Laffitte, who was on his way to Marine Headquarters to recommend Teach to join the Shichibukai.

Therefore, Blackbeard himself will definitely land on Jaya Island no later than the next day or the day after!

Seeing that Robert remained silent for a long time, the two women thought he was reluctant to let them leave.

Miss Golden Week took a scroll out of her pocket and handed it to Robert. Robert took it with a puzzled look and was about to open it when she stopped him.

"Don't open it. Inside is a painting I made. If you encounter danger, you can try opening the scroll and showing it to the enemy. It should buy you some time. Even if it doesn't work, you can take my painting to anyone in the Baroque Studio, and they will know that you are our friend."

Robert knew Miss Golden Week's abilities all too well; she could manipulate the emotions of her enemies through her paintings to achieve a controlling effect. The more straightforward a person was, the greater the influence. Back then, the main characters suffered greatly under her abilities.

This scroll can be considered a one-time use, highly controlling item that might actually save your life in a critical moment.

I carefully put the scroll away, but actually stuffed it into my inventory right away.

Although reluctant to part, Robert still had Ah San pack some food and watched the two girls, with whom he had spent more than a week, leave gracefully, just as carefree as when they arrived.

But then he got a headache. You all left so easily, but who's going to help me deal with my enemies?

Robert narrowed his eyes, thankfully he had prepared a backup plan!

"I choose you! Pikka Q!"

Chapter 17 A Cut in the Head

Pizarro is a future member of the Blackbeard Pirates: the Evil King Pizarro.

Ka is the sniper of the Blackbeard Pirates: Sound Van Augur.

Q is the doctor of the Blackbeard Pirates: Death God Doc Q!

Although Pizarro is currently imprisoned in the underwater prison, it doesn't matter, as Jaya Island has his replacement, the fighting champion Bages.

"Sir, should I go and buy two more slaves?"

Robert chuckled: "No need, the person I'm waiting for will be here soon. I have an even more important task for you."

Ah San had noticed that Robert was on high alert these past few days, clearly planning something big, so he immediately became serious.

"Remember that guy at the dock who goes around looking for fights? Get a few pirates to provoke him and tell him that the strongest guy in this sea is Executioner Rossio. But remember, you have to stay behind the scenes and never expose yourself."

Ah San patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I have a million ways to make this happen in Mogu Town."

Robert continued, "How's that thing going, where I asked you to spread the word that our Wild Cherry has the best cherry pie in the world?"

Ah San said proudly, "I've plastered flyers all over the town of Mogu, and even set up tasting stations at the docks, but..."

Robert asked in confusion, "Just what?"

Ah San scratched his head: "It's just that everyone's saying our cherry pie is too sweet, even sweeter than the one from the shop you won against before..."

Robert smiled mysteriously: "It's alright, don't worry about what others say, just make a name for yourself."

The Indian man nodded thoughtfully, hesitated for a long time, and then seemed to have finally made up his mind:

"Sir, are you leaving?"

Seeing Ah San's nervous look, Robert suddenly laughed out loud: "I don't know if you're really smart or just pretending. What, are you worried that no one will be there to cure your poison after I leave?"

A conflicted look flashed across Ah San's face. After struggling for a while, he finally said, "You said you'd die if you didn't keep eating the things you conjure up, were you lying to me?"

Robert looked at the Indian man with interest: "When did you figure that out?"

Ah San smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, I guessed it on the third day. The reason you fed me some kind of fish was that the fish was poisonous. Later, you also had pufferfish on your shopping list, so it must have been pufferfish meat, right?"

Robert was somewhat confused: "Since you noticed the problem on the third day, why didn't you do anything about it for so long?"

Ah San said sincerely, "Because you treat me differently. You truly trust me. You never asked who I sold that box of treasure to or how much money I made. You also taught me cooking skills without reservation when I was learning from you..."

Robert was both amused and exasperated. He had been so careful and cautious with this kid these past few days, but he never expected that simply treating Ah San as a human being would move him to such an extent that he would become so devoted to him.

"Yes, I'm leaving soon, but don't worry, I'll find a way to resolve Rossio's problem before I go, then you can take over the tavern with peace of mind. I keep my word."

Tears welled up in Ah San's eyes: "Sir, I don't want the tavern anymore. Can you stay? I'll work for you!"

Robert remained noncommittal: "You keep an eye on the shop, I'm going to meet that sickly weirdo."

After spending these days together, he realized that Ah San wasn't a bad person. It was just that in the harsh environment of Jaya Island, with his strength, he had no choice but to survive by relying on the strong.

But I definitely can't stay. In the dog-eat-dog world of One Piece, if you don't have the strength, you deserve to die!

Doc Q always looked like he was about to die, and his horse, Zhuangzhuang, didn't seem very energetic either. When Robert arrived at the fruit shop, they hadn't gone far.

Robert recognized Doc Q at a glance. He was wearing a wide-brimmed leather hat and a long-haired cloak, and was lying on the back of a huge, sickly, skinny horse. He was too easy to recognize.

Before Robert could figure out how to approach her, Doc Q suddenly fell off his horse, startling several people around him.

Seeing him lying on the ground, seemingly unable to get up, Robert had an idea and strode forward.

Doc Q is over three meters tall, making Robert, who is 1.8 meters tall, look like a stunted little chick next to him.

Fortunately, Robert's strength has now increased to 16 points, which is three times that of a normal person. With a strong effort, he pulled Doc Q off the ground.

"What are you doing? You're not allowed to sleep or urinate anywhere here."

Doc Q was taken aback by Robert's words. By the time he realized what was happening, Robert had already helped him onto the horse's back.

Robert stood there looking at Doc Q. Seeing that he didn't react for a while, he took the initiative to speak up: "Hey, I helped you up from the ground, aren't you going to thank me?"

Even Doc Q, a ruthless killer, was amused by Robert's shamelessness and picked up a basket of apples from the hook next to the saddle, handing it to Robert.

"I should thank you. Here, have an apple."