One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

But now that Robert says his masterpiece is garbage, Caesar Courland explodes:

"What do you know! This is art!"

Robert did not punish him for his disrespect, because he had not said it to provoke Caesar Courland and set rules for him, but because he genuinely felt that this kind of research was useless.

"How long will it take for your poison gas to kill someone?"

Caesar Courland proudly introduced, "I currently have two types of poison gas under research. One is called KORO, which is characterized by its ability to persist in an area for a long time, rendering anyone who enters its range incapacitated. You only need to stay there for a day, and no matter how strong you are, you will die in it!"

"The second one is even more dangerous, called the Kingdom of Death! Anyone who comes into contact with this poison gas will quickly form a stone-like shell around their body. If you can't find a way to remove it within half a day, even a god can't save you!"

Robert laughed without restraint: "My god, can you please stop calling this a weapon? What weapon has a half-day delay? If you're going to say that, I think it would be more efficient to find a pirate crew and give each of them a knife to kill people."

Caesar Courland gritted his teeth, his pride in his research outweighing his fear of Robert: "Killing people with knives? What's that! Rude! Barbaric! Utterly unskilled!"

"Using a knife is much more efficient than using poison gas."

Caesar Courland's eyes were bloodshot: "How can a method that even a peasant can master compare to the weapon developed by a genius like me!"

"You said it yourself, farmers can all master more efficient methods than you."

Caesar Courland was almost driven to the brink of collapse by Robert's words, but he didn't know how to prove himself.

Robert's voice was like a devil's whisper: "So stop pretending. Your poison gas is useless. The method of delivery is cumbersome, the killing efficiency is extremely low, and it is not as good as using a knife to deal with ordinary people. But when it comes to experts, they have plenty of ways to dodge and deal with it."

Caesar Cullen was breathing heavily. Robert didn't give him any time to think: "Don't always stand in your own shoes. Put yourself in their shoes. The customer's needs come first. Instead of buying your stuff that takes forever to kill people and then using it to deal with ordinary people, isn't it cheaper to hire pirates to just hack people to death?"

Caesar Courland was stunned, never having imagined that his proud research was actually a joke.

Robert moved closer to him: "So I can give you a chance!"

A glimmer of hope appeared in Caesar Courant's eyes: "What opportunity? You're willing to buy my weapons?"

Robert shook his head: "No, I can point you in the right direction for research on poison gas, so you won't go further down the wrong path!"

Caesar Courant was skeptical, but gritted his teeth and said, "If you can really point out a useful research direction, I'll be determined to work for you from now on!"

Robert slowly uttered four words: "Gene editing!"

Chapter 21 Who made up this yellow rumor about me!

During this period, Robert cannot appear as Robert, and correspondingly, he cannot allow anyone to discover York, so he needs a secluded base.

He had Caesar Courland gather all his men together, and Law ripped out their hearts, then killed a few of the more treacherous ones on the spot as a warning to others.

When Robert returned to the ground to pick up York, he found that she had already fallen asleep.

Lilith looked blissful. Thanks to the sensory sharing recorded by Punk, York enjoyed food and sleep, and all of their Punk clones could get satisfaction from it.

The current Punk Records are not yet fully built, so the data storage and memory sharing capabilities are not yet available. Vegapunk has only enabled the use of perception sharing.

“Robert, let me tell you, Panz Frye’s cooking is absolutely amazing! It’s even better than yours! From now on, have him cook for York! That’s an order!”

Robert wasn't angry at Lilith's feedback. As he picked up a plate of leftover food from York, he saw a notification on the information panel:

[Grade B Cuisine: Volcano Cuisine]

[For 12 hours after consumption, all your skills enhanced by mental energy will have their effects increased by 30%, and the rate at which your fatigue points decrease will be reduced by 30%]

This was the first time Robert had ever seen B-rank cuisine. Now he had broken through to the intermediate level of chef and could consistently produce C-rank dishes. He felt that Sanji was probably at the same level.

But Panz Fry is different; he's a renowned chef at sea, so he must be at least a top-tier chef.

“Mr. Panz, your daughter has confirmed my information, so let her make the explanation more credible.”

Lili jumped onto her father's shoulder angrily: "Those people are definitely lying to us. There's a group of bad guys underground who are researching weapons of mass destruction. They're rich!"

Panz Fry had actually guessed this possibility long ago, because Robert's behavior just now was completely calm. Even though he completely overwhelmed everyone present with his strength, he still dared to let Lily verify it herself, which showed that he had a clear conscience.

Upon realizing this, Panz Fry bowed down in shame: "I'm sorry, I... I don't have much money, but I'll find a way to compensate you for the previous losses."

Lili pouted and said, "Dad, he's not a good person either. He recruited all those bad guys and wants to lead them to continue researching weapons to harm people!"

Robert sneered, "You know nothing. I'm trying to guide them towards good."

Lili put her hands on her hips and said, "You clearly said you would help him research weapons!"

Robert shook his finger: "I'm talking about gene editing. Do you know what gene editing is? It's about finding the genetic code in everyone's body and fundamentally improving negative genetic defects. This is a great thing that benefits the country and its people!"

Lily had no idea what gene editing was, but seeing Robert's confident words, she thought back carefully and realized that Robert had indeed used that term earlier.

The giant was still naive. Lily looked ashamed and said, "I misunderstood you. I will work with Dad to find a way to pay you back!"

Robert waved his hand with a smile: "Panze Frye, your intentions were good, but the methods you used were wrong, which led to the wrong result."

"If you want to provide food for those who are starving, you can earn money and then help them. But you cannot be generous with other people's money and steal their food to satisfy your own personal compassion."

"If the procedure is unjust, the result will inevitably be unjust as well. So you should indeed pay back your debts, but not just to me, but to all the innocent people you have robbed before!"

Lily hesitated and said, "But we previously robbed the World Government's grain transport ships. The Celestial Dragons are too evil; I don't want to return them..."

Robert's tone softened: "I also hate the Celestial Dragons, but you must understand that the crew members of the grain transport ship are innocent. They will face the Celestial Dragons' swords after you steal their grain!"

Lily trembled and shrank back, her whole body shaking at the thought of so many innocent people being killed by the Celestial Dragons because of her actions.

Panz Frye's eyes were also empty. He had never thought about these things before, and now he felt that his moral compass had completely collapsed.

Robert seized the opportunity and said, "I'm telling you this not so that you can dwell on the past, but so that this tragedy will never happen again. From now on, follow me and do something truly beneficial for the world."

Panz Fry had completely lost confidence: "But all I can do is cook..."

Robert laughed and said, "What I need is your cooking skills. From now on, you don't need to rob food anymore. I will have Dressrosa deliver food here regularly. How about you open a volcano cuisine restaurant on Punk Hazard Island?"

Panz Fry gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll open a shop and make money for you. You calculate how much food I've stolen from you during this time. Once I've paid you back, I'll leave and find other ways to help those who don't have enough to eat!"

Robert waved his hand and said, "Why don't we help them here? I'll provide food. Didn't you previously let those who couldn't get enough to eat at sea gather on your volcanic island to eat? From now on, let them all come to Punk Hazard to eat for free."

Panz Fry was shocked. Helping the starving was his belief, and he couldn't understand why Robert would support him with real money.

"If you don't believe me, you can try it out first; there's nothing to lose anyway."

Panz Fry, with an expression of utter devotion, declared, "Alright! From now on, I'll work for you, boss!"

Robert chuckled and instructed his men to carefully lift York into the specially constructed diving isolation box, which was then attached to the back of the polar diving vessel and carried into the underground research institute.

As Lily watched Robert disappear into the water, she couldn't help but say to Panz Frye, "Dad, this Robert D. Nelo isn't as bad as the wanted poster says. Did we misunderstand him before?"

Panz Fry nodded in agreement: "The Navy even said we are heinous pirates. I think the boss is being wronged."

But then he frowned warily: "No, something's not right. I know why he's so supportive of my dream!"

Lili also became nervous: "Dad! Is he lying to us too?"

Panz Fry shook his head: "I heard that this guy is a big womanizer. He will pursue any pretty girl he sees. He clearly has a girlfriend as beautiful as singer Karina, and then he had an ambiguous relationship with a female naval officer. The blonde girl who was wolfing down her food just now also said that she was his girlfriend!"

Panz Fry stared nervously at his daughter. Lily, reminded by her father, immediately recalled what Robert had said to Caesar Cullen in the underground laboratory.

"Oh no! It was all about hybridization he mentioned before!"

"Could it be with me?!"

Chapter 22 Rebuilding the Cornerstone of MADS

York woke up when he was moved, and Robert comforted him with kind words as he entered the diving chamber and descended towards the underground laboratory.

Lilith was also very curious about the laboratory where her original self had been stationed before. After getting off with Robert, she looked around and felt a sense of familiarity everywhere.

The memory-sharing function recorded by Punk has not yet been put into use. All clones only carried some vague memories when they were cloned, and they cannot recall such detailed content.

York was still savoring the volcano-themed meal she had just enjoyed. Her main job consisted of eating and sleeping, so she was very particular about the taste of food and the quality of her sleep.

Previously in Egerhead, although there was an endless supply of food, it was all synthetic food made in food processing machines. It was only passable, but hardly delicious.

So when Robert started cooking different dishes for her, her desires escalated.

Now that he's tasted the B-grade cuisine made by Panz Fry, his appetite threshold has been raised even higher: "Honey, can I have that big guy outside cook for me from now on?"

Robert looked at York with doting eyes: "Of course, I've already hired him. He'll cook for you every day from now on, and I'll find you more chefs with different styles in the future!"

Although she knew York's feelings for her were fake, after spending time with him, she found York to be quite adorable before he turned to the dark side.

Robert had no romantic desire for her; after all, unless one is a pervert, it's hard to have any strange thoughts about a giantess who could fit two of them inside her.

But now Robert can't bear to let York turn to the dark side. It's fine to treat her like a silly little sister. As long as he stays strong, he can satisfy all her desires.

York picked Robert up and hugged him contentedly: "You're so good to me. Are we going to live here from now on?"

Robert pulled his head out of the lump of soft flesh: "It's just a temporary stay. The palace I built for you is still there... but it's missing some necessary materials. I'll have to make do with it for a while."

York tightened his grip on Robert's arm: "What do you need?"

Robert casually replied, "It's just some energy stuff. I already asked Dr. Vegapunk to help me research it. As long as I can find an effective machine to generate electricity, I can do it quickly..."

York snorted: "Why are you looking for that old man who's the real Vegapunk? I'm Vegapunk too, okay? He's just a generator, leave him to me!"

Lilith chimed in, "I remember now, the Doctor did say he'd help you research power generation equipment. It seems like it's already been solved. Let me look for it!"

She pulled out a tablet-like device and tapped and drew on it: "Ah, sure enough, this is the cloud solar power generation device that I'm researching. All we need to do is spread miniature photovoltaic robots on the white sea to directly convert sunlight into electricity!"

York pouted and said, "Did he prepare everything in advance again?"

Robert felt a chill run down his spine. There were actually two desires that would lead York to betray him in the future: one was to become a Celestial Dragon who seemed to have no constraints and could do whatever he wanted, and the other was that York believed that Vegapunk only needed one.

Born in the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, Robert was very familiar with the Confucian classics. Compared to Mencius's belief in the inherent goodness of human nature, he was more inclined to the theory of the inherent evil of human nature held by Xunzi, another Confucian sage.

Xunzi believed that humans are born with desires: when hungry, they want to be full; when cold, they want to be warm; when tired, they want to rest.

All so-called goodness is cultivated after birth. As long as people's basic desires are guided, desires can also become the driving force for goodness.

York herself represents desire, and the various desires she embodies are far greater than those of ordinary people. However, according to Xunzi's concept, these desires can become the driving force for her to do good.

"York, you are so lucky. Vegapunk is like a doting patriarch who only wants you to be happy and does all the hard research and development work himself."

York was taken aback by what Robert said, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

Robert then added another bite of Lilith: "And Lilith and the others, they're like older brothers and sisters. Look how worried she is about you leaving with me, she's practically ready to eat me up. Your kind of relationship is truly enviable."

York freed one hand to pull Lilith into his arms as well, a hint of greed in his eyes.

Robert couldn't be too deliberate in saying certain things. He had to guide York's values ​​gradually, one or two words at a time. Sooner or later, he could change York's worldview.

Caesar Clown waited at the door like a lackey. The biscuit room, which was originally used to imprison children, had been converted into York's residence. After the children's bodies were treated, the Heart Pirates would send them back to their parents.

"Um... sir, could you elaborate on the gene encoding you mentioned earlier?"