One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

Upon seeing Robert, Ah San excitedly stepped forward and said, "Sir, you hung up after only a couple of sentences on the phone. I was so worried!"

Robert laughed and said, "What's there to worry about? Don't you know my strength? A giant cook who steals food can't hurt me?"

Ah San quickly shook his head and said, "No, no, no, it's your two new bounties that have been issued..."

Robert asked doubtfully, "Two portions?"

The Indian man produced two wanted posters and a newspaper. Robert took the newspaper and glanced at it first. The headline on the front page was a large one that took three lines to write:

The decisive battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Blackbeard Pirates has come to an end!

In the struggle for the throne, Blackbeard Teach is no match for Thor Robert!

The old king's power wanes, and a new emperor is crowned!

Chapter 25: The One Piece System is Still the Most Reliable

Robert felt no joy, but rather deep worry.

Morgans and I are old acquaintances. He wrote this article, which may not only be to create a news headline, but also to exert both kindness and pressure on me.

The so-called bestowal of favors is actually a way to help oneself gain the position of one of the Four Emperors.

To become the new maritime hegemon, one's own strength is certainly an important factor, but influence is also an important factor.

A strong reputation is essential for building a powerful force.

Luffy's later rise to become one of the Four Emperors is largely due to his constant appearances in the news since his debut, making him an idol for many pirates.

Morgans is promoting himself by reporting on himself now; for anyone else, it would be difficult to buy this kind of news even if they gave Morgans money.

The so-called demonstration was because the author of this article was Clark Kent.

This was the pseudonym I used when I fabricated stories about Captain John's treasure. I abandoned this pseudonym after the Rocky Harbor incident and never submitted another article to Morgans' World Economic News.

But now, this article about himself, this piece that claims to make him one of the new Four Emperors, is signed Superman, making it hard not to think that Morgans is sending him a secret signal.

Robert didn't think Morgans had any ill intentions. It was more like he suddenly realized he'd been tricked one day, smiled contentedly, and then punched his old friend on the shoulder.

But it must be said that this pace is not what Robert wanted.

The Four Emperors represent greater fame, more people coming to join them, and higher bounties.

However, my foundation is too weak now, and if I expand too much, it could easily collapse in an instant.

Moreover, Robert has always been very clear-headed. Becoming one of the Four Emperors was never in his plans. Wouldn't it be better to dominate the skies than to be the Emperor of the Sea?

So even if Morgans put him in this position now, he intends to politely decline.

Shaking his head, Robert looked at the other two wanted posters. The first one made him chuckle.

Lieutenant Commander Robert De Niro: Former Lieutenant Commander of the Naval Science Unit, during his tenure, he deceived the feelings of several female naval officers, later seduced a female specially appointed researcher of the Naval Science Unit to elope, and stole a large amount of classified naval research data. A bounty of 2300 million Berries is now offered for his capture alive.

The Navy and the CP department have gotten into some trouble, and they've even issued an arrest warrant for him. However, while X Drake's title is "Fallen Rear Admiral," his title is "Prodigal Lieutenant Commander."

As for the 2300 million bounty, Robert doesn't care about it at all. In the Supernova Pirates, such a value is just that of an ordinary officer. I don't know how the person who set the bounty calculated it. York alone must be worth a billion, right?

Looking at the second bounty poster, Robert finally burst out laughing:

Robert D. Neru: The Worst Generation Pirates

They have repeatedly plotted attacks on naval bases and member states of the World Government, including the Naval Headquarters, the G2 branch of the Navy, the Kingdom of Kassel, the Kingdom of Lulucia, and the Kingdom of Dressrosa.

They clashed with the Blackbeard Pirates, resulting in the deaths of 4 islanders on Beehive Island, and attacked 36 peacekeeping warships en route, causing the deaths of 4300 naval personnel.

A bounty of 1.84 billion Berries is now offered, with no regard for life or death!

Robert no longer cared about the charges fabricated by the Navy. Everyone had different stances, and it was normal for them to throw mud at each other.

More importantly, the bounty has now doubled!

Opening the attribute panel, the level bar, which hadn't changed in a long time, finally showed a change. With his identity as a Marine erased, bounty became the only way to settle accounts, and the level increase was finally implemented!

[Level 34 (18 billion Berries bounty + 9 levels)]

With a full 90 free attribute points, freely allocated to Strength, Endurance, and Spirit, Robert's total attributes reached 100 points.

【property:】

Strength: 106, Agility: 110, Stamina: 110, Spirit: 130

[Your Strength exceeds 100 points; you can choose one of the following Strength-based skill branches.]

[Bloodbath (Rare Option): Your strength will gradually increase as the battle progresses (being injured will accelerate this effect), increasing by up to 50%, and will be restored after the battle.]

[Execute (Epic Option): Your physical attacks have a chance to instantly finish off your opponent, ignoring their remaining health and mental resistance, with a 0.3% chance (priority overrides enemy defensive saving throws below epic level)]

All the rewards for a 100-point attribute bonus were tempting, and Robert chose the finishing move skill without hesitation.

It's not that he's a gambler. If he had eaten a different fruit, such as a Zoan-type or a Paramecia-type that relies on physical attacks, Robert would have chosen Bloodbath, a move with stable returns.

However, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's attack frequency is too fast. In recent battles, whether fighting Blackbeard, who is stronger than himself, or crushing Bruno or Caesar Clown, he used a high-speed combo to leave his opponents with almost no chance to fight back.

As long as your attack speed is fast enough, even if the probability of killing is extremely low, there's always a chance of a lucky hit.

While Blood Battle skills can effectively compensate for the gap in strength when fighting against enemies with overwhelming power, such as Kaido and Big Mom, they don't fit his fighting style.

Adding to this so-called epic-level priority weighting, Robert doesn't know if there are higher skill levels than epic, but his ability to imbue elemental attacks with Haki is only epic-level. He's afraid there aren't many people in the world who can withstand the killing effect.

Your stamina exceeds 100 points; you can choose one of the following stamina-related skill branches.

[Limit Reduction (Rare Option): Your body is strong enough to offset some of the rules, reducing all control effects you receive by 35%, including other people's Devil Fruit abilities; additional attributes of Devil Fruit abilities restricted by Seastone and seawater, etc.]

[Undying (Prerequisite skills: Robust Physique, Steel Body, Second-stage upgrade option): Your Armament Haki continuously modifies yourself, increasing final damage reduction by 45% when calculating physical defense, and increasing maximum health, maximum fruit energy, etc. by 250% (overrides 150% effect of prerequisite skills)]

Compared to the options when Spirit and Strength break through 100 points, the extreme value options for Endurance are rather mediocre.

The second item, Undying, is a standard buff. Although it adds 15% damage reduction and 100% maximum health and energy, Robert is no longer the player who was extremely insecure and needed to stack stats to increase his chances of survival.

After some deliberation, Robert still chose the control reduction skill with a 35% reduction. After all, this world is full of strange and wonderful Devil Fruit abilities. If he were to be tightly controlled, even with elemental transformation and super high damage reduction, he might still be worn down to death.

Seeing Robert's beaming face, Ah San assumed he was simply happy about his newfound fame and felt a sense of pride, saying:

"My lord, there's new progress on Sky Island as well!"

Chapter 26 That's my Sky Island!

Robert had guessed that the Indian man wouldn't personally make the trip just to deliver two arrest warrants to him. Although he seemed unchanged in front of him, in Dressrosa, he was the de facto leader whose word was law.

Every time Robert goes to Dressrosa, it's basically a surprise attack. The Indians are never resting or enjoying themselves; they're always extremely busy.

For him to make a special trip out of his busy schedule, it's highly likely that there's something important that requires his decision, something he might not dare to discuss on a Den Den Mushi for fear of being caught by an eavesdropping Den Den Mushi.

"Has something big happened on Sky Island?"

Ah San had an expression that said, "You can't hide anything from me, sir: Yes, sir, there is war breaking out on Sky Island."

Robert was slightly taken aback: "War? Could it be that the Shandians are fighting with the Sky Island natives again because of Apayado? They seemed to be getting along quite well when I left the Sky Island last time?"

Ah San quickly explained, "Sir, it's not just a war within the Kingdom of Gods, it's a much larger war that has spread throughout the entire Sky Island!"

Robert realized the seriousness of the problem. Although he was also a bit of a jerk, having originally planned to use food to kidnap the Sky Island and incite war on it, he couldn't let the Sky Island start fighting on its own before he even made a move.

The Sky Island is now considered its own private territory. The level of unrest it deliberately instigates is controllable, and the pace is in its hands, so the destructive power will be relatively limited.

However, spontaneous wars could very well turn his planned base into a wasteland. Robert didn't want to leave the Indians with another mess after just rebuilding Dressrosa. He wanted his old comrades to live a few more years.

"What source did you get this information from? Do you know why the fight broke out?"

Ah San smiled bitterly: "Speaking of which, this matter is really related to us. Before, we kept borrowing from Sky Island Ik and then had them settle the debt with supplies and materials. We originally wanted to short Ik and carry out economic sabotage, just as you said."

"The result was probably that they saw the huge trade demand in Dressrosa. Before we could even take action against Ik, they started fighting over the allocation of trade quotas. The reason was simply that we thought the island clouds on a certain island were denser, so we imported more..."

Robert clicked his tongue as he listened: "How's the fighting going now? Are there any food shortages?"

Ah San said, "That's inevitable. When war breaks out, everyone's first reaction is to hoard food. But our food control plan has already begun. We are also focusing on purchasing food along the high-speed air route. The amount of food transported to the air island is very limited."

“We hear there’s a food panic in the sky. We just need to give it a little push to have a huge impact on the Sky Island.”

Robert patted the Indian man on the shoulder: "Use all the funds to buy food and be ready to transport it to the Sky Island at any time. Now we have to walk on two legs. We have to do both shorting Ik and controlling the food supply. I will contact Ace and the Revolutionary Army and be ready to enter the Sky Island battle at any time."

Ah San hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, won't a lot of people die? I feel a little sorry for them."

Robert knew that this was actually the main reason why the Indian had come to find him. Although he now held power over a country and, with his military support, had already established a strong influence over several surrounding islands.

But in the end, Ah San was just a newcomer like himself, who had only been at sea for a little over a year.

It would be very difficult for him to suddenly become ruthless and decide the life and death of millions with a single word.

Robert wasn't a heartless person, which is why he had the Indians gather all the food supplies, ready to rescue the Sky Island at any time.

Choosing to be a hands-off manager and delegate all the specific operations to others inevitably means taking on some decision-making responsibilities.

“Indian, even if we do nothing, people are still dying on Sky Island every day. The backward productivity and even more backward production relations only suppress the contradictions, not mean that they do not exist.”

"We may seem to be profiting from the national crisis now, but if we take over Sky Island and do a better job than the current rulers, and make sure everyone has enough to eat, that would be better than doing nothing."

"It's better to have a short, sharp pain than a long, drawn-out one. Think positively. At least we didn't start the war; we were just a trigger."

Ah San nodded vigorously, and after the workers unloaded the entire ship of food, he was about to leave with the ship.

Robert patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "Don't take on all the work yourself. Train a few more people who can help you share the workload, and our territory will grow bigger and bigger in the future."

Ah San looked on with anticipation and bowed deeply to Robert.

Robert watched the ship sail away, then took out a Den Den Mushi and dialed Ace's number.

The call connected instantly, and Ace's voice was still full of energy:

"Robert! You finally called!"

Robert smiled and asked, "How does it feel to be reunited with my brother?"

Ace laughed loudly, "How do you know everything? I was stunned when I saw Sabo!"

Robert casually replied, "Luffy told me some stories about you guys from back then. We're pretty close, and then I..."

Another young voice came: "You've investigated our Revolutionary Army again, haven't you? It's nice to meet you, Robert D. Neru."

Robert's voice sounded somewhat awkward: "It's not really an investigation, just a simple understanding. Ace knows me. I'm not a very secure person. As an undeniable force at sea, the Revolutionary Army needs to know your style of doing things."

Sabo smiled and said, "Don't worry, our Revolutionary Army is a people's army with principles and beliefs. Ace told me about your plan, and I need to talk to you about it."

Robert had long wanted to meet this second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army, a man who would one day reach the finals: "No problem, where would I find you?"