One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

After learning about what the two had gone through, Robert felt a chill run down his spine. The incident had happened so suddenly that Saint Chiringom had simply summoned some nightmare monsters from among the surrounding tourists to stop him.

If he were to run into jail and manifest the nightmares that both Yasopp and Lucky Roux, those two powerful men, feared, I might not be able to defeat him.

Although Robert appeared righteous and awe-inspiring when he confronted Shanks, he actually knew that he absolutely could not recklessly rush into Mary Geoise.

For an individual trainee to think they could challenge a massive corporation that has existed for 800 years is simply wishful thinking.

Even if they were to intentionally rescue Uta, what would become of them on this vast ocean?

Before, Im didn't notice him, so he could be as carefree as he wanted. After all, no matter how carefree he was, he was not as threatening as the Four Emperors. If the sky fell, Big Mom, who was 8.8 meters tall, and Kaido, who was 7.1 meters tall, would hold it up.

But once he starts causing trouble in Mary Geoise, he'll probably never have a peaceful day again. Everyone connected to him will be in trouble. It's even possible that Im will set up the test site for the Mother Flame in Dressrosa in a fit of anger.

Therefore, we not only need to figure out how to rescue Uta, but we also need to prepare for our backup plan.

After seeing off Yasopp and Lucky Roux, Robert began negotiating with Sabo.

Just like he said before, no matter who fights the Celestial Dragons, the Revolutionary Army will definitely come to their aid.

"Mr. Sabo, you are the Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army. If I wish to cooperate with the Revolutionary Army, I wonder if you could make the decision?"

Sabo was still reeling from the shocking secret he had just heard. Shanks' attitude and answer undoubtedly confirmed that what Robert said was true. He not only knew that he was a Celestial Dragon, but he had even actually joined the so-called Order of the Gods!

Although judging from their conversation, Shanks might just be feigning compliance to achieve some other goal, that doesn't change the fact that he might have been controlled by that Im!

With Robert knowing so many secrets, Sabo's level of concern rose to another level:

“Mr. Robert, I cannot guarantee that the Revolutionary Army will agree to everything you say, but as long as it is within reasonable limits, I can decide most of the conditions on behalf of the Revolutionary Army.”

Robert nodded: "I won't let you take any risks. Uta is my partner, and we'll go rescue her ourselves. But if we storm Mary Geoise, it will be a clear declaration of war against the World Government!"

"From now on, whether it's the Navy, the Knights of God, or even the Five Elders who represent the highest authority of the Celestial Dragons, they will directly attack us, and it will be a fight to the death."

"So what I want to discuss with the Revolutionary Army is still the plan to liberate the air island as our rear base."

Sabo nodded solemnly: "This was also the purpose of our meeting with you. We have been investigating the situation on Skypiea since Ace arrived. Indeed, many of the people there are living in dire straits and are the targets of our Revolutionary Army to liberate."

Robert had no time for haggling and directly stated his conditions: "With Ace's connection, I won't beat around the bush. Sky Island is a very important part of my plan. This time we will take it all, and all the islands in the White Sea must be united into one entity."

"The existing members of the Whitebeard Pirates will all reside on Skypiea as administrators. The Revolutionary Army can also send specialists to supervise, but they cannot interfere in the governance."

Sabo argued forcefully: "I'm sorry, but we cannot agree to this. Once the Sky Island is liberated, it must be governed according to the Revolutionary Army's methods. We will never allow the people to fall into autocratic rule again!"

Robert nodded: "Alright, then please go back. Ace, we'll take care of Skypiea ourselves."

Ace was stunned; he had never seen negotiations happen so quickly.

Saab was stunned. Shouldn't they have negotiated down the line after asking for such an exorbitant price? I've only just stated one condition and you're already flipping the table. What kind of negotiation is this?

Since Robert declared his intention to compete for the One Piece, his aura has been steadily rising. Although there is no weakling in this room, he is now the undisputed focus of attention.

Even their mentor, Redfield, sat silently to the side, following Robert's lead on matters concerning the team's direction. Karina was even less likely to raise any objections at this time, standing resolutely beside Robert.

Ace was caught in a dilemma. On one side was his sworn brother whom he had been separated from for many years, and on the other side was his brother with whom he had gotten along best in recent years and who had saved his life. They were both brothers, and neither of them was any more of a brother than the other.

“Mr. Sabo, I’m not targeting the Revolutionary Army, but the die is cast. Instead of wasting time arguing, let’s take over the Sky Island ourselves.”

"First of all, the Whitebeard Pirates have plenty of manpower. Although they just suffered a defeat, none of their main members were lost. Moreover, we urgently need a base away from the conflicts to set up camp. We can't stay on Fish-Man Island forever."

"Secondly, rescuing Uta is of utmost urgency. You may not be aware of her abilities. The Song-Song Fruit is a Devil Fruit capable of destroying the world. To put it bluntly, even if we weren't rescuing her out of friendship, we can't let her abilities fall into the hands of the Celestial Dragons."

Sabo still wanted to try and persuade them: "What if our Revolutionary Army also wants to fight for Sky Island?"

Robert sneered, "Then be prepared for millions of people to starve to death!"

Chapter 2: Making the Whitebeard Pirates Great Again

Robert's words silenced Sabo. The Revolutionary Army was truly poor, while Robert's side was truly rich!

The revolutionary army was established only a short time ago, only a dozen or twenty years ago.

Among the main members, the leader, Long, was a low-ranking navy officer who had never even held a high-ranking position in the navy, yet he withdrew to join the revolution.

Although both Tyrant Bear and Ivankov claim to be kings of a country, Bear abandoned his duties and became a hands-off ruler after violently overthrowing the Sobel Kingdom, while Ivankov gathered a group of transgender people to establish a country, and could at most be considered the president of a transgender enthusiasts' club.

None of the three main characters had much experience in governing the country, let alone the army commanders who were later recruited.

The entire revolutionary army rarely even staged coups in member states of the World Government. Instead, they targeted countries where the World Government had little influence, slowly accumulating strength.

This leads to an unavoidable problem: if they want to win over the people, they can only rely on the most basic redistribution of the means of production, but it is difficult to accumulate wealth and expand military power through means such as taxation and public labor.

To rashly conquer such a large territory as Sky Island is futile. Even if Robert were to say now, "Fine, go ahead, I don't want Sky Island anymore,"...

Even the revolutionary army itself was at a loss.

As is well known, Sky Island cannot produce its own food except for a few specialty fruits and vegetables; it relies mainly on food trade via high-speed air routes.

Robert's conglomerate has long since controlled more than half of the food transport on the high-speed air routes through strategic planning. When he says he will starve millions of people on the Sky Island, he is not exaggerating.

Sabo was furious. What was the point of negotiating? The Revolutionary Army had no bargaining chips at all. They had manpower and supplies. They might be more profitable if they went it alone.

Although Ace had just reunited with Sabo and their feelings were running high, his perspective was ultimately dictated by his own position.

He is no longer alone. As Whitebeard's designated successor, he has thousands of brothers behind him who are asking for food and clothing.

Sabo is his brother, but not a brother of the Whitebeard Pirates.

In contrast, Robert was Whitebeard's last adopted son before his death, and everything he did was from the Whitebeard Pirates' perspective, trying to find a safe territory where everyone could recuperate.

Therefore, Ace knew that at this moment, he had to stand firmly on Robert's side no matter what:

“Sabo, we cooperate with the Revolutionary Army because we lack revolutionary experience and are afraid of causing too many civilian casualties in the process of occupying the Sky Island, but that does not mean we do not have the strength to occupy the Sky Island by force.”

"The Whitebeard Pirates have been established for many years and have a great reputation in the New World. They exploit the islands under their control the least. In fact, the Whitebeard Pirates are very disciplined and have no special privileges on any island. If anyone dares to bully the people by taking advantage of their pirate status, we will clean up their own house."

"Even without the revolutionary army, we can take down all the sky islands first, and then slowly let the people know that we are trustworthy rulers."

Seeing that Ace had said this, Sabo knew he had to make a statement to reassure them, otherwise Ace might really choose to go it alone without the Revolutionary Army, and the Revolutionary Army wouldn't even have the right to send someone to supervise him.

“I’m not questioning whether you will mistreat the people, but I’m worried that you lack governance experience. Conquering the country and ruling the country are two completely different things.”

Robert smiled and shook his head: "I have no knowledge of the Revolutionary Army's governance achievements. Perhaps I can visit the countries under your rule another day."

"But just look at Dressrosa to see our governance capabilities."

“A country that had been oppressed by the Don Quixote family for ten years and was reduced to ruins in a major war was transformed into a regional economic hub by us in less than a year.”

"Dresrosa, through its reforms in trade and food cultivation, has already secured an irreplaceable position in many areas of the New World, and its international influence is growing day by day. Does the Revolutionary Army have any objections to our governance experience?"

Sabo took a deep breath and remained silent for a long time. He had been a little impatient earlier, and every word he uttered was led by the nose by Robert, causing him to fall deeper and deeper into the trap of self-justification.

Every explanation he gave was a passive response, which only gave him more ammunition. Now he was almost at the point of no return, so he had no choice but to shut up and at least return to the initial equal negotiating position with Robert.

"You can go back and have a meeting to discuss it first. There's no rush to give an answer on the spot."

Sabo knew that Robert was giving Ace a lot of face, so after giving him a grateful look, he declined their offer to see him off and left the Golden City alone.

Karina could no longer contain herself and hurriedly asked, "Is Uta really not in danger?"

Now that only his own people were left in the room, Robert spoke without restraint: "I actually believe what Shanks said. Although I don't know what his plans are, he must have reliable connections in the Knights of God. Uta won't be in danger for the time being."

Karina looked worried, but Redfield said, "Even if he has connections, we still have to go!"

Robert nodded: "Don't worry, I will definitely go to rescue Uta, but I need to make some preparations in advance."

None of the people present were the type to make trouble unreasonably; they knew that some things couldn't be rushed.

"Kalina, this Golden City is the ship you planned to seize, and it should continue to be managed by you. But now we don't have time to continue making money from it. We must quickly deal with it and convert it into cash."

Karina replied without hesitation, "Of course, rescuing Uta is the most important thing. I have no time to run the entertainment center."

Robert nodded: "Alright, first send all the tourists away, then gather all of Tesoro's men together, use Padon's ability to conjure up a few control-type experts, like Aokiji and Fox, bring a few more, and control them all."

"Those who were forced to participate will be given some severance pay and allowed to leave, while those who participated voluntarily will be handed over to the Whitebeard Pirates for imprisonment."

"Send all the cash in Golden City to the Indians. Tell them to use that money to buy down the highway within a week, no matter how much they have to. I want to control all trade to the Sky Island! If all else fails, I'll resort to force!"

"Regardless of the Revolutionary Army's final decision, we must launch a full-scale offensive against Skypiea within two weeks. We must pave the way with economic development, follow up with military support, and ensure a food supply. We have at most six months. The Whitebeard Pirates' flag must be planted on every island in the White Sea!"

Ace remained silent for a long time, then patted Robert on the shoulder:

"Brother, I've been reflecting on whether I'm suitable to be a team leader lately."

"I realized that I was simply not capable of carrying the future of the Whitebeard Pirates, so..."

"Are you willing to follow in your father's footsteps?"

Chapter 3: Can a scholar's actions be considered stealing?

Robert sighed; he had actually guessed this day would come.

The existence of the Whitebeard Pirates is inherently illogical. Each member is carefree and undisciplined, lacking both greedy ambition and a sense of impending crisis. Their ability to maintain their position as one of the Four Emperors is solely due to Whitebeard's immense strength.

Therefore, Robert was not at all surprised when Whitebeard made his grand exit in the original storyline, and his sons were defeated by Blackbeard in less than a year.

Robert has already done his best to save Ace and even helped Whitebeard establish a clear successor before his death. However, the inertia of the plot sometimes seems like a forced correction, but it is actually a predetermined result of natural evolution.

Among the members of the Whitebeard Pirates, none of whom are senior enough to command respect, whether it's Marco, Ace, Vista, or Diamond Jozu, are the kind of people whose personalities make them capable of leading a pirate crew to dominate the New World.

Since their personalities don't match, they can only rely on strength like Whitebeard, but in such a short time, none of them can grow to the point where they can overpower the crowd.

On the contrary, rising stars like Robert or Luffy, who have made a name for themselves within a year or two, are more likely to leave a deep impression on people and inspire fear in them because of the many great things they have accomplished in such a short period of time.

Marco and Ace had been overwhelmed by various unexpected situations throughout the year, with people constantly coming to provoke them, keeping them constantly on their toes.

Although the Red-Haired Pirates announced a collaboration with the Whitebeard Pirates, it's impossible to take over all the challengers at sea, otherwise the Whitebeard Pirates would collapse even faster.

The reason Ace never sought Robert's help was because he felt he understood Robert very well.

Robert wasn't a pirate in the normal sense; he was just an ordinary person who was inexplicably caught up in maritime conflicts, passively trying to survive in the whirlpool.

Once he has enough power to protect himself, he will quickly be dominated by inertia, which is what Ace felt during the short few days he spent with Robert.

After Ace was rescued, he also heard about how much effort Robert, such a lazy person, had put in to save him, fighting his way from Water 7 all the way to the latter half of the New World to deliver the message to Whitebeard, and how many difficulties he had to go through along the way.

That's why Ace was even more moved. So much so that even when the Whitebeard Pirates were almost driven to the brink of destruction by Blackbeard, they didn't actively seek Robert's help, simply because this young man had just conquered Dressrosa and could finally live a peaceful life as he wished.

When Robert risked everything to launch a surprise attack on Beehive Island alone, Ace began to think that Robert was more suited to be a leader than himself. After Robert heard Robert's Sky Island plan in Dressrosa, Ace became even more convinced of this idea.

But Ace still didn't suggest that Robert take over the responsibility until just now, when Robert firmly stated that he wanted to officially compete for the One Piece.

After Ace said it, he even felt a sense of relief, fearing that Robert would refuse because he already had a lot of talented people under his command.

"it is good!"