One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

When Gan Fall heard Robert mention Dressrosa, he finally couldn't hold back his emotions any longer: "I knew you wouldn't come back at this time. Of Luffy's crew, you and that little girl Nami are the most scheming."

Robert still had a smile on his face: "But now only I can save the Kingdom of God!"

Gan Fall's voice trembled as he uttered the words Robert had long wanted to hear:

"Robert, for the sake of our past comrades-in-arms, please save the Kingdom of God!"

"it is good!"

Chapter 37 If you won't listen to my two worst strategies, there's nothing I can do.

Things started to fall into Robert's hands. Since Gan Fall was desperate, he could offer whatever advice he wanted.

"Actually, dealing with this matter is easy in some ways, it just depends on how much courage you have."

Gan Fall said with a wry smile, "I've even thought about death. I made the mistake, and I'm willing to do anything to help the people of the Kingdom of God overcome this crisis!"

Robert smiled and nodded: "I have three strategies here, the best, the middle, and the worst."

"The best course of action is for the Kingdom of God to directly impose mandatory military control, disrupt the existing monetary system, confiscate all the Ik in everyone's possession, exchange it for new currency, and redistribute it proportionally."

Gan Fow's eyes lit up, but he slowly shook his head: "No, this won't work. The problem now isn't money at all, it's that the Ik itself is worthless. Even if we exchange it for something new, we still can't buy grain from the Qinghai people. Why should they accept our newly issued currency?"

Then, as if he had just thought of something, he exclaimed, "That's it! Gold! Straw Hat Boy said he wanted gold! And recently, Spring Boy came along, also after Shandora's gold! Isn't gold very valuable in Qinghai? Let's trade directly with gold!"

Robert looked bewildered. Since ancient times, strategists have proposed the so-called superior, middle, and inferior strategies with the intention of making people choose the middle strategy. He hadn't even mentioned the middle and inferior strategies yet, and this old guy had already figured it out. That wouldn't do!

"Gold won't do. What can you do with this little bit of gold? Enel already plundered almost all of Shandora's gold back then. What, are you planning to sell the Golden Bell too? Wouldn't the Shandora people fight you to the death?"

Gan Fall didn't know exactly how valuable gold was; he only had a vague guess. But what Robert said made sense. They could thank Luffy with a broken pillar with a golden bell hanging from it before, so they couldn't just sell the Shandians' national treasure now.

"Then what's the point of your plan? If even gold can't be used as the new currency, won't others be even less likely to accept our new currency?"

Embarrassed by the rebuttal, Robert retorted, "What if we just changed it to Berry from Qinghai?"

Gan Fall seemed to have gotten smarter during his confrontation with Robert: "Where are we going to get so many Berries?"

Robert revealed his true intentions, no longer mentioning the two inferior or middle-of-the-road strategies: "I do have them, otherwise how could I dare to say I'd save you?"

Gan Fall practically knelt before Robert, grabbing his hand and thanking him profusely: "I knew from the start that among all the young people from Qinghai, you were the most clever and righteous. On behalf of the people of the Kingdom of God, thank you!"

Robert looked at Gan Fall with a half-smile: "My money didn't grow on trees. You're not thinking of just asking me for it, are you?"

Gan Fall displayed the shamelessness of a politician: "How could that be? I was thinking of lending it, just like we lent it to Dressrosa before. We'll lend you Berry, and we'll find a way to pay it back once we get through this crisis!"

Robert shook his head again. These days, the one who owes money is the boss. The reason why Dressrosa can influence the situation on Sky Island is because it uses its own value to bind investment interests.

If things had gone according to plan, Robert's goal was to use currency devaluation to transform himself from a debtor into a creditor, first crippling the Sky Island's economy, and then lending money to them in return.

When the time comes, they will have other ways to force the countries of the Sky Island to not repay their debts. If they can't repay, they can only default on their debts, and then they will have a reason to send troops to violently recover them.

As long as the cause is justified and the cause is morally sound, attacking the Sky Island will not only not incite public resentment, but will instead stir up public sentiment and make people see clearly who, out of greed, has pushed everyone into this predicament.

But now Robert has limited time and no time to play financial games with the Sky Island anymore. He has to finish this quickly and go save Uta.

"Let me be frank, Mr. Gan Fall, you are not suited to govern a country. None of the leaders of the entire Sky Island know how to govern a country. Even if I help you through this crisis for free, you will still collapse the economy in a few days."

Gan Fall became serious: "So what exactly do you want? This country?"

Robert nodded: "Yes, if you leave the Kingdom of God to me to govern, I guarantee that everyone will be ten times better off than they are now."

Gan Fall never expected that Robert actually wanted the entire Kingdom of God. When Robert said that he also wanted Dressrosa, Gan Fall guessed that the Skypiea had probably been pushed to this point by him.

Although it seems incredible, if we assume that the name Dressrosa, which started appearing six months ago, is the mastermind, then everything makes sense: the devaluation of the Ik began when they borrowed large sums of money.

But Robert was absolutely right; he was indeed not a competent ruler, and this was already his second term.

During his first term, he was violently ousted from power by Enel. He was unable to protect his people with force at the time, but it was this young man and his companions who overthrew Enel's brutal rule and returned power to him.

During this second term, he inexplicably brought the country's economy to the brink of collapse again. If he were to confess this to the public tomorrow, it would instantly turn into a disaster.

"Although I am incompetent, I'm sorry, I can't entrust everyone's safety to an outsider, especially since you might be the mastermind behind this."

Gan Fall picked up his lance: "Now that I've refused, shouldn't you make your move?"

Robert smiled and shook his head: "Then I'm going back. I snuck out of the banquet halfway through. They must think I was trying to skip the drinks."

"Oh, by the way, as a friend, let me give you a little reminder: your men are unreliable. They've already leaked the news about the repayment in Dressrosa, and panic will break out before tomorrow morning. You need to figure something out as soon as possible."

Robert turned and left as soon as he finished speaking, not giving Gan Fall any time to react. He had indeed sneaked out of the banquet; Ace and the others were still drinking with the Shandians.

Gan Fall was caught off guard by Robert's sudden departure, which seemed to have no intention of holding him back.

But recalling his last words, Gan Fall could no longer sit still, and rode Pegasus Pierre up into the clouds.

From their vantage point, the entire Apayado region was laid out before them, and the center of Shandora was ablaze with lights, while the unsuspecting Shandians continued their jubilant celebrations.

However, in the edge of Shandora, a dim light was already moving around.

The scattered lights converged into a vast expanse, moving faster and faster until they stretched like a long dragon towards the square where the banquet was being held.

Gan Fall flew low into the night, and could already faintly hear the shouts of the crowd:

"Quickly, go and fetch the Grand Elder! Gan Fall is going to sell us all! He's going to sell the entire Apayado!"

Chapter 38 The Holy Mother is not entirely without merit

Gan Fall nearly coughed up blood. He had suffered minor injuries in the daytime battle and had just endured a huge psychological blow. Now, betrayed by the very person he had tried so hard to protect, he finally couldn't take it anymore.

Pierre's horse spurred itself on and sped toward the bonfire party.

Robert didn't want to bully the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, or pregnant women, but his position dictated his thinking; sitting in that position meant he had to make decisions befitting his status.

His actions were essentially no different from what Crocodile did to Alabasta back then; both were coveting someone else's territory and resorting to underhanded tactics.

The only difference between the two is that Robert genuinely wanted to improve the lives of the people after conquering the Sky Island.

When Gan Fall charged toward him on horseback, spear in hand, Robert knew he had made up his mind.

But to Robert's surprise, he clearly saw the look in Gan Fall's eyes as he looked at him, a look as firm as if he wanted to join the party, yet Gan Fall didn't come down to say a word to him.

Pegasus flew across the sky above the banquet, heading straight for the Shandian settlement. Even the drunken crowd didn't notice him flying over their heads.

Robert was intently monitoring the entire island. Not all the people of the Kingdom of God knew Robert, nor were they all grateful to the person who defeated Enel. Outside the banquet, the vast majority of the islanders had already returned to their homes.

However, when news spread that Dressrosa had repaid the loan early, but what he was actually paying back was just a pile of worthless paper, countless citizens of the Kingdom of God crawled out of their beds and frantically rushed toward the banquet.

Although the Shandians and Sky Islanders ended their more than four-hundred-year war and began to work together to build a better future, it has only been a little over a year, and the two sides still maintain autonomy most of the time.

Now that the Sky Island people's decision-making level has encountered a major problem, the Shandian people's council of elders has become their last lifeline.

Countless people rushed in, swept up by public opinion, startling those who were holding a banquet. Many Shandian warriors even picked up weapons, thinking that the four nations that had been driven back during the day had taken advantage of the night to bypass the border guards and attack again.

Only when the crowd approached and shouted that they wanted the elder to make a decision did the Shandians look at each other and then turn to look at the settlement behind them.

Robert has a strange appearance. While others don't have the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's power, he can monitor the entire island.

Gan Fall stormed into the Shandian settlement to find the Shandian Grand Elder. After the two old men met, Gan Fall explained the current situation in a few words and proposed an almost absurd plan.

"I made the wrong decision and dragged the Kingdom of God into such a quagmire. I can only atone with my death."

The First Elder had just been dragged out of bed and was already stunned by Gan Fall's words. Now, hearing him say he wanted to atone with his death, his mind was completely blank.

"What's the point of dying? At worst, we can just pretend that all our efforts over the past year have been in vain. I'll apologize to everyone with you, and we'll start over!"

Gan Fow shook his head in despair: "There's no going back. The current Yike is just a pile of waste paper. Our next harvest won't be for several months. Even if Qinghai did send grain over, what would we use to buy it?"

"During Enel's reign, at least no one starved to death..."

Hearing Gan Fall say this, the Grand Elder was truly angry. The Shandians hated Enel the most. After all, the Skypiea people had only competed with them for the Holy Land Apayado, but Enel had directly wiped them out.

"Then go die! True death is not the cessation of breathing, but the loss of will! Judging from your current state, it's no different from being dead!"

"Dying is so easy. How much longer do you think old guys like us could have lived? But what about the debts you've incurred? Are you going to leave the bad decisions you made to others to solve?"

Gan Fall's eyes revealed a resolute look: "If I don't die, the person who can solve this problem won't take action. Only when I die can he rightfully save the entire Kingdom of God!"

The Grand Elder's imposing manner faltered for a moment: "Who are you talking about?"

Outside, chaos had already broken out. Gan Fall knew his time was running out, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Robert D. Neru! That blue-sea man who fought alongside Luffy to defeat Enel. He's rich and capable. If we make him the leader of the Land of God, he can lead everyone through this crisis!"

Although the elder has returned to his room, he did attend the banquet at the beginning. The Shandians were very grateful to Luffy and his crew. The elder simply went back to his room to sleep because he was too old to stay so late.

"Robert? That young man is a good person. Let's plead with him together. Why are you so determined to die?"

Gan Fall, hearing the commotion reaching outside the door, gritted his teeth and pressed his spear against the Elder's throat: "When I die, I hope you can keep an eye on him, in case he acts like Enel and commits tyranny..."

Gan Fall stopped mid-sentence, unable to continue, because he couldn't imagine what the Shandians could do to Robert if he really became a tyrannical ruler.

An angry mob banged on the door: "Elder, something terrible has happened! Come out quickly!"

Gan Fall pressed his spear against the Elder’s back and pushed him to the door. The door opened, and everyone was stunned by what they saw.

"Release the Grand Elder!"

"Gan Fall, you're insane!"

"You not only cheated everyone out of their money! You even dared to kidnap the Grand Elder!"

Gan Fall gritted his teeth and shouted, "You forced me to do this! Everyone stay still and get Robert here. I want to negotiate with him!"

He had made up his mind. Since the Kingdom of God was already finished, he might as well gamble on whether Robert would have a change of heart and lead the Kingdom of God out of its predicament as he had said.

In their naiveté, the rulers of the pirate world share a striking similarity: Kozuki Oden of Wano Country believed in Kurozumi Orochi and Kaido, and Gan Fall now chooses to believe in Robert.

Robert's voice rang out: "We have nothing to talk about, Gan Fall. You've been bewitched by the devil. Wake up!"

Lightning flashed across the sky above Shandora, illuminating the world as if it were daytime. Robert's figure floated in mid-air like a god, radiating powerful Conqueror's Haki, which he controlled to a level that was both intimidating to all the people of the Kingdom of Gods and not enough to make them faint.

The Ice Witch Whiteybe, along with the Whitebeard Pirates, brought over dozens of Sky Island people. Ace and Marco, one engulfed in red flames and the other in blue flames, floated in mid-air.

Robert pointed to the captured people: "These people deceived the people, inciting them to come and cause trouble, while they themselves were about to escape with their families and relatives! They are also followers of the devil!"

The officials captured by Robert were Gan Fall's men. He had the awareness to sacrifice for the people, but these men did not.

They knew very well that the Kingdom of God's economy was about to collapse, and they knew that the people would never let them off the hook. Even if Gan Fall was willing to apologize, they, as beneficiaries, could not simply stay out of it.

Therefore, the only way they could think of was to incite a riot among the people in advance, direct their anger at Gan Faure, and create time for themselves and their families to escape.

As Robert drew everyone's attention to these people, instead of offering any explanation, they roared and truly revealed their terrifying demonic forms!

Chapter 39 What does it mean to play tricks? This is it.