One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

"Take out your anger on me, but don't lay a hand on Rebecca!"

Robert continued walking, and Violet's body was also moved aside: "Don't take yourselves too seriously. Raleigh will come back to settle your scores with you personally. I won't overstep my bounds, and I don't have time to deal with your petty schemes."

Bucky the Clown's voice came from above the grand staircase: "Lord Robert! Please forgive me for not being able to greet you in person. Is there anything you dislike about the welcoming ceremony I arranged?"

Robert and Karina walked up the steps and stood in front of Bucky, saying coldly, "I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm really not satisfied, especially with their so-called 'letting Rebecca go'."

“I never asked you to target a girl, and I won’t take the blame for this. You’d better clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible.”

Bucky saw that Robert was truly angry, and a look of panic appeared on his face:

"I did everything according to your instructions."

His expression didn't seem like he was acting. Robert could sense that Bucky genuinely felt wronged, and he was momentarily confused as well.

"My orders? What did I order you to do? Tell me first what exactly you did to Rebecca?"

Bucky cried out in protest: "The day you handed Dressrosa over to me, didn't you say in front of everyone that the princess of the Riku royal family was the woman of the Raleigh brothers, and that you asked me to take care of her and make sure she didn't suffer any losses?"

"Then I asked the others, and what you implied in your words was that I should take revenge. Could I have misunderstood?"

Robert was also a little confused. He had indeed said those words, and Bucky hadn't over-interpreted them. He had genuinely wanted to make the entire Riku royal family suffer.

Suddenly Robert's eyes widened: "The princess I was talking about is Violet! You didn't think I was talking about Rebecca, did you?!"

Chapter 29 is too narrow-minded!

Robert suddenly realized the only point that could be misunderstood and looked at Bucky in disbelief.

Bucky looked at Robert with a shocked expression, his eyes conveying the message: Shouldn't the princess refer to Rebecca?

The two stared at each other for over a minute before Karina broke the silence:

"Why don't we go inside and talk?"

Robert and Bucky quickly scurried into the palace, hoping to escape the awkwardness of the courtyard.

"Rayle's old flame is Violet, and that Rebecca isn't even an adult yet, is she? Even if he's a beast, he wouldn't go after a child..."

Bucky was a little embarrassed: "I didn't pressure them much, I just subtly suggested that maybe Rebecca marry into the family to ease the tension..."

Robert thought to himself, "This is what you call not forcing them? They're practically pushing them to marry off their daughter, who's still a minor."

Now his anger towards Cyrus had dissipated. Robert thought to himself that if it were his own daughter being forced into marriage, he would speak even more sarcastically.

This misunderstanding distracted Robert from Bucky's initial dissatisfaction.

Bucky deliberately changed the subject, saying, "You didn't even give me a heads-up before you came. It was only because someone at the port recognized you that they quickly notified me."

"I originally intended to go and greet them, but..."

Just as Robert was about to hear his explanation, Bucky had already pushed open the door to the reception room.

Whether it's Observation Haki or electromagnetic induction, if Robert doesn't actively scan and explore, and no one causes him any harm, he won't receive any messages.

After all, the human brain is not a computer and cannot process countless pieces of junk information all the time. Robert doesn't usually walk around with the scanner on.

As soon as the door to the reception room opened, Robert stopped in his tracks, a meaningful smile spreading across his face.

"Long time no see, Crocodile."

Before meeting Crocodile, Robert had countless speculations about Bucky's new backer.

For example, any of the original Four Emperors, or Doflamingo who plans to make a comeback.

But he really didn't think of Crocodile, because according to the timeline, the World Government convened the World Conference first, the Navy announced the abolition of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and then Crocodile approached Hawkeye Mihawk, who was wanted again, to ask Buggy for money.

The World Conference hasn't even started yet, so Crocodile shouldn't be looking for Bucky so early.

But since he showed up in Dressrosa, whatever his reasons for arriving months in advance, it explains Bucky's unusual behavior.

Crocodile, puffing on a cigar, looked every bit the big shot.

Seeing Robert enter, he didn't get up, but simply waved to Robert as a greeting, and asked casually:

"I heard you gave Dressrosa to Bucky?"

Robert pulled Karina to sit down on the sofa opposite him, waved familiarly, and took a cigar from the cigar box in front of Crocodile.

The cigar drifted to Robert's face. Robert first took a sniff before slowly saying, "I don't usually smoke cigars, but your taste, Old Sa, is definitely not bad."

Crocodile wasn't angry; on the contrary, he was quite pleased with Robert's approval: "Of course, this is high-quality goods from the North Sea. It's all thanks to your trade channels in Dressrosa that we were able to get it."

Karina took the cigar, but without touching the cigar cutter on the table, she ran her fingernail around the tip of the cigar before bringing it to Robert's lips.

Robert, with an eggplant dangling from his mouth, flicked an electric arc from his fingertips and took a deep drag.

"The aroma is very strong, but unfortunately it can't be inhaled; it just doesn't feel strong enough."

Crocodile laughed and said, "You'll get used to it."

Bucky watched as Robert and Crocodile took turns eating, too embarrassed to even sit down, and just stood awkwardly to the side.

Robert smiled and waved to Bucky: "Why are you standing, Bucky? You're the host now, don't be so reserved."

Buggy, with a forced smile, found a small chair and sat down. Crocodile, without looking at Robert, said, "Dressrosa is nice, but it's too close to Kaido's and Big Mom's territories."

Robert laughed and said, "What do you mean, Old Sha?"

Crocodile became serious: "Shall we go all out?"

Robert thought Crocodile came to Bucky to pull him out of his control, but he never expected that Crocodile would actually try to recruit him.

What does "doing something big" mean?

Crocodile's attitude was very sincere: "When I robbed that group of human traffickers, I said that half of the money would be yours, and I didn't even ask you before lending the money to Bucky."

“I came to Bucky to collect a debt, only to find out that you had been looking for me for a while, and even acquired such a large property in Dressrosa.”

"So what I mean is, you take the lion's share of this business, sixty percent, I take thirty percent, and the last ten percent is left to Bucky."

Robert sighed and shook his head. It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with the share distribution; Crocodile's offer to take only 30% was already quite good. He simply didn't want to accept this form of partnership.

Robert's current forces are enough to contend for the position of one of the Four Emperors. If he joins forces with Crocodile, can they really overthrow Im and replace the World Government?

Seeing Robert shake his head, Crocodile was also a little angry. He had already lowered his stance and taken the initiative to propose cooperation, and even reduced his personal shareholding to half of Robert's, but he did not expect Robert to be dissatisfied.

Crocodile's tone turned hostile: "Are you dissatisfied with the share distribution, or...?"

Robert smiled politely: "Don't take it personally, I just think it's a bit of a waste for us to work together."

Crocodile was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding Robert's meaning.

"Look, what can we do together? Compete for that vacant Yonko position?"

Crocodile nodded; that was exactly what he meant.

Robert pointed to his nose: "My bounty is already 40 billion now, and we're old friends. I'll give you the inside scoop: I just had Kaido hold onto those territories for me, and I can take them back anytime."

Crocodile immediately pressed, "Are you saying that you and Kaido have secretly formed an alliance?"

Robert nodded: "Yes, I didn't want to become one of the Four Emperors so quickly, lest I be targeted by the Navy and the World Government, so I asked Kaido to keep me in check."

Crocodile looked dejected. He had come with high hopes to team up with Robert and gain a place among the Four Emperors, but he hadn't expected that Robert was already on the throne of the Four Emperors, he just didn't want to yet.

Robert noticed Crocodile's distress and changed the subject:

"So I have an idea, why don't we form a secret alliance..."

"And then each of them will secure a place among the Four Emperors!"

Chapter 30 Old Sha, Listen to My Bragging

Crocodile is actually a very ambitious and cunning person. Like Doflamingo, he is a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and also plans to occupy a country to satisfy his ambition.

Doflamingo chose the original territory of his Donquixote Family, while Crocodile chose the desert kingdom of Alabasta.

Doflamingo usurped power by inciting resentment among the people against the king, and Crocodile followed the same path.

Doflamingo only wants to make a living by trading arms and causing chaos in the world, while Crocodile has a clear goal: to target the ancient weapon Pluton.

Doflamingo only ate a Paramecia-type String-String Fruit, while Crocodile ate a Logia-type fruit that was far superior.

Doflamingo had four powerful retainers who helped him from his childhood because of his status, while Crocodile built his empire entirely from scratch.

Doflamingo's previous plans all went smoothly until he met Luffy's crew. Crocodile's plans also proceeded smoothly until Luffy arrived.

A comparison like this reveals that the actions of these two are actually quite similar, and Crocodile is even stronger than Doflamingo in many aspects.

However, Crocodile's choice of location was unfortunate; it was in the earlier part of the park area, and it happened to block Luffy and his crew's path.

Doflamingo's country was in the New World, which is why he was able to survive for two years before being defeated by Luffy.

But no matter how strong Crocodile is, he is not arrogant enough to think that he can become one of the Four Emperors.

Since being defeated by Luffy two years ago, Crocodile lay in Impel Down for several months, refusing to leave even when his subordinates came to rescue him, as if he had lost all hope for life.

Crocodile's life was filled with hope again only after Luffy defeated him and led him all the way out of Impel Down, as if he had lived his whole life for Luffy.

During the two years that the Straw Hat crew was in seclusion for training, Crocodile also disappeared without a trace, at most investing his money in Buggy.

Now that he's following Luffy back to sea, he does indeed want to do something big, but all he wants is to push Robert to the forefront and onto the throne of the Four Emperors, while he himself will remain behind the scenes as a staff member.

Robert's suggestion that Crocodile should also compete for a Yonko (Four Emperors) position completely baffled Crocodile.

Robert knew that Crocodile would definitely have a hard time accepting such explosive news at first, so he smiled and waited for Crocodile to digest it for a while before continuing:

"For decades, there have been four emperors at sea, checking and balancing each other to maintain a fragile peace."

"Since my father passed away two years ago, this stable structure has been in jeopardy, which is why the seas have become increasingly chaotic. That's why the other three Emperors would rather help the Whitebeard Pirates maintain their current position than take advantage of our misfortune and swallow us whole."

"Even if we cooperate and become one of the Four Emperors, it's just returning to the original balance of power among the Four Emperors. Do you think we can do better than Father?"

Like most pirates, Crocodile always wanted to challenge Whitebeard, the so-called strongest man in the world. Even in the circumstances of the Marineford War, he attacked Whitebeard without regard for the overall situation, but Luffy stopped him.

The pirates wanted to challenge Whitebeard not because they hated him, but precisely because all pirates admired Whitebeard, this great pirate, for both his strength and his character.

When Whitebeard was alive, everyone wanted to challenge him, but once he died, the vast majority of pirates fought tooth and nail to protect him.

Crocodile was one of them. Robert asked him if he could do better than Whitebeard, and Crocodile shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

Robert continued, "Since we can't beat the old man, we can't possibly defeat the other three Yonko with our own strength and dominate the New World to become the so-called Pirate King."

Crocodile had begun to understand Robert's meaning. The reason why one of the Four Emperors' crews couldn't kill the other three was that no matter who they attacked, the other two would intervene to stop them, for the sake of mutual dependence.