One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

Robert cares least about money; ever since he robbed the City of Gold, he has more money than he can spend.

What he cares about most is the right to speak. He's not as domineering as Shanks, who can't stand different opinions, but at least when his collaborators keep testing his bottom line, Robert shows enough toughness.

Crocodile quickly recovered and watched Robert's performance with great interest.

Robert bowed slightly to the group: "Then I'll head back now. See you at Big Mom's tea party."

Crocodile's smile froze instantly; Robert's last words were truly the decisive blow.

During their conversation, Crocodile's sole objective was to secure a more equal opportunity for cooperation. However, Robert's initial refusal to cooperate, followed by his offer to help Bucky Delivery seize another Yonko throne, was essentially an attempt to undermine Crocodile's position.

I can become one of the Four Emperors without anyone's help, while Crocodile, even if he wants to cooperate with the other Seven Warlords of the Sea, still needs my help.

Moreover, throughout the entire process, Robert kept saying he wanted to help Bucky Express. The major shareholder of Bucky Express is Robert, and the face of the company is Bucky the Joker. How can Crocodile put himself in this position?

So, although the guests seemed to be having a good time in the end, no consensus was actually reached.

What truly broke Crocodile's defenses was Robert's last sentence.

Robert had previously subtly inquired with Crocodile about which of the Four Emperors he had chosen as his target, since the goal was to eliminate one of them.

At the time, Crocodile was still confidently talking about Big Mom, so Robert took the opportunity to suggest meeting at Big Mom's tea party.

The first message conveyed by this statement is that Robert himself is qualified to attend the tea party, and the second is an implicit confirmation that Crocodile has also received an invitation.

But Crocodile has only been out of the public eye for two years, so how could Big Mom possibly invite him to a tea party?

No matter what answer Crocodile has now, it's not a good one. As for agreeing, he really doesn't have any way of getting an invitation to the tea party.

If you directly say that you did not receive an invitation, then the momentum that has been built up throughout the event will be completely weakened. If you can't even get into an old lady's tea party, how can you understand your opponent and then plot to overthrow them?

Unless Crocodile dares to attack directly, Robert's words have completely shattered all the boasts he had just made.

Without waiting for Crocodile's reply, Robert roughly grabbed Karina's arm and dragged her out of the drawing room.

Now Karina is in Violet's guise. As soon as she left the reception room, Karina began to struggle desperately, completely like a princess who was determined not to submit to the pirates' tyranny.

Robert led Carina to the seaside and, in full view of everyone, brought her to a ship. More than fifty giant ships flying the Whitebeard Pirates' flag set sail.

Bucky's expression was priceless: "So Lord Robert has this kind of taste!"

Crocodile: Why did I choose an idiot as my leader?

Chapter 33 I found you a nanny

Bucky genuinely didn't understand the meaning behind Robert's final act, but Crocodile wasn't that oblivious.

Although details such as whether or not to cooperate, and how to cooperate, were never finalized, Robert has already begun to lay the groundwork for future cooperation.

Robert has always been at odds with Bucky's Delivery Service, from Punk Hazard to Bucky's underlings, to Dressrosa to the whole world.

Now Robert is simply continuing his usual persona. The two factions have a grudge over the island, and people would only be suspicious if Robert didn't retaliate.

Robert's high-profile trip was like collecting some interest first. Before the grudges with Kaido are settled, his failure to launch a counterattack on Dressrosa will not arouse any suspicion, but he still has to show the attitude of dealing with Buggy.

The army was pressing in, but they didn't actually start a war with Paki. Instead, they captured the princess of the Riku royal family who had betrayed them years ago. This was just the right amount of force.

Crocodile stood atop the highest point of the palace, the highest point in Dressrosa, gazing towards the east coast, and finally managed to utter only one sentence:

"Work with Robert to keep Violet under control and prevent her from appearing in public again. Contact them in a while and send her there directly..."

Bucky quickly agreed, but he returned to the room a short while later with a strange expression.

“That… Violet…”

"Gone..."

Crocodile frowned deeply: "Gone? When did they disappear?"

Bucky scratched his head: "The Riku royal family has been under close surveillance by our people. After the welcoming ceremony, everyone went back to their rooms and hasn't come out since."

"But just now I took some people to look for Violet, and no one answered the door when we knocked, so I asked someone to bring the key and just opened the door, but there was no one in the room..."

"The windows were all closed, and the men watching outside the door swore she absolutely did not come out through the front door..."

Crocodile suddenly asked, "Quick! Send someone to check if that brat from Wano Country is still around!"

Before Bucky could even send anyone to investigate, his men rushed in to report:

"Master, something terrible has happened!"

"That brat who was locked up in jail is gone! Now his two henchmen are causing a ruckus in the cell!"

Crocodile wasn't worried about the two Wano Country samurai causing trouble; it was Crocodile who captured them when Buggy arrested them a few days ago.

Four samurai accompanied Momonosuke to be transported 20 years in the future. Kikunojo stayed in Wano Country to provide cover and support, while Raizo was separated from the others after a shipwreck at sea. Only Kin'emon and Kanjuro remained by Momonosuke's side.

One of them ate the Feast Fruit, which is known as one of the most useless fruits, and the other ate the Pen-Pen Fruit, which he developed to the point of being a joke. The only thing the two of them can really show for themselves is their swordsmanship.

As samurai under the former daimyo of Wano Country, these people were indeed very skilled in swordsmanship, but they were no match for Crocodile, a top-tier pirate. Crocodile easily captured them all and threw them into prison.

The two Devil Fruit users were completely powerless after being bound by Seastone, and now even if they cause trouble, they won't be able to stir up any waves.

But Crocodile arrived at the cell immediately: "Tell me, how did that brat disappear?"

Kin'emon was genuinely anxious. Although Kanjuro was an undercover agent, he was also flustered by the loss of his target: "Where did you take Momonosuke?! Your people are everywhere, inside and outside this prison! And you're asking us where he is?"

Crocodile squinted: "Momonosuke? How did he become Momonosuke again?"

In his panic, Kin'emon forgot the alias he had given Momonosuke, but now that his young master was missing, he couldn't care less about such details: "Never mind that! Give Momonosuke back to us!"

Crocodile, not one to tolerate anyone's bad habits, sneered and waved his hand, causing the sand on the ground to gather into sharp spikes that pierced Kin'emon's body:

"Now I'm interrogating you!"

"I'm asking you, how did that brat disappear!"

Kanjuro, being both flexible and adaptable, didn't want to suffer for Momonosuke's sake, so he quickly explained:

"Momonosuke was right in front of us a second ago, and the moment we turned around, he vanished into thin air!"

Crocodile pressed, "Not a sound? Gone in an instant?"

Kanjuro tried hard to recall, and said uncertainly, "I think I vaguely heard... thunder!"

-----------------

Dozens of giant ships were sailing in formation on the sea. On the deck of the middle ship, Robert and Momonosuke were staring at each other.

Violet leaned against the mast, her eyes glazed over the sea, unable to look at the Indian man so close to her.

Ah San didn't even look at her; the two of them, like the male and female leads in an idol drama, each pursed their lips and looked in different directions.

Robert continued to stare at Momonosuke, but said to the Indian man, "I've brought your wife back for you. You'll have to deal with her yourself."

Momonosuke retorted sharply: "You're grabbing women and beating children; that's not samurai behavior!"

Robert showed him no mercy: "Knights aren't any good either. I thank you for not comparing me to those disgusting guys."

Upon hearing Robert's disdain for samurai, Momonosuke flew into a rage: "What do you know, you rude fellow! Samurai are the noblest people in this world!"

Karina smiled and brought over a bowl of porridge: "Eat up, kid. Didn't you say you were hungry?"

Momonosuke gave Karina a pitiful look: "I'm so hungry I have no strength left..."

Robert raised his hand and launched a fierce attack: "You warriors are disgusting and you won't admit it. You're not weak, you just want a beautiful woman to feed you."

Even after eating the artificial Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Momonosuke's fighting power was still extremely low. He was no match for Robert and could only grit his teeth and say, "I am a samurai! I will not accept charity!"

Robert's smile widened: "You won't eat charity, huh? Then go hungry."

He turned to Ah San and asked, "Is the gift ready?"

Ah San took the opportunity to escape the awkward plot of the idol drama by answering the question, and quickly replied, "Everything has been prepared according to your instructions. When will you send it over?"

Robert calculated the time: "You set sail now and wait for my message in the surrounding area."

A-San nodded in agreement, and Robert pulled up Momonosuke, who was still sulking on the ground.

Momonosuke was horrified: "What are you doing, you rude person!"

Robert sneered, "I haven't had time to deal with you these past two days, mainly because you can't see the situation clearly."

"Evil people need to be dealt with by other evil people. It's better to be lucky than early. I just happened to catch another big villain a while ago."

"Let him train you first!"

Chapter 34 Plastic Brotherhood Grass

Robert received his new bounty on the ship. He was no longer obsessed with using his speed to travel, and with Karina by his side, he simply returned to the most primitive way of traveling.

At Robert's level, regardless of whether the high bounty was due to some ulterior motive by the Navy, the numbers were there, so the craftsmanship was excellent.

The photo is a high-resolution, headshot of him wearing a sharp suit, smoking a cigarette, sitting in the Sabaody Archipelago. It's unclear when or where the photo was taken.

The false information about him slaughtering members of the World Government and the royal family along with Blackbeard has been quietly removed from the description of his crimes. Aokiji is still more principled than Akainu.

The only constant is the capture condition on the bounty poster—life or death is not an option!

Robert looked at his bounty poster with amazement until the phone rang. Karina answered it casually and said, "Stop being so conceited, it's for you."

Robert put down his bounty poster: "Seriously, boss? It's not time yet!"

Morgans' voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi: "You don't think I'm here to urge you to meet, do you? Don't take yourself too seriously. Your good brother has gotten into big trouble again, and I'm just letting you know."

Robert instantly perked up. No one on this sea had better access to information than Morgans, and the person Morgans called his good brother was most likely Luffy at this stage.

Luffy caused chaos on the high seas in less than a year after setting sail. Fortunately, there were two years of peace in between, when Robert took over the mantle of troublemaker and, incidentally, formed a deep friendship with Morgans.

Now that Luffy has set sail again, Robert wants to know what new tricks Luffy can come up with after he messed up the storylines of Dressrosa and Punk Hazard.

"Luffy?"

Robert tentatively asked again, and Morgans replied with a sly laugh, "Of course, who else could it be?"

"He just wiped out the NEO Marines and rescued a lot of pirates. Now he's heading towards Whole Cake Island's territory."

Robert was momentarily dazed: "NEO Navy? You mean? Holy crap! Professor Zephyr?"

Morgans, one of the few who knew Roberta's naval identity, asked, as if seeking credit, "So, is this information worth a thank you?"

Robert hadn't heard from Zephyr for a long time, and he never expected that Zephyr would still have some connection with Luffy's crew.

"Is Professor Zephyr alright?"