One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

Robert nodded: "That makes perfect sense. Let me make a call and ask when the assistant examiner will be available."

Robert pulled out a Den Den Mushi (snail phone), dialed the number with the red nose, and immediately heard a wailing, howling voice on the other end:

"Boss, you finally called! I've been blocking that old lady for three days and two nights!"

"How long do we have to hold them off before we're done with our mission?!"

Robert's mouth gaped open enough to fit an egg: "I thought you wouldn't last more than a day or two! I didn't expect you to still have the strength left!"

"Bucky, you truly have the makings of an emperor!"

Chapter 42 The Ugly Emperor, a myth of simultaneously waging war against the myriad kingdoms and the Thunder Department!

When Robert approached Buggy and Crocodile, offering to hire Buggy's courier to help stop the Big Mom Pirates, he was actually just hoping they would cause Big Mom some minor trouble and delay her for a day or two.

In Robert's mind, whether it was Raibu reclaiming his territory or Luffy's crew fighting Kaido, it would all be over in two or three days.

As long as Bucky's Express can hold off Big Mom for more than a day, the mission will be considered complete. After all, such a large fleet cannot possibly cross half of the New World to reach the battlefield in an instant. Considering the travel time, it will be just enough time for him to complete his actions in Mary Geoise.

However, anyone who has ever been the client knows that you should never tell the contractor your bottom line from the beginning, otherwise they will definitely not be able to meet even the bottom line.

So what Robert meant at the time was to have Buggy's Delivery directly confront the Big Mom Pirates, implying that only in this way would they be worthy of his help in securing a Yonko position.

Robert believed that with Crocodile's intelligence, he would definitely be able to figure out his intentions. After all, Buggy's Express simply didn't have the resources to go head-to-head with the Big Mom Pirates. They would definitely settle for second best, symbolically obstructing him to give him an explanation before letting Whole Cake Island's fleet pass.

Charlotte Linlin will then be able to appear on Onigashima just like in the original story, becoming a litmus test for Ace and the others. Afterwards, she can use the fact that Bucky's Express failed to achieve its intended goal to give them a dressing down.

Unexpectedly, Wano Country launched its attack a few days late, and then the Navy's application to leave Mary Geoise was also blocked by the Five Elders in the stamping process, which meant that the great war did not come to an end until the third day.

He was so focused on managing two battlefields that he even forgot about the Big Mom Pirates being blocked at sea by Buggy's Delivery Service!

Buggy was really about to cry. Although his core crew consisted of only a few members from the original Buggy Pirates and a hundred or so pirates who escaped from Impel Down, the rest were outsourced personnel recruited on the basis of this team.

But the lives of outsourced workers are also lives. If they want to stop the team from WanGuo, they can only pay with their lives!

Crocodile was not in the blocking team. He had set off to cultivate relationships long before the battle began, determined to assemble a super pirate crew composed of the Seven Warlords of the Sea as soon as possible after the World Conference.

Before he left, he made it clear to Buggy that Robert wasn't stupid and would never entrust the huge task of stopping the Big Mom Pirates from attacking his rear to the Buggy Pirates.

So either he has other backup plans, or he is confident that he can take back all the territories that were originally occupied by the Beasts Pirates within two or three days.

Based on this speculation, Crocodile's mission for Buggy was to keep Big Mom's pirate crew at sea for at least five days and find a way to prevent more than half of their ships from reaching the battlefield.

If he can complete this task, he can use it as leverage to demand more benefits from Robert.

Crocodile set this goal for Bucky, but he was also prepared for Bucky to make some concessions. Neither he nor Robert expected that Bucky could actually hold off the fleet personally led by Big Mom.

For the next three days, Bucky went to great lengths, first sending fish-man mercenaries to dig the ship underwater, and then sending a team of beast tamers to drop bait from the sky on flying mounts, attracting a large number of sea kings to come and intercept him.

They never directly confronted the enemy, but their endless stream of underhanded tactics truly opened the eyes of the elites of the world.

By now, Bucky has run out of options. If he wants to stop Big Mom's advance, he can only send in his mercenaries and sacrifice them.

Buggy did indeed do just that. He held a hypocritical mobilization meeting, convincing his subordinates that Robert had already declared war on Kaido. As an old rival who was on par with Robert and had even humiliated him many times, Buggy Express couldn't fall too far behind.

That's why they're targeting the Big Mom Pirates this time. Their tricks the other day were just to weaken the enemy's strength and demoralize them.

The time has come! The great Ugly King will lead everyone in a head-on charge to completely crush the Big Mom Pirates.

Then his men actually believed it, and the entire fleet launched a full-scale attack, blocking the path of the Wan Kingdom.

Most importantly, the underlings thoughtfully positioned Bucky's flagship in front of the old lady, clearly believing that the Ugly King was going to challenge this veteran Yonko to a duel.

Bucky was so scared he almost peed his pants. He had originally planned to trick his men into charging forward so he could escape by boat!

At this moment, Bucky was like Zhao Da, who had been given the imperial robe in advance. What was even more terrifying was that his subordinates carried him directly to Emperor Shizong of the Zhou Dynasty, who was at the height of his power!

In the time leading up to Robert's call, Bucky had been putting on airs and talking to World War II from afar, and he felt he was about to give himself away!

The moment Robert called, he answered the phone without even turning his back to his men, shamelessly calling out "Boss!"

Robert knew that Buggy must have had a tough time getting to this point, so he quickly made the decision: "You can take the brothers and retreat. Of course, it would be best if you could lure Big Mom and the others to Wano Country."

Bucky nearly roared, "Withdraw? How am I supposed to withdraw now?"

Robert cleared his throat: "What? You want to fight them a little longer?"

Bucky roared, "I'll beat him up, MOM!"

Bucky's underlings immediately looked at him with admiration, thinking that someone had called to threaten him and ask him to let Big Mom go, but their boss had rejected him in a domineering way.

The Big Mom Pirates are also in a desperate situation right now. For the past three days, they have been constantly harassed by Buggy's delivery service. Although the damage is not significant, with only a dozen or so ships unable to move forward due to Buggy's underhanded tactics, the crew members are extremely exhausted.

From the initial attack on the ship to the subsequent barrage of foul-smelling fish bait, and then to the noise he made in the middle of the night to disturb the crew's rest, Bucky went to great lengths to stop the old woman.

Even Charlotte Linlin has been getting impatient these past few days. Her children are worried that she might have another mental breakdown because she hasn't been getting enough rest. This morning, after the old lady finally fell into a deep sleep, they were afraid of making any noise that might wake her up.

The reason the old lady was able to get a good night's sleep this morning was precisely because at that time, Bucky had run out of options and was mobilizing his men to come and die.

By the time Pakistan was dragged to the front of the World Ships to put on airs, the old lady was already asleep.

The Big Mom Pirates were afraid that fighting would wake Big Mom, so no matter what Buggy did, they remained still. Buggy was also afraid that if a fight broke out, he would die on the spot, so he only dared to say some polite but insincere words.

Both pirate crews had their own concerns, yet they strangely reached a certain balance.

Buggy is currently feeling like he's been granted a pardon, but if he turns around and runs away, firstly, his image in the eyes of his underlings will be ruined, and secondly, it might attract the pursuit of the Big Mom Pirates.

Bucky's clever little mind worked incredibly fast. Suddenly, he slammed the Den Den Mushi to the ground, and after confirming the call was disconnected, he shouted:

"You bastard Robert! You've gone too far!"

"Men! Turn the ship around and follow me to Wano Country! We're not fighting the Big Mom Pirates today!"

"Go and take Robert's head!"

A terrifying voice echoed across the sea:

"Mamamama~ Did that bastard go to Wano Country?"

Chapter 43 Where Did the Navy Go?

Doflamingo, the defensive commander of the Beasts Pirates, was captured, and all the executives of the Donquixote Family, along with several mid-level members of the Beasts Pirates themselves, were defeated one by one. The great battle was finally coming to an end.

The Whitebeard Pirates were originally the occupiers of these islands, and now that they have returned, they don't need to put much effort into calming the public after the war.

Given Robert's current status, he naturally can no longer throw the captured prisoners into Impel Down. And none of the Donquixote Family members, from Doflamingo to his subordinates, possess Devil Fruit abilities that Robert covets, so there's no need for him to kill them and take them.

They first found a larger country with a Seastone prison to imprison the prisoners. The remaining ordinary pirates didn't even have a proper commander, and were quickly and completely defeated by the Raibu.

The logistics departments of A-San and Da Luo began to exert their efforts. Although Da Luo's combat strength has never been strong, he is much stronger than CP9's Bruno in developing his Devil Fruit ability.

Ever since Robert told him just how much potential this fruit had, Darrow has been constantly trying to find ways to develop the Door-Door Fruit's abilities.

Moreover, his development direction was completely different from that of his predecessor Bruno. He was an absolute pragmatist, abandoning all the fancy things like revolving doors and sliding doors, and focusing on only two directions: making the doors bigger and the distance between them greater.

Even if the battle goes smoothly, it will still cause damage to the battlefield. The islanders, who have changed hands multiple times in just one year, harbor some resentment, though they may not say it.

For ordinary people, they don't care who the country's leader is or who the actual occupier of this sea area is. They only care about how much tax they have to pay and whether they can live a peaceful life.

As long as war is being fought in their country, disrupting everyone's peaceful life, no matter what your stance is or how noble your purpose is, you cannot expect the public to sympathize.

Because they will not be the ones to enjoy the benefits, but they will bear the pain of war.

Ordinary people whose homes have been destroyed stare blankly, not daring to express their anger at those who could demolish their houses with their bare hands, yet bewildered about how to live their lives in the future.

Just when everyone was confused, the portal of Da Luo opened on the various islands, and countless logistics personnel pushing carts filed out, bringing a large amount of living supplies, along with the sky island clouds cut into pieces.

This building material shone brightly in Dressrosa, not only because it was lightweight but also because it was highly malleable. According to the information provided by the Skypiea Monk Urouge, Robert's people found some of the technical documents left behind when the Moon People built the Skypiea, and now they have mastered the technology to mass-produce Skypiea clouds.

Robert personally trained the pacification officers who traveled to the various reclaimed territories, constantly explaining the Thunder Clan's ruling principles to the islanders, quickly calming their hearts in a manner that was almost brainwashing.

Meanwhile, Robert was sitting on Hela, reading the message from his intelligence agent: "That old bastard Buggy definitely has something going on. He actually managed to lure Big Mom to Wano Country?"

Vika, the Tontatta girl who helped Robert in his toy form, has now become the information transmission specialist for the Thunder Department. She is responsible for leading a group of Tontatta boys to send and receive messages from various places. Hela has specially reserved a large communication room for them.

Vika reported earnestly: "He not only lured people to Wano Country, but it seems he also formed an alliance with Big Mom. Someone saw him being invited onto the Queen Mother's Anthem, where Big Mom hosted a banquet for him, and both sides enjoyed themselves immensely."

Marco was at a loss for words. Back when he was an apprentice in the Whitebeard Pirates, he had dealt with Buggy and Shanks quite a bit. The official members of the two pirate crews fought one-on-one, so naturally, they, as apprentice crew members, also had to fight against each other.

Shanks has now risen to become one of the Four Emperors, while Buggy remained unknown until two years ago when he returned to the public eye.

Marco never expected that he would remain silent until he made his move and become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and now he is a guest of Big Mom.

“You’re right. Bucky, putting everything else aside, can fight an old lady to the death one minute and then become one of her guests the next. His social skills are terrifying. I can’t even guess what methods he used.”

Robert shook his head: "It doesn't matter what methods were used, as long as the established goal can be achieved, then it's a good method."

Marco frowned: "Have you noticed anything strange?"

Robert didn't immediately understand Marco's meaning: "What strange place?"

Marco counted on his fingers seriously and said, "According to you, the battle of Mary Geoise was only launched after it was confirmed that the navy had left. Doesn't that mean the navy has been gone for more than a day? Why haven't we received any news from them yet?"

Robert wasn't too worried about the navy, since they had already ended the battle and suffered minimal losses.

"We are currently in the latter half of the Grand Line. Even if the navy's warships are fast and there is no harassment along the way, they will still have to stop to rest and resupply, right?"

"It will be at least a week before they arrive from the Red Earth."

That's how the world of One Piece is set up. Even though the planet they live on is bigger than Earth, traveling there doesn't take much time, and even the longest distances can be covered in just a few days.

Before Robert arrived, he thought it was a bug, but after arriving he realized that this was just how the technology tree in this world was.

Since most of the world is submerged by the ocean, ships have become the best mode of transportation. As a result, ships in this world are large and fast, with even giant ships capable of reaching the speed of airplanes and stopping as easily as if they had no inertia.

But no matter how fast the ship is, it can't move at near-light speed like him. So Robert wasn't surprised that the navy hadn't arrived. They're like the police in Hong Kong movies; they won't come out to clean up the mess until the battle is over.

Marco shook his head and said, "What I mean is, with the commotion we've caused this time, the Navy can't possibly just send a handful of people, can they?"

Seeing Marco's serious attitude, Robert also became serious: "That's right, I heard the Five Elders' conversation. Aokiji volunteered to lead the team. If even the Fleet Admiral is going, then I'm afraid all three Admirals will come."

Marco said, "With so many naval forces coming here, we can't rely entirely on New World warships for transport, can we? The navy's power in the New World is already weak; where are we going to find so many spare warships for them to use?"

Robert's expression froze, and he instantly understood what Marco meant: "That's right! Shouldn't their ship go through Fishman Island and then across the Red Line?"

"Vika!"

Upon hearing Robert's call, Vika, who had just left, excitedly ran back:

"Robert Lando, what's the matter?"

Robert's voice was urgent: "Have you received any message from Fishman Island? Any news will do!"

Vika tilted her head: "No."