One Piece: A Guide for Ordinary Players

The only thing Im could do was to gather all the Armament Haki within Satan's body and concentrate it on his forehead to defend against Robert's pseudo-light speed slash.

This forehead not only invoked Satan Saint's Armament Haki, but also wrapped in Im's supreme Conqueror's Haki as the King of the World. The moment the two forces clashed, the clouds in the sky did not just crack, but were like a watermelon that had been blown open by a grenade, completely scattering in four directions.

Robert gritted his teeth and unleashed his full Conqueror's Haki, but he suddenly noticed that Satan Saint's face showed expressions of fear, despair, and resentment.

That expression could never have been made by Im; it could only have belonged to Satan himself!

Robert instantly realized that Im was trying to withdraw his demonic powers before he could kill Satan Saint!

"You have no sportsmanship! You think you can just delete your account because you can't beat me?!"

Chapter 29: Not only will victory or defeat be decided, but life or death will also be determined!

Gungnir and Satan Saint's faces were contorted, but their foreheads, firmly enveloped by Armament Haki, remained frozen in place. Satan Saint's remaining body trembled and emitted black smoke, as if his body was being hollowed out by Im with some unknown ability.

Robert pressed his entire body against the bottom of Gungnir, using all his strength to thrust the spear tip into the already somewhat shriveled head of Satan Saint.

Robert had no time to spare; the few dozen seconds passed quickly. Suddenly, the resistance disappeared, and the Armament Haki protecting Satan's head broke open, allowing the Conqueror's Haki wrapped around Gungnir to rush straight into his body.

Robert's body lurched forward for dozens of meters before coming to a stop. Looking back, all that remained on the sea was the sinking warship, proving that a great battle had indeed taken place there. As for the remains of Satan Saint, there was no trace of them.

Robert brought up the attribute panel and couldn't help but frown.

The rewards for the level-breaking quest were not delivered as promised. According to the quest description, as long as you defeat a master who has surpassed the level limit, you can freely select a basic attribute and obtain its next stage's maximum reward skill.

However, since no reward has been received, it means either I did not kill Satan Saint just now, and he was taken away by the demon teleportation at the last moment or killed by Im in advance, or Satan Saint did not break through the level cap and was not enough to trigger the quest reward.

Robert glanced casually at another value, his brows relaxing slightly. The progress of the "Only Struggle" level-up quest had changed.

[Number of opponents defeated at max level or beyond the limit (1), Mastery of the world's rules (+1)]

Robert had used almost all his strength in the battle against Satan Saint, which greatly accelerated the assimilation of his body into the rules. At the same time, the resulting change was a surge in his control over the rules.

This so-called rule assimilation degree is a double-edged sword. The deeper the assimilation, the stronger the stomach becomes when using lightning power, but correspondingly, one also bears a greater risk of being replaced by the will of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

When my endurance attribute broke through 200 points, I obtained a skill that could permanently increase my rule control by 20% without the risk of being assimilated by the rules.

The enhancement brought by this "Only Struggle" skill has the same effect, allowing one to better develop fruit abilities and enhance the power of moves, without increasing the degree of assimilation by the rules.

Robert finally smiled. It seemed that he had finally killed Satan Saint. However, Satan Saint's strength did not seem to be above the level 50 cap.

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

Within Pangu City, a roar that shook everyone to their core resounded from among the flowers, and countless powerful auras, barely perceptible to the naked eye, spread in all directions, stunning most of those in Pangu City who were not strong enough to work or serve.

Inside the office of the Five Elders, Saint Maz and Saint Pitt were slumped on the sofa, their faces pale. Saints Vochuli and Nasshoulang, who were still able to stand, were also in a state of grief. In the center of the dark magic circle in front of them, a skull split in two lay quietly.

Clearly, he was already dead before they used the teleportation array to summon Satan back to Mary Geoise.

Im's screams could be heard even outside Pangu City. The remaining four Five Elders no longer cared whether Satan was dead or alive, and rushed towards the Flower Chamber.

Im is the foundation upon which they can live forever and wield supreme power. As long as Im is alright, they can continue to enjoy their high positions. If something happens to Im, none of them will survive.

Forget about etiquette, the group reached out to push open the door and rush into the flower room, only to hear Im's barely suppressed anger from inside: "Get out of here!"

The four elders were pale, their bodies trembling slightly, and they stood there somewhat at a loss.

"Go and clean up the mess Satan left behind! How long do you plan to let that Vegapunk stream?"

"I don't care what methods you use, just minimize the impact of this incident!"

"Summon Figarando Garin to see me, immediately!"

The four men quickly turned around and obediently went to carry out Im's orders. Although Im was furious at this moment, it was not hard to tell from his words that the responsibility for this incident had been entirely borne by the already deceased Saint Satan.

If they handle the following matters well, they should be able to avoid being affected by Im's wrath again.

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

Eghardt was now a ruin. After Robert left, the Buster Call was resolutely carried out by the Navy, and the Straw Hat crew had no power to stop it.

They only had time to join forces with the Giant Warrior Pirates to transport the wounded, fallen dragon and the giant ancient robot that was finally activated to the giants' ship before desperately fleeing.

Kizaru and Luffy exchanged a few token blows, then Kizaru pretended to be outmatched and ordered his troops to cease pursuit.

Even if the Five Elders personally intervened, they couldn't do anything to Luffy and his crew. Even if a reckoning were to take place, they wouldn't punish Kizaru simply because he didn't leave the Straw Hat crew behind.

Kizaru stood before Vegapunk's corpse, now a pool of poisonous water, his expression as dejected as Robert's just moments before. If it weren't for the countless CP agents and Marines around him, he would have loved to burst into tears.

Kizaru's second-in-command stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "General... the Buster Call has ended. All buildings and facilities, including the upper research area of ​​Eghardt, have been completely cleared. We..."

Kizaru adjusted his sunglasses: "Leave the rest to those CP agents. Our mission is over. Time to return."

Without even glancing at the egg-shaped building behind him that had long since fallen from the sky due to the shelling, he led the navy away from the island with which he had such deep feelings, without even looking back at the body of his old friend.

Countless CP agents returned to Egherd and began to thoroughly search the ruins destroyed by the artillery fire, assessing whether there were any machines or intelligence that might have leaked information, and sorting valuable items and loading them onto ships whose destinations were unknown.

The one they valued most was a shrunken brain that had been burned into a gelatinous state and was rescued from an egg-shaped building!

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

Robert kept stuffing food into his mouth, trying to reduce the rule assimilation caused by his reckless use of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. He mumbled a question to the two busy figures beside him:

"I've invested a lot of money in rebuilding this place. So, do you think it still meets your standards?"

Caesar Courland turned around obsequiously and said, "That's wonderful, sir! I never dared to dream of having such abundant research resources in my entire life!"

Another figure slowly reached out and stroked the metal test bench in front of him: "I really miss it. Speaking of which, this place is named after me."

"Punk Hazard!"

Chapter 30 Hurricane Rescue

For some time, Punk Hazard had been used by Robert as a place to exile prisoners. All the prisoners who had been subdued by Caesar Couran and the trusted men left behind by Tesoro in the Golden City were all thrown there by Robert.

Among these people are quite powerful, such as Baccarat, who ate the Lucky Fruit, and Mr. Tanaka, who ate the Traveling Fruit.

To prevent the prisoners from escaping, Robert, under the pretext of protecting the grain transport route, deployed patrolling pirates around the area, forbidding any ship from approaching.

Even if someone were to drift there, they would only see the desolate volcanic landscape and a terrifying flying dragon on the island. No one would imagine that the underground of this uninhabited island had been hollowed out and transformed into a huge cage.

A few months ago, all the prisoners here were transferred, and countless research instruments purchased and assembled from all over the world once again filled the underground laboratory. Even the area that was originally covered by lava was reopened, and researchers moved in one after another.

These researchers had all been thoroughly tested by Vegapunk and secretly checked by Lilith and the others using memory extractors to ensure they had not committed any acts of betrayal. That's why they were included on the list and taken here by Robert.

When the Eigerd incident ended, what Vegapunk saw was this advanced research institute, which, while not as strong as Egghead Island which he had managed for many years, was not far behind.

Vegapunk sighed. "Thank you, Robert."

With his mouth full of food, Robert realized that simply eating wasn't enough to reduce his assimilation by the rules.

Ever since he ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, his appetite has become enormous. He already needs to eat a lot to replenish his energy, but the new so-called anchor point is called gluttony. In order to efficiently maintain his emotions as a human, he has to eat and drink excessively, just like Luffy, stuffing himself with food.

"No need to thank me, we're brothers!"

Caesar Cullen, hands on hips: "Hey! Why aren't you thanking me! Nobody but me could have completed this plan!"

Vegapunk turned to Caesar Courland and bowed deeply: "Thank you too, Caesar."

Caesar Clown, who had been looking high and mighty, blushed and didn't know where to put his hands after hearing Vegapunk's thanks.

The underground laboratory was equipped with holographic devices everywhere, allowing York and the other six Punk clones to appear as projections, chattering around Vegapunk. Lilith was the most impatient.

"Hey! You didn't tell us your plan beforehand! How exactly did you manage to rescue the Doctor?"

Robert chewed his food heartily: "Your memories are interconnected. The Doctor is determined to die. If I tell you, won't he know immediately? If the people I'm saving aren't cooperating, how am I supposed to carry out the plan?"

"The doctor is right about one thing: the World Government will not let him go, so he has to die once."

"Originally, I didn't want to show my face, but I feel that the World Government is already suspicious that I have a connection with the Doctor. If I don't show my face at this time, I'm afraid it will arouse their suspicion."

"So I simply rushed to Egherd in a high-profile manner and rescued him openly and honestly."

Caesar Courland, having snapped out of his daze at being thanked by someone he had always wanted to surpass, laughed heartily, hands on his hips:

"Now it's my turn to make my appearance!"

“We had already built a clone organ laboratory on the Sky Island. In order to prevent Vegapunk from guessing our purpose, when we used York to access the data on the construction of this laboratory, our reason was to prepare six Punk clones, the bodies of Korone, in advance.”

"But cloning a body is not that simple. The sole purpose of this laboratory is to assemble a body for Vegapunk that can be mistaken for a real one!"

"Aside from developing a gene poison targeting the Celestial Dragons, I've devoted all my time to creating a lifelike human shell."

"As for the organs inside, do you remember what Robert told you to do in the spare limb storage room in Eghardt?"

York said, "He didn't ask us to retrieve all the cloned organs and pretend to assemble my body..."

"I understand! You took our organs back then to piece together the old man's substitute!"

Kaiser Courland said vaguely, "Cloneing organs is not my research area. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to get them from Eghead. Give me some time, and I'll be able to clone them sooner or later."

"But we're worried that the CP department will need to perform an autopsy afterward, so it would be best to get them to confirm that the dead body is Vegapunk's."

"The spare limb storage room in Eghardt contains spare limbs and organs of all of you, and you were all cloned using Vegapunk's genes. Even if the CP department investigates afterward, they will still conclude that the person who died was Vegapunk!"

Lilith pressed on, "But how did this cobbled-together body fool the Five Elders? I clearly saw it move when Satan pierced the fake body."

Robert said dismissively, "An old friend of mine has a talent under him who specializes in corpse reconstruction and resurrection."

“He has had a tough time these past few years, being chased by the World Government and having to hide from the world. I wrote him a letter of recommendation, which led to his help this time.”

Lilith persisted, "Who exactly are you talking about?"

Robert shrugged: "Former Shichibukai, user of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit—Gecko Moria."

"Hawkeye and Crocodile, along with Buggy the Clown, were going to form a pirate crew composed of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. I thought that although Moria was a bit weak, he was still a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, so I introduced him to them."

"In return, he stuffed a shadow into the doctor's double we cobbled together and manipulated it to stage a scene of coming back to life and then being painfully killed."

Caesar Clown interrupted, as if taking credit for something: "You must be wondering when we switched Vegapunk, right?"

Lilith scoffed, "What's so curious about that? We can share memories. Doctor, you fell into a portal while you were using gas to block other people's view."

Caesar Cullen looked dejected, as if his attempt to show off had failed. Robert continued, "The most troublesome part of this matter is not how to get the person out, but how to make the Five Elders believe that the Doctor is dead."

"So it's useless for us to kill people. People only want to believe what they want to believe."

"So all we need to do is pretend to try our best to save people, but let them outsmart us and our conspiracy will fail!"

Chapter 31 I don't want to live a single day without the internet!

Robert's gaze was profound: "As long as the Five Elders firmly believe that they are the most clear-headed and intelligent among them, many things will be easier to handle in the future."