Julian, Bound by Brotherhood

The banquet began. The seating consisted of rows of small benches, with several people gathered around each table. More than five hundred people were on the Mud Dragon's main ship. Of course, banquets were also being held on the other ships, with only some ordinary crew members left behind to guard them. The division captains and elite crew members had all gone to Julian's main ship.

The five merchant ships behind them housed the captives and slaves who had just boarded that night. Pierre arranged for members of several elite squads to guard each merchant ship. Julian also moved all the women onto the main ship, where they could serve as ship doctors, cooks, or other skilled professionals.

Julian thought to himself, There are so many of them I can barely take it all in. More than five hundred beautiful women on a ship—what a sight. He also made it clear that he encouraged free love. Anyone who forcibly married or seized a woman would be violating ship rules and receive Three Knives Six Holes. But once they left the ship, Julian would not interfere. The other division captains strongly supported this as well. After all, most of them were martial arts fanatics who knew next to nothing about women.

All the female crew members worked aboard Julian's main ship. Naturally, those who could come aboard his main ship were basically high-ranking pirates. The rookie pirates and ordinary pirates remained aboard their own division captains' ships, spending most of their time training.

The other division captains could come by whenever they wished. Julian sat down with the other division captains, the ship doctors, logistics officers, and the rest. The dishes before him were all excellent: curry beef, braised pork ribs, roast whole lamb, grilled fish, more than ten dishes in total, along with plenty of desserts and fine wine from the local town. Julian drank with everyone. In his previous life, he had been an office worker and rarely drank, but now that he was a pirate, he went with the local customs. After regularly training his alcohol tolerance, he had become quite capable. At worst, if he got drunk, someone would carry him back.

Beatrice sat to Julian's left and poured him wine. Julian thought to himself, So this is the life of the rich. Female attendants also served behind the various officers, an arrangement made by Pierre. Julian was very satisfied. He told the officers, "If you like someone, go after her yourself!" George said, "Captain, I still want to become stronger. I want to visit more powerful seas and the Grand Line, and challenge the strong people of this world."

George continued, "When the time comes, we'll storm Wano Country and wipe out every last remnant of the Kozuki Family." He spat and said, "Damn Momonosuke. At such a young age, he inherited that beast of a father's lustfulness. He screws people over and never cleans up after himself. I think you're the one best suited to become Wano Country's shogun, Captain." Julian said, "Brothers, don't think about those little bastards. They pollute the air. When the time comes, we'll storm Wano Country together and chop down the remnants of the Kozuki Family." With a face full of heroic spirit, Julian declared, "Brothers, eat meat by the chunk and drink wine by the bowl—cheers!"

The table was filled with laughter. Julian said to Herbert, "Brother, I got an incomparably sharp treasured sword today. I'll give it to you after we're done drinking. You're taking over as captain of the Fourth Division, so you need to train more swordsmanship experts for our Fourth Division." Pirates had extraordinary physical qualities. Herbert had only been aboard for three days, yet he was almost fully recovered, and the wounds all over his body had healed. Herbert said, "Thank you, Captain. I will spare no effort in teaching everyone, to repay your kindness." After saying that, he stood and bowed to Julian.

Julian immediately stood up, looking like a master of success studies, and said to Herbert and everyone else, "We are brothers bound by blood, companions who eat aboard the same ship. Every crew member who leaves my ship gets one million Berries. But the brothers who follow Mud Dragon Julian will receive two billion Berries in the future." Every division captain looked at Julian with admiration and emotion. Julian sighed again, Sure enough, this is the pirate world. Their knowledge is so limited that it's easy to move them.

Julian looked to his left and saw that Beatrice had also been touched by his speech. She looked at him with excitement on her face. Julian thought to himself, Didn't I eat the Earth-Earth Fruit? Since when did the Earth-Earth Fruit gain the power to move people? He thought again, Since your standards for being moved are this low, then I'll have to put in some effort.

Julian immediately raised his wine cup and stood. He said to everyone, "I want to thank this sea for allowing us brothers to meet upon it." George roared, "Brothers, thank the sea for allowing me to meet a captain bound by brotherhood! I'll drink this cup first as a sign of respect!" All the crew members stood and shouted, "Thank you, sea, for bringing us together!"

Julian was even more satisfied. He said to himself, George has already awakened to the true spirit of a good bro. After drinking the first cup, Julian continued, "All my brothers are members of our pirate crew. I, Mud Dragon Julian, was merely a fisherman. Only after meeting all of you did I discover the meaning of our pirate crew's existence: to become brothers bound by blood with every one of you. For the sake of brotherhood, I can take five blades to the ribs. I will never betray everyone's trust. My dream is to become Mud Dragon Julian, bound by brotherhood. For our brotherhood, cheers!"

After saying that, Julian drained another cup. Everyone holding up their cups also shouted, "Brothers, drink!" The moment those words were spoken, everyone became deeply excited. The division captains were all greatly moved. "Sob, sob... so this is our great captain?" Some other crew members began to cry as well. One said, "I used to be a slave. I thought I would be tortured to death like that for the rest of my life, until I met Captain Mud Dragon. He was the first light in my life." At that moment, Julian was like a god in their hearts.

Julian thought, I can't overdo it, or it might backfire. He kept drinking with the crew. No matter who clinked cups with him, Julian never refused. At around midnight, Julian said, "Brothers, we have plenty of days ahead of us. Tonight's banquet ends here. Next time, we'll drink until we're completely smashed." Afterward, he saw the division captains off the ship.

Julian wore an expression of lofty ambition, full of confidence in his company's future. He took Beatrice back to the third deck cabin. The king's main room had now become Julian's main room. The moment Julian lay down, he and Beatrice began discussing life. Feeling the obedient little bunny in his arms, Julian was very happy. He thought to himself, Becoming a king of the seas is my ultimate dream.

A little after eight in the morning, Beatrice woke Julian. Julian first went alone to the second deck and used the Den Den Mushi to ask the other division captains whether anything had happened. Holding the receiver, Julian told navigator Garud and the division captains, "The entire Mud Dragon Pirates crew will set out. Garud, sail toward the nearest World Government member nation." Julian intended to continue raiding homes.

Julian's plan was to rob World Government member nations along the way, preferably the somewhat larger ones. He would not bother with kingdoms that were not members of the World Government. Either they were too poor, or, if they were prosperous non-member nations, they had long since become hunting grounds for the Celestial Dragons. Every three years, the non-member nations suffered racial massacres that wiped out the original island residents, while slaves were added to make the hunting competition more enjoyable for the participating Celestial Dragons. Devil Fruits would even be offered as prizes.

Julian planned to travel from the South Blue toward Reverse Mountain and enter the Grand Line. He also intended to train the crew along the way and increase their strength. Navigator Garud discovered that there were at least dozens of deserted islands on the route to Reverse Mountain, and the voyage would take quite some time. Julian said, "No rush. Just sail slowly." And so, Julian's twelve ships set off in grand formation toward the next kingdom.

The main reason was that Reverse Mountain was indeed very far away. Julian's current location lay in the central waters of the South Blue. Looking at the small dot on the map, it would take at least four or five months of sailing to reach Reverse Mountain. Although Julian's fleet of twelve ships consisted of large merchant ships and pirate sailing warships, they would be finished if they ran out of fresh water at sea. Therefore, the navigator had to select a suitable route, along with the countries and islands they would pass through. Julian left all of that to Garud. Julian himself basically knew nothing about navigation. He had learned even this basic nautical knowledge from Garud.

Six warships sailed ahead to clear the way, followed by five large merchant ships. Julian's king-exclusive vessel, now renamed the Mud Dragon, sailed in the center. The sight was truly magnificent. Looking out over the vast, rolling sea and watching flocks of seagulls soaring through the sky, Julian felt utterly refreshed. He truly felt the unrestrained freedom of such a life.

Julian went to the fourth deck, the open-air deck, and began training his Body Techniques. Straight punches, hooks, uppercuts, and Kun Fist—he practiced them over and over. He also used his Earth-Earth Fruit ability to shape earth into a heavy suit, increasing his weight. As Julian trained and the sounds of his techniques rang out, he shouted, "Mud Dragon Invincible Heavy Kun Fist!"

The entire deck creaked. As Julian trained, he thought to himself, If I make an Earth Weight-Bearing Suit for every crew member and have them train in it for a month, it will definitely be better than three months of ordinary hard training. Then we'll be able to overtake the other major powers on the curve. Whitebeard was only in his fifties now, yet people already called him the strongest man in the world, and his bounty had reached 5.02 billion Berries.

Julian rather admired that man's personal charisma. With one line—"Become my son"—he started the pirate version of Where Are We Going, Dad? But during the Summit War, he was backstabbed by that unfilial son, Blackbeard, and died as a result. Blackbeard relied on his ability to wield two Devil Fruits to make a fortune. He flourished on Hachinosu Island, surrounded by women and becoming one of the Four Emperors. Blackbeard was indeed not weak. He had left three scars on Red-Hair's face during Red-Hair's youth. Of course, Red-Hair only mentioned that when asking Whitebeard to stop Ace from pursuing Blackbeard. He was exaggerating Blackbeard's strength so that Whitebeard would call Ace back.

Julian thought that sons were still better when they were one's own flesh and blood. Because he had a deep understanding of the Earth-Earth Fruit ability, and because Logia abilities were inherently easy to develop as long as one had enough stamina, Julian had been developing his Devil Fruit ability these past few days. He discovered that the Earth-Earth Fruit could also make soil fertile. He made the soil on the fourth deck's open-air cabin fertile, causing the fruit trees there to bear plump fruit. Seeing how healthy the trees were, Julian smiled. "Not bad. This will prevent scurvy in the future."

Julian would not be bored aboard the ship. After all, there were hundreds of female nurses on the second deck. From the fourth deck, he could hear the nurses chatting noisily below. Beatrice followed ship doctor Rose there to study medicine. Several girls also wanted to join the divisions. For example, several girls were learning marksmanship aboard Leo's Goshawk. They wanted to become stronger themselves. Julian knew what those girls were thinking. They had probably already set their sights on Leo. After all, who could refuse a handsome young marksman with a middle-parted hairstyle? Leo himself remained completely unaware and simply continued teaching them how to shoot.

White Wolf Allison and logistics officer Pierre both studied Herbert's swordsmanship, learning Gale Style Swordsmanship. The defining trait of Gale Style Swordsmanship was speed. Julian strongly encouraged this. He allowed George and Pekki to develop on their own and train in whatever they wanted. Julian planned to first train his strength, then go to Little Garden to learn the Giant race's combat technique, Elbaf Spear.

Those two giants had been fighting on Little Garden for a hundred years. One was known as Blue Ogre Dorry, while the other was known as Red Ogre Brogy. The Giant race had long lifespans and could live for centuries. Even Big Mom Linlin had her eye on the Giant race. Julian knew they loved drinking, so he planned to use alcohol to build a good relationship with them. Even if he could not recruit them into his crew, learning their combat techniques should not be difficult. But if he could talk them into joining the pirate crew, then he would truly strike it rich.