The Mud Dragon Pirates' twelve massive ships sailed in neat formation across the sea. After fifteen days, they had reached the waters around Bugi Island. Navigator Garud had already selected a landing site, and Julian could tell that this navigator was highly professional. Looking at the landing site Garud had chosen—a vast beach—Julian boldly gave the order, "We're going straight onto the island." All the officers consciously followed behind Julian. If outsiders had seen it, they would surely have exclaimed, "What a well-organized crew!"
Julian stepped off the ship and onto the island. The island was enormous, covering roughly over twenty thousand square kilometers—about more than half of a crescent. Julian stared in shock and said, "The trees on this island are incredible. Why are they all so tall?" The entire crew looked toward the forest. Giant trees over a hundred meters tall surrounded the center of the island, creating the atmosphere of a primeval forest. Julian led the pirate crew onward while observing their surroundings.
The island was shaped like a half-crescent, with a broad beach in the middle. Julian gave his orders. "Pablo, have the logistics crew start a fire and prepare food. The other Division Captains will take their crews to explore the island. Split up and stay in contact through Den Den Mushi." After speaking, Julian took the lead and headed out. The six Division Captains led their respective crews toward the island's center. Julian took Alice, Beatrice, and the others toward the middle as well. An uninhabited island like this must have Devil Fruits. No one's ever developed this place.
Julian looked at the enormous plants before him. A single Mute Grass plant stood nearly half a person tall, while the Four-leaf Clovers and countless other plants were similarly oversized. Julian felt there had to be something wrong with this island. Otherwise, why would the plants be so huge? He immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability to sense the area around him.
Julian discovered that the soil throughout the island was extremely heavy and red in color. Feeling the earth element here, he found it incredibly weighty and dense. Julian said curiously, "It seems the soil itself is very heavy. Is this Gravity Mud?" As he spoke, Julian stored the soil inside his body, intending to develop his abilities in other directions later. Smiling, he said, "I can use this kind of soil to develop Gravity Mud in the future." Julian was delighted. This discovery alone made the trip worthwhile.
Julian clenched both fists and directly activated his Devil Fruit ability. The soil on the ground began to tremble and spread outward in every direction. A path leading toward the center of the island opened up. Julian strode ahead at the front, and the people behind him followed in his footsteps toward the island's center.
At that moment, Julian's Den Den Mushi began making its "Moshi moshi" sound. Julian took it out and saw that the call was from Pekki. Pekki spoke with a serious expression. "Captain, we were ambushed by animals. While exploring the island, a huge tiger sprang out of the grass. Two members of our Second Division were injured. In the end, we worked together and killed the giant tiger."
Julian said sternly, "Send the injured back to the ship for treatment. Send the tiger back too—we'll eat it tonight." Julian wondered what tiger penis was like in this world. It probably packed quite a punch. It should be the kind of thing that greatly replenished one's vitality.
The other divisions had also encountered animal attacks to varying degrees. George had run into a group of Pythons, but his division was strong and well-equipped. George directly transformed into Great Bear Form and killed a whole swath of Pythons in an instant.
White Wolf Allison encountered a Mountain Lion, but it did not have much attacking power and was easily handled by Allison. Leo had encountered a pack of wolves, but when they saw the gun in Leo's hand, they scattered and fled. Pierre had been attacked by a large flock of vultures, but after Pierre revealed his weapon, the vultures flew away immediately. Pierre looked puzzled as he said, "These animals are all enormous. They're more than five times larger than normal animals. How strange."
All the crew members were equipped with Flintlock Guns and long blades, while the Division Captains were all powerful fighters. After driving off or eliminating the animals, they reported to Julian. Once Julian learned of it, he decided to continue exploring the giant island. "Keep pushing forward and explore this uninhabited island." After receiving Julian's order, all the Division Captains continued their exploration.
Julian discovered a huge patch of Man-eating Flowers in the massive forest ahead. Without another word, he activated the Earth-Earth Fruit ability. Dozens of twenty-meter Earth Spikes erupted from the ground and wiped out the Man-eating Flowers. The spikes were incredibly sharp, slaughtering every last one of them.
Julian looked wary as he said, "These plants are all a little too big. Everyone, be careful." Alice also looked vigilant. "These plants are huge, at least seven or eight times larger than ordinary plants. And Man-eating Flowers are extremely dangerous plants."
Julian said seriously, "Wait here. I'll scout the way ahead first." Alice said, "Then be careful!" Julian nodded. "Stay here and wait for my message." Leaving the group where they were, he set off alone.
Each Man-eating Flower was fifteen meters tall. If a human carelessly approached one, it would use its vine whips to lash and bind them before stuffing them into its mouth. They were extremely dangerous. Whenever Julian saw a Man-eating Flower, he destroyed it. He summoned an oversized Cliff Sword—let's see whether those Man-eating Flowers were afraid of it.
Julian also discovered that the trees here were no longer as dense, and they had begun to grow shorter. He knew he was likely nearing the central region. Julian activated Elementalization again and began sensing through the muddy ground. This was also the result of Julian constantly developing his Devil Fruit ability. The Earth-Earth Fruit was equivalent to the Earth-Earth Fruit ability; while standing on soil, he could sense basic information from the ground, such as the weight of animals and people above it. However, the range could not be too far—only a few hundred meters.
Julian was extremely pleased after developing this skill. Didn't this mean his Devil Fruit ability had some of the functions of Observation Haki? Julian said excitedly, "With this foundation, won't it be easy for me to awaken Observation Haki in the future?"
Julian used his earth sensing to investigate whether the soil in this area was different. He found that the ground was extremely heavy. It was also red soil, but the farther Julian walked toward the center of the island, the heavier and denser the soil became. Julian stored more of this red soil inside his body. He could develop this ability later, and he named it Gravity Mud.
If this hit someone, they would not even be able to lift their arms. It was a Divine Skill for ambushing people. Julian even mocked, "That idiot Smoker Caribou had a disaster-level Devil Fruit ability, yet he developed it into stuffing Gatling guns inside his body. If he loved Gatling guns so much, why didn't he just eat a Gatling Gun Devil Fruit?"
Julian complained, "This is the Earth-Earth Fruit ability. Caribou simply isn't worthy of it. Only I can truly wield it." Julian had already developed many skills: Volatile Saltpeter that exploded upon contact with a target, the devouring Swamp Mud, black mud containing iron ore minerals, and now red Gravity Mud. Julian said, "Let's see who dares say I'm not worthy."
Julian controlled the soil to coil around his body, transforming it into Gundam Mode, the Mud Dragon Giant Soldier form—a sixty-meter-tall black Dragon Form. If Kaido saw this, he'd definitely curse me out. I'm using Teacher Kaido's Dragon Form image to pilot a Gundam.
Julian controlled the Mud Dragon Giant Soldier and walked toward the island's center. He felt that something here had caused both the trees and animals to undergo Gigantification. With one kick per tree, he moved quickly. In Gundam Mode, Julian reached the central region and discovered a small tree.
It was roughly over twenty meters tall, with many pear-shaped fruits hanging from its branches. Julian said, "I finally found a fruit tree that actually bears fruit." Julian released Gundam Mode, walked over to the fruit tree, casually picked several fruits, and began tasting them. The fruits from this tree are about ten times bigger than ordinary pears. They're almost as large as watermelons. Julian said, "These fruits are sweet and refreshing." He planned to transplant the tree onto the ship later. From then on, he would only eat huge fruits. He did not want normal-sized fruit.
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