Landing on Bugi Island

The Mud Dragon Pirates' twelve massive ships sailed in neat formation across the sea. After fifteen days, they had arrived near Bugi Island. Navigator Garud had already selected a landing spot, and Julian felt this navigator was exceptionally professional. Julian looked at the landing site Garud had chosen—a vast stretch of sandy beach—and issued his orders with bold authority, saying: "We're going straight onto the island." All the division captains instinctively followed behind Julian. If an outsider had seen them, they would have exclaimed: "What a well-organized lineup!"

Julian stepped from the ship onto the island. This island was enormous, roughly over twenty thousand square kilometers, about half the size of (Wanwan). Julian said with a stunned expression: "The trees on this island are truly astonishing—how are they all so tall?" All the crew members looked toward the forest. Giant trees over a hundred meters tall surrounded the island's center, forming a primeval jungle environment. Julian led the pirate crew members as they walked and observed.

The island's shape was like a crescent moon, with a large beach in the middle. Julian gave orders: "Pablo, arrange for the logistics crew to start a fire and cook. The rest of the division captains will explore the island with their teams. Split up and keep in touch via Den Den Mushi." After speaking, Julian strode off first. The six division captains also led their own crews, setting out toward the island's central area. Julian took Alice, Beatrice, and the others toward the island's heart, thinking to himself: On a deserted island like this, there's bound to be a Devil Fruit. No one's ever developed this place.

Julian looked at the enormous plants before him. A single Mute Grass was half a person's height, and there were other Four-leaf Clovers—many plants were incredibly tall. Julian felt something must be wrong with the island for the vegetation to be so massive. He immediately activated his fruit ability to sense the surroundings.

Julian discovered that the soil on this island was extremely heavy, and it was red soil. Feeling the earth elements here, he found them very dense and compact. Julian said with curiosity: "It seems the soil itself is heavy—is this Gravity Mud?" With that, he stored this soil inside his body, planning to develop other abilities in this area later. Julian said with a smile: "I can use this kind of soil in the future to develop Gravity Mud." He was very pleased, feeling that this harvest alone was already perfect.

Julian clenched his fists and directly activated his fruit ability. The ground began to tremble, and the vibrations spread outward, creating a path leading to the island's center. Julian took the lead, walking at the front, and the team behind followed his footsteps toward the island's core.

Just then, Julian's Den Den Mushi rang with a "Moshi Moshi" sound. He took it out and saw it was a call from Pekki. Pekki said seriously: "Captain, we were ambushed by animals. While exploring the island, a huge tiger burst out of the grass. Two members of the Second Division were injured, but we managed to kill the giant tiger together."

Julian said sternly: "Send the injured back to the ship for treatment. We'll eat the tiger on the ship tonight." Julian wondered what tiger penis was like in this world—it probably packed a punch, some kind of potent tonic.

The other divisions had also encountered animal attacks to varying degrees. George had faced an attack by a group of pythons, but his division was strong and well-equipped. George directly transformed into his Great Bear Form and killed a whole bunch of pythons in an instant.

White Wolf Allison had encountered a Mountain Lion, but the Mountain Lion wasn't much of a threat and was easily handled by Allison. Leo had also run into a pack of wolves, but when they saw the gun in Leo's hand, they all fled. Pierre had been attacked by a large flock of Vultures, but after he showed his weapon, the Vultures flew away immediately. Pierre said with confusion: "These animals are all enormous—at least five times bigger than normal ones. How strange!"

All the crew members were equipped with Flintlock Guns and long swords, and the division captains were all very capable. After driving off or eliminating these animals, they reported to Julian. Upon hearing this, Julian decided to continue exploring the giant island and said: "Keep pushing forward and explore this deserted island." After receiving Julian's orders, all the division captains continued their advance.

Julian spotted a large patch of Man-eating Flowers in the dense forest ahead. Without a word, he activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability, sending out dozens of twenty-meter Earth Spikes that destroyed the Man-eating Flowers. These spikes were extremely sharp, wiping out all the Man-eating Flowers.

Julian said warily: "These plants are a bit oversized. Everyone, be careful." Alice also said cautiously: "These plants are huge—at least seven or eight times bigger than normal ones. And these Man-eating Flowers are very dangerous plants."

Julian said seriously: "Wait here. I'll scout ahead first." Alice said: "Be careful!" Julian nodded and said: "Wait here for my news." He left the squad behind and went ahead alone.

Each Man-eating Flower was about fifteen meters tall. If a person carelessly walked nearby, the flower would whip them with its vines and drag them into its mouth—very dangerous. Julian destroyed every Man-eating Flower he saw with an oversized Cliff Sword, asking if those flowers weren't afraid.

Julian also noticed that the trees here were no longer so dense and had become shorter. He realized he might be nearing the central area. He activated Elementalization again to sense the muddy ground. This was part of his continuous development of the fruit ability. The Earth-Earth Fruit was like the Earth-Earth Fruit—standing on the soil, he could sense basic information about the ground, like how heavy an animal or person was on the surface. However, the range wasn't too far, only a few hundred meters.

Julian was very pleased to have developed this skill. Wasn't this like the fruit's ability having some Observation Haki function? Julian said excitedly: "With this foundation, won't it be easy for me to awaken Observation Haki later?"

Julian used his soil sensing to check if the soil in this area was any different. He found the earth here was very thick—still red soil. The closer he walked to the island's center, the heavier and denser the soil became. Julian stored this red soil in his body again, saving it to develop this ability later. He named it Gravity Mud.

If he hit someone with this, they wouldn't be able to lift their arms—a perfect Divine Skill for ambushes. Julian also complained: "That idiot Smoker, Caribou—a disaster-class fruit ability, and he developed it into stuffing a Gatling gun inside his body. If he likes Gatling guns so much, why not just eat a Gatling Gun Devil Fruit?"

Julian grumbled: "This is the Earth-Earth Fruit ability! Caribou doesn't deserve it at all. Only I can master it." Julian had already developed many skills: Volatile Saltpeter that exploded on contact with a target, Swamp Mud that swallowed things, Black Mineral Mud containing black iron ore minerals, and now this red Gravity Mud. Julian said: "Let's see who dares say I'm not worthy."

Julian controlled the soil to wrap around his body, transforming into Gundam Mode—the Mud Dragon Giant Soldier form, a sixty-meter-tall black Dragon Form. Julian thought to himself: If Kaido saw this, he'd probably curse me out. I'm using Kaido-sensei's Dragon Form likeness to pilot a Gundam.

Julian controlled the Mud Dragon Giant Soldier to walk toward the island's center. He felt that something in this place must be causing the trees to grow huge, and the animals too. Julian stepped over one big tree after another, moving quickly. In Gundam Mode, he reached the central area and found a small tree.

It was about twenty meters tall, covered in many pear-shaped fruits. Julian said: "Finally found a fruit-bearing tree." He deactivated Gundam Mode, walked over to the tree, casually picked a few fruits, and started tasting them. Julian thought to himself: This tree's fruit is about ten times bigger than a normal pear—almost the size of a watermelon. He said: "This fruit is very sweet and refreshing." Julian planned to transplant this tree onto the ship later. From now on, he'd eat big fruits—he didn't want normal-sized ones anymore.