Julian continued toward the center of the island. Beneath its center lay a chain of mountains stretching for several kilometers. Julian said, "It really is magnificent." He immediately activated Elementalization and used Mud Bullet to launch himself toward the towering summit. More than ten minutes later, he reached the mountaintop.
Julian discovered a vast canyon below, nearly several kilometers long, with the opposite side nowhere in sight. He said, "I need to go down and take a look. Who knows what's beneath the canyon?" Julian activated Mud Dragon Giant Mode again, instantly transforming into a more than sixty-meter-tall Gundam Mode. He leaped straight down the slope into the canyon. The sixty-meter Mud Dragon Giant Soldier rapidly landed at the bottom, sending dust flying everywhere.
Julian said, "As expected of an Earth Guardian Devil Fruit ability user. I smashed a huge crater into the ground." He began observing his surroundings. The canyon floor was extremely damp. Julian said, "Why is the air so chilly?"
Suddenly, Julian spotted several Pythons slithering toward him from the depths of the valley. The largest one was practically growing horns. Recalling the original story, Julian said, "Damn, this world has a plot like this too? Why does this feel like Anaconda?" He watched the snakes throughout the valley converge on him. The biggest was probably over eighty meters long, and it even had two fleshy lumps on its head. Julian complained, "Isn't this almost a boa? If it evolves a little further, it might turn into a flood dragon."
There were nearly hundreds of snakes. Looking at the sight before him, Julian said, "My claustrophobia is acting up." He remembered that snake gallbladders were supposedly a powerful tonic, and such enormous snakes were definitely no ordinary creatures. Julian said, "I'll take them first and worry about it later." With that, he activated his Devil Fruit ability. Super Mud Dragon: Cliff Blade! Hundreds of fifty-meter hardened earth blades gathered into hundreds of massive blade-shaped mud swords and slashed head-on into the Python swarm. In an instant, the valley was dyed red, and the oncoming snakes became piles of mangled flesh.
Julian said, "Why are they all chopped up like this? That's ugly." He complained, "How am I supposed to eat this?" Julian walked over to the snake corpses and began collecting the giant snakes' gallbladders. The largest Python's gallbladder weighed nearly a hundred kilograms, while even the smaller ones weighed over thirty kilograms. Looking at the huge pile of gallbladders before him, Julian used his Earth-Earth Fruit ability to pack them all away inside his body.
Julian said, "I'll give these to the ship's doctor to make medicine later." He added, "I'll activate my Devil Fruit ability and digest one first. Let's see what effect it has. A gallbladder that huge is no joke. It must have some major benefits."
Julian then thought that there had to be treasure or something strange at the bottom of this canyon. Otherwise, neither the snakes nor the plants could have grown so huge. He began searching. There were treasures in the Pirate World, after all, such as Beast King's Horn on Beast Island, the Seven Star Demon Sword sealed in the Aska Kingdom, or the Mythical Zoan Vampire Form of the Bat-Bat Fruit in Sleepy Ancient Town. All of them were rare, priceless treasures.
Julian thought to himself, Luffy and the others' adventure had started in East Blue before reaching the Grand Line. After the Great Age of Pirates began, the four seas had become beginner zones. The strong all rushed from the four seas to the Grand Line, then charged onward into the New World in search of Roger's Great Treasure.
Julian also wanted to head for the Grand Line first, then push into the New World and search for Devil Fruits scattered across the world. Julian snapped, "Most importantly, I need to take that little bastard Momonosuke to Okama Island and turn him into an okama, or brutally blow Momonosuke apart."
After thinking it over, Julian said, "I won't go to the New World for now. The New World is too dangerous. I should lead the crew to Sky Island first. Once I take Sky Island, I'll follow the elite route. There's no point in bringing too many people to the New World. It's all territory carved up by Legendary Great Pirates."
Julian thought to himself, The New World is the kind of sea where people beat each other's brains into mush. Numbers are useless there. If you aren't strong enough, you'll either be caught in someone else's war or end up working for someone else. It's practically impossible to seize territory.
Julian said, "I can't go there just to feed them kills. I'll take Sky Island first, then develop my own forces and establish my own kingdom. By then, I'll see whether I can become a legal pirate like one of the Shichibukai, or threaten the World Government like Doflamingo did. First, I'll become one of the World Government member nations, then trick the World Government out of its Devil Fruits. That's the fastest way to build my own power. In the future, I'll have a voice in front of the World Government."
Julian walked while thinking. At the deepest part of the canyon floor, purple flowers shaped like snake kisses bloomed one after another. Looking at the little flowers before him, Julian said, "What the hell is this?" Massive vines covered the entire bottom of the pit. Julian was certainly curious, but he did not recognize them. He immediately picked up a Den Den Mushi and called Rose, the ship's doctor.
"Moshiboshi." Rose answered the call. Julian said, "Rose, bring the medical team over. I found a lot of good stuff here." Rose said, "Understood, Captain. We'll be there right away." Julian said, "I'll send you the location through the Den Den Mushi." Rose said, "Understood, Captain."
Julian used Earth Sense to investigate the surrounding environment and figure out what was going on. He discovered that the red earth here was even denser, roughly three times heavier than the red earth he had first encountered. Julian said, "Could this be land blasted here during that war Eight Hundred Years ago? Or some kind of special soil? Or was it formed by natural causes?"
Julian activated his Devil Fruit ability and first stored away some of the red earth in his body. Then he used the Earth-Earth Fruit ability. Julian shouted, "Planetary Devastation!" He spread his hands and began controlling the earth. Clumps of dirt flew into the sky. He had copied this move from Pain in Naruto—an earth version of Planetary Devastation.
Before long, a massive two-hundred-meter mud ball gathered in the sky. Julian had the giant mud ball slowly descend in another area. He was preparing to clear away the nearby obstructions completely. After the enormous mud ball landed, Julian panted and said, "That really wore me out. Large-scale attacks are broad and powerful, but making it descend slowly is seriously exhausting."
Julian looked ahead. The huge mud ball had formed a small mountain. Julian laughed. "If anyone dares to act tough in front of me later, I'll crush them with Planetary Devastation." After clearing this patch of land, the roots of those Snake Kiss Orchid vines were exposed. Seeing how quickly his strength had improved, Julian said with emotion, "My powerful mental strength and solid foundational knowledge really make developing Devil Fruit abilities easy. This Earth-Earth Fruit has so many abilities. It hasn't let down my expectations at all."
Julian thought to himself, Once I reach the Sabaody Archipelago, I'll find Pluto Rayleigh and have him teach me Two-Color Haki. Then my Body Techniques won't be a weakness anymore. Otherwise, running into other Logia Devil Fruits in the future would be disgusting. It would just become a contest to see who could knock the other down first.
Julian calculated further, During the Fleet Admiral Succession Dispute, Aokiji and Akainu fought for ten days and ten nights. Although it was glossed over, at the Summit War, Aokiji fought the heavily injured Ai Mazi evenly. For a time, he could not defeat Ace even with his Devil Fruit ability. Aokiji did not know Ai Mazi, nor did he hold back, so the Ice-Ice Fruit definitely was not a match for the Magma-Magma Fruit.
Aokiji had learned Garp's Fist Bone, so he could only rely on close combat to overwhelm opponents. Akainu, meanwhile, could dig Dog Holes and use Earth-Penetrating Crevice to attack Aokiji from underground. The central region of Punk Hazard was filled with Dog Holes and ground fissures, eventually forming a great river. Both men were defeated. Aokiji became Iron Crutch Li, while Akainu became Scarface with one ear. In the end, Akainu became Fleet Admiral by a narrow margin.
After becoming Fleet Admiral, Akainu did not accomplish much. His daily routine was being singled out and criticized by the Gorosei, then getting cursed out by Admiral Fujitora until he was completely humiliated, only to fail to out-argue Fujitora. The old faction of Marines would not listen to Akainu either. Kizaru slacked off every day. Green Bull Aramaki was very obedient, but he ran to Wano Country, danced in the town square, planted a huge expanse of greenery, and completely disgraced the Marines again.
The Gorosei normally did two things. First, they posed and gestured in their offices. Second, they cursed Akainu every day. The most disgusting of those five senile old men was Science Defense God Saint Saturn. He was extremely intelligent. The other four Gorosei cursed viciously, especially Finance God Nusjuro, who carried the black blade First Generation Kitsune, and Mercury Wolley Saint. Both of them loved getting right in people's faces when they cursed.
But the Gorosei made some baffling moves. CP0 member Fuzhifu had been sent to recover the Nika Fruit. After Red-Hair stole the Nika Fruit from Fuzhifu, the Gorosei did not deal with Red-Hair, who had stolen the fruit. Instead, they went after Fuzhifu, the man escorting it. Where was a little nobody like him supposed to argue his case? In the end, he was even thrown into Impel Down.
In the end, he could only defect to Kaido's crew. After all, Fuzhifu still possessed an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, so Kaido would make use of him. The final result was that the World Government lost an employee, the Nika Fruit was gone, Kaido gained a Tobi Roppo worker, and Red-Hair got the Nika Fruit.
The second baffling move was that Luffy sailed the seas, beating the World Government's face in at every turn, while the Gorosei kept posing in their offices before blowing up at Fleet Admiral Akainu. Julian said, "It's best not to become enemies with the World Government. I can also sell the World Government some fake intelligence for benefits. Bringing down the World Government is the Revolutionary Army and Nika's business. If Nika and the World Government fight until both sides are devastated, just think of the World Government's Eight Hundred Years of accumulated wealth. That's truly tempting." Julian licked his lips and said, "Once they go to war, I'll go loot the World Government's treasure. It'll all be mine."
Before you continue