The Valley's Serpent Swarm

Julian continued walking toward the center of the island. Beneath the island's center lay a continuous mountain range stretching several kilometers. Julian said, "It really is magnificent." He directly activated Elementalization, using the Mud Bullet skill to ascend toward the high mountain peak. After more than ten minutes, he reached the summit and discovered a massive canyon below, nearly several kilometers long, with the opposite bank nowhere in sight. Julian said, "I need to go down and see what's at the bottom of this canyon." He then activated Mud Dragon Giant Mode, instantly transforming into a Gundam Mode over sixty meters tall, and leaped directly from the mountainside into the canyon. The sixty-meter Mud Dragon Giant landed swiftly at the canyon floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Julian said, "I really am the ability user of the Earth Guardian Fruit. I've even smashed a giant crater into the ground." He began observing his surroundings. The canyon floor was extremely damp. Julian said, "Why is the air so cold and gloomy?"

Suddenly, Julian noticed several pythons crawling toward him from the depths of the valley. The largest of them was nearly sprouting horns. Recalling the original story, Julian blurted out, "Damn, does this world really have a plot like this? Isn't this just like Anaconda?" Watching the numerous snakes in the valley all heading his way, the largest one might have been over eighty meters long, with two fleshy lumps growing on its head. Julian complained, "This thing is almost a boa constrictor! If it evolves a bit more, it might turn into a dragon."

The snake swarm numbered nearly several hundred. Looking at the scene before him, Julian said, "Even my claustrophobia is acting up." He thought that snake gallbladders were supposed to be highly nourishing, and such enormous snakes couldn't be ordinary. Julian said, "I'll take them first." With that, he activated his fruit ability: Super Mud Dragon—Cliff Blade. Hundreds of fifty-meter hardened mud blades gathered into hundreds of giant mud swords shaped like blades, slashing straight into the python swarm. In an instant, the canyon was dyed red, and the oncoming snakes were reduced to a mess of minced flesh.

Julian said, "Why are they all cut up like this? So ugly." He complained, "How am I supposed to eat this?" He walked over to the snake corpses and began collecting their gallbladders. The gallbladder of the largest python alone weighed nearly a hundred kilograms, while the smaller ones were over thirty kilograms. Looking at the pile of gallbladders before him, Julian used his Earth-Earth Fruit ability to pack them all into his body.

Julian said, "I'll give these to the ship doctor later to use as medicine, to make drugs." He added, "First, I'll activate my fruit ability and digest one to see what effect it has. A gallbladder that big can't be a joke—it must have great efficacy."

Julian also thought that there must be treasures or strange things at the bottom of this canyon; otherwise, those snakes and plants couldn't have grown so gigantic. He began searching. The Pirate World did have its treasures, like the Beast King's Horn on Beast Island, the Seven Star Demon Sword sealed in the Aska Kingdom, or the Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan Vampire Form in Sleepy Ancient Town—all rare and invaluable treasures.

Julian thought to himself, "Luffy and the others' adventure starts from the East Blue and goes to the Grand Line. After the Great Age of Pirates began, the four seas became rookie zones. The strong all rush from the four seas to the Grand Line, then charge into the New World to find Roger's Great Treasure."

Julian also wanted to head to the Grand Line first, then charge into the New World to find scattered Devil Fruits. He said angrily, "The most important thing is to take that little brat Momonosuke to Okama Island and turn him into an okama, or brutally kill him."

After thinking it over, Julian said, "For now, I won't go to the New World. The New World is too dangerous. I'll take my crew to Sky Island first. After taking Sky Island, I'll go for an elite route. Bringing a lot of people to the New World is useless—that place is all territories carved out by Legendary Great Pirates."

Julian thought, "In the New World's seas, people beat each other's brains out. Having numbers doesn't help. If your strength isn't enough, you'll either get wiped out or become someone else's laborer. It's really hard to grab territory."

Julian said, "I can't just go and feed myself to the enemy. I'll take Sky Island first, then develop my own forces and establish my own kingdom. Then I'll see if I can become a legitimate pirate like the Shichibukai, or threaten the World Government like Doflamingo. First, I'll become a World Government member nation, then trick the World Government into giving me Devil Fruits. That's the fastest way to build my own power and gain a voice before the World Government."

As Julian walked and thought, at the deepest part of the canyon floor, purple flowers shaped like snake mouths were blooming. Looking at the flowers before him, Julian said, "What the hell is this?" The giant vines covering the pit floor piqued his curiosity, but he didn't recognize them. He immediately picked up his Den Den Mushi and called the ship doctor, Rose.

"Moshi Moshi," Rose answered. Julian said, "Rose, bring the ship doctor team over. I've found a lot of good stuff here." Rose replied, "Got it, Captain. We'll be right there." Julian said, "I'll send you the location through the Den Den Mushi." Rose said, "Understood, Captain."

Julian then used Earth Perception to probe the surrounding environment, trying to figure out what was going on. He discovered that the red soil here was much denser—about three times heavier than the red soil he'd encountered earlier. Julian said, "Could this be land that flew here from the great war eight hundred years ago? Or is it some special soil? Or did it form naturally?"

Julian activated his fruit ability, first storing some of the red soil in his body, then unleashing the Earth-Earth Fruit's power. He shouted, "Chibaku Tensei!" Spreading his hands, he began manipulating the Earth-Earth Fruit. Pieces of soil flew into the sky—this move was an imitation of the technique from Naruto's Pain: an earth-version Chibaku Tensei.

After a while, a giant mud ball two hundred meters in diameter gathered in the sky. Julian slowly lowered the giant mud ball to another area, planning to clear the nearby obstacles directly. When the massive mud ball landed, Julian panted and said, "This is really tiring. Large-scale attack moves are all about big swings. If you lower them slowly, it takes a lot of effort."

Looking ahead, the giant mud ball had formed a small hill. Julian laughed, "From now on, if anyone dares to act tough with me, I'll smash them with Chibaku Tensei." After clearing the area, the roots of those Snake Kiss Orchid vines were exposed. Seeing his rapid progress in strength, Julian said with emotion, "With my strong mental power and solid foundational knowledge, developing fruit abilities really is effective. This Earth-Earth Fruit has so many capabilities—it hasn't let me down at all."

Julian thought to himself, "Later, I'll go to Sabaody Archipelago to find Pluto Rayleigh and learn Two-Color Haki. Then my Body Techniques won't be a weakness. Otherwise, if I run into other Logia Devil Fruit users later, it'll be a pain—two people just competing to see who knocks the other out first."

Julian also reasoned, "The Fleet Admiral Succession Dispute between Aokiji and Akainu—they fought for ten days and ten nights. Although it was glossed over, during the Paramount War, Aokiji fought evenly with a weakened Ace for a while, unable to take him down with just his fruit ability. Aokiji didn't know Ace and wasn't holding back, so the Ice-Ice Fruit definitely can't beat the Magma-Magma Fruit."

"Aokiji learned Garp's Fist Bone attacks, using close combat to confuse the enemy, while Akainu could dig Dog Holes and Earth-Penetrating Crevices to attack Aokiji from the ground. The central area of Punk Hazard is full of Dog Holes and crevices, eventually forming a great river. Both were defeated—Aokiji became Iron Crutch Li, and Akainu ended up with a scarred face and one ear missing. In the end, Akainu became Fleet Admiral by a narrow margin."

"After Akainu became Fleet Admiral, nothing much happened. He got chewed out by the Gorosei daily, got scolded bloody by Fujitora, and couldn't even win an argument with him. The old-school Marines didn't listen to him. Kizaru slacked off as usual. Green Bull Aramaki was very obedient, but he went to Wano Country, danced a square dance, greened up a huge area, and lost face for the Marines again."

"The Gorosei usually do two things: first, strike poses and make gestures in the office; second, scold Akainu daily. Those five senile old men—the most disgusting one is Science Defense God Saint Saturn, who's very intelligent. The other four Gorosei curse terribly, especially Finance God Saint Nusjuro, who wields the First Generation Kitsune black blade, and Mercury Wolley Saint, who curses right in your face."

"But the Gorosei have some baffling moves. CP0 member Fuzhifu was sent to retrieve the Nika Fruit. After Red-Hair stole the Nika Fruit from Fuzhifu, the Gorosei didn't go after Red-Hair, who stole it—they went after Fuzhifu, who was escorting it. Where could a little rookie go to argue? In the end, he was thrown into Impel Down."

"Finally, he had no choice but to defect to Kaido's side. After all, Fuzhifu had an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, so Kaido would still value him. In the end, the World Government lost a worker, the Nika Fruit was lost, Kaido gained a Tobi Roppo worker, and Red-Hair got the Nika Fruit."

"Second baffling move: Luffy sailed all the way, slapping the World Government in the face at every turn, while the Gorosei just kept posing in the office and then scolding Fleet Admiral Akainu." Julian said, "I'd better not make enemies with the World Government. I'll sell them some fake intel to get benefits. Overthrowing the World Government is the Revolutionary Army and Nika's business. If Nika and the World Government fight to mutual destruction... just think about the World Government's eight hundred years of accumulated wealth—it's really tempting." Julian licked his lips and said, "When they go to war, I'll sneak in and steal the World Government's treasures. They'll all be mine."