The Great Exploration of the Island

Just after eight in the morning, Julian assembled all the crew members on the beach. All the division captains and every sailor stood in six rows, gazing up at Julian with admiration. Julian said sternly, "Today we continue exploring Bugi Island. The second mission is to hunt those giant wild buffalo and wild sheep to replenish our food." All the division captains replied, "Understood."

Julian added, "Today we need to thoroughly explore this deserted island—every corner must be checked." All the division captains responded, "Understood, Captain." Julian said, "All crew members, move out by division." Every division captain shouted, "Brothers, follow me!" Julian watched the six teams surge toward the island's center in a mighty wave, and for a moment, he felt like a great general commanding thousands of troops. Then he suddenly felt a bit foolish. He scratched his head and muttered, "Got myself all hyped up for nothing."

Julian activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability, transforming into an eighty-meter Mud Dragon Giant. This time, he planned to use his ability to quickly explore the deserted island and gather useful resources, following a "take everything, leave nothing" policy. This wasn't the Great Age of Pirates yet, and those deserted islands were barely touched by anyone. There might be Devil Fruits here—that was Julian's real goal. If he found one, he could add another Devil Fruit user to his crew, and Julian would be laughing all the way.

When Julian reached the island's center, he contacted the other division captains. Holding a Den Den Mushi, he said, "Are you still following your original routes to explore for resources? I'll search from the island's upstream down to the downstream." All the division captains replied, "Understood, Captain."

Julian activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability again, switching to Mud Dragon Giant Gundam Mode to begin his search. He was really hoping a Devil Fruit would appear on the island. Julian said, "Little pervert Momonosuke, Fool King Kozuki Oden—I won't hold back." He started making a wish: "I'm willing to trade five hundred years of that little brat Momonosuke's life for one Devil Fruit. If that's not enough, add five hundred years of Kozuki Oden's life too. Please bless me, Buddha—Amen, Saint Lucia."

After saying that, Julian began exploring the deserted island, heading toward the upstream first. In Mud Dragon Giant Mode, each step covered several dozen meters. In the grass, he spotted two Titan Pythons. When the giant snakes saw Julian's eighty-meter giant Gundam, they immediately tried to flee. Julian saw the escaping pythons and fired two Cliff Blades, instantly slicing the two giant snakes into a dozen pieces. He killed them on the spot and took their gallbladders.

Julian said, "These gallbladders aren't big—only about two pounds each." Since both Titan Pythons were only a little over ten meters long, Julian simply gave them a physical send-off. These Titan Pythons should have been reunited as a family—the big ones were wiped out, so the small ones should die together too.

Julian continued traveling in Gundam Mode, weaving through the forest until he reached a hillside terrain. The trees on the slope were so tall they blocked out the sky. Julian said, "These trees are way too tall, aren't they?" He looked around and noticed a fruit growing on one of the trees that looked a lot like a Devil Fruit. Staring at the fruit, he said, "It really seems like a Devil Fruit. Momonosuke really is the key to this world. From now on, I won't hold back."

Julian was overjoyed. The fruit tree didn't bear many fruits—only about a dozen—but one of them stood out clearly. It was red with the distinctive spiral patterns of a Devil Fruit. Julian plucked that Devil Fruit and stored it inside his body. He said, "I'll study what kind of fruit this is when I get back to the ship."

Julian was ecstatic inside. He laughed and said, "Hahaha—I really did crack the code of this world!" He also spotted a huge nest in the tree. He immediately used his Mud Dragon Giant to jump up and check it out. The nest was enormous—an oval-shaped nest over six meters wide—and inside it was an egg. Julian guessed it was probably an egg from some giant bird, or maybe a dragon egg. It had to be from a large animal. Without a second thought, Julian stored the egg in his Mud Space.

Julian continued exploring, crossing hills along the way without finding anything else. Everything was eerily quiet. Julian said, "I wonder if there are any more Devil Fruits on this island. If there are, that would be amazing." He pushed through a large patch of grass and came to a small pond. The pond had plenty of freshwater fish, and a pack of about twenty giant wolves was guarding it. These wolves were enormous—two meters at the shoulder and over five meters long, all oversized beasts. They bared their fangs at Julian.

Julian struck without hesitation, unleashing a Cliff Sword. Dozens of hardened black mud blades, each over fifty meters long, erupted from the ground and tore through the wolf pack, wiping them out instantly. Julian said, "I like using big moves to clear the way. I've never been one for playing games." After exploring the entire Bugi Island, he found no other large creatures. There were tigers, Mountain Lions, and similar beasts, but although they were huge, they were very cautious. As soon as they saw Julian's Mud Giant Gundam, they ran away.

Julian didn't hold back either. He used a barrage of Cliff Blades to take down those creatures one by one. He knew these animals were extremely dangerous—they loved ambushing humans at night. If he hadn't been in Gundam Mode, those beasts would definitely have tried to kill him.

Julian also discovered a large herd of wild buffalo and wild sheep, along with wild boars and wild horses. All these wild animals were gathered on a big patch of grass grazing. Without a word, Julian killed two wild buffalo and carried them back toward the camp. He said, "Pablo, have the brothers eat this for lunch. You handle the arrangements." Pablo looked at the three-ton giant wild buffalo and replied, "Understood, Captain. For lunch, we'll make braised beef and charcoal-grilled steak."

Julian felt that Bugi Island was indeed a good place for training. Once all the crew members returned and finished lunch, he could organize everyone to start training and improve the strength of the entire crew. The island was especially quiet, and with such huge herbivores around, they could use them as a source of protein to boost everyone's physical fitness.

Julian made a simple mud bed on the beach and sat there sunbathing. He sighed, "In my past life, I never got to sunbathe on a beach. I didn't think I'd have to wait until this life to make it happen." Alice and Beatrice saw Julian return and walked over to the beach, sitting down beside him. Alice asked, "Julian, you're back. Any luck?" Julian replied, "Of course I had luck! What do you two want for lunch?" Alice said, "Anything's fine." Beatrice added, "Then we'll go help out in the kitchen. We heard you brought back two giant wild buffalo—I've never seen such huge buffalo before." Julian said, "Go take a look. The meat should be really tasty."