Julian returned to his captain's cabin, took out the Devil Fruit, and compared it against the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. He discovered that it was also a Zoan Devil Fruit: the Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard.
Julian said, "Teacher Kaido, which one of us is actually part of the Beasts Pirates? Why are so many of the Devil Fruits I've come across Zoans? There's only been one Logia and one Paramecia." Julian grumbled, "At this rate, do I need to form a Beast Pirates crew next?" He then added, "Who should I give this fruit to? After thinking it over, I'd better give it to Pablo, the worker. Herbert really isn't interested in Devil Fruits. He genuinely doesn't want one."
Julian calculated, "If Devil Fruits are ranked by grade, there should be ordinary, advanced, super, Calamity-level, god-tier, and Super God level Devil Fruits. At present, only two Devil Fruits can reach Super God level. The first is the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon. Even in the original story, Kaido never awakened his Azure Dragon Form. The second is the Hito Hito Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika—Sun God Nika. It allows one to fight however one pleases and turn ideas in one's mind into real attack techniques. Its fighting style is completely unconstrained. Most importantly, it can transform its user into Sun God Nika, though it needs to be awakened. It is also a fruit of destiny."
Most Paramecia Devil Fruits were advanced Devil Fruits. They really were stronger than ordinary Common Zoan Devil Fruits, unless the user did not know how to develop them or lacked the stamina to unlock their powerful abilities. Take Buggy the Clown, for example. He had the super Devil Fruit, the Diced-Diced Fruit, yet all he knew was how to split himself apart. He even often had parts of his body separated by others. If he could develop an attack that split his opponents apart, what would happen? The enemy would drop dead on the spot.
The two weakest Devil Fruits were, first, Corazon's Paramecia Calm-Calm Fruit. Yet during the Wano arc, Luo used the power of Silent Space to counter Big Mom's final Soul Chant and stopped her from absorbing other people's lifespans. The second was the Hito Hito Fruit, Normal Zoan, Model: Commoner. It had no abilities whatsoever. Only Chopper had eaten it. If an ordinary person ate that Devil Fruit, they would gain no abilities and lose the ability to swim. Julian could only shake his head at the thought.
Devil Fruit abilities also required something else for development: Mental Power. Julian had lived two lives, so his Mental Power had already been immense. With two souls in one body, it had become even greater. He had also inherited a portion of the original owner's soul. Julian did not want to keep consuming the remnants of the original owner's soul. He needed to preserve part of it so that, with that tiny remnant soul, he could eat another Devil Fruit later. Julian knew the locations of two Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits, and he intended to bring both of them under his command.
Those two Mythical Zoan Fruits were the Artificial Devil Fruit, Mythical Zoan Dragon, and the Bat-Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Vampire. Each had its own strengths and weaknesses, but the Dragon Fruit was an Artificial Devil Fruit, so its vitality definitely could not compare with the Vampire Fruit. If it were a Mythical Zoan, Model: Azure Dragon Devil Fruit, it would indeed be stronger than the Vampire Fruit. However, the Vampire Fruit was a sneaky fruit that could absorb other people's life force. Its user would definitely live a long time. If their lifespan was insufficient, they could just absorb more from others.
All Devil Fruit awakenings were extremely difficult. After a Zoan awakened, its Hybrid Form and animal form would be wrapped in Flame Clouds behind the body. These Flame Clouds looked incredibly imposing. Monkey D. Luffy's Nika Form had white Flame Clouds on its back, while the others had black Flame Clouds. Lucci's Cat-Cat Fruit, Common Zoan, Model: Leopard, had also awakened the Leopard Form's abilities.
Even an ordinary Zoan Devil Fruit would be surrounded by Flame Clouds after awakening, and its strength would increase dramatically. If a Zoan Devil Fruit user lacked firm willpower during awakening, they would become a beast. The Jailer Beasts on the fourth floor of Impel Down were Zoan Devil Fruit users who had failed their awakenings and turned into humanoid beasts.
Julian said, "Following our route, it'll probably take several months to reach the Grand Line. Then it'll take another few months to get from Reverse Mountain to Jaya Island. There's also a fairly large town on Jaya Island called Mogu Town. Since we have so much time, we might as well improve everyone's overall strength first. Then we can sail and seize Devil Fruits at the same time. There are two Devil Fruits we must take. One is the god-tier Devil Fruit, the Op-Op Fruit. The other is the Calamity-level Devil Fruit, the Gold-Gold Fruit. Both fruits have tremendous potential. After the Op-Op Fruit awakens, it can perform the Perpetual Youth Operation. The Gold-Gold Fruit can control gold. With gold, we'll have abundant funds and can quickly build our own foundation. Both of these fruits are connected to Doflamingo."
The first, the Paramecia Gold-Gold Fruit, earned Tesoro the title of Gild Tesoro. Tesoro stole it from Doflamingo's Auction House. The second, the Op-Op Fruit, was even more amusing. Doflamingo sent his spy brother Corazon to seize the Op-Op Fruit, only for Corazon to feed it to Luo in the end. Corazon had infiltrated the Donquixote Family as a Marine undercover agent, and his daily work was sending the Donquixote Family's intelligence to Sengoku.
Diez Barrels had been an officer at Marine Headquarters before falling into piracy. Corazon later stole the Op-Op Fruit from him in a ghost town in the North Blue. Julian had long been coveting these two fruits, and he planned to make his move when the time came. There were also the Flame-Flame Fruit and the Smooth-Smooth Fruit in the East Blue, the Wall-Wall Fruit of the Loguetown gangster Barto, and the Flower-Flower Fruit in the West Blue. Robin had eaten that fruit long ago. Julian truly could not remember the locations of the other fruits for the moment.
Julian planned to sail all the way while robbing all the way. Whatever Devil Fruit he encountered, he would take it. There was also a great talent in the South Blue: Gale Dino, the Candle-Candle Fruit user who would later become Crocodile's Mr. 3. He was only an eleven-year-old child at this time. Julian intended to recruit him if he came across him. There was also Jem the Shit-Nose's Bomb-Bomb Fruit in the South Blue. Julian figured he might run into him in the future. They were still just little brats right now.
Julian grinned wickedly to himself. He could not let any of these fruits slip away. At noon, everyone returned. Julian looked at the Division Captains and said, "You've all worked hard. Get some rest first." All the Division Captains replied, "Understood, Captain." Julian thought to himself, We've explored almost everything. I've already transplanted all the remaining valuable things onto the ship. Julian suspected that the gigantification of animals on Bugi Island might have been caused by the island's unusual magnetic field. At two in the morning, thick fog would blanket the island, only to completely recede at six the next morning. The fog contained a great deal of water vapor and silently nourished everything, causing the trees and plants to grow enormous.
Julian truly did not know what the other possibilities were, but it did not matter. That afternoon, he let everyone move around a little. He planned to have them train for a while before setting out for the next island. He also brought the giant egg to Rose, the ship's doctor, and asked him to try hatching it. Rose said, "It might be an egg left behind by some giant bird. Let's keep it and witness a miracle when it hatches." Julian said, "I'm counting on you."
By evening, Julian gathered everyone together and said, "This island is indeed well suited for training. Everyone needs to improve their strength as quickly as possible during this period." As he spoke, he used his Devil Fruit ability to wrap all eight hundred-plus crew members and every Division Captain in Earth Weight-Bearing Suits. Julian intended to take things step by step, starting with the lighter yellow soft earth. Once everyone adapted, he would use red earth that was more than three times heavier. Even black mud mixed with mineral soil was not as heavy as red clay.
Julian also planned to keep developing this weighted clay ability. In the future, when facing enemies, he could use this red Gravity Mud to disgust them and rapidly drain their stamina. If the opponent had astonishing endurance, he could also use the Earth-Earth Fruit to continuously bind them and exhaust their strength before using crushing techniques to damage their bodies.
After saying that, Julian had everyone begin training. This was a shortcut training method for these workers. Julian wrapped himself in red Gravity Mud and began running with everyone. The Fourth Division was a swordsmanship unit, so Julian also covered their blades in earth and had Herbert train swordsmanship with the Fourth Division's crew members. Herbert said, "This earth is an incredibly powerful ability."
If someone had seen the scene on the island, they would have seen only yellow figures resembling suits of armor running about, with only the area below their necks exposed. Julian was worried that the Earth Weight-Bearing Suits would not be breathable, so the earth had tiny ventilation holes. It was also moist, soft mud that would not harm the crew members' bodies. Julian controlled his Devil Fruit ability to train under weight himself. Seeing Julian lead by example, no one else dared complain about being tired. Could they possibly be more tired than their captain? Their captain was training alongside them, so no one had anything left to say.
While training his strength, Julian could also continue developing his Devil Fruit ability. Julian smiled and said, "A training method that kills two birds with one stone." He also arranged for Pablo and the logistics department to lead the logistics crew in hunting the island's buffalo, wild boars, wild sheep, wild horses, and other animals. They would pack all of them onto the ship. Julian also had them turn the meat into cured meat and store it in the hold. There was simply too much to eat at once, and it could not be kept for long. Cured and smoked meat would last much longer.
Julian had all the crew members eat their fill of meat every day. They could eat whatever meat they wanted. There was no helping it—the island had too much prey, and there was enough meat for everyone. The crew members of the six divisions trained every day and ate enormous amounts. Julian was the same. George, the First Division Captain, could eat fifty kilograms of food in a single day, while Pekki ate more than forty kilograms.
Pekki had grown taller again. He had previously been 2.4 meters tall, but he had now reached 2.6 meters. Julian had previously been 2.2 meters tall, but he had now reached 2.5 meters, a head shorter than George. Julian was still under seventeen, so he had room to grow. George had reached 2.8 meters and was already one of the tallest people on the ship. However, Pekki was only eighteen, so he might reach 2.7 meters in the future. Julian wanted to grow taller too. If he was too short when facing other powerhouses in the future, it might be a little awkward. He did not have a Devil Fruit ability like Luffy's, where he could grow taller just by blowing himself up. Julian said, "Growing taller is definitely a good thing. I don't want to become a shorty."
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