Julian asked curiously, "How many of you survived?" One of the lackeys replied with a bitter expression, "Only a little over fifty of us survived." Another lackey spoke up. "We're all willing to join your pirate crew, sir." Julian looked at the fifty-odd people before him and thought, No wonder they have no spirit. The Marines scared them senseless. Some of them were forced into this, too. They never wanted to be pirates. They're all ordinary people.
Julian asked seriously, "Who's the strongest among you?" From the crowd, a scrawny little nobody with a face like he'd swallowed something bitter shouted, "Galender Aji and Galender Aqi! Those two brothers are the strongest!" Two sturdy young men then stepped out from the crowd.
Julian looked at Aji and Aqi and thought, At least I found fifty cents while scavenging through trash. The two looked honest enough. Aji was about nine feet tall and around twenty years old. Both had ordinary faces, the kind you would see on any common person. They had square faces. Aji had a close-cropped haircut, while Aqi had naturally curly hair, thick brows, and large eyes. Neither of them looked sleazy.
Julian smiled and asked, "You two are biological brothers?" Aji nodded and answered earnestly, "Yes. We're both orphans. We joined the Quick-Blade Pirates just to make a living."
Julian thought that was understandable. The entire Quick-Blade Pirates crew was truly a bizarre sight in the pirate world: skinny ones like monkeys, short ones like landmines, fat ones like pigs. Aqi and Aji stood out completely among them. Julian smiled and said, "Your name is Aji? It doesn't suit your presence at all. How about George?"
Aji thought the name sounded especially cultured and immediately smiled. "Thank you, sir. My name is George from now on." Julian then looked at Aqi and said, "Look, your brother's name has already gone up a grade. I'll give you one too. How about Pekki?" Aqi chuckled and laughed. "What a fine name! It sounds great. Thank you, sir."
Julian patted the two brothers on the shoulders, then shouted to everyone, "I hereby announce the establishment of the Mud Dragon Pirates! George, I appoint you First Division Captain. Pekki, I appoint you Second Division Captain." George said gratefully, "Thank you, sir. I'll definitely repay you in the future." Pekki also said gratefully, "Thank you, sir."
Julian asked seriously, "Do any of you have professions like sniper, ship's doctor, navigator, or cook?" George named several people, and six people stepped forward. The first, a blond-haired young man, said, "Sir, a few of us are snipers." The second young man said, "Sir, I'm the ship's doctor." A middle-aged man said, "I'm a cook."
Julian looked at the three snipers. They had one Flintlock Gun and two bows. He sighed inwardly, As expected of a defeated pirate crew. They threw away everything they should and shouldn't have. All they have left are their brains.
Julian asked the blond young man, "What's your name?" The sniper answered, "My name is Hachino Leo." Julian said, "From now on, you're the Squad Leader of the snipers." Why did Julian choose Hachino Leo as Squad Leader? Leo had the legendary center-parted hair and pirate-style overalls. One look and you could tell he was exceptionally good at basketball and sniping. Leo was also very handsome and pleasing to the eye. Julian thought, I should find him a Common Zoan Bird-Bird Fruit: Pigeon Model someday. That would suit him even better.
The two cooks were in their thirties and forties respectively. They looked very ordinary, but their cooking was decent. The ship's doctor, Harvey Rose, was still quite young. He had been robbed, kidnapped, and forced aboard by the Quick-Blade captain. There were fifty-eight crew members left in total, including one navigator and three shipwrights. Julian divided the forty-eight people without professions into two divisions. After finishing the personnel arrangements, he renamed the ship the Mud Dragon and had Leo lead members of the two divisions ashore to replenish fruit and food.
Julian brought George and Pekki into the former captain's bedroom, where the treasure was stored. Upon entering, Julian discovered that the room was over two hundred square meters. The decorations were extremely luxurious: a thirty-foot-long sofa, wooden furnishings, tables, chairs, a dedicated desk, and a massive safe about six feet tall and more than twelve feet long.
Julian smiled and asked, "Is there a key?" George shook his head. "Quick-Blade kept it himself. We don't have one." Julian directly Elementalized his finger and turned it to open the safe. Inside were bundles upon bundles of Berries and Gold Coins, along with a Devil Fruit. He did not know what kind it was. It looked like a banana and was blue in color. Julian searched through memories from his previous life and felt that it was probably a Zoan Devil Fruit.
Julian looked at George and said, "George, I want to give you an opportunity, an opportunity to become incredibly powerful. But there's one condition: you must be loyal to our Mud Dragon Pirates and never betray our pirate crew." George said solemnly, "I'm willing to swear eternal loyalty to Captain. Even if you want my life, that's fine. But I hope you can give this fruit to my younger brother. I hope he can become stronger than me, so he can survive better at sea."
Pekki said gratefully, "Captain, I don't want this fruit. Give it to my brother. He needs this power more than I do. He's protected me since we were children." Julian looked at the two brothers and could feel their sincerity toward each other. He said, "Don't be like that. It's only one Devil Fruit. We'll obtain more Devil Fruits and more treasure in the future."
Julian hurriedly encouraged the brothers. "George, eat this Devil Fruit first. I plan to give the next Devil Fruit to Pekki. Take it, George." After speaking, Julian handed the Devil Fruit to George. George glanced at it, accepted it with both hands, and took a bite. Julian silently prayed, I'm willing to trade that little bastard Momonosuke's twenty years of dog life for a powerful Devil Fruit ability. After George finished eating it,
Julian impatiently asked, "What ability is it?" George instantly transformed into a giant bear seventeen meters long, with a shoulder height of more than seven meters. It did not look like an ordinary Zoan Devil Fruit. The two massive fangs in the bear's mouth were each half a meter long. Seeing the huge bear claws and that enormous body, Julian had his answer. "George, your Devil Fruit is an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit. Its name should be the Zoan-Zoan Fruit: Wolf Model, Ancient Zoan, Great Bear Form."
Julian continued, "It's at least dozens of times stronger than an ordinary Zoan. You need to train hard and develop your Devil Fruit ability. Don't waste this power." George shouted excitedly, "Captain, I'll work hard! I'll use this Devil Fruit to protect our pirate crew!" After speaking, George gratefully bowed to Julian. Julian thought, Just like that, I've gained a devoted fan.
Julian said seriously, "You two brothers are my right-hand men. With both of you helping me, I'm like a fish in water. It's as if I've obtained a million Elite Crew Members." George and Pekki were deeply moved, looking ready to die for someone who understood them. Julian said, "You two get busy for now. I need to properly familiarize myself with a captain's duties." George and Pekki said, "Goodbye, Captain." The brothers respectfully left the captain's cabin.
Julian sighed inwardly, A few simple lines learned from the Three Kingdoms were enough to move those brothers this much. He immediately lay down on the bed and said, "This is what a bed smells like. It's absolutely amazing." Then Julian fell into a deep sleep.
By evening, Julian had gathered all the crew members on the deck. Standing at the highest point of the bow, he said, "Today is the first day of our Mud Dragon Pirates. I took more than ten million Berries and Gold Coins worth over two million Berries from that little bastard Quick-Blade." As he spoke, Julian pulled more than ten million Berries from the Mud Space within his body, instantly piling up a mountain of Berries on the deck.
Julian shouted again, "Everyone joined the Mud Dragon Pirates today. Each person will receive fifty thousand Berries, while officers will receive five hundred thousand Berries!" Once Julian finished speaking, everyone cheered and shouted, "Long live the Captain!"
George said, "That's too much. It's far too much. We won't be able to spend it all." Julian looked at the jubilant crowd, raised a hand for silence, and said, "If the Mud Dragon Pirates are going to grow bigger and stronger, we need rules."
"The Four Ship Precepts! First: no betraying the captain or the crew. Violators get Three Knives Six Holes!" Julian shouted like a mob boss, "Second: all actions obey orders. Heaven is great, earth is great, but Captain is greatest. Third: follow the captain's footsteps closely. No divided loyalties and no obeying openly while defying secretly. Those who are two-faced get Three Knives Six Holes. Fourth: no wanton killing of innocents. From now on, we'll target kings, nobles, Slave Traders, and wealthy people when we rob others. Those people are fat with money. Leave the common folk alone. They've already been squeezed dry and have no money to speak of." Julian shouted again, "If things go badly, we might even have to provide them relief!" Everyone agreed, "That's true. Ordinary people have no money, and life is hard for them."
Julian looked at the crew on the deck and shouted again, "Many of you came from commoner families, so you know exactly what I mean." The crew lowered their heads and began whispering among themselves. They discussed it one after another. "Captain is right. It makes sense. I used to be a commoner too. Life was miserable and poor. The nobles bullied us all year long."
Seeing everyone whispering among themselves, Julian immediately said, "The Four Ship Rules, second item: the Mud Dragon Pirates' code, the Three Honors Three Disgraces. First: take pride in cherishing the captain, and be ashamed of disloyalty and injustice. Second: take pride in unity and mutual aid, and be ashamed of abandoning righteousness for profit. Third: take pride in loyalty and trustworthiness, and be ashamed of forgetting gratitude for lust. Everyone must remember this. There will be a test on the first of every month. Those who pass will receive a reward of twenty million Berries every month. Those who fail will be locked in the hold for five days."
After speaking, Julian felt unbelievably pleased. He thought, Wow, if this keeps up, won't these workers toil themselves to death for me? This is already the strongest brainwashing rhetoric in the entire Pirate World. How many people did the Marines brainwash with that line about justice? In reality, the Marines still work for the Celestial Dragons. Only World Government member nations receive Marine protection. The World Government does not even spare a glance for countries that cannot pay Heavenly Gold. If it does look at them, it means a massive purge or racial slaughter.
The Marines would not care whether non-World Government member nations lived or died either. Otherwise, Ryokugyu would never have shouted, "The Celestial Dragons are the gods of this world. Those who are not from World Government member nations have no right to live." Julian thought, My Ship Rules and Ship Precepts go beyond the language of this world. Seeing everyone still talking, Julian shouted again, "Brothers, today is the first day of the Mud Dragon Pirates! Everyone, come collect your Berries!" Everyone was stunned by Julian's lavish generosity and shouted, "Long live Captain! Long live the Mud Dragon Pirates!"
Julian looked at the cheering crowd and smiled inwardly. Winning people over really was easy. Once everyone had collected their money, Julian Elementalized with the Earth-Earth Fruit and stored the remaining money in the Mud Space within his body. There were still more than eight million Berries left. Looking at everyone's excited gazes, Julian shouted, "Brothers who perform well will be rewarded in the future—heavily rewarded, greatly rewarded! Brothers who perform poorly will be punished!" Everyone shouted, "We will definitely obey Captain's orders!"
Julian thought, There must be rewards and punishments to improve work quality. Tonight, I've fed the horses well. Wanting horses to run while refusing to give them grass is utterly idiotic. That night, Julian went ashore again with George and guided George in training and developing his abilities. A bear's strength was its greatest advantage, but he also needed to strengthen his stamina. Activating any Devil Fruit ability required physical strength. George was naturally powerful, and with this Devil Fruit ability, his future held immense potential.
At six o'clock the next morning, Julian got up and went to the ship's cafeteria to eat. He discovered that this ship was truly excellent. Quick-Blade Yodp had not been stingy when building it for himself. It was more than one hundred and twenty meters long and over seventy meters wide, with a deck more than fifty meters long and a sixty-meter cabin. It had three decks. The captain's cabin was on the third floor, the officers and Elite Crew Members were on the second floor, and the ordinary crew members were on the first floor. There were around a hundred rooms. Beside the captain's cabin were a training room, a game room, and a treasure room specifically for storing valuables. Julian said, "He really knew how to live. But it's mine now."
That morning, Julian led all his subordinates ashore. First, they would take all the island's resources, then spend a few days strengthening their training on the island before heading out to sea to rob others. From the navigator, Julian learned that the island where they were located belonged to the South Blue. As everyone knew, the Red Line and the Calm Belt separated the seas into the East Blue, South Blue, West Blue, and North Blue.
The South Blue, where Julian was located, was relatively stable. The most chaotic sea was the North Blue, while the weakest was the East Blue, hometown of Marine Hero Garp. In Marine Year 1480, the God Valley incident erupted. Marine Hero Garp and Pirate King Roger joined forces to defeat Rocks, the strongest pirate of that era. Garp became a Marine Hero because of this. Marine Vice Admiral Garp also frequently returned to his East Blue hometown and casually dealt with a few minor pirates there. Over time, the East Blue became known as the weakest sea.
Julian led George, Pekki, and the other crew members in training on the island. The crew had all learned that Captain Julian had given First Division Captain George another Devil Fruit, allowing George to transform into a massive Great White Bear. They were all extremely envious and wanted to train hard, improve their strength, and become officers of the Mud Dragon Pirates. Then Julian suddenly heard a sailor under his command report, "Captain, a huge ship has arrived downstream from the island!" Julian said, "Quick, quick, quick! Take us to see it!"
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