Forming a Company: The Mud Dragon Pirates

Julian asked with curiosity, "How many of you survived?" The small fry replied with a bitter expression, "Only a little over fifty of us made it." Another small fry spoke up, "We all want to join your pirate crew, sir." Julian looked at the roughly fifty or sixty people before him and thought to himself, No wonder there's no spirit—they've been beaten down by the Marines, and some were forced into this. They don't even want to be pirates. Just a bunch of ordinary folks.

Julian asked seriously, "Who's the strongest among you?" From the crowd, a scrawny, sour-faced guy shouted, "It's Galender Aji and Galender Aqi! Those two brothers are the strongest." Then two sturdy young men stepped out of the crowd.

Julian looked at Aji and Aqi before him and thought to himself, Finally, picking through the trash, I found a nickel. Both had honest faces. Aji was two meters eighty tall, around twenty years old, with a very ordinary, square-jawed look. He had a crew cut. Aqi had natural curls, thick eyebrows, and big eyes. Neither of them looked shifty.

Julian smiled and said, "Are you two blood brothers?" Aji nodded and replied earnestly, "Yes, we're orphans. We joined the Quick-Blade Pirates just to get a meal."

Julian thought that made sense. After all, the entire Quick-Blade Pirates were a real piece of work in the pirate world—skinny as monkeys, short as landmines, fat as pigs. Looking at Aqi and Aji, they stood out from the rest. Julian smiled and said, "You're called Aji, but that doesn't fit your vibe at all. How about George?"

Aji thought the name sounded cultured and immediately grinned, "Thank you, sir! I'll go by George from now on." Julian then looked at Aqi and said, "Your brother's name has been upgraded, so I'll give you one too. How about Pekki?" Aqi chuckled, "Heh heh heh, that's a great name, really nice. Thank you, sir!"

Julian patted both brothers on the shoulder and announced loudly to the crowd, "I now declare the Mud Dragon Pirates established! I appoint you, George, as First Division Captain, and you, Pekki, as Second Division Captain." George said gratefully, "Thank you, sir. I'll repay you someday." Pekki also said, "Thank you, sir."

Julian asked seriously, "Do any of you have professions like sniper, ship doctor, navigator, or cook?" George named a few people, and six stepped forward. The first, a young man with yellow hair, said, "Sir, we're snipers." The second said, "Sir, I'm a ship doctor." A middle-aged man said, "I'm a cook."

Julian looked at the three snipers—one flintlock gun and two bows—and sighed inwardly, Typical of a defeated pirate crew. They threw away everything they should and shouldn't have, leaving only their brains.

Julian asked the yellow-haired youth, "What's your name?" The sniper replied, "I'm Hachino Leo." Julian said, "From now on, you're the sniper squad leader." Julian chose Leo because he had a classic middle part and pirate-style suspenders—clearly someone who could ball and snipe. Leo was handsome and easy on the eyes. Julian thought, I'll find him a Bird-Bird Fruit, Common Zoan: Pigeon Model later—it'll suit him perfectly.

There were two cooks, one in his thirties and one in his forties, both very ordinary-looking but decent at their craft. The ship doctor, Harvey Rose, was quite young and had been kidnapped by the Quick-Blade captain. In total, the crew had fifty-eight members left, including one navigator and three shipwrights. Julian split the forty-eight non-specialists into two divisions. After finishing the personnel assignments, he renamed the ship the Mud Dragon and sent Leo with the two divisions to the island to restock on fruit and food.

Julian then took George and Pekki into the former captain's treasure bedroom. Entering, he found the room was over two hundred square meters, lavishly decorated with a ten-meter sofa, wooden furniture, tables and chairs, a dedicated desk, and a massive safe about two meters high and over four meters long.

Julian smiled and asked, "Got the key?" George shook his head and replied, "The Quick-Blade captain kept it himself. We don't have it." Julian simply turned his finger into an elemental form, twisted it, and opened the safe. Inside were bundles of Berries and gold coins, along with a Devil Fruit—he wasn't sure what kind. It looked like a banana, blue in color. Julian recalled his past life memories and guessed it was a Zoan-type.

Julian looked at George and said, "George, I want to give you a chance—a chance to become incredibly strong. But there's a condition: you must be loyal to our Mud Dragon Pirates and never betray us." George said solemnly, "I will be loyal to the captain forever, even if it costs me my life. But I hope you'll give this fruit to my brother. I want him to be 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 always protected me since we were kids." Julian could feel the sincerity between the two brothers and said, "Don't be like that. It's just one Devil Fruit. We'll get more fruits and more treasure in the future."

Julian quickly encouraged them. "George, you eat this fruit first. The next one goes to Pekki. Take it, George." He handed the fruit to George. George glanced at it, took it with both hands, and took a big bite. Julian silently prayed, I'd trade twenty years of that little brat Momonosuke's life for a powerful ability. After George finished eating...

Julian couldn't wait and asked, "What ability is it?" George instantly transformed into a seventeen-meter-long giant bear, with a shoulder height of over seven meters. It didn't look like an ordinary Zoan. The bear's mouth had two half-meter-long fangs, massive claws, and that build—Julian had his answer. He said, "George, this fruit is an Ancient Zoan. It should be the Zoan-Zoan Fruit: Wolf Model, Ancient Zoan: Great Bear Form."

Julian continued, "It's at least dozens of times stronger than a regular Zoan. You need to train hard and develop its ability. Don't waste it." George shouted excitedly, "I'll do my best, Captain! I'll use this fruit to protect our crew!" He bowed gratefully to Julian. Julian thought to himself, Just like that, I've gained an idol.

Julian said seriously, "You two brothers are my right and left hands. With your help, I feel like a fish in water, as if I've gained a million elite Marines." George and Pekki were deeply moved, with an expression of "a scholar dies for his confidant." Julian said, "You two get to work. I need to familiarize myself with the captain's duties." George and Pekki replied, "Goodbye, Captain," and respectfully left the captain's quarters.

Julian sighed inwardly, Just a simple line from the Three Kingdoms, and it moved these brothers to tears. He immediately lay down on the bed and said, "This is the smell of a bed—it's amazing." Then he started snoring loudly.

By evening, Julian gathered all the crew on the deck. Standing at the highest point of the bow, he announced, "Today is the first day of our Mud Dragon Pirates. I took over a thousand million Berries and over two million Berries' worth of gold coins from that punk Quick-Blade." Saying this, he pulled over a thousand million Berries from his Mud Space and piled them on the deck.

Julian shouted, "Everyone who joined today gets fifty thousand Berries. Officers get five hundred thousand." After he finished, the crowd cheered, shouting, "Long live the Captain!"

George said, "That's too much—way too much. We'll never spend it all." Julian looked at the jubilant crowd, made a stop gesture, and said, "For our Mud Dragon Pirates to grow big and strong, we need rules."

"Four Ship Precepts: First, no betraying the captain or the crew. Violators get three knives, six holes." Julian shouted like a gang boss, "Second, follow all orders. The captain is above all. Third, stay loyal to the captain's path—no wavering or hypocrisy. Waverers get three knives, six holes. Fourth, no killing innocents. From now on, we rob kings, nobles, slave traders, and the rich—those fat cats. Leave the commoners alone; they've been squeezed dry and have nothing." Julian added, "We might even have to help them out." Everyone agreed, "Yeah, the commoners have no money and a hard life."

Julian looked at the crew on deck and said loudly, "Many of you come from commoner backgrounds. You know what I'm talking about." The crew started murmuring among themselves, saying, "The captain's right. That makes sense. I used to be a commoner—miserable and poor, bullied by nobles all year round."

Julian saw the chatter and immediately said, "Four Ship Rules: Second, our Mud Dragon Pirates' ship motto—Three Honors, Three Disgraces. First, honor loyalty to the captain; disgrace disloyalty and dishonor. Second, honor unity and mutual aid; disgrace greed and betrayal. Third, honor faithfulness; disgrace lust and ingratitude. Everyone remember this. There's a test on the first of every month. Pass and get a two-million-Berry bonus. Fail and get locked in the hold for five days."

Julian felt incredibly pleased with himself, thinking, Wow, with this going, these workers will break their backs for me. This is the strongest brainwashing speech in this pirate world. The Marines' 'For Justice' has brainwashed so many, but they're really just working for the Celestial Dragons. Only World Government member nations get Marine protection. The countries that can't pay Heavenly Gold? The World Government doesn't even glance at them—unless it's for a purge or genocide.

The Marines don't care about non-member nations' lives. Otherwise, Ryokugyu wouldn't have shouted, "The Celestial Dragons are the gods of this world. Those not in World Government member nations have no right to exist." Julian thought, My ship rules and motto are beyond this world's language. He shouted again, "Brothers, today is our Mud Dragon Pirates' first day. Everyone, come collect your Berries!" Everyone was stunned by Julian's generosity and shouted, "Long live the Captain! Long live the Mud Dragon Pirates!"

Julian watched the cheering crowd and smiled inwardly. It's so easy to win people over. After everyone collected their money, Julian used his Earth-Earth Fruit elementalization to store the remaining Berries—about eight million—back into his Mud Space. He shouted, "Those who do well will be rewarded—heavily! Those who mess up will be punished!" Everyone yelled, "We'll follow the Captain's orders!"

Julian thought, Rewards and punishments are necessary to improve efficiency. Tonight, I've fed the horses well. Wanting them to run without feeding them is just stupid. That night, Julian went ashore with George to train him in developing his skills. The bear's strength was its forte, but they also needed to build stamina. Any Devil Fruit ability requires stamina. George was naturally strong, and with this fruit, his future had a lot of potential.

The next morning, Julian woke up at six and went to the ship's mess hall for breakfast. He realized the ship was really well-made. The Quick-Blade captain, Yodp, hadn't skimped on spending for himself. It was a hundred twenty meters long and seventy meters wide, with a fifty-meter deck and a sixty-meter cabin spread over three floors. The captain's quarters were on the third floor, the second floor for officers and elite crew, and the first for regular crew—about a hundred rooms. Next to the captain's quarters were a training room, a game room, and a dedicated treasure room. Julian said, "What a setup. But it's mine now."

In the morning, Julian took all his men ashore to strip the island of its resources. He also planned to train them for a few days before setting sail to rob. From the navigator, he learned that the island was in the South Blue. As everyone knew, the Red Line and Calm Belts separated the four seas into East, West, South, and North Blue.

The South Blue was relatively stable. The most chaotic was the North Blue, and the weakest was the East Blue—home of Marine Hero Garp. In Marine Year 1480, the God Valley Incident occurred, where Marine Hero Garp and Pirate King Roger teamed up to defeat the era's strongest pirate, Rocks. Garp became a Marine hero. Vice Admiral Garp often returned to his East Blue hometown and casually crushed a few small-time pirates there. Over time, the East Blue earned its reputation as the weakest sea.

Julian trained with George, Pekki, and the rest of the crew on the island. When the crew learned that Julian had given George a Devil Fruit that let him transform into a giant bear, they were envious and eager to train hard to improve and become Mud Dragon officers. Suddenly, a sailor reported, "Captain, a huge ship has appeared downstream on the island!" Julian said, "Quick, take us to see it!"