Nighttime Heist

Julian picked up over two hundred minor pirates just by having a drink at the tavern. He assigned them to various departments and had Pablo properly arrange and train them. All their old bad habits had to change, or they would be locked in confinement and made to scrub toilets.

He also brought out the trainee crew member, regular crew member, senior crew member, and Elite Crew Member assessments for them to take. Most of them only had the strength of regular crew members and got beaten up badly by the Logistics Officers conducting the tests. Only a young man named Passat showed some skill, with the strength of a senior crew member.

Pablo paid them according to their strength and handed out manuals for the other pirates to study. Julian had Bob, Cleo, and the Bomb-Bomb Fruit users begin preparing to establish the Seventh Division. When Julian was ready to set sail, he would promote them. Every division received the same treatment. Each Division Captain had his own ship, stationed with his own division members, and enjoyed considerable autonomy.

Julian barely controlled them at all, letting them train and develop on their own. He would be delighted if they managed to pull together an enhanced regiment, so why would he limit their growth?

Julian continued drinking with several Division Captains. George flattered him, saying, "Captain, your mighty name has already resounded across the four seas. In the future, any pirate crew that hears your name will have to kneel and submit."

Allison said, "Brother George put that very well." Yet inwardly, he grumbled, That bootlicking bear said everything I was going to say.

Julian was very pleased. As expected of the old crew. They know exactly what I like to hear. He said, "Brothers, don't worry. One day, we'll all become famous across the four seas and roam the world."

George eagerly refilled Julian's drink, and Julian accepted every cup offered to him. He said, "Everyone, get ready to drink until we drop." After Julian and the Division Captains had eaten and drunk their fill, they staggered back to the ship.

Reeking of alcohol, Julian returned to his room, grabbed Beatrice, and gave her a thorough kissing before lying down to sleep. He said to Beatrice, "Wake me up tonight. I have something to do." Beatrice nodded. "Rest well, Julian. I'll wake you tonight."

Julian closed his eyes and soon began snoring. Pablo, however, was extremely busy. A huge number of low-level pirates and civilians lined up at the docks, wanting to join the Flame Dragon Pirates. They all felt that the Flame Dragon Pirates had Berries and valued loyalty. They no longer wanted to drift through life in a daze.

After all, ordinary civilians had little money all year round. Farmers had to pay taxes to kings and nobles, and merchants also had to pay taxes to kings or nobles. In a word, they were poor. They might as well join a pirate crew and take a gamble. What if they succeeded? Pablo began counting them one by one, separating ordinary people from those with skills for later centralized training. After eleven o'clock, Beatrice walked over to Julian and softly said, "Julian, it's eleven at night. Time to get up." She shook the deeply sleeping Julian. The moment he opened his eyes and saw the alluring Beatrice, he pulled her into his arms and began discussing the meaning of life.

Past midnight, Julian left the room, transformed into Fire Dragon Beastman Form, and flew out of the cabin toward the king's palace. On the way, he said, "This kingdom is one of the World Government member nations. It must have plenty of Devil Fruits." Flying through the air at meteor-like speed, Julian quickly reached the king's palace.

Julian instantly activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability and entered Elementalization, turning into a tiny clump of earth as he burrowed toward the King's Treasure Room. Moving through the palace's dirt floors as swiftly as Earthwalker, Julian quickly found the palace treasury. The royal guards had no way to detect Julian as he tunneled through the earth. Once he found the treasure room, he emerged from the ground and looked at the mountain of small Gold Coins and Berries before wrapping them all in earth.

Then he searched for Famous Swords, Devil Fruits, and the like. Julian was no longer very interested in gold or Berries. After his earth wrapped up all the Berries and gold, he absorbed them into his body. Then he found a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and three Famous Tachi, which he collected as well.

Two fruits. Julian looked at the two Devil Fruits and took out the encyclopedia to compare them. One was the Paramecia Steel-Steel Fruit. It could turn the user's whole body into steel and control nearby steel for fusion or attacks. It was an extremely powerful Devil Fruit.

Paramecia users possessed all sorts of abilities depending on their level of development. This fruit was clearly slightly stronger than the Paramecia Stone-Stone Fruit. Julian then took out the second Devil Fruit. It was a Zoan Ox-Ox Fruit, Common Zoan Bison Form, just an ordinary water buffalo. Julian did not pass it up, wrapping it in earth and storing it in his body.

Julian also saw the king's diary, which mostly recorded his daily life. Julian complained, "Sure enough, this guy is pretty corrupt. Every night is filled with debauchery and pleasure." The private affairs and secret reports of every minister were recorded there as well, along with the locations of discovered mines.

Julian had no interest in any of that. "I'll leave this boring stuff here." He packed up the three tachi and the Golden Two-Handed Sword as well.

Julian did not intend to stay here much longer. Once he bought supplies for the voyage, he would leave. This island was part of a highly developed commercial nation, and he also intended to let his workers practice on the nobles' estates. Could pirates even be called pirates if they did not rob people?

Julian returned to the ship with the money and two Devil Fruits. He went to the treasure room on the third floor and released all the Berries and gold. In an instant, a huge pile of Berries appeared. He had only spent a few hundred million Berries at the Auction House last time and still had most of them left. Now, he had added more than two billion Berries, as well as several hundred million Berries' worth of Gold Coins and gold.

Julian burst into laughter and said, "I'm not interested in money. Besides, your money is all so easy for me to move into my own pocket. This Earth-Earth Fruit ability of mine has nowhere to go. It's simply too underhanded."

Julian said, "I hope there's something good on this island for me to buy." Then he had an idea. Why buy slaves from Slave Traders? Buy my ass. I'm not an idiot. Robbing them is the right answer. Julian planned to gather people tomorrow, rescue the slaves, and expand the fleet. That was enough for today. He knew that Slave Traders were flourishing on this island.

Julian planned for the future. "When we reach Sky Island, we'll turn all those Sound Shells into Sound Systems. Doesn't Joy Boy have the Drum of Liberation? Not only will I turn the Drum of Liberation into music, I'll even make you a World Song—the Slave Song. Then I'll be even more awesome than Joy Boy."

Julian thought, Doesn't Kaido want to surpass Joy Boy? When the time comes, I'll sell him a Sound System and take two jars of his blood. That isn't too much, is it? Joy Boy's Drum of Liberation probably produces sound waves equivalent to five hundred Sound Shells. Gear Five has to be activated to play it, and it consumes a huge amount of stamina and lifespan. Mine only needs a switch.

Then I'll add five thousand Sound Shells, maybe ten thousand. When Kaido hears a Drum of Liberation that loud, it'll be ten times louder than Luffy's Gear Five Drum of Liberation. Then it'll be hard to say who is Joy Boy.

Julian thought, Kaido's physique and Haki have both reached the peak, and so has his combat power. But his convictions collapsed. When he escaped from the World Government research center on Punk Hazard, he even rescued King. He confidently told King, "I'm the man who can change this world." After taking Wano Country, he defeated Kozuki Oden with his brains. Yet after ruling Wano Country, Kozuki Oden affected his Dao heart.

Later, he often asked King, "Am I really the man who can change the world?" By then, Teacher Kaido had already lost confidence. Teacher Kaido's faith was unsteady because he heard Kozuki Oden's final words before his death. Oden said, "Twenty years from now, someone will come to liberate Wano Country. He will be the warrior who brings laughter to these seas." Kaido's Observation Haki must have heard what Kozuki Oden said to the Nine Red Scabbards before dying.

At first, Kaido confidently believed that he was this era's Joy Boy and could change the world. Later, he realized that he was not Joy Boy and could not change the world. In twenty years, Joy Boy would come to Wano Country and defeat him.

Kaido must have felt indescribably miserable. But Teacher Kaido was not without ideas. Since he was not Joy Boy, he could become stronger than Joy Boy and defeat him twenty years later. Yet he discovered that he could not bring laughter to others. All he brought was fear.

So what could he do? Use knockoff Artificial Devil Fruits to make people smile even when they were sad. Later, he often doubted himself and asked King, "Can I really change this world?" The utterly loyal worker King firmly replied, "Boss Kaido, you are definitely that person. You can defeat Joy Boy."

Julian said that it was fine. "Teacher Kaido, compared to Joy Boy, you're only missing a Drum of Liberation Sound System. I, Julian, can sell you one. I can even add another Sound System to play the World Song."

Julian thought, If I sell these two Sound Systems to Teacher Kaido, Kaido will definitely give me Seastone. He might even give Julian a large batch of Wano Country geishas.

Julian continued, "I can also sell two Sound Systems to the World Government. These Sound Systems will be called replicas of Joy Boy's power. Those five senile old men will definitely give me two Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits."

"Then I'll upgrade the Drum of Liberation into the High-Burn Version 2.0. Those sound waves will equal two Joy Boys. I'll sell it to Teacher Kaido, take another two jars of blood, and sell it to the World Government. Wouldn't those five senile old men have to give me two more Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits?"

Julian laughed. "As long as you have the Drum of Liberation, anyone can be Joy Boy." Julian thought about stealing the Rubber-Rubber Fruit. Without that Devil Fruit, if Luffy were tied to a kite by his grandfather Garp and flown five hundred meters into the air, would he die immediately when he fell?

Koshiro's daughter Kuina died falling down the stairs from the second floor. When Luffy was six, he fell from a kite five hundred meters in the air and did not die. His grandfather Garp even punched him off a cliff around six hundred meters high, and he was still completely fine. Just how powerful was the Nika Fruit?

Kuina was the daughter of a Great Swordmaster and was twelve years old, yet she died falling down the stairs from the second floor. What, you're saying Luffy is from the Monkey D. family? Then look at the slipper print on Monkey D Dragon's face. Wasn't that left by Garp smacking him with a slipper? Their family was not much tougher than ordinary people. Monkey D. Dragon got his face beaten up by one of Garp's slippers, and it still had not healed.

On Hachinosu Island, Shiryu of the Rain ambushed the deserter King Koby. Garp took the blade for Koby and was severely wounded in one strike. But Shiryu's sword was a cursed blade. Garp trained Iron Fist, not Iron Chest. Shiryu's sword was the Thunderstorm Blade, a cursed blade with built-in bloodsucking properties. One strike through the chest with a cursed blade.

The Monkey D. family's defense was only a little stronger than that of ordinary people. The Monkey D. family all had high attack power and extraordinary combat talent. They could learn, grow, and improve in battle. It was not only because Kaido taught well during the Wano Country war. The entire Monkey D. family had maxed-out combat talent.

Every one of them was a combat genius. Luffy's powerful vitality was thanks to the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan Nika Form. This was also Julian's conclusion.

This fruit required unwavering faith and a will filled with the call of the wild. Put bluntly, Nika was much like the Shandia of Sky Island—savages and primitive people.

Julian said, "I still need Luffy to test the waters and obtain information on Void King Im. Doesn't Kaido also want to change the world? He wants to turn the Celestial Dragons into slaves and throw them onto the battlefield. Julian should encourage Kaido to fight Im too."

One had to know that Im, Eight Hundred Years ago, fought one against two, defeated Joy Boy, and killed Poseidon. Moreover, Poseidon's Devil Fruit was the Fish-Fish Fruit Mythical Zoan Azure Dragon Form. In other words, Joy Boy and Poseidon were teammates Eight Hundred Years ago, and both of them died. Julian said, "How is Joy Boy supposed to play this in this era?" Then Julian added, "If Im killed Joy Boy, will I still be safe staying on Sky Island?"