Rescuing Slaves

Those imprisoned slaves looked at Julian with blank shock. Julian spoke to the slaves before him: "Do you all want freedom? To become people who embrace the light, or to continue as slaves bullied by others? Follow my steps and live with dignity—I will help you."

After speaking, Julian activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability, extending over twenty mud arms from his back to open the iron cages one by one. Julian said: "Those willing to follow me, come along. Those who don't want to, stay here as livestock!" With that, Julian strode out, but glanced back—if no one followed, this act would be for nothing.

→_→ Fortunately, two girls took the lead and followed Julian, and the rest slowly trailed behind. Julian noticed these two girls were quite bold. One with yellow hair had mud smeared all over her body, making her quite dirty. The pink-haired girl was truly beautiful—even with mud on her pretty face, she had a unique charm. The most striking feature was her pink hair (??ω??)??

Julian felt like he'd confirmed it through eye contact—met the right person. He instantly perked up like he'd been injected with adrenaline, going full throttle. His Earth-Earth Fruit ability activated completely: Mud Dragon Super Frenzy. Four black mud dragons, twenty-five meters long and over five meters wide (Eastern dragon form, not Western wyverns), charged madly toward the dungeon exit. With a bang, the exit door shattered into pieces. At that moment, the Count's guards rushed over. The guard captain spoke: "Who are you to attack our Count's territory? Do you have a death wish?"

Julian ignored the guards' words and acted directly—after all, those who love pointless chatter are villains and fools. Julian instantly activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability and said: "Mud Dragon Giant Soldier." A mud dragon over fifty meters long ground the leading guard captain into the earth. The guard captain was knocked unconscious on the spot, and all the guards fled in terror.

Seeing the guards had all run off, Julian walked up to the two women and immediately channeled his inner success guru: "Both of you, come aboard my ship. I'll protect you. I'll give you a big handful of Berries every month. If you want gold, that works too. Then I'll take you to sail freely on the sea. My dream is to become one of the strongest people in this world." The pink-haired girl said weakly: "Just protecting us is enough. We don't need Berries or gold." Julian said: "I'm the most righteous and fair Great Captain of the Mud Dragon Pirates on the sea. Giving out Berries every month is our proud pirate tradition."

Julian kept spinning his tale: "Protecting you is the basic responsibility of our Mud Dragon Pirate Captain. Anyone who boards my ship and becomes my crew member—everyone on the sea has to give me face." Seeing the admiration in their eyes, Julian knew he had them. Overjoyed inside, he announced loudly: "Follow me!" and led the way. Julian turned to look at the long line behind him and thought to himself: That's at least two hundred people. This Count is really →_→ heartless.

But Julian wasn't planning to deal with the Count yet. First, get everyone on the ship. Once they're on board, can they still run? Killing the Count later would be a piece of cake. As they neared the dock where the ship was moored, George walked out with his men, exuding the kind of presence like Brother Mountain Chicken. Julian praised: Sure enough, with real strength, your aura is different. Pekki spoke first: "Captain, did you get mobbed by refugees?"

Julian shook his head and said: "These are all slaves I freed. Can't you see that, brother?" Julian continued: "Get them on the ship." George replied: "Understood." Julian walked to the front of the slave group and announced loudly: "From today, you are no longer slaves. You are my crew, members of the Mud Dragon Pirates. I will protect you all. No one will dare bully the Mud Dragon Pirates. Come on, everyone aboard."

Seeing that some of them were ragged and emaciated, likely imprisoned for a long time, Julian arranged for the cooks to give them a full meal. He noticed there were over sixty women, including more than ten little girls, and over one hundred seventy men, plus more than thirty children aged seven to thirteen. Julian said: "George, arrange for the crew to record everyone's background, skills, or any talents they have."

Julian walked up to the red-haired girl and said with an air of righteousness: "Little sister, what's your name? Why were you captured?" The red-haired beauty replied: "My name is Beatrice. I'm a resident of Calibji Island. Yesterday, a pirate crew attacked our town. My family resisted and were all killed by the pirates. Our home was burned down." Beatrice added with a sob: "We're both from the same city. The pirates sold us like animals to that castle as slaves. Thank you for saving us. Otherwise, I'd be a slave for life." At this point, Beatrice broke down crying.

Julian put on a look of understanding, took Beatrice's hands, and said: "I understand your grief. Little sister, cry it all out. Now that you've joined my pirate crew, I'll protect you from now on. Of course, our crew is a righteous one. We help the weak and punish the strong. We're heroes of the sea. We kill evil pirates on sight. I'll avenge you all."

Beatrice hugged Julian directly and said: "Thank you. I can tell you're all good people." Everyone felt a pang of sadness watching Beatrice cry—it was just too tragic. Ten minutes later, plates of food, rice, and bread were brought out. A large group began wolfing down their meals, including Beatrice and the sixty-plus girls. These people hadn't eaten in a long time.

Julian looked at the now-swollen crew and knew George, Pekki, and Leo would have to handle the integration. Julian entered the captain's quarters to inventory his two Devil Fruits. Looking at the two fruits, he compared them with the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia in his hand and found both were very powerful. One was a Zoan-type Bird-Bird Fruit, Common Model: Eagle Form. The other was a Paramecia-type, the Magnet-Magnet Fruit.

Looking at the Magnet-Magnet Fruit, Julian recalled it was Kid's Devil Fruit in the original—a fruit with Magneto's magnetic power, extremely strong in combat. But in Kid's hands, it turned into scrap metal. Julian said: "Little Buggy, it was because of this Devil Fruit that you got cocky and challenged one of the Four Emperors, the Red-Haired Pirates. Beckman took one of your arms. Now your hand's saved. Without this fruit, you can't go sailing off to cause trouble. Stay in the South Sea and be a good rich kid! After all, the New World is so dangerous. Later, Teacher Kaido would drag you into the mines to dig ore, turn you into a miner, put Sea Stone cuffs on you, and have Queen beat and grind you down every day. Better to stay in the South Sea as a rich second-generation heir—isn't that nice? →_→ Kid, when you see me later, you'll have to treat me to a late-night snack first." Julian opened the safe and put the Magnet-Magnet Fruit inside.

Julian then called Division Captain Leo into the room. Julian handed the Eagle Fruit to Leo and said: "Leo, this Devil Fruit lets you fly. You need to work hard on developing it—it's a very powerful one." Leo said excitedly: "Thank you, Captain, for giving me a new lease on life." Julian handed the Devil Fruit to Leo.

After Leo ate the Devil Fruit, he said: "It tastes terrible." Julian looked at Leo and said: "Transform, let me see." Leo activated his Devil Fruit ability and turned into a four-meter-tall giant eagle, pitch black all over, with claws over a meter long, legs as thick as buckets, and five razor-sharp talons. Julian looked at Leo and said: "Not bad. How do you feel?" Leo replied: "It's awesome, Captain!"

Monkey knocked on Julian's door and said: "Captain, the roster is ready." Julian said: "Come in." Julian took the completed roster from Monkey and noticed one particularly interesting person—a swordsman skilled in swordsmanship. Julian led Leo out of the captain's quarters onto the deck and asked: "Who is Zelda Herbert?"

Julian saw a man about two meters tall, a head shorter than Julian, thin and weak-looking, around twenty years old, with a pale, sallow complexion but very clear eyes. Herbert slowly stepped forward and said to Julian: "Esteemed Captain, this humble one is Herbert. Thank you for saving my life. This humble one has no way to repay you, except to ask the Captain to let me join your crew and repay your kindness." He slowly bowed, then straightened up, looking at Julian with determination.

Julian was secretly delighted, thinking: See, a worker has arrived. But he had to maintain his image and not show it on his face. Julian said seriously: "Swordsman Herbert, right? I welcome you to my crew. My big family welcomes a member like you. But you still need to familiarize yourself with our four ship rules and three ship mottos. Our pirate crew is full of love and peace—a family you can entrust your life to."

Herbert said: "This humble one already decided to become a member of the Mud Dragon Pirates when I boarded." Julian said: "First, recover your health and heal your wounds." Julian gently patted Herbert on the shoulder. Herbert said emotionally: "This humble one will firmly remember the ship rules and mottos. Thank you, Captain. This humble one is deeply grateful."

Julian called Rose to treat the injuries Herbert had suffered from abuse. Julian planned to have Herbert teach swordsmanship to the crew later. Julian had previously defeated the Quick-Blade Pirates' captain and obtained the Quick-Blade's swordsmanship manual, Gale Style Swordsmanship, from the captain's quarters. But Julian didn't understand swordsmanship, and neither did George, so it had just been sitting there. He also had Quick-Blade Nedup's Ōdachi stored in the warehouse gathering dust, which he could give to Herbert later.

Julian said: "Nedup was really a good man—gave me whatever I wanted. Later, I can get Herbert a few better swords, and he'll be even stronger." He thought about it: In the Pirate World, there were Supreme Grade Swords (12 pieces), Great Grade Swords (21 pieces), Fine Grade Swords (50 pieces), and finally Skillful Grade Swords (80 pieces). The Third Generation Kitsune was at the Loguetown weapon shop owner's place, and the Fine Grade Sword Kazuo was also there. Golden Lion had two Great Grade Swords, Withered Tree and Cherry Blossom Ten—he could steal those later.

And the Dragon Slayer Samurai's Black Blade Autumn Water—Julian knew where that was. Julian thought to himself: Once I'm strong enough, I'll head to the Grand Line. Devil Fruits, Famous Swords, talented people—I won't let any of them go. I'll recruit them all to work for me. Room and board, triple salary, and even assign boyfriends or girlfriends, promoting free love.

Julian thought further: If a company wants to grow big and strong, it needs to bring in talent. So what counts as talent in the Pirate World? Naturally, great strength, or a super business genius, or a scholar with knowledge. If they won't come willingly, well, we're pirates—we just take it. That's professional ethics. Julian sighed: I really am a breath of fresh air in this Pirate World. Julian said: "Everyone rest tonight. Assemble on deck at eight tomorrow morning. We're going to steal a ship."

Julian had also gotten intel that at the dock below, there was a particularly interesting pirate crew: the White Wolf Pirates. Captain Dolas Allison and First Mate Field Pierre. They wanted to become famous pirates across the seas, specifically attacking World Government member nations. They had already hit four member nations. Not long ago, the South Sea Naval Branch had sanctioned them, launching a massive bombardment against the White Wolf Pirates. Surprisingly, they had escaped.

Julian thought to himself: Tomorrow, I'd better acquire this pirate crew. If they don't submit, they'll have to reincarnate in hell. On the sea, the Navy's enemies were all pirates, but pirates had many enemies—the Navy, other pirate crews, the guard forces of World Government nations, and bounty hunters. Everyone wanted to wipe out pirates. Especially the G-5 Branch near Fish-Man Island, famous for torturing pirates. Julian mused: If I don't have the skills, I'll stay low-key. I'm not touching those high-stakes games! Getting sent to Impel Down would be the end.