Rescuing the Slaves

The imprisoned slaves stared at Julian in bewilderment and shock. Looking at the crowd before him, Julian said, "Do you all want freedom? Do you want to become people who embrace the light, or do you want to remain slaves, bullied by anyone and everyone? Follow in my footsteps and live with dignity. I'll help you."

After speaking, Julian activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability. More than twenty arms of earth extended from behind him, opening the iron cages one by one. Julian said, "Those willing to follow me, come with me. Those unwilling can stay behind and live like livestock!" With that, he strode out—but then glanced back. What if not a single person followed him? Then all that showing off would have been for nothing.

→_→ Fortunately, two girls took the lead and followed Julian, and the rest slowly came after them. Julian noticed that the two girls were quite brave. One was blonde, her whole body smeared with mud, making her look far too dirty. The pink-haired girl was truly beautiful. Though her pretty face was also covered in mud, it gave her a unique charm. Most beautiful of all was that head of pink hair. (??ω??)??

Julian felt as though he had locked eyes with the right person. He instantly became fired up and went full throttle, unleashing his Earth-Earth Fruit ability at full power. Earth Dragon: Super Wild Dance! Four black earth dragons, each twenty-five meters long and over five meters wide—shaped like Eastern dragons rather than Western wyverns—charged madly toward the dungeon exit. With a bang, the gate shattered into pieces. At that moment, the Earl's guards rushed over. The captain of the Guard Unit shouted, "Who are you? How dare you attack Earl's territory? Are you tired of living?"

Julian ignored the guards and attacked directly. After all, the ones who loved to ramble were villains and idiots. Julian instantly activated his Earth-Earth Fruit ability and said, "Mud Dragon Giant Soldier!" An earth dragon over fifty meters long ground the captain of the Guard Unit into the ground. He was knocked unconscious on the spot, and all the other guards fled in terror.

Seeing that the guards had all run away, Julian walked over to the two women. Instantly possessed by the spirit of a motivational guru, he said, "Both of you, come aboard my ship. I'll protect you. I'll give each of you a large sum of Berries every month. If you want gold, that works too. Then I'll take you out to sail freely across the Sea. My dream is to become one of the strongest people in this world." The pink-haired girl said timidly, "As long as you can protect us, that's enough. We don't need Berries or gold." Julian said, "I'm the most loyal, fair, and upright captain of the Mud Dragon Pirates on the Sea. Handing out Berries every month is a glorious tradition of our pirate crew."

Julian continued talking them into it. "Protecting you is the basic responsibility of a Mud Dragon Pirates captain. Once you board my ship and become my crew, everyone on the Sea will have to show me some respect." Seeing the admiration in their eyes, Julian knew he had this in the bag. He was delighted. Julian shouted, "Everyone, follow me!" Then he took the lead and left. Looking back at the long line behind him, Julian thought, There have to be at least two hundred people here. That Earl really is →_→ heartless.

However, Julian had no intention of dealing with the Earl yet. He would get these people aboard first. Once they were on the ship, where could the Earl run? Killing him later would take only minutes. As they neared the dock where the ship was moored, George emerged with some men, carrying himself with the swagger of a big-shot gangster. Julian praised him, "Sure enough, once you have strength, even your presence changes." Pekki spoke first. "Captain, did a mob of refugees beat you up?"

Julian shook his head and said, "These are the slaves I rescued. How can you not see that, brother?" Julian added, "Take them aboard." George said, "Understood." Julian walked to the front of the slaves and shouted, "From today onward, you are no longer slaves. You are my crew, the crew of my Mud Dragon Pirates. I will protect all of you. No one will dare bully the Mud Dragon Pirates. Come on, everyone, get aboard!"

Seeing that some of them were dressed in rags and gaunt from hunger, Julian guessed they had been imprisoned for a long time. He arranged for the cooks to give them a hearty meal. He found that there were over sixty women, including more than ten little girls; over one hundred seventy men; and more than thirty children between seven and thirteen years old. Julian said, "George, arrange for some crew members to record their backgrounds, professions, skills, or talents—anything they can do."

Julian walked over to the red-haired girl and asked with righteous solemnity, "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 group of pirates attacked our town. My family resisted, and the pirates killed them all. Our home was burned down too." Beatrice continued, her voice trembling with tears, "The two of us are from the same city. The pirates sold us into that castle as slaves, like animals. Thank you for saving us. Otherwise, I would have been a slave for the rest of my life." At that point, Beatrice broke down in sobs.

Wearing an expression that said he understood, Julian took Beatrice's hands and said, "I understand how heartbroken you are right now. Little sister, cry as much as you need to. Now that you've joined my pirate crew, I'll protect you from now on. Of course, our pirate crew is a righteous one. We help the weak and fight the strong in our daily lives. We are heroes of the Sea. Whenever we see other evil pirates, we usually cut them down. One day, I'll avenge you."

Beatrice immediately threw her arms around Julian and said, "Thank you. I can tell that you're all good people." Everyone who watched the crying Beatrice felt a pang in their hearts. Her story was simply too tragic. More than ten minutes later, plate after plate of dishes, rice, and bread was brought out. The large crowd began wolfing down their food, including Beatrice and the sixty-odd girls. These people had gone hungry for a long time.

Looking at his enlarged crew again, Julian figured George, Pekki, and Leo would have to sort them out. Julian entered the captain's cabin, preparing to inspect his two Devil Fruits. Comparing them with the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia in his hands, he found that both fruits were extremely powerful. One was a Common Zoan Bird-Bird Fruit: Eagle Form, while the other was a Paramecia, the Magnet-Magnet Fruit.

Looking at the Magnet-Magnet Fruit before him, Julian recalled that it had belonged to Kid in the original story. It was a Devil Fruit that granted Magneto's magnetic power, making it tremendously powerful in battle. Yet in Kid's hands, it had become nothing more than a pile of scrap metal. Julian said, "Little Buggy, you got full of yourself because of this Devil Fruit and challenged the Red-Haired Pirates, one of the Four Emperors. Beckman beat you until you only had one arm left. Now your arm's been saved. Without this fruit, you can't head out to sea and fool around anymore. Just stay in the South Blue and be a good kid! The New World is too dangerous. Later, Teacher Kaido would have sent you into the mines to dig ore, turning you into a miner with Seastone handcuffs on. Queen would beat and grind you down every day. Wouldn't it be better to stay in the South Blue as a rich second-generation kid? →_→ Kid, when you see me in the future, 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 Leo, the shooter Division Captain, into the room. He handed the Eagle Fruit to Leo and said, "Leo, this Devil Fruit lets you fly. You need to work hard to develop it. It's a very powerful Devil Fruit." 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 absolutely terrible." Julian looked at Leo and said, "Transform quickly. Let me see." Leo activated his Devil Fruit ability and turned into a gigantic black eagle four meters tall. Its claws were over a meter long, its thick legs were as wide as buckets, and all five talons were incredibly sharp. Julian looked at Leo and said, "Not bad. What do you think?" Leo replied, "It's incredibly cool, Captain!"

Monkey knocked on Julian's door and said, "Captain, the roster has been compiled." Julian said, "Come in." Julian took the list Monkey had prepared and found one particularly interesting person: a swordsman who knew swordsmanship. Julian took Leo out of the captain's cabin and onto the deck, then asked, "Who is Zelda Herbert?"

Julian saw a thin man around two meters tall, about a head shorter than him. He looked around twenty years old, with a weak, sallow complexion, but his eyes were remarkably clear. Herbert slowly stepped forward and said to Julian, "Respected Captain, I am Herbert. Thank you for saving my life. I have no way to repay you, and only ask that you allow me to join your crew so I may repay your kindness." After speaking, he slowly bowed, then straightened up and looked at Julian with determination.

Julian was secretly ecstatic. See? A worker had just delivered himself to my door. But he had to maintain his image and could not let it show on his face. Julian said seriously, "Swordsman Herbert, right? I warmly welcome you, and so does my big family. But you still need to familiarize yourself with our Four Ship Rules and three ship tenets. Our pirate crew is a big family full of love and peace, one you can entrust your life to."

Herbert said, "The moment I boarded the ship, I already wanted to become a member of the Mud Dragon Pirates." Julian said, "Recover first and tend to your wounds." As he spoke, Julian gently patted Herbert's shoulder. Herbert said emotionally, "I will firmly remember the ship rules and tenets. Thank you, Captain. I am endlessly grateful."

Julian also had Rose treat the injuries Herbert had suffered from abuse. Julian planned to have Herbert teach swordsmanship to the crew in the future. After defeating the captain of the Quick-Blade Pirates, Julian had obtained the Quick-Blade Swordsmanship Manual, Gale Style Swordsmanship, from the enemy captain's cabin. But Julian knew nothing about swordsmanship, and neither did George, so it had been left sitting there. Quick-Blade Nedup's Ōdachi had also been gathering dust in the warehouse. Julian could give them all to Herbert later.

Julian said, "Nedup really was a good person. Whatever I wanted, he delivered it to me. Later, I can get Herbert a few even better swords. Wouldn't that make him even stronger?" After thinking about it, Julian recalled that the Pirate World had twelve Supreme Grade Swords, twenty-one Great Grade Swords, fifty Fine Grade Swords, and eighty Fast Grade Swords. The Third Generation Kitsune was with the owner of the sword shop in Loguetown, and the Fine Grade Sword Kashu was there as well. Golden Lion had two Great Grade Swords, Withered Tree and Cherry Blossom Ten, which could be taken later.

There was also the Dragon Slayer Samurai's Black Blade Autumn Water, and Julian knew exactly where it was. Julian thought, Once I become strong enough, I'll head to the Grand Line. Devil Fruits, Famous Swords, talented people—I won't let any of them slip away. I'll recruit them all to work for me. Food and lodging included, triple pay, and partners assigned, with free love encouraged.

Julian thought, If a company wants to grow bigger and stronger, it needs to bring in talent. So what counts as talent in the Pirate World? Naturally, people with great strength, exceptional business geniuses, or scholars with knowledge. If they refuse to come, then as pirates, we can only take them by force. That's professional ethics. Julian sighed, "I really am a breath of fresh air in the Pirate World." Julian said, "Everyone, rest tonight. Gather on the deck at eight tomorrow morning. We're going to seize a ship."

Julian had also received intelligence that there was a particularly interesting pirate crew at the dock below: the White Wolf Pirates. Their captain, Dolas Allison, and first mate, Field Pierre, simply wanted to become famous pirates renowned across the seas. They specialized in attacking World Government member nations and had already struck four of them. Some time ago, the South Blue Naval Branch had punished them, mobilizing a large number of Marines to bombard the White Wolf Pirates. Yet somehow, they had still escaped.

Julian thought, Tomorrow, I'd better acquire this pirate crew. If those two refuse to submit, they can only reincarnate in hell. At sea, the Marines' opponents are all pirates, but pirates have many enemies: the Marines, other pirate crews, the guard forces of World Government nations, and bounty hunters. All of them want to wipe out pirates whenever they see them. Especially the Navy's G-5 Branch around Fish-Man Island, which is famous for abusing pirates. If I'm not strong enough, I'll just stay low-ranked. I wouldn't dare touch those top-tier matches! If I get sent to Impel Down, it'll all be over.