Chapter 239: Sky Island Birka

"Wait, what?"

Mont Blanc Cricket wiped the tears from his face, seeming unable to recover from his recent hysterical outburst.

"Stay here for now and don't move, I'll be back shortly."

With those words, Adrian left a ghost guardian behind and his figure suddenly disappeared, heading in the direction sensed by his Observation Haki.

Moments later.

Adrian encountered the large snake he had sensed.

The giant snake was light blue, covered in deep blue circular patterns of varying shades, with long, dense white bristles along its sides, and whisker-like feelers on either side of its mouth.

"Hiss..."

Seeing Adrian suddenly appear ahead.

The giant snake coiled its upper body, its bright yellow eyes coldly staring at the enemy in front of it, ready to strike at any moment.

In a flash.

The snake's lower body, close to the ground, tensed, sending dust scattering as its thick, sturdy upper body shot towards Adrian like an arrow.

A faintly sweet and metallic scent wafted from its gaping maw, indicating this was a venomous snake!

"Aren't snake supposed to be non-venomous in nature? They usually approach prey slowly, bite, and then crush them with their bodies…"

Facing the deadly fangs so close to him, Adrian felt no fear, even finding time to make a sarcastic comment.

"Damn nature documentaries, scientific principles don't apply at this world at all!"

Boom—

The front half of the snake's body passed straight through Adrian, its gaping mouth clamping onto the trunk of a century-old tree behind him.

Sizzle—

Visible purple smoke rose from the bite area, accompanied by the sound of corrosion.

When the snake moved its mouth away, the bitten area of the tree was almost completely corroded by the venom, dark sap oozing from the edges of the bite mark.

"This venom is really terrifying~"

Adrian's eyes narrowed slightly, his figure appearing in midair, looking down at the giant snake below.

"In light of your past association with the warriors of Shandora and Mont Blanc Noland, I'll spare your life this time."

The giant snake, about to launch a second attack, suddenly halted, looking up at Adrian in confusion.

Clearly, this spirit snake that had lived for hundreds of years could understand human speech!

"But a small punishment is still necessary."

Adrian drew the cursed blade from the void, gripping its hilt with his right hand, and stepped towards the snake, his body exuding a powerful aura, firmly locking onto the snake.

Hiss—

The snake emitted a low, uneasy hiss, a human-like fear appearing in its eyes as it looked at Adrian.

Realizing the immense power and terror of the man before it, the snake wanted to submit.

In just a few breaths, Adrian walked through the air to the snake's head.

Kitetsu raised high, then slashed down heavily—

"One Sword Style: Great Shock!"

An overwhelming sense of fear and intimidation shattered the snake's already wavering will.

The massive body of the snake stiffened for a moment in midair before collapsing to the ground like a pile of mud, completely losing the will to resist.

"It seems 'Great Shock' can be used not only as a skill for dealing with weak opponents, but also for intimidating or subduing intelligent beasts like this."

Moments later, Adrian stood on the snake's head, which quickly slithered towards the ruined city.

Where Cricket should have been, he was nowhere to be seen.

A red light flashed in Adrian's eyes as he called out, "Mr. Cricket, come out."

A stunned Cricket emerged slowly from a dark corner, trembling as he looked at the giant snake that could easily swallow him whole, too frightened to speak.

"Mr. White Ghost, is this the 'native' you mentioned?"

"By the way, this little snake knew your ancestor Mont Blanc Noland for some time in the past."

Adrian lightly stepped on the snake's head.

The snake obediently lowered its head, but its bright yellow eyes curiously looked at Cricket, who had just appeared.

Cricket, still fearful, mustered his courage to speak, "I'm sorry, Mr. White Ghost, I didn't know about this."

"It's okay, it's ancient history from hundreds of years ago."

Adrian jumped down from the snake's head.

"This creature was once friends with the warriors of Shandora and Noland. When Shandora was sent to the sky by a massive knock-up stream, it followed and grew into what it is now."

Cricket looked bewildered. He didn't understand how this pirate with a bounty of over a billion berries knew so much ancient history, but he couldn't help but believe it.

After all, the legendary Golden City of Sky Island was now unmistakably before his eyes.

Even if White Ghost told him he would find the legendary "All Blue" next, Cricket would probably believe it.

"But now, we need to discuss your plans, Mr. Cricket." Adrian said calmly, "I have some business to attend to on Sky Island. What about you? What are your plans?"

"Me?"

Cricket was silent for a moment. His life goal had been to find the legendary 'Golden City.'

Now that he was in the Golden City, or rather, the ancient city of Shandora, his wish was fulfilled.

Adrian said, "In other words, Mr. Cricket, are you planning to live on Sky Island from now on, or do you want to return to the sea below?"

"Live here?" Cricket looked around slowly and shook his head, "I'd rather go back to the sea, that's where I truly belong."

Adrian nodded slightly, a white ghost appearing at his fingertip.

"I actually planned to find the Golden City through my own efforts—"

Dream Ghost: Sleep Curse.

Adrian had no interest in listening to the dreams of Noland's descendant and put him to sleep, then placed him back into his castle.

Adrian lightly jumped back onto the snake's head.

"You should know where the nearby human settlements are, right? Take me there, I have some questions for them."

The snake nodded human-like and began to slither towards a remembered location.

Soon after.

The snake carried Adrian to a nearby settlement, inhabited by Sky Island natives with antennae-like hair decorations and feather-like ornaments on their backs.

With the snake's silent "peaceful negotiation," the Sky Island natives were very cooperative, providing the information Adrian sought.

That information was the location of Sky Island Birka!

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