Chapter 300: Lord of the Sky

On the winding white cloud road, the Qilin was steadily carried on the back of the Super Express Shrimp, rushing towards the White-White Sea, three thousand meters higher.

The speed of this Express Shrimp was truly astonishing.

It was so fast that the people on board could only see the scenery on both sides flashing by.

Rorschach estimated that this journey of several kilometers would probably take less than fifteen minutes.

The White Sea and the White-White Sea were three thousand meters apart, but this white cloud road certainly couldn't be built straight up and down.

Mont Blanc Cricket on the ship was a little agitated, pacing restlessly on the deck.

He really wanted to know if the Golden City existed on the White-White Sea.

But he also feared receiving an unpalatable truth.

The warriors, on the other hand, excitedly leaned over the ship's rail, constantly looking out to admire the Sky Island scenery, with its high skies and clear clouds.

"By the way, how is this white cloud road formed? It's so amazing that clouds in the sky can be used to build roads." Hibari curiously looked at the spiraling white passage above them.

"This is probably the cloud culture of Sky Island. They live off the land and water, and the sky here has no shortage of clouds, so the people of Sky Island naturally make the most of the clouds."

Rorschach looked at the houses and buildings floating on individual cloud formations in the distance, also finding it quite magical.

"What's that? A cave?"

Suddenly, Bepo's puzzled voice rang out.

Everyone followed his gaze and saw a large, pitch-black hole in the winding white cloud road above them, which seemed bottomless.

The Express Shrimp's dozens of rapidly moving legs suddenly came to an emergency halt.

Its two upright, bulbous eyes showed a very human-like look of terror.

Then, it began to retreat rapidly.

Just as everyone was wondering why, the huge cave above them abruptly closed, and a flat, multi-meter-diameter snake head appeared in everyone's sight.

Bepo's fur bristled all over his body, and his eyes showed horror.

"A snake! A huge snake!"

"That's not a cave at all, it's that giant snake's gaping mouth!"

Hibari couldn't help but exclaim.

"It's huge, bigger than a typical Sea King. I never imagined there would be such a creature ten thousand meters up in the sky," Law said in surprise.

Then, under the stunned gazes of everyone on the ship, the terrifying python, coiled on the white cloud road, its body extending for hundreds of meters and covered in blue markings, rapidly writhed. It pursued the rapidly retreating Express Shrimp.

"It's catching up!"

"Faster, shrimp! The giant snake is going to eat us!"

Rumble!

The winding white cloud road trembled violently. Under the terrifying giant python's coiling, it seemed like it could collapse and shatter at any moment.

The giant python was massive, like a mountain, but its speed was incredibly swift.

Its pursuit speed even exceeded the Super Express Shrimp's escape speed.

Soon, this blue giant snake, the size of the white cloud road beneath its feet, caught up with the fleeing Express Shrimp. It opened its cavernous, blood-red mouth and lunged at the terrified Express Shrimp and the Qilin on its back.

"Brother Rorschach! Help! Do something!" Hibari's face turned ashen.

Everyone looked back, only to see Rorschach chatting with Cricket, showing no intention of acting.

"It's just a snake! No need for the Rear Admiral to act, we'll take care of it!"

Parmel waved, picked up Rorschach's steel fishing rod from the deck, and roared. The muscles on his two thick giant arms bulged, veins protruding. He swung the heavy fishing rod and smashed it at the giant python's head.

Bang!

A drum-like explosion immediately rang in everyone's ears.

And then...

"What? What terrifying defense and monstrous strength!"

Parmel's face turned red. The steel fishing rod in his hand was pushed high by the giant python's head, shaking free from his grip and flying out, plummeting into the deep sky outside the white cloud road.

At the same time, the Marine warriors on the deck also raised their rifles and cannons, aiming at the giant python, which was completely unharmed after being struck by Parmel.

Bang, bang, bang!

Boom, boom, boom!

Bullets whistled from the gun barrels, crackling as they struck the python's skin, then fell off, unable to penetrate its thick, hard scales.

Even the shells fired from rocket launchers only left tiny, faint black marks on its blue-patterned scales.

"It's not doing anything! How thick is this guy's skin?"

The warriors' eyes were filled with shock.

"Uncle Cricket, look at this snake, does it remind you of anything?"

On the deck, Rorschach smiled and looked at Cricket.

Cricket stared blankly at the blue giant python, which was opening its cavernous mouth and hissing as it pursued them, mumbling, "Is it... is it the Lord of the Sky, Kashigami, recorded in my ancestor's Golden City adventure story? No, that's not right. Wasn't Kashigami slain by ancestor Noland with a single sword?"

"Perhaps it's the descendant of that snake. Look, since even the Lord of the Sky, who once appeared in Noland's adventure story, has shown up, then can the Golden City be far behind?"

Cricket's eyes lit up.

Indeed, since even the Lord of the Sky had appeared, Rorschach's previous statement that the other half of Jaya Island might have been carried into the sky by the Knock Up Stream became even more credible.

They were still chatting about Noland's adventure story.

On the other side, Hibari, who had just jumped out to attack the Lord of the Sky, was headbutted back by it and fell awkwardly onto the deck.

Her current strength was in a very awkward position.

Although she had learned many powerful martial arts from Garp and other high-ranking Marines at Marine Headquarters, she had also continuously trained her body along the way.

As Akainu's daughter, being able to awaken Observation Haki at twelve years old showed her considerable talent.

But she was ultimately just a thirteen-year-old girl. Her age was too young, her physical strength wasn't high, and she hadn't awakened Armament Haki.

She could win against Bepo, Parmel, and others in a one-on-one fight.

But against Law, she would be thoroughly defeated.

"ROOM! Shambles!"

Seeing that Hibari was also beaten back, Law finally made his move.

He spread the five fingers of his left hand, and the swirling air currents instantly expanded, forming a spherical surgical space that enveloped the Lord of the Sky's head and half of its body.

His long sword, Kikoku, swished out of its sheath. He held it in one hand and, from dozens of meters away, slashed diagonally.

"Amputate!"

Bang!

The invisible slash cut a narrow crack in the Lord of the Sky's blue striped scales, but it didn't completely penetrate its massive body.

Law's brow furrowed slightly. His wrist vibrated, and a streak of black Armament Haki spread from his arm onto the Kikoku long sword.

His figure flashed on the deck. The next moment, he had appeared above the Lord of the Sky's flat, massive head, between its two lantern-like eyes.

Silver streaks of electricity appeared on the black long sword. Law gripped the hilt with both hands and stabbed straight down.

"Gamma Knife! Craniotomy!"

Crack!

A crisp snap echoed on the Lord of the Sky's flat head. The electricity attached to the long sword in Law's hand exploded as the black long sword plunged into its brain.

"Roar!"

In pain, the Lord of the Sky let out a tormented hiss.

Its massive body rolled wildly on the white cloud road, tearing apart the already crumbling white cloud road.

"No good, this beast is too big, its vitality is too tenacious. I can't kill it quickly. But if I let it continue to rampage, this white cloud road will break. So, I'll have to cut its body."

Law pulled out his long sword. His figure flashed, and he returned to the Qilin's deck.

The blade of the Kikoku long sword in his hand was dyed black with Armament Haki, which could increase the cutting power of his surgical space several times over.

Just as Law was about to use his Armament Haki-covered long sword to cut the Lord of the Sky's thick body, a lightning bolt as thick as a bucket swept out from the deck behind him, instantly striking the Lord of the Sky's hissing, cavernous mouth.

In an instant, thick streaks of electricity rapidly covered the Lord of the Sky, from its head all the way to its hundreds of meters long body.

Accompanied by a terrifying crackling sound of electricity, the scales of this massive blue giant python were charred by the ultra-high voltage current, its two large eyeballs rolled back, and black smoke billowed from its gaping mouth.

The huge snake body tensed then relaxed from the electricity, gradually detaching from the shattered white cloud road and falling into the endless deep sky below.

"He electrocuted that giant python, whose defense couldn't even be broken by cannonballs, with a single strike. As expected of Rear Admiral Rorschach."

"We're still too weak. We can't even deal with a snake, and we still have to trouble the Admiral to take action."

The warriors looked ashamed, yet also gazed at Rorschach with admiration.

Seeing the giant snake fall, emitting black smoke, the fear in the Express Shrimp's eyes vanished, and its eyes narrowed, looking very happy.

"Hey, hey, don't just be happy, shrimp! The white cloud road doesn't seem like it will last much longer. Hurry up and get to the White-White Sea before it breaks apart." Rorschach called out a reminder.

"Shhhk-shhhk~"

The Express Shrimp let out two short, strange cries. It once again moved its dozens of legs, stepping on the broken white cloud passage, and quickly darted out, rushing towards the outline of the huge Sky Island that had already appeared above them.

Soon, as another large patch of white clouds blocking everyone's view was cleared by the Express Shrimp, a lush green primeval forest appeared in everyone's eyes.

The Express Shrimp cautiously used its enormous pincers to lift the Qilin from its back and set it down gently on the forest floor.

Cricket, somewhat agitated, was the first to leap off the ship and onto the ground.

He looked around at the towering trees, a clear hint of joy in his eyes.

"These trees... they're exactly the same as the trees on Jaya Island, the same species, only the size difference is too vast."

Suddenly, the sharp-eyed Cricket saw a large black bird with a long beak standing on a branch of a large tree. It was turning its long head to the side, looking just like a large parrot, appearing adorably silly.

"It's a South Bird! This type of bird also exists in the forests on Jaya Island! Does this mean... this is the other half of Jaya Island?"

The more Cricket thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and a thousand thoughts flooded his mind.

A rumbling sound of ground shaking echoed through the forest, along with the crisp sound of large trees falling and breaking. It was the Super Express Shrimp that had dropped the Qilin, now moving its dozens of long legs, pushing aside trees, and forcefully carving out a long forest path right before Rorschach and the others.

Rorschach's expression shifted as he watched the Express Shrimp clip and break several large trees with its pincers, then look back at them.

"This shrimp seems to want us to follow it? What is it doing?"

Curious, Rorschach had Law take a portion of the warriors and temporarily stay to guard the ship.

He then took Hibari, Cricket, and the others, following the forest path opened by the Express Shrimp, walking deeper into the forest, which was lined with towering ancient trees.

They continued forward until they had covered three or four kilometers. Suddenly, the view before them opened up dramatically.

As far as the eye could see, there was an empty, low-lying basin.

Within this sunken basin were ancient buildings covered in vines, some even with trees growing from them.

On the rock walls surrounding the basin, there were excavated caves and carved murals.

However, perhaps due to the passage of too much time, the carvings on the murals had long since been eroded by the wind, making it impossible to discern what they depicted.

In the center of the basin stood a pyramid with a square top.

The moment she saw the ancient buildings in the basin, Hibari immediately gasped.

"Brother Rorschach, Uncle Cricket, is this the Golden City of Shandora you spoke of? It certainly looks very ancient."

"I haven't been to Shandora, how would I know?" Rorschach smiled bitterly, looking at Cricket, "Uncle Cricket, what do you think?"

"Let's go down and see. I might be able to tell something. My ancestor Noland's adventure diary recorded some of the mural contents."

Cricket said, then eagerly walked to the edge of the rock wall, preparing to find a suitable spot to climb down.

The ground of the forest was over thirty meters higher than the ground of the basin, so it would indeed be difficult for ordinary people to get down smoothly.

Fortunately, Rorschach was no ordinary person.

"No need for all that trouble, I'll do it."

Rorschach spread his five fingers, clenching and flicking his fingertips. The air in front of him, like soft taffy, solidified, twisting and wrapping around everyone's waists.

Then, the air accelerated, lifting dozens of people off the ground, like kites, and flying them from the cliff face into the basin ahead.

The warriors were long accustomed to Rorschach's abilities and showed no panic.

Cricket's mind was on the Golden City, so he wasn't overly surprised either.

Soon, everyone arrived in the basin and spread out, beginning to look around the murals and buildings, trying to find any golden artifacts.

The warriors believed that if this place was truly the legendary Golden City, as Cricket said, then it was likely covered in gold.

Even picking up a few pieces would make them rich.

Rorschach and Hibari, however, climbed the stone steps of the central pyramid to its top.

At the top of the pyramid was a rectangular, square stone platform.

The platform's texture seemed very hard, likely carved from a single piece of very dense stone.

Its rough surface was covered in dust and grime.

Rorschach waved his hand, conjuring a strong, knife-like gust of wind pressure that swept away the stubborn dust.

Then, they saw that beneath the dust, the surface was a dark brownish-black, as if coated with a layer of paint.

"It's blood, human blood."

Rorschach's words startled Hibari.

"It looks like this pyramid's purpose was probably some kind of altar. This stone platform has been soaked in blood for too long and too frequently, so the blood has already permeated the stone itself."

Rorschach shook his head.

He couldn't help but recall the manga again, where four hundred years ago, the Shandian Great Warrior Kalgara, in order to cure the tree fever, personally sent his own daughter to the altar to be fed to the Great Snake Kashigami, whom the Shandians worshipped four hundred years ago.

No doubt, this altar before them was probably used for sacrificing to Kashigami.

Rorschach turned and scanned the area. He soon saw a deep, diagonally downward hole in the rock wall of the basin behind the pyramid.

"This wouldn't be that big snake's nest, would it?"

Rorschach's expression was a little strange.

That Express Shrimp from earlier seemed to have snuck into this cave.

Taking advantage of the interval when the Lord of the Sky, seemingly called 'Noland' by the Shandians, fell from the clouds, this rather intelligent giant shrimp actually snuck into its lair. He wondered what it intended to do.

Dozens of Marine warriors meticulously searched the basin for over ten minutes but couldn't find a single golden artifact, immediately becoming greatly disappointed.

Here, let alone gold, there wasn't even a piece of scrap metal, only ubiquitous stones and yellow dirt.

Just as they were thinking this, everyone heard a dull thudding sound from inside the cave.

Then, the Express Shrimp returned, emerging from the cave.

Rorschach and Hibari, standing at the top of the pyramid, looked up, their mouths slightly agape.

"So... so much gold!" Hibari's eyes reflected a brilliant golden light.

On the Express Shrimp's wide, flat back, there was a dazzling, mountain-like pile of golden artifacts.

The Express Shrimp saw Hibari's sparkling eyes, and a hint of hesitation appeared in its own smiling eyes. Its steps, which were about to pass the pyramid, slowly halted.

Then, it raised its two massive pincers and grabbed a portion of the golden artifacts on its back.

Clang.

Large amounts of golden artifacts were picked up by its giant pincers and, to Rorschach's and Hibari's astonishment, placed onto the altar stone platform in front of them.

Afterward, the Express Shrimp once again raised its giant pincers, covering the pile of golden artifacts on its back. It spread its dozens of massive legs and, in a blink of an eye, climbed up to the top of the rock wall, crashing through another forest path, and disappeared from their sight.

Rorschach's cheek twitched as he watched the Express Shrimp vanish from sight in a flash.

This Express Shrimp had actually come to raid the Lord of the Sky's lair.

Was its intelligence really that high?

Hibari, beside him, was already captivated by the golden artifacts piled on the stone platform in front of her.

The Express Shrimp's giant pincers were truly enormous; a casual grab filled the stone platform, which was several square meters, to the brim.

Many golden artifacts even slid off and fell to the ground.

"This cup is so beautiful; it's not only carved with flowers and trees but also has many spiral patterns. Is this kind of carving really centuries old?"

Hibari held up a golden cup she had wiped clean, exclaiming in admiration.

Rorschach also picked up a golden short dagger inlaid with a ruby and held it up for inspection.

The red gem was as large as his thumb.

Under the sunlight, it emitted a hazy, captivating red glow, like a sunset, truly exquisite.

He wondered if finding a mask, inlaying this gem into it, and wearing it would evolve one into an ultimate being.

Suddenly, another gasp from Hibari reached his ears.

"Wow! Brother Rorschach, this golden treasure chest looks beautiful too! The outside of the box is carved with so many cloud patterns, it's simply the most beautiful work of art. I really wonder what kind of things such a valuable box could be used to hold."

As Hibari spoke, she unlatched the box.

With a click, the lid opened.

Rorschach, who had been looking over, suddenly widened his eyes.

"This is...?"

(End of Chapter)

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