Chapter 89 The Strange Island

“Moo~”

After Kaguya blocked the Giant Squid, Moomoo finally swam to the shore.

Having been scared witless, Moomoo finally breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing onto the sandy beach and panting heavily.

Kaya and the others approached Moomoo to comfort their frightened companion.

“Moomoo, are you hurt anywhere?”

Kaya gently stroked Moomoo’s body.

“Moo~”

Moomoo shook its head and raised a flipper to point at the Giant Squid currently being pummeled by Kaguya, its eyes full of grievance.

“Don’t be sad, Kaguya and the others will vent your frustrations for you.”

Kaguya’s figure moved nimbly between the squid’s tentacles, each swing of his blade bringing forth a sharp flash of light.

The squid’s tentacles were constantly severed and regenerated, but the speed of regeneration clearly couldn’t keep up with the rhythm of Kaguya’s slashes.

Boom!

With a loud crash, the squid’s massive body slammed heavily onto the sea surface, kicking up waves dozens of meters high.

Kaguya landed steadily on the beach and flicked the blood off his blade.

Nami, who was in the middle of a fierce battle with a Giant Crab, casually deployed a Barrier to help Kaya and the others block the incoming waves.

“No need to thank me~”

“Moo~”

Moomoo, who wasn’t protected by the Barrier, gave Nami a resentful look.

“Sorry, Moomoo!”

Nami stuck out her tongue and turned back to rejoin the battle.

Tashigi and Dezaya stood back-to-back, their blades flashing as they sliced the incoming eel-like Sea Monsters into several pieces.

Soon, the Sea Monsters that had just appeared were killed by everyone’s combined efforts.

Severed tentacles and broken carapaces floated on the sea surface, and the pungent, bloody water dyed the entire area red.

Looking at the Sea Monster corpses exposed on the surface, Kaguya rubbed his chin.

“These Sea Monsters shouldn’t be poisonous, right…”

Kaya understood the meaning behind Kaguya’s words.

“Brother Kaguya, I’ll go check them in a moment.”

“The meat of these Sea Monsters looks good; it should be delicious.”

Makino said thoughtfully while looking at the corpses of those giant Sea Monsters.

“Mm, Nami, protect them. We’ll head into the island to take a look.”

After the group rested for a while, Kaguya led Nojiko, Tashigi, Dezaya, and Honey Queen deep into the dense forest.

Just as they stepped into the edge of the forest, a damp, decaying scent hit them. The branches and leaves of ancient trees blocked out the sunlight, making the surroundings exceptionally dim.

“So strange. We’re clearly at the bottom of the sea, so why doesn’t the seawater fall down… These ancient trees also grow unusually tall, not looking like plants that grow on the seabed at all.”

Tashigi looked up at the sun-blocking canopy, her brows furrowed.

“The legendary Fish-Man Island is at the bottom of the sea. Could we have arrived at Fish-Man Island?”

Dezaya said with some excitement.

Hearing the name Fish-Man Island, Nojiko’s expression became somewhat unnatural.

Even though the Arlong Pirates had been wiped out by Kaguya, Nojiko still subconsciously clenched her fists.

Noticing her abnormality, Kaguya gently patted her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, this place can’t be Fish-Man Island.

Fish-Man Island relies on a bubble film to isolate the seawater, while here…”

He looked up at the dome of seawater suspended overhead.

“It’s more like some kind of supernatural power is maintaining the balance.

Besides, Fish-Man Island is below the Red Line, tens of thousands of miles away from here.”

“Ouch~”

Dezaya, walking on the right side, was suddenly tripped by something.

Dezaya stumbled a few steps, and looking down, she saw it was actually a section of a giant white bone half-buried in the rotting leaves.

“What kind of ghostly thing is this?”

She cried out in surprise and subconsciously drew her saber.

“It’s just a piece of bone, don’t make a fuss.”

Honey Queen crouched down and carefully examined the white bone.

“Looking at the exposed part, the owner of this bone must have been very large in life.”

“Could it be the bones of those giant Sea Monsters?”

Nojiko guessed, but then shook her head.

“No, the shape and structure of this bone look more like some kind of land creature…”

“Let’s keep moving forward. It’s a bit too quiet on this island; I don’t know if there are any other creatures.”

Kaguya led the girls further into the depths of the forest.

Before they had gone far, everyone discovered more white bones scattered throughout the forest.

“These bones look like they’ve been here for a long time.

This island might have once been a habitat for those ancient creatures, and for some reason, it later sank to the bottom of the sea.”

Honey Queen touched a heavily weathered skull with her fingertip and said thoughtfully.

After walking for a while longer, the scene before them suddenly opened up.

An open clearing appeared, with a massive stone altar standing in the center, its surface covered in ancient runes and totems.

More white bones were scattered around the altar, some even larger than the ones they saw before, clearly belonging to even more powerful creatures.

“This place… looks like some kind of sacrificial site.”

Tashigi looked around vigilantly, her hand never leaving the hilt of her sword.

“These strange runes again; I can’t understand them at all.”

Honey Queen leaned close to the altar, her fingertips gently brushing over those obscure and difficult-to-understand symbols.

“Don’t touch things randomly; be careful not to trigger a trap!”

Kaguya grabbed Honey Queen’s wrist, but he was still a step too late.

The altar suddenly emitted a dull rumbling sound, and the ground began to vibrate violently.

Immediately after, the entire altar collapsed instantly, and everyone fell into a deep, dark cave, caught off guard.

During the rapid descent, Kaguya quickly drew onikiri and plunged it into the rock wall, his other hand tightly grabbing Honey Queen.

Nojiko wanted to transform into her Pteranodon form, but the space in the cave was too narrow, so she could only transform into her Hybrid Form.

Tashigi and Dezaya were held in Nojiko’s arms on either side.

A cold wind blew from the depths of the cave, mixed with the scent of decay.

Kaguya, using the support of onikiri embedded in the rock wall, managed to stabilize his body.

He looked down, seeing only endless darkness below, like a giant mouth swallowing everything.

“Hold on tight!”

Kaguya said in a deep voice, his arm muscles tensing as he pulled Honey Queen up a bit.

“How deep is it down there?”

Dezaya’s voice trembled slightly; looking down at the bottomless darkness, she couldn’t help but swallow hard.

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely not a good place.”

Tashigi gripped her sword tightly, looking around vigilantly.

Nojiko flew upward with Tashigi and Dezaya, and after Kaguya and Honey Queen stabilized themselves, they also flew up using Moonwalk.

Everyone returned to the surface, panting with lingering fear.

Honey Queen patted her chest and said with a racing heart,

“I almost fell into a bottomless pit; it scared me to death~”

“Hmph, wasn’t it the trouble you caused by touching things?”

Dezaya said while patting her own chest, still feeling the aftershocks of fear.

“I just touched those runes; how was I supposed to know the altar would collapse?

It must have been in disrepair for years, plus so many of us standing on it, that’s why it suddenly gave way~”

Honey Queen pouted and defended herself.

…

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