Inside the carriage,
Zoro suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through the ice crystal window, fixed on the road ahead.
He was a swordsman who fought by releasing Ghost Qi, so he had a strong perception of similar energies.
Not far away,
a dense, chilling, and evil energy fluctuation was rapidly gathering.
"Stop the car, something's wrong."
Zoro quickly called out to stop them,
but it was already too late. The front of the Frost Drilling Vehicle, with its ice drill capable of easily smashing rocks, was blocked by a dark figure.
Buzz buzz buzz.
A pale white skeletal hand gripped the center of the drill, stopping the magic-enhanced mechanical drill from rotating with brute force.
The newcomer was a giant skeleton,
with a massive five-meter body and purple soul flames burning in its empty eye sockets.
"Purple soul fire, this skeleton is a purple Game Item."
Robin, with her scholarly experience, immediately recognized the quality of this giant skeleton.
Players who could possess purple items were not simple.
At this stage of the battle,
everyone judged combat power based on the amount of reward points spent and the quality of the items the opponent possessed.
Although,
there would be slight differences due to Class Features and player combat experience, for example, support-type professions definitely couldn't beat combat-type ones, but these were minor differences.
Normally, the more reward points spent and the higher quality items a player possessed, the stronger they were.
And players who mastered purple items,
were definitely among the top players, at least in the first tier.
"No, the aura I sensed isn't this skeleton!"
Zoro suddenly roared,
that evil and cold aura was incredibly pure, to the point where it made his own Ghost Qi sluggish.
The strong sense of danger and death, as if he was about to be devoured, made his hair stand on end.
"I have no ill intentions, I merely wish to hitch a ride."
A slightly hoarse voice, yet one that seemed to possess a certain magic, suddenly rang out.
Zoro was on high alert.
Even Nami and the others didn't understand why Zoro's reaction was so extreme.
With the Straw Hat Pirates' current hard power, even if they faced top players or The Three Admirals of the Navy head-on, they could retreat safely.
Especially Luffy,
he was someone who had exchanged for [Light Bloodline], capable of activating Ultra Body and grappling with an Admiral.
Under their gaze,
Orochimaru's figure slowly emerged from behind the giant skeleton.
He didn't deliberately assume a fighting stance, nor did he release any aura; he simply stood there, seemingly harmless.
Yet, Zoro felt as if he was being targeted by an abyss viper.
"I refuse."
Luffy frowned deeply.
He felt a very unpleasant aura from the newcomer; he didn't like it.
Most importantly, Zoro felt uneasy because of this guy.
So, even though the other party's request wasn't excessive, he couldn't agree to it.
"Is that so? What a pity."
Orochimaru looked at the wary Zoro with interest.
A player from the Otherworld?
The strange soul aura emanating from him seemed to indicate a profession that could control ghosts and gods in battle.
A sword at his waist?
It also seemed he possessed exquisite swordsmanship.
Truly a rare sight... a body capable of becoming a commander-level undead swordsman.
How captivating.
Orochimaru extended his tongue, licking the corner of his mouth.
Seeing his request refused,
he showed no anger, merely smiled indifferently, then stood on the giant skeleton's shoulder and departed.
Leaving behind a meaningful remark.
"We will meet again, friend."
That word 'friend',
sounded devoid of warmth, yet it was spoken very earnestly, as if he truly considered the Straw Hat Crew as friends.
Or perhaps as some kind of item he would collect?
Not just Zoro,
the rest of the Straw Hat Crew also felt a chill down their spines.
Seeing that the opponent didn't make a move, Robin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What an evil player. He definitely exchanged for a profession related to the undead, and he's a top player."
"If you get killed in the game, you won't die, but his last words gave me a very strange feeling."
The Game Merchant's rules were absolutely inviolable.
Whether in the world of One Piece or Naruto, they were absolute ironclad laws.
Chopper, the reindeer, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, we won't truly die. Otherwise, I would have wanted to turn around and run."
Not just Zoro, Orochimaru's gaze towards him was also very peculiar,
like how he would look at materials for research?
Too terrifying.
The Frost Drilling Vehicle started, its mechanical engine roaring.
The little reindeer quickly said, "Let's take another route. I don't want to meet that chilling guy again."
"You're really timid, Chopper."
Nami covered her mouth, laughing, and turned the Frost Drilling Vehicle around, taking a detour.
She didn't feel Orochimaru's terror.
As a top Necromancer, his methods of concealing his aura were very clever.
It was only because he encountered an unusual group like the Straw Hat Crew, with a super-perceptive idiot like Luffy and a keen Ghost Cry swordsman like Zoro, that they noticed anything amiss.
Most ordinary player teams wouldn't have detected Orochimaru's abnormality at all.
"Onigiri!"
A black-purple, ferocious sword energy split open the monsters blocking their path.
They gradually reached the depths of the dangerous area, the surrounding monsters growing stronger and stronger, and a strange energy enveloped the surroundings.
"Nami, look up! What a beautiful sky!"
Sanji looked up, saw the sky through the open sunroof, and immediately said to Nami beside him, trying to impress her.
Hearing his shout, everyone instinctively looked up.
The azure sky was like a crystal clear gem, with living beings swimming within it, emitting a faint, shimmering light that spilled onto the ground.
As the light from the sky shone upon them,
even the energy fluctuations within their bodies felt more active.
Black text appeared before their eyes.
[You have entered the dangerous area [Sky Sea]. The monster levels in this area are Lv.20 ~ Lv.59]
Robin took out her notebook and quill, continuously recording, and exclaimed, "No wonder there's life activity; the sky above us is actually an ocean?"
"Hahahahaha, as expected of the Otherworld!"
Luffy directly climbed out of the car window and stood on top of the drilling vehicle.
He swung his arms,
and stretched out his rubber-like arm, wanting to touch the clear blue Sky Sea.
His Rubber body, which had been trained for many years, had been lost due to the disappearance of the Nika Fruit.
Luffy was very unaccustomed to suddenly losing it, but he was extremely lucky that the newly refreshed items in the Game Store compensated for his disadvantage.
Now, he truly possessed the [Rubber Fruit], which allowed him to regain his rubbery physique.
"Idiot, even though it's called the Sky Sea, it's in the sky! How could you possibly touch it?"
"That castle, it should be possible to climb to the Sky Sea from there, right?"
Luffy picked his nose,
and pointed to the center of their vision, a huge cylindrical structure that seemed to merge the sky and the earth.
Text also appeared before his eyes.
[Sky City].
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