Pirate Kingship

"Red, a macaw that chatters in a sing-song tone about that fairy tale from Xilaralavia to outsiders...

Every characteristic of this bird matches exactly with what Uncle Andrew described in his journal. Could it be the same parrot from 11 years ago?"

No wonder Byron harbored doubts and found it hard to decide.

Though a parrot's lifespan could be seventy to eighty years, and it could certainly have appeared before Andrew Lancaster 11 years ago, then encountered Fat Dragon 11 years later. However, let's not forget that when Silvergold Island disappeared from the material world, the flow of time within the island was not synchronized with the outside world.

This was evident from the already decayed hull of the adventure ship. While only 11 years had passed in the outside world, at least a hundred years had likely passed on the island. This suggested a time discrepancy of at least tenfold.

If that parrot from back then is still alive now, then he must be at least a hundred years old.

This didn't even take into account that he might have lived here for many years even before Andrew Lancaster landed on the island.

The others didn't react to the "macaw" like Byron did; most of their vigilance was directed at the golden eggs that suddenly surrounded them.

In any strange place, a talking parrot is naturally considered a normal creature, much safer than those bizarre golden eggs.

"Musketeers, take a test shot."

BANG!

A soldier from the group took a shot and easily shattered a golden egg.

Moreover, just like smashing prize eggs, accompanied by a spray of golden sparkles, a pile of shiny silver coins flowed out from inside the eggshell.

"These are silver coins?!"

The Barbary Pirates were no better than Byron and his party, gaping at the impactful scene, their mouths wide open.

Due to their lax discipline, they didn't even wait for their commander's order and couldn't resist firing their guns, rushing to break open the golden eggs.

BANG! BANG! BANG...

Amidst a continuous series of explosions, only a few people, including Byron, heard the macaw perched on the branch cry out in panic, "Oh, my Creator, look what these foolish groundhogs have done! They didn't listen carefully while others were talking—so rude, so barbaric, so impolite! I swear, I'll scratch your butts raw with my claws!"

Clearly, to the macaw, smashing golden eggs was obviously not a good idea.

The next moment, the pirate adventurers, who were preparing to welcome a windfall from heaven, were horrified to find that only a few of the giant golden eggs blasted out silver coins.

Just like the majority of promotional egg-smashing events at stores, the odds of winning were almost like a daydream.

What was worse, while most places would at least offer a "thank you for participating," this place was terrible. Most of the eggs hatched hideous Bizarre creatures instead!

Huge in size, taller than a human, they appeared to be monstrous hybrids of chicken and Human.

Lumps were scattered across their hairless bodies. A Human face oddly protruded, featuring a golden chicken beak, small chicken wings, and golden chicken feet.

As they walked, they cried out, "GOBBLE-DAWK! GOBBLE-DAWK!"... causing chaos everywhere.

The egg white on their bodies had just dried when they immediately and impatiently pounced toward the pirate crew.

Fat Dragon and the octopus humanoid Little Eight, as pirate officers, were both positioned on the outer perimeter of the team, naturally taking the brunt of the onslaught from these monstrous hens.

Fat Dragon immediately devoured his staple food, the geoduck. His body rapidly swelled as blood engorged his frame.

He brandished two large boarding axes, easier to carry than ship anchors, cleaving the chicken monster that charged at him in two.

Little Eight wasn't far behind.

The core ability of a Second Order Professional Rank Beast Tamer was called [Wild Ally]. After reaching a Spirituality of over 5 points, for every additional point increased, one could contract an additional Demon Monster.

And they could receive a slight enhancement from a single most outstanding trait of the contracted creature.

Aside from a seagull Messenger, all of Little Eight's contracted creatures were gigantic Sea Beasts.

Coupled with the Black Sorcery he had mastered, his melee combat abilities were not weak in the slightest.

He stepped forward nonchalantly. As the crisp sound of eight longswords being unsheathed rang out, eight robust, sucker-lined tentacles each wrapped around a Fischer Slash Sword.

Chuckling scornfully, he said, "Hens? Mere child's play. Taste my secret sword technique—Octo Blade Style: Tidal Whirlpool!"

With a flash of blades from his eight arms, he instantly diced a chicken monster into pieces.

However, as he charged towards the second chicken monster amidst the rain of blood, one of his tentacles suddenly spasmed, failing to control the blade properly and nearly chopping his own head off.

"Ouch."

Any facade of mastery vanished instantly.

Byron, who was nearby, saw this scene without showing any sign of surprise.

Although this "Octopus Swordsman" was originally a Beast Tamer, his dream was to become a great Sword Saint and establish his own school of swordsmanship!

Unfortunately, despite his diligent efforts, he lacked the necessary foundation in swordsmanship and the Talent for it.

The prospect of creating his own sword techniques, let alone establishing a school, was still a long way off.

Moreover, it is well-known that octopuses have "three hearts and nine brains," with their nine brains distributed between the head and each of the eight tentacles.

With approximately 500 million neurons in total, the main brain accounted for 40%, while the rest were scattered among the auxiliary brains within the tentacles.

The main brain, with only 40% of the total neural capacity, was not very bright. Furthermore, the auxiliary brains within the tentacles were independent and did not interfere with one another.

They often had their own little ideas, directly opposing Little Eight's main brain.

This was nothing short of a disaster for executing sword techniques!

What he called "Octo Blade Style," supposedly utilizing eight swords at once, was actually just a reckless flurry of slashes.

Accidentally injuring himself was not an uncommon occurrence.

If not for his "Hyper Regeneration" ability, he could forget about creating the Octo Blade Style; he might very well have ended up in a circus performing as a one-armed hero.

That one arm had survived only because it was the one holding the sword; it wouldn't go so far as to cut itself.

What was most excessive was his penchant for giving ordinary Sword Moves extremely embarrassing names, which he then had to shout out loud to boost his morale.

Byron concluded this fellow was a classic case of "more enthusiasm than skill," the type who, when worked up, might even chop himself.

Of course, there were advantages to this as well, like:

If I want to eat those tentacles, I don't even need to cut them myself!

Sure enough, when faced with a group of attacking chicken monsters, Little Eight once again erred in the chaos: his third tentacle accidentally chopped off his seventh.

In that moment of vulnerability, the unfathomably strong chicken monsters grabbed and pecked at him, causing blood to stream everywhere.

At first, he flailed his longswords wildly, continuing his tough talk, "Ah, behold my eight—no, seven—blade secret techniques… Ah, it's the six-blade whirlwind. Ow, stop pecking, I beg you, the five-blade deadly strike... Save me, Fat Dragon, brother, save me!"

He ended up accidentally slicing off one tentacle after another, and the number of blades in his move names steadily decreased.

Under the combined assault, his remaining five arms seemed to have minds of their own, creating an extremely perilous situation.

Byron quietly used the tip of his axe to pick up those three sturdy, red, severed tentacles and lodged them in the Miracle item at his waist meant for storing fresh ingredients.

Channeling Flow State through Fat Dragon's body and exerting a fraction of the essence of Fisher Swordsmanship, he managed to block the attacks for Little Eight.

However, the swarm of chicken monsters charging in from all directions was simply too large for the two of them to handle alone.

Although the power of the Barbary Pirates was in decline, Blue Hair hadn't pulled too many people from their posts, needing to secure and stabilize their monopoly over several trade routes.

Following Fat Dragon's earnest advice, the main force consisted of Blue Hair himself and a unit of Guardsmen exceeding 120 men; he hadn't brought even a single Third Order fighter.

But the presence of Blue Hair alone was enough to suppress the entire scene.

BUZZ—!

He took one step forward. A fleeting blue halo seemed to circle above his head as an aura as heavy as a mountain suddenly descended.

Everyone on the field, friend or foe, felt as if they were directly facing a Fifth Order Kingly Title Giant Dragon and instinctively froze.

Blue Hair held a flat, round iron camel bell in his hand, gave it a gentle shake, and shouted, "Freeze!"

The core ability of a Third Order Beast Tamer is called [Domination Holy Seal], which encompassed a range of systemic abilities: [Group Monster Immobilization], [Group Monster Domination], [Group Mental Sensitivity], [Compulsory Pact]...

After immobilization followed domination, the chicken monsters immediately grew dizzy. They staggered off to find large trees and rammed their heads into them, ending their own lives.

Enemies controlled by [Group Monster Domination] were not like Demon Monsters with complete contracts. They could only be temporarily dominated, and this consumed considerable energy over time.

It was more practical to let them self-destruct.

The macaw, seemingly surprised by the strength of the newcomers to Silvergold Island, paused for a moment on his perch.

Blue Hair Halding also noticed this unexpected guest. Looking up to inquire, he activated the Beast Tamer's Mental Sensitivity ability, "Hey, macaw over there, what were you saying at the beginning? Do you know what's going on with these golden eggs?"

Language exchange, combined with transcendent abilities, made it easy to communicate even with ordinary wild Beasts of lower Wisdom.

At his question, the macaw proudly puffed out his chest and turned his head, "Listen, just listen to that! What gibberish is this hairless, upright ape saying? Shouldn't one use polite language when making inquiries? For the Creator's sake, yes, First Mate Thomas, who has lived here for several hundred years, certainly knows the secrets of Silvergold Island. But given your rudeness, I have decided... not to tell you. Farewell, impolite upright apes."

Even though he had been spreading that fairy tale and seemingly had his own obscure agenda, he clearly had standards when choosing whom to converse with.

The Barbary Pirates apparently did not meet his criteria.

After saying this, the macaw prepared to fly away.

Byron, who had been listening quietly, had a sudden change in expression.

Lived for several hundred years? This macaw might very well be the one Uncle Andrew mentioned in his journal. If he's not boasting, that means this island might not only possess the Alchemy of Transmutation but perhaps also the secret to eternal life!

Barbarossa Halding, however, had no patience to bandy words with this macaw. He waved the camel bell in his hand and tossed a [Compulsory Pact] toward him.

But as the Divine Light of the contract landed on the macaw, it instantly shattered, failing to take effect.

In fact, this thoroughly infuriated the self-proclaimed First Mate Thomas, who screeched mid-air, "Hey, you stupid groundhogs! How dare you try to coerce First Mate Thomas? No one here will tell you the secrets of Silvergold Island any longer! Just wait for death, you lot! CAW! CAW! CAW..."

The macaw mimicked the caw of a crow with his agile tongue, Cursing them as he beat his wings and vanished in a blink.

"Did I miss?"

Blue Hair Halding looked down at his hand, momentarily puzzled.

Byron, too, was deep in thought.

For Blue Hair, being at the high rank of Fourth Order, a miss implied one of two possibilities:

The first was that the opponent's Supernatural Rank was on par with his own, making it impossible for a casual strike to capture an unharmed peer of the same rank. This, however, was clearly not the case.

The second possibility was more likely: the macaw had already formed a similar master-servant pact and had his own master!

But aside from Byron's party, who had the advantage of arriving first, the Barbary Pirates were undeniably the first major group to land on the island.

On this island where the Great Pirate Flint had hidden his treasure, whose pet could have arrived earlier than they did?

Could it be that this fellow's master is actually...

Byron couldn't help but consider a certain possibility. He resolved that if this macaw approached them later, he would definitely find a way to keep him.