diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/conftest.py b/gcsfs/tests/conftest.py
index 40129faf..2efd177e 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/conftest.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
     TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET,
     TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET,
 )
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs
 
 files = {
     "test/accounts.1.json": (
@@ -60,13 +61,6 @@
     "zonal/test/c": b"ab\n" + b"a" * (2**18) + b"\nab",
 }
 
-_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024  # 5MB
-pattern = b"0123456789abcdef"
-text_files["multi_threaded_test_file"] = (
-    pattern * (_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE // len(pattern))
-    + pattern[: _MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE % len(pattern)]
-)
-
 allfiles = dict(**files, **csv_files, **text_files)
 a = TEST_BUCKET + "/tmp/test/a"
 b = TEST_BUCKET + "/tmp/test/b"
@@ -82,6 +76,37 @@
 }
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _avoid_adc_timeout(monkeypatch):
+    """Avoid slow ADC lookups and Metadata Server requests in tests."""
+    # Do not apply if tests are explicitly running against real GCS
+    if is_real_gcs():
+        yield
+        return
+
+    # Disable GCE metadata check in google-auth and gcsfs
+    monkeypatch.setenv("NO_GCE_CHECK", "true")
+
+    # Set a dummy project to avoid project ID lookup timeouts if not set
+    if "GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT" not in os.environ:
+        monkeypatch.setenv("GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT", "dummy-project")
+
+    yield
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _mock_get_bucket_type_on_emulator():
+    """Mock _get_bucket_type to return UNKNOWN instantly on emulator."""
+    if not is_real_gcs():
+        with mock.patch(
+            "gcsfs.extended_gcsfs.ExtendedGcsFileSystem._get_bucket_type",
+            return_value=BucketType.UNKNOWN,
+        ):
+            yield
+    else:
+        yield
+
+
 def stop_docker(container):
     cmd = shlex.split('docker ps -a -q --filter "name=%s"' % container)
     cid = subprocess.check_output(cmd).strip().decode()
@@ -92,6 +117,8 @@ def stop_docker(container):
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def docker_gcs():
     if "STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST" in os.environ:
+        if not is_real_gcs():
+            params["token"] = "anon"
         # assume using real API or otherwise have a server already set up
         yield os.getenv("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST")
         return
@@ -290,9 +317,6 @@ def final_cleanup(gcs_factory, buckets_to_delete):
 def gcs_versioned(gcs_factory, buckets_to_delete):
     gcs = gcs_factory()
     gcs.version_aware = True
-    is_real_gcs = (
-        os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com"
-    )
     try:  # ensure we're empty.
         # The versioned bucket might be created by `is_versioning_enabled`
         # in test_core_versioned.py. We must register it for cleanup only if
@@ -306,7 +330,7 @@ def gcs_versioned(gcs_factory, buckets_to_delete):
                 buckets_to_delete.add(TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET)
         except ImportError:
             pass  # test_core_versioned is not being run
-        if is_real_gcs:
+        if is_real_gcs():
             cleanup_versioned_bucket(gcs, TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET)
         else:
             # For emulators, we delete and recreate the bucket for a clean state
@@ -321,7 +345,7 @@ def gcs_versioned(gcs_factory, buckets_to_delete):
     finally:
         # Ensure the bucket is empty after the test.
         try:
-            if is_real_gcs:
+            if is_real_gcs():
                 cleanup_versioned_bucket(gcs, TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET)
         except Exception as e:
             logging.warning(
@@ -367,13 +391,9 @@ def cleanup_versioned_bucket(gcs, bucket_name, prefix=None):
 
 
 def _create_extended_gcsfs(gcs_factory, buckets_to_delete, populate_bucket, **kwargs):
-    is_real_gcs = (
-        os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com"
-    )
-
     extended_gcsfs = gcs_factory(**kwargs)
     # Only create/delete/populate the bucket if we are NOT using the real GCS endpoint.
-    if not is_real_gcs:
+    if not is_real_gcs():
         if not extended_gcsfs.exists(TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET):
             extended_gcsfs.mkdir(TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET)
             buckets_to_delete.add(TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET)
@@ -433,7 +453,7 @@ def gcs_hns(gcs_factory, buckets_to_delete):
 def zonal_write_mocks():
     """A fixture for mocking Zonal bucket write functionality."""
 
-    if os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com":
+    if is_real_gcs():
         yield None
         return
 
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_async_gcsfs.py b/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_async_gcsfs.py
index 7b1345c9..8a94fb4c 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_async_gcsfs.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_async_gcsfs.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 from gcsfs.extended_gcsfs import ExtendedGcsFileSystem
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_HNS_BUCKET
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs
 
 REQUIRED_ENV_VAR = "GCSFS_EXPERIMENTAL_ZB_HNS_SUPPORT"
 
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@
         reason=f"Skipping tests: {REQUIRED_ENV_VAR} env variable is not set",
     ),
     pytest.mark.skipif(
-        os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") != "https://storage.googleapis.com",
+        not is_real_gcs(),
         reason="Skipping tests on emulator, requires real GCS.",
     ),
 ]
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_extended_hns.py b/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_extended_hns.py
index 606055e1..c1f16267 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_extended_hns.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/integration/test_extended_hns.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 from gcsfs.extended_gcsfs import BucketType, ExtendedGcsFileSystem
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_HNS_BUCKET, TEST_PROJECT
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs
 
 should_run_hns = os.getenv("GCSFS_EXPERIMENTAL_ZB_HNS_SUPPORT", "false").lower() in (
     "true",
@@ -27,8 +28,7 @@
 
 # Skip these tests if not running against a real GCS backend or if experimentation flag is not set.
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(
-    os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") != "https://storage.googleapis.com"
-    or not should_run_hns,
+    not is_real_gcs() or not should_run_hns,
     reason="This test class is for real GCS HNS buckets only and requires experimental flag.",
 )
 
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_core.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_core.py
index dd6cd9a4..1fb102db 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_core.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_core.py
@@ -487,8 +487,7 @@ def test_rm_recursive(gcs):
 
 def test_rm_chunked_batch(gcs):
     files = [f"{TEST_BUCKET}/t{i}" for i in range(303)]
-    for fn in files:
-        gcs.touch(fn)
+    gcs.pipe({fn: b"" for fn in files})
 
     files_created = gcs.find(TEST_BUCKET)
     for fn in files:
@@ -511,8 +510,7 @@ def test_rm_wildcards_in_directory(gcs):
         f"{base_dir}/b1.dat",
         f"{base_dir}/subdir/nested.txt",
     ]
-    for f in files:
-        gcs.touch(f)
+    gcs.pipe({f: b"" for f in files})
 
     # 1. Test '?' wildcard (non-recursive)
     gcs.rm(f"{base_dir}/file?.txt")
@@ -2019,7 +2017,6 @@ def test_find_dircache(gcs):
         f"{TEST_BUCKET}/2014-01-01.csv",
         f"{TEST_BUCKET}/2014-01-02.csv",
         f"{TEST_BUCKET}/2014-01-03.csv",
-        f"{TEST_BUCKET}/multi_threaded_test_file",
         f"{TEST_BUCKET}/zonal",
     }
     assert set(gcs.ls(f"{TEST_BUCKET}/nested")) == {
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_core_versioned.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_core_versioned.py
index 0b821acb..d6747cea 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_core_versioned.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_core_versioned.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 from gcsfs import GCSFileSystem
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs
 
 a = TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET + "/tmp/test/a"
 b = TEST_VERSIONED_BUCKET + "/tmp/test/b"
@@ -22,7 +23,7 @@ def is_versioning_enabled():
     """
     # Don't skip when using an emulator, as we create the versioned bucket ourselves.
     global _VERSIONED_BUCKET_CREATED_BY_TESTS
-    if os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") != "https://storage.googleapis.com":
+    if not is_real_gcs():
         return True, ""
     try:
         gcs = GCSFileSystem(project=os.getenv("GCSFS_TEST_PROJECT", "project"))
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_credentials.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_credentials.py
index af9d47df..64fcba65 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_credentials.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_credentials.py
@@ -45,6 +45,43 @@ def test_connect_google_default_uses_request():
         assert isinstance(kwargs["request"], Request)
 
 
+def test_connect_cloud_success():
+    with patch("google.auth.compute_engine.Credentials") as mock_creds_class:
+        mock_creds = Mock()
+        mock_creds_class.return_value = mock_creds
+
+        cred = GoogleCredentials(
+            project="my-project", access="read_only", token="cloud", on_google=True
+        )
+
+        assert cred.credentials == mock_creds
+        assert mock_creds.refresh.called
+        assert cred.method == "cloud"
+
+
+def test_connect_cloud_failure():
+    import google.auth.exceptions
+
+    with patch("google.auth.compute_engine.Credentials") as mock_creds_class:
+        mock_creds = Mock()
+        mock_creds_class.return_value = mock_creds
+        mock_creds.refresh.side_effect = google.auth.exceptions.RefreshError(
+            "mock error"
+        )
+
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Invalid gcloud credentials"):
+            GoogleCredentials(
+                project="my-project", access="read_only", token="cloud", on_google=True
+            )
+
+
+def test_connect_cloud_not_on_google():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        GoogleCredentials(
+            project="my-project", access="read_only", token="cloud", on_google=False
+        )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("token", ["", "incorrect.token", "x" * 100])
 def test_credentials_from_raw_token(token):
     with patch.dict(os.environ, {"FETCH_RAW_TOKEN_EXPIRY": "false"}):
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs.py
index 3598a3a6..906f8f22 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs.py
@@ -30,14 +30,9 @@
     simple_upload,
     upload_chunk,
 )
-from gcsfs.tests.conftest import (
-    _MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE,
-    csv_files,
-    files,
-    text_files,
-)
+from gcsfs.tests.conftest import csv_files, files, text_files
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_BUCKET, TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET
-from gcsfs.tests.utils import tempdir, tmpfile
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs, tempdir, tmpfile
 from gcsfs.zb_hns_utils import MRDPool
 
 file = "test/accounts.1.json"
@@ -73,10 +68,7 @@ def gcs_bucket_mocks():
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def _gcs_bucket_mocks_factory(file_data, bucket_type_val):
         """Creates mocks for a given file content and bucket type."""
-        is_real_gcs = (
-            os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com"
-        )
-        if is_real_gcs:
+        if is_real_gcs():
             yield None
             return
         patch_target_lookup_bucket_type = (
@@ -342,10 +334,21 @@ async def test_cat_file_on_unfinalized_file(extended_gcsfs, file_path):
 
 
 # ========================== Zonal Multithreaded Read Tests ===========================
+_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024  # 5MB
 _MULTI_THREADED_TEST_FILE = "multi_threaded_test_file"
-_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA = text_files[_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_FILE]
+pattern = b"0123456789abcdef"
+_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA = (
+    pattern * (_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE // len(pattern))
+    + pattern[: _MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA_SIZE % len(pattern)]
+)
 _MULTI_THREADED_TEST_FILE_PATH = f"{TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET}/{_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_FILE}"
 
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def multi_threaded_test_file(extended_gcsfs):
+    extended_gcsfs.pipe(_MULTI_THREADED_TEST_FILE_PATH, _MULTI_THREADED_TEST_DATA)
+
+
 _TEST_BLOCK_SIZE_FOR_CHUNK_BOUNDARY = 1 * 1024 * 1024  # 1MB
 _NUM_CONCURRENCY_THREADS = 10
 _READ_LENGTH_CONCURRENCY = 1024  # 1KB
@@ -371,7 +374,9 @@ def _read_range_from_fs(fs, path, offset, length, block_size=None):
         return f.read(length)
 
 
-def test_multithreaded_read_disjoint_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks):
+def test_multithreaded_read_disjoint_ranges_zb(
+    extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks, multi_threaded_test_file
+):
     """
     Tests concurrent reads of disjoint ranges from the same file.
     Verifies that different parts of the file can be fetched simultaneously without data mix-up.
@@ -399,7 +404,9 @@ def test_multithreaded_read_disjoint_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks)
             assert mocks["downloader"].close.call_count == len(read_tasks)
 
 
-def test_multithreaded_read_overlapping_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks):
+def test_multithreaded_read_overlapping_ranges_zb(
+    extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks, multi_threaded_test_file
+):
     """
     Tests concurrent reads of overlapping ranges from the same file.
     """
@@ -443,7 +450,9 @@ def test_default_cache_is_readahead_chunked(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks):
             assert isinstance(f.cache, caching.ReadAheadChunked)
 
 
-def test_multithreaded_read_chunk_boundary_zb(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks):
+def test_multithreaded_read_chunk_boundary_zb(
+    extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks, multi_threaded_test_file
+):
     """
     Tests concurrent reads that straddle internal buffering chunk boundaries.
     Verifies correct stitching of data from multiple internal requests.
@@ -522,7 +531,9 @@ def _read_random_range(fs, path, file_size, read_length):
         return f.read(read_length)
 
 
-def test_multithreaded_read_high_concurrency_zb(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks):
+def test_multithreaded_read_high_concurrency_zb(
+    extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks, multi_threaded_test_file
+):
     """
     Tests high-concurrency reads to stress the connection pooling and handling.
     Verifies that many concurrent requests do not lead to crashes or deadlocks.
@@ -559,7 +570,7 @@ def test_multithreaded_read_high_concurrency_zb(extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks
 
 
 def test_multithreaded_read_one_fails_others_survive_zb(
-    extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks
+    extended_gcsfs, gcs_bucket_mocks, multi_threaded_test_file
 ):
     """
     Tests fault tolerance: one thread's read operation fails, but others complete successfully.
@@ -665,7 +676,7 @@ def _read_range_and_get_pid(path, offset, length, block_size=None):
     return data, os.getpid()
 
 
-def test_multiprocess_read_disjoint_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs):
+def test_multiprocess_read_disjoint_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs, multi_threaded_test_file):
     """
     Tests concurrent reads of disjoint ranges from the same file in different processes.
     """
@@ -694,7 +705,9 @@ def test_multiprocess_read_disjoint_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs):
     assert os.getpid() not in pids
 
 
-def test_multiprocess_read_overlapping_ranges_zb(extended_gcsfs):
+def test_multiprocess_read_overlapping_ranges_zb(
+    extended_gcsfs, multi_threaded_test_file
+):
     """
     Tests concurrent reads of overlapping ranges from the same file in different processes.
     """
@@ -733,7 +746,7 @@ def _read_with_passed_fs(fs, path, offset, length):
         return f.read(length)
 
 
-def test_multiprocess_shared_fs_zb(extended_gcsfs):
+def test_multiprocess_shared_fs_zb(extended_gcsfs, multi_threaded_test_file):
     """
     Tests passing the filesystem object itself to child processes.
     """
@@ -1109,10 +1122,9 @@ async def test_cp_file_not_implemented_error(
     short_uuid = str(uuid.uuid4())[:8]
     source_path = f"{source_bucket}/source_{short_uuid}"
     dest_path = f"{dest_bucket}/dest_{short_uuid}"
-    is_real_gcs = os.getenv("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com"
 
     # Source file needs to exist for last case when super method is called for standard buckets
-    if is_real_gcs:
+    if is_real_gcs():
         await async_gcs._pipe_file(source_path, b"test data", finalize_on_close=True)
 
     async def mock_is_zonal(bucket):
@@ -1120,7 +1132,7 @@ async def mock_is_zonal(bucket):
 
     is_zonal_patch_cm = (
         mock.patch.object(async_gcs, "_is_zonal_bucket", side_effect=mock_is_zonal)
-        if not is_real_gcs
+        if not is_real_gcs()
         else contextlib.nullcontext()
     )
 
@@ -1135,7 +1147,7 @@ async def mock_is_zonal(bucket):
             ):
                 await async_gcs._cp_file(source_path, dest_path)
         else:  # Standard -> Standard
-            if is_real_gcs:
+            if is_real_gcs():
                 await async_gcs._cp_file(source_path, dest_path)
                 assert await async_gcs._cat(dest_path) == b"test data"
             else:
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs_unit.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs_unit.py
index 2ba17288..3250bf2a 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs_unit.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_gcsfs_unit.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 from gcsfs.tests.conftest import csv_files, files
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_BUCKET, TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET
 from gcsfs.tests.test_extended_gcsfs import gcs_bucket_mocks  # noqa: F401
-from gcsfs.tests.utils import tmpfile
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs, tmpfile
 
 file = "test/accounts.1.json"
 file_path = f"{TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET}/{file}"
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
         reason=f"Skipping tests: {REQUIRED_ENV_VAR} env variable is not set",
     ),
     pytest.mark.skipif(
-        os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com",
+        is_real_gcs(),
         reason="Contains Unit tests using mocks, does not require testing on real GCS.",
     ),
 ]
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_hns_gcsfs.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_hns_gcsfs.py
index d8656f4e..103c69dd 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_hns_gcsfs.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_extended_hns_gcsfs.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 from gcsfs.extended_gcsfs import BucketType, ExtendedGcsFileSystem
 from gcsfs.retry import DEFAULT_RETRY_CONFIG, HttpError
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_HNS_BUCKET
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs
 
 REQUIRED_ENV_VAR = "GCSFS_EXPERIMENTAL_ZB_HNS_SUPPORT"
 
@@ -754,7 +755,7 @@ def test_hns_mkdir_nested_fails_if_create_parents_false(
             mocks["super_mkdir"].assert_not_called()
 
     @pytest.mark.skipif(
-        os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com",
+        is_real_gcs(),
         reason="This test is only to check that create_folder is not called for non-HNS buckets.",
     )
     def test_mkdir_non_hns_bucket_falls_back(self, gcs_hns, gcs_hns_mocks):
@@ -1591,7 +1592,7 @@ def test_hns_rmdir_success(self, gcs_hns, gcs_hns_mocks):
             mocks["super_rmdir"].assert_not_called()
 
     @pytest.mark.skipif(
-        os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com",
+        is_real_gcs(),
         reason="This test is only to check that delete_folder is not called in case of non-HNS buckets."
         "In real GCS on non-HNS bucket there would be no empty directories to delete.",
     )
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/test_zonal_file.py b/gcsfs/tests/test_zonal_file.py
index 008cbad3..0691c43e 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/test_zonal_file.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/test_zonal_file.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 )
 
 from gcsfs.tests.settings import TEST_ZONAL_BUCKET
-from gcsfs.tests.utils import tempdir, tmpfile
+from gcsfs.tests.utils import is_real_gcs, tempdir, tmpfile
 from gcsfs.zonal_file import ZonalFile
 
 test_data = b"hello world"
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ def test_zonal_file_append_to_empty(extended_gcsfs, zonal_write_mocks, file_path
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skipif(
-    os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") != "https://storage.googleapis.com",
+    not is_real_gcs(),
     reason="This test class is for real GCS only.",
 )
 class TestZonalFileRealGCS:
diff --git a/gcsfs/tests/utils.py b/gcsfs/tests/utils.py
index 720d08fa..a3e93b3b 100644
--- a/gcsfs/tests/utils.py
+++ b/gcsfs/tests/utils.py
@@ -40,3 +40,8 @@ def tmpfile(extension="", dir=None):
             else:
                 with ignoring(OSError):
                     os.remove(filename)
+
+
+def is_real_gcs():
+    """Checks if tests are explicitly running against real GCS."""
+    return os.environ.get("STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST") == "https://storage.googleapis.com"