A rabbit with multicolored fur darted out from the bushes. Before anyone could react, a swifter black and yellow shadow pounced from the side in mid-air.
"Bang!"
Aldo's mace struck first, smashing that shadow to the ground.
Everyone looked closely and saw it was a vigorous leopard, but its fur was covered in eerie patterns. On its shoulders and back, several clusters of grayish-white coral-like small mushrooms grew, trembling slightly with the leopard's weak breaths.
Aldo scratched his head, poking at the unconscious leopard with his mace.
"...Mushrooms growing on a leopard? This thing... is the meat still edible?"
Hearing this, the expressions of several Crew Members who had gathered around turned somewhat subtle.
"Will eating it cause diarrhea..."
"Could it be... if we eat its meat, will mushrooms start growing on us too?"
Sammy was also in the group. He squatted down to carefully examine the mushrooms on the leopard.
"They might be parasitized."
"Parasitized?!"
"Exactly. Some special plants in nature can invade animal bodies, using the host's tissues for nutrition, and may even affect or manipulate the host's nervous system. They manipulate the host's behavior, perhaps to make the host move to a place more suitable for spore dispersal. The mushrooms on these animals are likely that kind of parasitic mushroom; their brains and behavior... might not be entirely under their own control anymore."
"Wh-what?!" Several Crew Members backed away half a step in fright. "Then if we eat their meat, will we be parasitized too? Turn into... mushroom people?!"
"Gosh, this island is too sinister! How can anyone actually live here?!"
Just as everyone's spine chilled at this terrifying conjecture—
Aldo, who had been silent all along, suddenly stiffened and turned around extremely slowly.
Even more horrifying, at some point, a bright red spotted mushroom was perched on top of his head!
"I... have also been parasitized... now... I'm going to... parasitize you all—"
"Ahhh—!!"
"Hahahaha..."
Aldo couldn't hold it in anymore. He plucked off the mushroom he had just picked from a tree and laughed until he doubled over.
"You guys actually believe this stuff! How dare you go out to sea with such little courage? Hahaha!"
"Holy crap! Big Brother Aldo! Scaring people can kill them!"
"Captain, you're teaming up to scare us, aren't you! This island is already eerie enough!"
In this atmosphere of lingering fear—
"Um... are you... the chamber of commerce personnel who came to purchase mushrooms this year?"
A hesitant voice with a thick local accent came from behind a giant fluorescent blue mushroom that was as thick as two people's embrace.
Following that, a middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion wearing simple linen clothes cautiously poked his head out.
Most importantly—on top of his head, there was a large red and white mushroom!
"Ah! A mushroom person! A real mushroom person!!"
Several Crew Members who had just been scared by Aldo reflexively drew their weapons, blades and muzzles all pointing at the man.
"Whoa!"
The man was startled by their reaction and waved his hands repeatedly.
"Don't, don't get excited! This is just a decoration! Look—"
He quickly took off the mushroom, revealing normal short black hair underneath.
"I didn't turn into a mushroom!"
"Phew... scared me to death."
The Crew Members finally breathed a sigh of relief and resentfully put away their weapons.
"In this ghostly place, do people like to wear mushrooms when they go out?"
The man also breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and curiously sized up Sammy's group of outsiders, whose temperament was very different from a merchant caravan.
"Where are you from? The chamber of commerce seems to have come a bit earlier this year than usual... and you don't really look like the usual managers."
"We are just voyagers passing through here by accident to resupply." Sammy stepped forward. "Are you a local?"
"Yes, I live in the Mushroom Village ahead. You don't look like bad people... come with me. The Village Chief is very knowledgeable and should welcome you."
Led by the man, Sammy's group passed through patches of strangely shaped mushroom forests and arrived at a village located in the center of the island.
The villagers here directly utilized the thick and hard stalks of giant mushrooms, hollowing out their interiors to transform them into houses for living.
The man explained that this special mushroom variety is called the Columna Giant Mushroom. Its flesh is as tough as wood, waterproof, and moth-proof. After reaching a certain age, it stops growing, making it a natural building material bestowed by the heavens.
The group was led to the largest mushroom house in the center of the village.
An elderly man with white hair but a kind face received them.
"Welcome to Mushroom Village, guests from afar. I am the Village Chief here; everyone can call me Old Mushroom Head."
The old man smilingly brewed a pot of tea for them. The tea was amber in color, emitting a unique aroma similar to a mix of truffle and herbs.
"This is brewed from our Fragrant Tea Mushrooms after being dried and ground. It can refresh the mind and dispel the dampness from the sea. Give it a taste."
Sammy took a sip. The flavor was rich, and there was indeed a cool sensation that rushed straight to his head.
"Good tea. Village Chief, we came here to ask about a place—High West. Have you heard of it?"
Old Mushroom Head's movement of drinking tea paused slightly.
"High West... what a familiar yet strange name. I'm afraid... it has been decades since any outside guest has mentioned it."
He looked up at Sammy with a complex gaze: "You... are planning to go to Sky Island, aren't you?"
Sammy keenly detected the tone of dissuasion in the Village Chief's voice.
"You don't seem to recommend that we go?"
"Sigh..." Old Mushroom Head let out a long sigh. "Take my advice, forget it. Don't go."
"Why is that?"
Old Mushroom Head put down his teacup and began to explain the past history to Sammy.
"According to the records passed down through generations in our village, about three hundred years ago, our Rongrong Island was much more prosperous than it is now. Because our geographical location was exactly on the route to High West, this place became one of the important transit supply stations. Back then, large numbers of merchant ships stopped here for supplies and then headed to High West, attempting to trade with the Sky Island people."
"Although the success rate of reaching Sky Island wasn't high—often only two or three out of ten ships would safely make the round trip—the profits were staggering. Huge interests drove batch after batch of chambers of commerce to follow one after another."
The Village Chief's tone shifted, carrying a sense of lament:
"However, starting from about three hundred years ago, the situation changed. Fewer and fewer chambers of commerce were willing to go to Sky Island, and this route gradually became desolate. Until several decades ago, no chamber of commerce mentioned going to High West anymore."
Old Mushroom Head picked up the now slightly cool tea and took a sip.
"According to news brought back by the last few batches of returning merchants—a war broke out on Sky Island. And it was a monumental war that has lasted for hundreds of years."
"Because of the war, Sky Island became extremely xenophobic and dangerous. Blue Sea ships going for trade—that is, ships from the Grand Line—were no longer seen as merchants, but were often treated by both warring sides as spies or enemies from unknown forces, suffering indiscriminate and fierce attacks. The losses of the chambers of commerce became more and more heavy, with less than one in a hundred surviving... Gradually, the risks and gains were no longer proportional, and no chamber of commerce was willing to do such a losing business anymore."
"This route just broke off like that. High West was also gradually forgotten by people."
Old Mushroom Head looked at Sammy and the others with earnest concern.
"You must be adventurers who heard the legends of Sky Island's existence and came looking for it, right? Take my advice and turn back. Going there now isn't an adventure; it's seeking death."
Sammy nodded inwardly. This timeline and description should be the long war that lasted four hundred years between the Shandian People and the Sky Island natives over Apando. This basically matched the original information.
Just then, several Crew Members responsible for purchasing ran back excitedly, carrying several baskets of fresh mushrooms and some local dried goods in their hands.
"Captain! Things here are so cheap! Look, we bought such a large pile of mushrooms for a few hundred Berries, and the quality is exceptionally good! There's also this Healing Mushroom; the villagers say that mashing it for external application can speed up wound healing!"
Seeing this, Old Mushroom Head chuckled and said, "We don't have much else here, but we have plenty of mushrooms. They're all over the mountains and fields; everyone is just earning a bit of hard-earned money. In another two months, when the mushroom outbreak period begins, the prices will be even cheaper. At that time, a few chambers of commerce will come to purchase. Other than them, the ones who come most often on ordinary days are pirates. Adventurers like you who specifically ask about High West are rare..."
Before the Village Chief could finish speaking—
"Village Chief! Something's wrong!"
Several young villagers holding muskets rushed in hurriedly.
"We found a pirate ship on the west beach!"