The atmosphere inside the mushroom house instantly tightened when the villagers delivered their urgent report.
The moment Ardo heard the words "pirate ship," he instinctively gripped the spiked club leaning beside him.
But Sami quietly reached out and pressed a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking his head.
The western beach…
We landed from the southeast. That means this is another group of uninvited guests.
Ardo caught the signal in his captain's eyes—stay calm for now.
Though puzzled, he reluctantly suppressed the urge to charge out immediately.
Meanwhile, the nostalgia on Chief Old Mushroom Head's face had been replaced with deep worry.
He let out a heavy sigh, as though he had long grown used to this kind of trouble.
"Sigh… speak of pirates and they appear."
"Quick! Ring the alarm bell!"
"Call all villagers gathering mushrooms outside to return immediately!"
"Where's the patrol team? Assemble at once! Bring your weapons and prepare defensive positions!"
The chief issued orders with practiced efficiency, then turned to Sami and the others with a bitter smile.
"Forgive the disturbance, guests."
"Don't worry too much. We may just be mushroom farmers, but living here for generations has taught us ways to use the island's special fungi for defense."
"Against pirates with bounties of thirty or forty million, we can usually manage."
"I only hope this group isn't stronger than that…"
Sami observed the worry hidden beneath the old man's forced calm.
"Chief Old Mushroom Head," he said calmly.
"You've already shown us hospitality and shared information about the Sky Islands. That saved us a lot of trouble."
"If these pirates are beyond what your village can handle…"
"…we can help deal with them."
Western Coast of Drumcap Island
Unlike the gentle southeastern shore, the western coastline was jagged and rocky.
Waves crashed violently against the reefs, sending white spray into the air.
A pirate ship with a sickly gray-green hull had rammed itself onto a relatively flat stone beach.
Its sail bore a peculiar flag—
A skull biting a mushroom.
"Captain!"
"We… we finally found it!"
A skinny pirate who looked like a walking stick stared at the vast mushroom forest covering the island.
"Yes…"
Another pirate wiped his eyes.
"To find this place… we searched so many islands…"
"Endured storms… lost so many brothers…"
"Waaah…"
Several gaunt pirates suddenly began crying.
They looked less like fierce criminals and more like shipwreck survivors who had barely escaped death.
The mood spread through the group.
Many others' eyes reddened as well.
Clearly their journey to find this island had been unimaginably difficult.
"Stop crying!"
A sharp voice cut through the noise.
A man wearing a medieval-style captain's coat stepped forward.
"After all the hardships we endured—crossing fog and storms, starving and suffering—"
"We have finally arrived!"
He spread his arms dramatically toward the forest.
"Look at it!"
"Endless mushrooms!"
"This is the cradle of my dream!"
"The foundation of a new era!"
His eyes gleamed with fanatic excitement.
"From this moment on—we will conquer this island!"
"We will rule it!"
"We will build a great kingdom belonging to Morris!"
His speech was strangely persuasive.
The pirates' grief quickly transformed into greedy excitement.
"Long live Captain Morris!"
"Take Drumcap Island!"
"Build the Mushroom Kingdom!"
At that moment—
A lookout slid down the mast in panic.
"Captain Morris!"
"The Marines… that warship is approaching too!"
"Marines?!"
Morris clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Those annoying flies just won't go away!"
"They've chased us for days!"
"I haven't had a proper meal in ages!"
As if on cue, stomachs began growling loudly among the crew.
But Morris didn't panic.
Instead—
He grinned even wider.
"Perfect."
"This island… is my territory."
"Even if a Marine Admiral arrived right now…"
"…I'd still dare fight!"
He waved his hand sharply.
"Move!"
"We go ashore first!"
"Before those Marine pests arrive—we must get that thing!"
Led by Morris, the pirates quickly left the beach and plunged into the dense mushroom forest.
Inside the Mushroom Forest
The moment he entered the forest, Morris seemed like a different person.
He no longer looked like a desperate invader.
Instead—
He resembled a pilgrim returning to sacred ground.
Or a king returning to his throne.
He inhaled deeply, savoring the humid forest air.
His trembling hands brushed gently across the mushrooms.
"Ah… beautiful!"
"Magnificent!"
"Can you hear them?"
"These mushrooms… they're whispering!"
"They're cheering!"
"They're singing!"
"They've been waiting…"
"Waiting for their true king to arrive!"
One of his officers approached cautiously.
"Captain… these seem to be ordinary varieties."
"Mostly harmless or mildly toxic mushrooms."
"There are just… a lot of them."
"I know that!"
Morris snapped.
"But this island must hide countless rare and powerful species—even ones never recorded before!"
He suddenly raised his arm and pointed toward the island's center—
Toward the enormous giant mushroom towering above everything else.
"But our true objective is that!"
"As long as I obtain it—"
"No matter who comes!"
"Marines or pirates!"
"On this island…"
"I will be the strongest!"
"I will be the unquestioned king of the Mushroom Island!"
"Hahahaha!"
Suddenly…
BOOM! BOOM!
CRACK!
Heavy running footsteps and the sound of trees snapping echoed through the forest.
A beastly roar—mixed with anger and pain—rolled closer like distant thunder.
Morris stopped mid-speech.
"Hmm?"
"What's that sound?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
The pirates looked around nervously.
The giant mushroom caps above blocked the sunlight, leaving the forest dim.
Only scattered glowing mushrooms illuminated the surroundings.
Then—
BOOOOM!!!
On the edge of a clearing filled with glowing blue mushrooms—
Tall fungal trunks suddenly exploded outward.
A massive creature burst through like a runaway war chariot.
It was an enormous wild boar.
Standing height: over three meters.
Body length: nearly seven meters.
Its body was covered in stiff, steel-like brown bristles.
Two terrifying curved tusks jutted from its mouth.
But the beast looked miserable.
Several deep sword wounds covered its body.
The cuts were clean—evidence of extremely skilled swordsmanship.
Blood poured from the injuries, staining half its body dark red.
Pain and blood loss had driven the beast into madness.
Its tiny red eyes had lost all reason.
Only blind fury remained.
And the direction it charged—
Was straight toward Morris and his crew.
"AAAAH!"
"Move! Get out of the way!"
The pirates dove aside in panic.
But the boar was too fast.
BANG! CRACK!
Two unlucky pirates failed to dodge.
They were slammed by the beast's massive body and sent flying into a cluster of mushrooms.
The raging boar plowed straight through the scattered formation.
The entire pirate group fell into chaos.
"Damn it!"
Morris's face twisted in anger.
The monster was about to ruin his carefully planned landing.
His eyes flashed coldly.
He slammed both hands onto the forest floor
, pressing against the ground covered in fungal threads and fallen leaves.
"Don't get cocky, you stupid beast!"
"Let me show you…"
"…who truly rules this island!"
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