Immortal Island, east side.
This place was a swampy wetland, unbearably hot and muggy. All sorts of suspicious things floated on the filthy water. Aquatic grasses and small-leaved plants were common, while the corpses of rodents and birds drifted on the surface. After being decomposed by fungi, slender mushrooms sprouted from the corpses.
This was the fungi's territory. Those who did not coexist with them could only become their nutrients. The Giant Crocodiles were masters at coexisting with the fungi.
Contrary to what one might imagine, the Giant Crocodiles were not covered in fungi. Their relationship was much like that between ordinary crocodiles and plover birds—more like symbiosis than mutual interference or true coexistence.
Why had the Empress retreated? One major reason was that she had been driven back by the fungi in the Giant Crocodile zone. The pirates had been fighting the Giant Crocodiles when mushrooms suddenly sprouted from their bodies and burst apart. After the fungi scattered through the air, the other pirates nearby quickly turned into mushrooms as well.
In the Giant Crocodile zone—or rather, it was more fitting to call this place the Fungal Wetland—being wounded was extremely fatal. Even minor injuries could lead to severe fungal parasitic damage. After suffering enough of this damage, mushrooms would quickly sprout from the wounds, and in the end, the entire person would turn into one giant mushroom.
These were the extraordinary fungi of this place. Regrettably, the technological level of this world was far too backward. If several relatively mild varieties that did not erode living creatures were selected and cultivated, the mushrooms they produced would taste unimaginably delicious, and eating them would bring endless benefits.
A not-too-pungent stench spread through the air. Su Xiao waded through the muddy water, which reached his knees. Every time he stepped