Two Years Later

X780

Two years flew by in the blink of an eye. After training in the Six Styles for three months, San Mao and Er Gou had already grasped the basics. They passed Ye Yang's tests and earned his approval, then began taking on jobs.

That same year, Natsu found a Transcender egg, from which the kitten Happy was born.

In X779, Laxus was the only candidate selected for S-Class. Gildarts simply washed his hands of it and handed the entire assessment over to Ye Yang.

As Laxus had wished, he and Ye Yang fought an earth-shattering battle. Laxus had trained desperately throughout the year, and his strength underwent a qualitative leap.

It was said that their battle during the S-Class assessment had flattened an entire island. Fortunately, it had been an uninhabited island, so no losses were caused.

Although Ye Yang remained the victor in the end, Laxus still earned his S-Class qualification. Yet Laxus was unwilling to accept it, because he had not defeated Ye Yang.

During this time, the darkness in Laxus's heart continued to grow.

Over these eventful two years, Ye Yang had also made a name for himself: the Golden Flash.

Inside the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Ye Yang! Fight me!!"

Happy: "Natsu, you'll be defeated in an instant."

"I don't care!"

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

Happy: "KO! Natsu, this is already your 136th defeat."

At that moment, Natsu's head was stuck in the ceiling while his body swung freely beneath it.

"Sigh... Natsu, do you really have to wait for me at the guild every morning?"

"With that time, you might as well take on more jobs."

"Happy can barely afford dried fish anymore."

Upon hearing that, Happy immediately flew onto Ye Yang's head with tearful eyes.

"Boss! How about I become your cat instead? I never get enough to eat when I'm with Natsu every day. Sob, sob, sob..."

Ever since he was born, Happy had often heard San Mao call Ye Yang Boss, so he started calling him that too.

Ye Yang rubbed Happy's head.

"You're already a strong kitty. Natsu is just still young. He's only as strong as a B-Class wizard right now. Once he grows up a little more, you'll have more dried fish than you can eat!"

"Really, Boss?!"

"Of course. Why would I lie to you?"

"Then what am I supposed to do during this time, Boss?"

Ye Yang rummaged around on his body and, somehow, pulled out a miniature dried fish and stuffed it into Happy's hand.

"With this, why worry about not having fish?"

Happy stared blankly at the fishing rod in his hand.

(That fish is bigger than I am. Are you telling me to let the fish catch me?)

Ye Yang walked over to his reclining chair and lazily lay down.

Over the past few years, Ye Yang had rarely gone out to take jobs. He was now Magnolia Town's biggest real estate tycoon. He only rented houses and never sold them. Of course, the rent was comparatively cheap, and the locations were good as well.

Without lifting a finger, he earned ten million Jewel every month.

He had completely achieved his dream: bicker with the Old Man at the guild every day, lie around and rest, and enter retirement early.

Just then, Makarov returned to the guild with a parchment scroll in hand.

"Brat, come here."

Ye Yang looked up at Makarov's grave expression and knew something must have happened.

"What is it, Old Man? Looking to buy a house from me? I'll definitely give you a friendly price."

"Brat, stop fooling around. Something happened."

As he spoke, he tossed the scroll in his hand to Ye Yang. After Ye Yang swept his eyes over it, an astonishing aura erupted from him. A towering pressure descended upon everyone, leaving them unable to even breathe.

Makarov stared at Ye Yang in shock. It was the first time he had ever seen Ye Yang so furious. Even he could barely withstand the pressure Ye Yang had unleashed.

After sweeping his gaze around, Makarov saw that everyone was trembling as they looked at Ye Yang. Although Mirajane and Erza did not show much outwardly, their bodies were trembling faintly as well, and they watched Ye Yang with solemn expressions.

"Brat, what are you doing?!!"

Makarov's shout restored a trace of reason to Ye Yang. He drew back his aura, but the killing intent in his eyes showed that he was only suppressing himself.

"Tata Village is where Er Gou, San Mao, and I grew up."

Makarov looked at Ye Yang in shock. Ye Yang and the others had never mentioned the village where they had lived. He only knew that they had once made a living as bandits.

The intelligence report listed dozens of villages, including Tata Village. Beside it were the words: village massacre.

He finally understood why Ye Yang had reacted so strongly.

When Er Gou and San Mao heard Ye Yang mention Tata Village, an ominous feeling rose in their hearts.

San Mao: "B-Boss, what happened just now? Did you mention Tata Village?"

Er Gou: "Boss, did something happen to the village?!"

Ye Yang lowered his head and did not answer them.

"Old Man, take care of Er Gou and San Mao for me."

Realizing something, Makarov hurriedly shouted, "Brat, what are you going to do?!"

Ye Yang ignored Makarov and vanished from the guild in a flash of golden light.

"This is bad. Something's going to happen!"

Erza and Mirajane hurried forward to ask.

"Grandpa Chairman, what happened?!"

Makarov knew he could not hide it any longer, so he showed them the intelligence report. After Er Gou and San Mao saw it, they immediately fell to their knees.

Seeing Er Gou and San Mao like this, everyone understood why Ye Yang had gone berserk.

Makarov hurriedly shouted, "San Mao! Er Gou! Where is Tata Village?!"

The two immediately snapped back to their senses.

"Right, right! Nothing can happen to Boss again!"

As he spoke, Er Gou pulled out a map and pointed to a location on it.

Makarov immediately called out, "Erza, Mirajane, Er Gou, San Mao, come with me! Everyone else stays in the guild. Don't move!"

Natsu hurriedly shouted, "Grandpa, we want to go too!"

Gray chimed in, "Yeah, we want to help too."

Makarov said sternly, "You're not strong enough. You'll only be a burden if you go."

After saying that, Makarov left the guild with the four of them. The once-lively guild instantly fell quiet.

Moving at top speed, Ye Yang reached the entrance of Tata Village in less than an hour.

The houses in Tata Village were now ruined, and the entire place was desolate beyond belief.

Just some time ago, they had returned here, and it had still been thriving. There had been the kind Village Chief, the hardworking Uncle, and the chatty Auntie.

As Ye Yang walked deeper into the village step by step, he saw blood splattered across the walls and dried bloodstains covering the ground.

Every sight told him just how brutal it had been at the time.

"Wait, where are the bodies?"

"Why aren't there any bodies?"

"The intelligence report the Old Man gave me didn't mention any bodies either. It only said that everyone in these villages had vanished, and that there were large amounts of blood inside the villages."

"But it didn't mention any bodies."