Fake Fire Dragon

"Thank you so much for what you just did," Lucy said sincerely.

Natsu and Happy snapped back to their senses, exchanged puzzled looks, and asked, "Huh? Why are you thanking us?"

Lucy explained, "That Fire Dragon used something called Charm Magic. The Magic Council banned that magic outright long ago."

"If you two hadn't barged in just now, I wouldn't have broken free from the magic so quickly."

"Don't let my appearance fool you—I'm a mage too. I haven't joined a guild yet, but I already have the best guild in mind."

"Isn't the process for joining one of those big guilds really strict?"

"..."

Natsu, Happy, and Ye Yang listened as Lucy kept talking. The two men and one cat exchanged speechless looks.

Happy said, "She sure can talk."

Only then did Lucy realize she seemed to have said quite a lot.

"Sorry, sorry. I got carried away talking about so much stuff from the magic world."

With that, Lucy stood up, ready to pay the bill.

The waiter brought over the check. Lucy looked at it and saw that it was 80,000 Jewel.

"Is this a scam restaurant?! Why is it so expensive?!"

The waiter explained helplessly, "Miss, all our prices are clearly listed. The main issue is that this guest ate nearly fifty people's worth of food. This is already the discounted price."

Natsu kept eating as he said, "It's fine, Lucy. Ye Yang will pay. If you have something to do, just leave first."

"Aye~!"

Ye Yang slowly nodded as well, but Lucy had said she would treat them. How could she go back on her word so easily? She immediately took out eight ten-thousand-Jewel bills and placed them on the tray.

"I said I'd pay, so I'll pay."

Then Lucy left the restaurant without looking back.

Ye Yang watched Lucy leave, an inadvertent smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The story had already begun?

Good, good. The money I've earned over these four years was almost enough. After collecting rent for a few more months, I could gather five hundred million and push the template to 100%.

There was still time.

By the time the two men and one cat finished eating, it was already evening. After leaving the restaurant, Ye Yang stretched lazily.

"Let's go, Natsu, Happy. It's time for us to get moving."

"Huh?" Natsu looked at Ye Yang in confusion.

"Just come with me."

The two men and one cat then headed toward the Dock.

Meanwhile, aboard a ship sailing across the sea, Lucy, dressed in luxurious clothes, sat elegantly.

The man called Fire Dragon smiled as he offered Lucy a drink.

Using magic, he floated the juice in his cup through the air toward Lucy.

Lucy immediately sensed something was wrong and directly scattered the juice before her.

"I only agreed to come aboard for this party because I wanted to join Fairy Tail. I never said I would become your woman!"

Fake Fire Dragon looked at Lucy helplessly. "You really are troublesome." Then he clapped his hands.

The curtains behind Lucy were instantly pulled open, revealing several burly men, each carrying one or two girls who had come to the party.

All the girls were asleep with blissful expressions on their faces.

Lucy panicked at the sudden turn of events.

She stared at Fake Fire Dragon with a grave expression.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"Haha, isn't it obvious enough? We're planning to sell you overseas. A beauty like you will definitely fetch a good price."

Damn it, so this was what a Fairy Tail mage was like? How awful!

Lucy was just about to take out her key and summon a Celestial Spirit to fight when Fake Fire Dragon moved before her, using magic to snatch the key from her hand.

"So you're a Celestial Spirit Mage. But these things can only be used by their contractors, so they're completely useless to me."

As he spoke, Fake Fire Dragon tossed the key directly into the sea.

The moment Lucy lost her key, she fell into despair. Her fantasies about the Fairy Tail guild were utterly shattered, and tears began to stream down her face.

Just as Fake Fire Dragon was about to make a move, the roof of the ship suddenly shattered.

"Natsu!"

Natsu made a dashing entrance. The moment Lucy saw him, hope sprang up within her. But when the ship swayed slightly, Natsu immediately wore a pained expression.

Σ_(???"∠) Blegh! "I knew I still couldn't handle it!"

Σ(?д?|||)?? Lucy: "How lame!"

Natsu's whole performance left everyone staring in stunned silence.

Taking advantage of everyone's attention being on Natsu, Happy immediately carried Lucy away.

When Fake Fire Dragon saw Lucy being taken away by a cat, he instantly sensed trouble. A red magic circle appeared before him.

"Crimson Heaven Whip!"

Dozens of pink energy whips surged from the magic circle and lashed toward Happy in the sky, but Happy dodged every one of them.

"Damn it, how is this cat so nimble?!"

Lucy watched Happy evade all the attacks with excitement. "Happy! So you can fly!"

"Aye~!"

"But Lucy, I have some bad news to tell you."

"Huh?"

"I'm out of Magic Power." The moment he finished speaking, Happy's Wing Magic vanished.

The two of them fell straight from the sky.

"You stupid cat!"

"Aye~!"

After falling into the sea, Lucy quickly swam over to her key. Then she surfaced and took out a golden key.

"Open! Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!"

As the magic unfolded, a noble mermaid appeared before them.

When Happy saw such a big fish, drool immediately trickled from his mouth against his will.

"It's a fish!!"

"It's not!"

Lucy ordered, "Aquarius, hurry and wash the ship back to shore!"

"Tch~" Aquarius gave Lucy a disdainful look.

Lucy said angrily, "Did you just click your tongue at me?!"

Aquarius ignored the furious Lucy.

"You little brat, if you lose your key again next time, I'll kill you!"

Aquarius threatened them with killing intent, and Lucy and Happy immediately cowered and hurriedly apologized.

&"Sorry!"

Aquarius vigorously swung the urn in her hand, drawing in massive amounts of seawater. In an instant, a tsunami several meters high swept Lucy, Happy, and the ship into it.

Natsu, who was getting beaten up, and Fake Fire Dragon, who was beating Natsu up, were both completely baffled as to why a tsunami had suddenly appeared.

After a while, the tsunami gradually subsided. The ship and Lucy had all been washed ashore, while Happy's head was buried entirely in the sand.

Lucy climbed to her feet and angrily demanded, "I told you to wash the ship away! Why did you wash me away too?!"

Aquarius replied indifferently, "Oops, oops. I accidentally washed the ship over too."

(?ò?ó) "So you were originally trying to wash me away, right?!"

Having finished all this, Aquarius prepared to leave, reminding Lucy along the way.

"Don't call me this week. I'm going on a week-long trip with my boyfriend."

"My boyfriend, okay?"

(?ò?ó) "I heard you! You don't need to say it twice!"

Then a figure appeared beside Lucy and pulled Happy's head out of the sand.

"Boss!"