The Third Food War (4)

A sea area between the Western Continent

A dark rain cloud suddenly drifted in from the clear sky, completely shrouding the sea below in shadow. However, the rain cloud arrived quickly and departed just as fast. Before the creatures in the sea could react, it moved away at an astonishing speed, drifting further and further away. Strangely, no rain fell where the rain cloud passed, not even a trace of moisture remained.

If a satellite were monitoring and photographing this area, it would reveal that the rain clouds are not a tightly packed mass, but rather composed of many small 'V'-shaped particles. If the satellite's imaging system is perfect and the images can be magnified sufficiently, those small particles could actually be identified as flying Western Great Dragon.

"Olibuk, we have transported all the members and food from the Western Continent as Kelsu and the others instructed, so why haven't those people who robbed the food shown up yet?"

Hearing his teammate's rather 'normal' question, Olibuk took a deep breath, savored the beauty of the world, and then patiently said, "Shideweig, we've only been away from the Western Continent for less than ten minutes. Do you think the enemy would be bold enough to ambush us so close to our base?"

"That's true! I wouldn't dare do that either!"

After realizing what was happening, Shideweig suddenly increased his speed, overtaking Olibuk was flying alongside him, and dashed off like an arrow.

"Oh my god!"

Seeing his old friend's swift and decisive actions, Olibuk's eyes widened, and he cursed loudly. Immediately afterward, Olibuk accelerated to top speed and gave chase in a straight line. While speeding, just to be on the safe side, Olibuk ordered the troops ahead to intercept Shideweig.

"Listen up, you guys in front! Stop Shideweig!"

With the advantage of being attacked from both sides, Olibuk finally caught up with Shideweig before he could break out of the 'rain cloud' range.

"Huff! Huff! Shideweig, you bastard, why are you running like that? Trying to kill me with exhaustion!"

Just as he was about to reprimand Olibuk for intercepting him, Shideweig was completely flustered after hearing the other party's extremely angry roar.

"Um... it seems like I'm the one who was intercepted, and I should be the one who's angry. Why is Olibuk yelling at me so angrily, as if I dug up his family's ancestral grave?"

After mentally grumbling about his situation, Shideweig asked curiously, "Olibuk, I didn't do anything to you, why are you so angry?"

"Bang!"

No sooner had Shideweig finished speaking than Olibuk slammed his five- or six-meter-long fist into the center of Shidwig's face. Due to the excessive force, Olibuk's entire fist sank into the dent of Shideweig's face, much like a hand sinking into dough while kneading it.

"You didn't do anything to me, but you almost ruined our operation!"

Hearing Olibuk's roar, the nosebleed that was about to spurt out of Shideweig's nose was so frightened that it flowed back in, just like when a person has a cold and the snot that doesn't come out is sucked back in. At the same time, Shideweig's mouth, the only feature of his face that was spared from being smashed and dented, opened and closed tremblingly, expressing his inner thoughts.

"Olibuk, I didn't mean it. I just wanted to get on the road faster and run into the people who robbed our supplies so I could have some fun!"

"Hmph! Do you think I would have simply punched you if I hadn't guessed your intentions?"

"Are you done venting? If you feel better, hurry up and take your fist away, my nose is so itchy."

Faced with such a clueless teammate, Olibuk felt his head wasn't big enough to contain the torrent of sweat pouring down his face.

"Boom!"

After pulling his fist away from Shideweig's face, Olibuk said to the dragons holding Shideweig, "You guys don't need to let go. Keep him in this position until we see Ishgar's people. Oh, by the way, this guy is quite fat, so it might take some effort to lift him. Get a few more people over to take turns."

"Yes, sir!"

Shideweig was inclined to resist Olibuk's rude decision, but when he met his old friend's still angry eyes, all his dissatisfaction vanished instantly, and he obediently let the other party do as he pleased.

"Keep going!"

With the order to advance given, the rain cloud regained its original shape and speed, drifting straight toward Ishgar.

A seabed between the Western Continent

"Brother Sordil, why didn't you distribute oxygen masks for this operation, but instead had the water-elemental Dragon race make this protective shield?"

Hearing Igneel ask such a thoughtless question, Grandiere, unable to bear it any longer, decided to help her husband share some of the burden.

"Igneel, you don't need to ask Sordil to know the answer to this question. Just take on all the work of starting fires and cooking for everyone, and you will naturally understand."

"What? You're going to take care of everyone's meals? Grandiere, are you trying to kill me with work? You actually made me..."

At this point, Igneel's voice abruptly stopped, as if someone had grabbed his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.

"Hehe! It seems you've already figured out the answer. There's no need to take care of everyone's meals."

Hearing Grandiere's barbed words, Igneel trembled and shrank back, then whispered in Sordil's ear, "Brother Sordil, you've been married for so long, and the misunderstanding still hasn't been cleared up?"

Touched on a sore spot, Sordil said with tears in his eyes, "Brother Igneel, I want to clear up the misunderstanding, but they won't see me. What can I do? Brother, to be honest, I've lost a lot of hair because of this!"

(Um... I know dragons don't have hair, but I have to write it this way for the sake of the story's flow, so please understand.)

"No torment of longing, no troubles of being in love, just a short trip in this world, happiness is the most important thing (Wang Shasha and He Peng, lyrics of ' I'm Single, I'm Proud ')... La la la la... I'm sorry, I actually sang it out so shamelessly (happily)."

After condemning his own wild and unruly nature, Igneel turned his attention to the real world and began to comfort young master Sordil.

"Don't worry, brother. Once we're done with this busy period, I'll help you solve this problem!"

"Thanks, bro!"

Sordil had just finished discussing solutions to domestic emotional abuse when Murellia, who had gone out to inquire about the situation, returned with a heavy expression. Sensing something was wrong, Sordil immediately went to greet her and asked what was the matter.

"Sister Murellia, what happened? Why do you look so pale?"

Instead of directly answering Sordil's question, Murellia said to herself, "Young Master, we have found the grain transport team from the Western Continent. They are heading this way and will arrive here soon."

Seeing Murellia's behavior, even the extremely oblivious Igneel sensed something was wrong, let alone others. As a result, everyone in the special operations team gathered around.

"Brother, what happened to Sister Murellia?"

"I don't know either. She became like this after she went out to gather information."

Just as everyone was completely bewildered, another cool and aloof woman from the special forces team provided the answer.

"Actually, she wasn't really that bad; she was just terrified by the sheer number of enemies!"

"Sister Yelibell, are there many enemies?" (Sordil)

"A lot! This must be the most enemies we've encountered so far!"

"How many?" (Sordil)

Yelibell turned her head to look at her own side, and then uttered a sentence that was enough to crush everyone's hopes.

"It's probably more than six times our size!"