Mira looked up at the floating island in the sky: "Is everyone up there?"
Rhode nodded: "Yes, we saw it from afar."
After half a day of trekking, the group finally arrived below the floating island where the magic crystal was located.
This place was sparsely populated, but there were some military camps here responsible for guarding and transporting supplies.
But now there are none.
And when Rhode said he wanted to requisition their supply ship, none of the people lying on the ground objected.
So, let's not be polite.
Rhode waved his hand: "Everyone, on the ship!"
However, Natsu objected: "I don't want to take the ship, I have Hapi!"
"You're useless, Fire Dragon," Gajeel mocked Natsu who had a problem with transportation.
He actually wanted his own cat to fly him too, but unfortunately, Li Li wasn't listening to him now.
"..." Rhode looked at Natsu, originally wanting Erza to persuade him, but in the end, decided to leave it, as he would need Natsu to exert his strength later.
He waved his hand: "Then you guys just follow the ship and fly."
Hapi raised a hand: "Aye!"
Natsu had no further objections, as long as he didn't have to take the flying ship, he didn't care how he flew.
Everyone took their positions, with Lisana responsible for piloting the ship.
The flying ship slowly ascended in height, and the magic crystal, as big as a mountain, gradually appeared before them.
Natsu and Gajeel were ready to fight, but Wendy was getting less and less confident.
The edge of the floating island was also garrisoned by troops, but these people seemed to be quite idle.
Although they heard that a magic crystal was stolen yesterday, they didn't believe anyone would come here, even thinking that the king's emergency deployment of them here was unnecessary.
It would have been better to go on a mission to capture some Fairies and earn some credit.
When they saw the flying ship rising, they weren't nervous but were a bit puzzled.
"It's not time for supplies yet, is it?"
"It must be that Captain Shugboy thought we were bored here, so he arranged for a visit."
"The Captain is so good to us, I wonder if his injury has healed."
"It's not that fast, that monster from that day was terrifying... eh?"
"Is that... a Transcender?"
"Isn't that the Captain of the Second Magic Combat Team, Erza?"
It was the flying ship they were familiar with, but standing at the bow weren't their familiar comrades, but three cats.
A little white cat stood at the very front, with a blue and a white cat standing behind on either side, holding weapons like guards.
Although Hughes had already led a team to attack Extalia, it seemed no news had reached here yet.
Which meant the Transcenders were still revered as gods.
Plus, with Erza on the side, the soldiers who first saw the flying ship naturally wouldn't be alert.
Erza stepped forward and made an introduction gesture:
"This is Princess Carla, daughter of Queen Shargate, here to convey the queen's instructions, gather everyone immediately!"
At this moment, Erza, in appearance and attire, was entirely like Erza Knightwalker, with no flaws.
Moreover, the Second Magic Combat Team and the Fourth Magic Combat Team often went on missions together, so it was reasonable for Erza to convey orders when Shugboy was not around.
The captain gave the order, and with the Transcender princess present, the soldiers quickly assembled.
Erza looked at the neat formation in front of her and asked, "Is everyone on the island assembled?"
"Report! The temporary guard team for the Second Magic Combat Team's magic crystal, 196 members in total, all present!"
"Very good." Erza nodded in satisfaction and then covered her ears.
Carla, Marr, and Raki did the same.
The soldiers were confused, but soon heard a beautiful singing voice, and then fell to the ground with a thud.
Mira slowly walked to the bow of the ship and hummed a few more notes softly, then lifted the hypnosis magic and waved to everyone, indicating they could lower their hands.
Although she could roughly control the target of the hypnosis magic, since it was triggered through sound, covering their ears added a bit more caution.
Lisana exclaimed in surprise: "It's the first time I've seen my sister in that form."
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rhode laughed happily, "We... helped out, the demon from Jellal's Book, Lalabai."
"Huh?" Lucy was surprised, "Lalabai? Then why am I seeing it for the first time?"
Gray said: "Because when Mira tried the ability back then, you collapsed before getting to her."
Erza added: "Natsu carried you back."
"Na-na-na... Natsu!" Lucy's face turned crimson.
"Eh~~~" Lisana looked back at Hapi and Natsu flying over from the stern, "Natsu has finally grown up~"
Erza muttered that Gray was too shy back then, not fun at all.
Rhode had nothing to say because he was targeted by Mira without any defense at that time and collapsed quickly too.
The group got off the flying ship, and Rhode released two River Crabs and a pack of Shadow Wolves to search for any stragglers.
Then everyone cleared a space for Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy.
Gajeel clashed his fists together: "Come on, Fire Dragon, kiddo, this is a competition among Dragon Slayer Mages. Let's see who can rescue more people!"
Wendy was startled: "Huh? A competition?"
"I'm definitely winning!" Flames erupted from Natsu's fists, "Hapi, take me up there!"
"Aye~"
Gajeel climbed onto the magic crystal in a few steps, chasing up the mountain: "Sneaky, I had my eyes on that summit first!"
Rhode wanted to smack these two childish idiots: "Does it matter where it's from? You two hurry up and do your jobs!"
He would have called out the Purgatory Sub-Dragon to spew a couple of breaths if he wasn't unsure whether his magic counted as Dragon Slayer Magic.
The two unruly ones climbed the mountain, leaving only Wendy to work diligently.
She ran a few steps and then threw herself to the ground. Then she got up, patted off the dust, and continued forward.
Lucy whispered her doubts: "Feels like all three of them are unreliable."
Everyone's eyes turned to her.
Lucy immediately lowered her head: "Sorry!"
Almost forgetting she was the most unreliable one.
"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
Wendy called out softly, forming a claw with her fingers and grabbed the magic crystal in front of her with invisible wind blades.
The surface of the magic crystal immediately formed several cracks, but didn't shatter.
"Ah..." Wendy sheepishly turned around, meeting eyes full of encouragement.
She clenched her small fists to cheer herself on, then a magic array lit up under her feet: "The strength of the arm that tears the sky, Ames!"
Wendy cast a spell to boost her attack power, blue flames seeming to ignite around her body.
Recalling the teachings of the Cloud Sub-Dragon, she took two steps to run up, jumped high, then spun around and kicked the crystal: "Sky Dragon's Claw!"
Whoosh!
Instead of a dull thud, the strike produced a sound akin to a slicing blow when hitting the magic crystal.
A piece of magic crystal taller than a person broke off from the mountain and then shattered into five pieces, the cuts incredibly clean.
The magic crystal emitted a white glow, transforming into three human figures upon hitting the ground.
Upon seeing the faces of the three, Rhode was stunned and shouted: "Goodman brother?"
These three were Rhode's landlord Goodman, his wife Molly, and their son Bayer.
"Ah? Rhode?" Goodman seemed a little dazed but still greeted warmly, "What are you doing here? Come in, come in!"
Rhode: ???
Where am I supposed to go in?