Lucy's servants had instilled in her from a young age to be wary of bad people when she was out; the smell of sleeping pills was all too familiar to her.
"You better get this straight: I want to join Fairy Tail, not be your woman."
Although she wanted to join Fairy Tail, she could compromise a little with her looks, but she would never give her body for it.
"Haha, you actually found out. You're such a troublesome girl. If you had just obediently gone to sleep, you wouldn't have to suffer…" Seeing his little trick exposed, the Fire Dragon stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.
"Huh?"
Just as Lucy was a bit bewildered...
Suddenly!
The curtain behind her was abruptly pulled open, and two large hands suddenly grabbed her arms, making her unable to move.
"Oh, truly worthy of Mister Fire Dragon."
"It's been a long time since I've encountered such good merchandise."
Only then did Lucy see that behind the curtain, a group of fierce-looking fellows were hiding.
"What are you doing?! Who are all of you?!"
Lucy cried out in a panic.
"Slap!"
The Fire Dragon's right hand gripped Lucy's chin, a sinister smile on his face: "Welcome to my slave ship. Behave yourself, little girl, until the ship reaches Bosco."
"Bosco… Wait?! What about Fairy Tail?!"
"Didn't I tell you? This is a slave ship. From the very beginning, I intended to take you all as merchandise. Give up hope."
"Mister Fire Dragon had long anticipated that the women who fell under the enchantment would deliver themselves to him."
"The enchantment doesn't seem to work on this girl. It looks like she'll need some good training."
"Hehehe!"
The surrounding human traffickers all laughed maliciously as they looked at Lucy's fiery figure.
Upon hearing this, Lucy panicked. She hadn't expected to encounter such a situation right after running away from home.
Abusing magic, deceiving people, human trafficking—is this what Mages of Fairy Tail are like? She felt her dream of Fairy Tail shatter into pieces.
"First, let's brand you with the slave mark. It'll be a bit hot, but it'll pass if you bear with it."
The Fire Dragon took out a red-hot branding iron, preparing to brand Lucy with a slave mark, so that once she reached Bosco, she would be treated as a slave wherever she went.
Lucy gritted her teeth, tears of indignation streaming down her face: "Mages of Fairy Tail… truly the most shameless…"
Suddenly!
"Crack—!"
The ceiling of the cabin suddenly shattered, and a figure dropped from above.
"Natsu?!"
Lucy was greatly surprised to see who it was.
"It's that kid from earlier?!"
The Fire Dragon also recognized Natsu; it was the brat who had barged in earlier that day.
"Ugh… No, I'm so dizzy… Ugh…"
"Eh?! So useless—!"
Lucy thought her rescuer had arrived, but Natsu collapsed within a second of his appearance.
"What's going on? How did this kid fall from the sky? Never mind, you guys, go break this kid's arms and legs, then throw him overboard to the sharks."
The Fire Dragon ordered the other human traffickers.
"Yes!"
Two human traffickers immediately rushed towards Natsu.
Suddenly!
"Boom—!"
The cabin door flew directly inwards, crashing into the two human traffickers who were about to act.
"Ugh!"
The two human traffickers screamed as their bodies were sent flying by the door.
"Honestly, he knows he gets seasick, yet he still rushes in so recklessly."
At this moment, a figure appeared at the shattered doorway. Qi Yan, in Ulquiorra's style, appeared at the entrance in a white robe.
"Who are you again?"
The appearance of one uninvited guest after another made the Fire Dragon somewhat annoyed.
"Ugh~~! Qi Yan, save me~~~!"
"Qi Yan?!"
Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief at Natsu's words. This person was Qi Yan? The change was too drastic.
Happy flew to Qi Yan's side and asked, surprised to see Lucy: "Lucy, what are you doing here?"
"Happy! He tricked me! He said he could get me into Fairy Tail, so I came to the party, but I didn't expect them to be a group of human traffickers."
Qi Yan tilted his head and looked at the Fire Dragon, a sneer on his lips: "Fairy Tail? You, of all people?"
"What? Do you have an opinion?"
The Fire Dragon raised his chin and looked at Qi Yan.
"Yes! I do have an opinion! Your abuse of magic is irrelevant, and I can't be bothered with your deception. Human trafficking is for the Magic Council to handle, but you should never, ever impersonate Fairy Tail to do these things."
"Impersonate?!"
Lucy froze at the words, her eyes widening as she looked at the Fire Dragon: "You're an imposter?!"
The Fire Dragon scratched his face and said disdainfully: "Huh? Who told you I'm an imposter? Do you have any proof?"
"Proof? I'm standing right here, and you still ask me for proof? My words are the proof. Since you dare to impersonate Fairy Tail to do such things, are you prepared to pay the price?"
"Hmph! You brat, I can't be bothered arguing with you. Has no one told you that you can't just board someone else's ship? You guys! Get rid of him quickly."
"Yes!!"
Two burly human traffickers immediately rushed towards Qi Yan.
"Oh no!! Danger…"
Seeing the human traffickers about to attack Qi Yan, Lucy quickly cried out a warning.
However, the two had just rushed in front of Qi Yan.
"Bang—!"
"Ugh!"
The two screamed and were sent flying backward at an even faster speed.
"Crack!!"
The two crashed through the cabin wall.
"What?!"
Everyone was startled by the sight; they hadn't even seen what happened before the two were taken down.
The Fire Dragon said irritably: "You idiots! Don't you know how to use guns?!"
"Ah! Yes!"
The human traffickers immediately pulled out guns from nearby.
"Guns?!! Qi Yan, run!!"
Lucy's face instantly changed when she saw the human traffickers pull out guns.
"Bang bang bang!!!"
Numerous human traffickers raised their guns and fired at Qi Yan. Lucy immediately closed her eyes and turned her head away, unable to bear watching. She feared seeing Qi Yan's body riddled with bullets the next second.
"Ding ding ding!!!"
All the bullets struck Qi Yan's body, making a clinking sound, and all of them bounced off.
"How… how is that possible?!!"
Everyone was stunned by this scene; someone could actually withstand bullets with their bare flesh. Was this guy's body made of iron?
"Tch! As expected, a bunch of ordinary people are completely useless!"
"Red Flame Typhoon!!"
The Fire Dragon raised his hand and unleashed a ball of flame, blasting Qi Yan.
"Qi Yan!!"
Lucy grew anxious as she saw Qi Yan being attacked by flames.
The Fire Dragon said smugly: "Hmph! Kid, even if your body is made of steel, it will melt in my flames!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Qi Yan's voice came from within the flames, and then the flames began to recede from his body.
Soon, a young man with freckles, wearing an orange cowboy hat, black shorts, and bare-chested, walked out of the flames.