Natsu considered himself a reasonable person. Since Rhode's plan made sense, he decided to go along with it. A brief retreat wouldn't hurt.
He originally wanted to mention that Wendy could use Troya to cure motion sickness, but then he remembered Wendy couldn't use magic either.
So the group slipped out of the city and found a relatively hidden spot nearby, where Lucy summoned Gemini.
"Bili~ bili~" As soon as the two little blue folks appeared, they seemed to be advertising for some small niche station.
Jemi: "What do you need us to help with?"
Minnie: "What is it?"
Lucy said seriously, "Gemini, there's an important task for you, listen carefully..."
Rhode interjected, "It's too slow to just talk, why not have them transform into you and 'read' the battle plan directly?"
"Oh, right!" Lucy hadn't even thought about using Gemini's ability like that, "But why do you know more about Star Spirits' abilities than I do?!"
Perhaps because he'd done a good investigation after meeting the Cloaked Lady, who knew about the Gemini Constellation. Rhode said, "Don't sidetrack now, hurry up."
"Gemini, turn into me and then follow the plan!"
"Bili~ bili~" Jemi and Minnie huddled together, waving their tiny arms, and with a poof, transformed into Lucy.
But...
Rhode looked up at the sky, a good plan, why does it always become so strange with Lucy?
"Lu-Lucy Miss..." Wendy was at a loss for words; she hadn't gone to the bath with Lucy yesterday, and today she was seeing such a scene.
"Turns out Lucy in Aslan is as bold as the one in Edolas." Lisana nodded thoughtfully, now she believed her brother-in-law's earlier mishap wasn't intentional; it must be Lucy's fault.
"It's not!" Lucy loudly retorted, "...and what kind of image do I have here?!"
After shouting, Lucy turned to the Gemini-transformed her, "Why... why are you in a bath towel?!"
"Because when Lucy last summoned us, you were wearing a bath towel. We can only transform into the appearance of when we last met you."
Gemini nonchalantly tugged at the bath towel and continued, "If Lucy doesn't like the bath towel, we can take it off..."
Lucy rushed forward and hugged her, "Don't take it off! Quickly read the plan and change back!"
Natsu turned to Happy and said, "Happy, don't you think Lucy is noisy?"
"Aye, I think so too."
Lucy shouted at them, "You're the least qualified to say that!"
Poof~
A puff of white smoke dispersed, and Gemini returned to their original form: "Bili~ bili~ We've understood the whole plan~"
"Let's take the ship now~"
The two little blue figures cleverly floated towards the city.
Meanwhile, Lucy lost her balance and fell to the ground: "Ouch! Seriously, you're all like this!"
Luckily, she was wearing shorts today and not a short skirt. Otherwise, there would've been another commotion.
Rhode couldn't even look at her; he just sighed: "Lisana."
"Hmm?"
"When we get back, brother-in-law will take you to the best dessert shop in Magnolia for a treat."
Lisana was taken aback, then her eyes narrowed in a smiling crescent: "Alright~ Thank you, brother-in-law~"
Rhode called everyone to head towards the Royal Capital: "Alright, let's also get ready. If Gemini fails, we'll initiate the second plan."
"Aye!" Happy flew onto Rhode's shoulder, ready for command.
If Gemini were to fail, the ship would likely leave urgently to protect the important magic crystal.
At that time, Happy would have to carry Rhode and chase with 'MAX SPEED', catching them in the air without any backup.
...
In the center of Sika City, there's a small plaza specially built for passing flying ships to stop and resupply.
Just a moment ago, the giant flying ship had landed.
Because this time, an important magic crystal was being transported, most of the city's guards had gone to the vicinity to be on alert.
A team of fully armed soldiers disembarked to hand over with the local officials, requesting supplies.
The official gazed obsessively at the massive magic crystal on the ship.
Under the shine of nine suns, the magic crystal glowed magnificently and was crystal-clear.
That person remarked with admiration, "It's truly beautiful."
The team captain doing the handover was also in a good mood: "Of course it's beautiful, but in two days, it'll completely turn into our magic power."
The nearby others had an almost fanatical look on their faces: magic power! Soon they would have endless magic power!
While they were conversing, two little blue figures wove through the shadows, carefully slipped aboard the flying ship.
They were well acquainted with such tasks—the previous holder of the Gemini Constellation Key, Angel, or Kono, frequently asked them to do such things.
Though they often made a commotion with 'bili bili~' noises, when it came to serious tasks, Gemini was very diligent.
They stealthily prowled the deck, cautiously approached a standing guard, touched the guard's ankle, and quickly ducked into the cabin.
Jemi: "Such a slowpoke!"
Minnie: "Hurry and transform!"
The two little beings leaned on each other and in a puff of smoke, turned into the guard they had just touched.
"Second-class soldier Soga, 26, single, likes playing cards, secretly has a huge crush on the captain of the Second Magic Combat Team, Erza, a secret he'd never admit even if it killed him..."
"Why are adults always into this stuff?"
"No idea, and this intel is useless."
"Let me think, this mission is to transport the magic crystal back to the Royal Capital... the pilot is called Daiuer, the cockpit is located at..."
If others were present, they'd see Soga talking to himself while heading to the cockpit.
The cockpit door swung open; inside, the pilot was stretching and yawning, "Been driving for so long, exhausted... Soga? Why are you here?"
'Soga' nonchalantly closed the door, casually said, "Guard duty is boring, so I came to see you, Daiuer, wanna play cards?"
Daiuer shook his head, "You're leaving your post; you'll be punished, you know?"
'Sol' leaned his long spear against the wall: "There's plenty of people around, plus the city's military is here, and you won't tell, and I don't like guard duty; I like playing cards, wanna play?"
"Why are you so chatty today?" Daiuer found Sol's way of speaking unusual, like two people were fighting to talk from within him.
Yet, he didn't think much of it and moved towards the cockpit door: "Forget it, let's step out, even if we play cards, we'll do it at your post; I still have a break while the supplies are being moved."
"You forgot your hat; I'll grab it for you." 'Soga' brushed past the unsuspecting Daiuer.
Then Daiuer's head took a heavy blow, and he collapsed on the floor.
'Soga' transformed back into two little blue folks with a poof.
Jemi and Minnie high-fived in mid-air, gleefully wiggled a bit: "We did it! Bili~ bili~"
Though they often pulled off such sneak attacks, they felt their power was slightly weaker than before, worrying if they could knock someone out.
So they recalled 'Rhode's instructions to Lucy', quickly gagged and tied up Daiuer to prevent interference.
Then Gemini morphed back into Daiuer, sat in the pilot's seat:
"Transformation lasts only 5 minutes."
"And Lucy's magic power won't hold out for long either."
"Let's hurry."
"No worries, leaving the city with this ship won't take 5 minutes."
'Daiuer' muttered to himself as he started the flying ship.