"What's going on?"
"What's Daiuer doing?"
"Who allowed him to launch the flying ship on his own?"
The squad leader below, exchanging supplies, angrily shouted orders to stop the ship, but Gemini had no intention of listening to his commands.
The flying ship took off at maximum speed, spewing two streams of white gas from the rear nozzle, causing the soldiers below to stagger.
"Does that guy want to monopolize the Magic Crystal? Is he crazy?"
For a moment, the squad leader couldn't even consider that someone was hijacking the ship because no outsiders had been seen boarding.
"Quick, chase after it!"
He led his men running towards the city gate, but there was no way they'd catch up to the flying ship.
The soldiers on the ship were also confused about what was happening, as there had been no notice before the sudden launch, causing them to stagger badly.
Several unlucky ones even fell off the tail of the ship right as it took off, perhaps something they could consider fortunate.
After the flying ship got past the acceleration phase, the soldiers got up, cursing as they rushed to the cockpit.
However, after a few steps, they spotted several black shadows on the deck. When they looked up, they saw a strange bird holding a blonde girl.
Right then, they heard a crisp shout: "Lucy—Flying Kick!"
A soldier got knocked down by Lucy descending from the sky, and another shouted, "Enemy attack!"
As soon as Lucy drew her whip, a strange bird swooped down, knocking people over with its giant claws.
Lucy exclaimed in admiration, "Impressive, Lisana!"
The strange bird landed beside Lucy and transformed back into Lisana. "You too, Lucy! That flying kick was awesome!"
A dozen nearby soldiers temporarily ignored the cabin and, with long spears and magic shields in hand, surrounded the two closely.
Lisana gave a playful smile and pointed upwards, "Watch your head~"
"Huh?" The soldiers looked up to see Rhode and Hapi in the sky.
Rhode was about to show them a descending wolf pack, ghosts, and golems, but found the soldiers all kneeling.
"Aikxite!" they exclaimed in shock, then leaned their long spears down on one knee, gazing at Rhode and Hapi with respect.
Lucy and Lisana were both taken aback. Their first thought was, could the Rhode here be called Aikxite and be some big shot?
But Rhode felt those gazes weren't directed at him, but at Hapi.
Aikxite... Transcender? What kind of title is this? Is it Hapi's race?
Rhode turned to speak quietly to Hapi.
Hapi looked at Rhode in confusion. Seeing him nod, he reluctantly said, "You all put down your weapons and squat to the side."
"Where did you learn the term 'you all'? And how could they possibly obey their orders so easily?" Lucy quipped.
But just as the words left her mouth, the soldiers hesitated for a moment then indeed clattered their weapons to the ground.
Lucy incredulously exclaimed: "They listened!!"
Hapi and Rhode landed on the deck, with Rhode eyeing the soldiers, "Lisana, go fetch Natsu, Wendy, and Carla."
"Okay." Lisana ran to the side, her arms transforming into wings, and leapt down.
Hapi flew over to Lucy and said, "I wanted to sound dignified."
Lucy didn't understand, "Huh?"
Hapi explained, "Rhode wanted me to sound more dignified, so I used 'you all.'"
Lucy finally understood Hapi was responding to her remark, so she quipped back, "That's not the main point, is it?! Why did these soldiers listen to you?"
"I don't know either."
Once out of the city, the flying ship slowed down a bit and lowered its altitude slightly, so Lisana quickly dragged Natsu, Wendy, and Carla onto the ship.
Sure enough, as soon as Natsu got on the ship, he collapsed to the deck and muttered about wanting to jump off.
Wendy was distracted by the giant magic crystal: "Such a big piece, and it's not the whole of it?"
From a distance, it already seemed massive. Up close, it was at least six to seven stories tall!
Carla was looking at the soldiers crouching obediently to one side: "What about them?"
Rhode summoned six ghosts: "Strip them of their armor and equipment, and toss them out."
He wasn't planning to keep them for questioning anyway since Gemini could be asked later.
The ghosts got busy, and seeing another Transcender, the soldiers dared not resist.
They rationalized that since the orders came from Transcenders, being stripped of their gear wasn't a disgrace, and from this height, as long as they didn't land headfirst, they probably wouldn't die.
One soldier after another was stripped of their armor by the ghosts and thrown overboard. Rhode remarked, somehow pleased by their usefulness.
Lucy asked, "What are we going to do with all these weapons?"
Rhode pointed to the huge magic crystal on the ship: "We don't know how many people there'll be, and if we can't use magic, at least we can use these to fight."
He then summoned six Shadow Wolves to search around for any other enemies.
Leaving Wendy on the deck to accompany Natsu and oversee the magic crystal, the others went inside the ship to meet Gemini.
"You finally came. Our transformation only has a minute left before it wears off. Does anyone know how to fly the ship?"
Hapi asked, "What happens if no one can fly it?"
Gemini replied, "Of course it'll fall."
Lucy was startled, "Huh??? Can't you just keep flying it?"
Gemini said, "But Lucy can't hold on much longer, you know?"
"This is bad!" Lucy held her head, "What do we do? Mr. Rhode, help boost my Magic Power!"
"I can't do anything now either." Rhode asked, "How long can you hold on?"
"About... 5 minutes? 10 minutes? I don't know!" Lucy flustered, "Let's find a place to land quickly?"
Carla denied her suggestion, "No, landing too soon will get us surrounded by the King's Army quickly."
Lisana stepped forward: "Leave the ship flying to me."
Rhode asked, "You know how to fly it?"
Lisana replied, "Natsu taught me a lot about cars and various means of transportation."
Hapi immediately protested, "Natsu? Definitely not possible."
Lisana smiled, "I'm talking about Edolas's Natsu, who specializes in various transport missions, you know."
Rhode nodded, "Okay, then leave it to you. If you don't understand something, make sure to ask Gemini quickly."
Lisana sat in the driver's seat, held the control lever, and the flying ship wobbled but quickly steadied again.
Gemini began quickly explaining how to accelerate, decelerate, turn, land, and take off.
Before long, Gemini poofed back into two small blue figures.
To save time, Minnie continued using the knowledge of the pilot they transformed into to assist Lisana, while Gemini conveyed the information gathered from the soldiers to the others.
A twin-born Star Spirit was quite convenient at such times.
"They plan to transport this magic crystal on the ship to the Royal Capital, apparently for the king to display to the public.
"What's the purpose? This soldier named Soga doesn't know; he thinks it's to encourage morale. It might also be used as a sample to extract some magic power to test its effect.
"He doesn't know how to restore the magic crystal or how to reach Aslan, but he knows Erza Knightwalker is particularly strong, particularly beautiful, and her height and measurements are approximately..."
"Stop, stop... Knowing what her magic is, is enough."
Rhode quickly interrupted Gemini, surprised at how much this little soldier knew, especially in odd areas. Unfortunately, he had no interest in hearing it.