Lucy's servants had instilled in her from a young age to be wary of bad people when she was out, and she was all too familiar with the smell of sleeping pills.
"You better get this straight, I want to join Fairy Tail, I don't want to be your woman."
She wanted to join Fairy Tail, and giving up a little bit of her looks was acceptable, but she would never give up her body for it.
"Haha, you actually found out. You're such a troublesome girl. If you had just obediently fallen asleep, you wouldn't have to suffer..."
Seeing that his little trick was discovered, Salamander stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.
"Ah?"
Just as Lucy was a bit bewildered—
Suddenly, the curtain behind her was pulled open, and two large hands grabbed her arms, making her unable to move.
"Oh, as expected of Salamander-san. It's been a long time since I've encountered such good merchandise."
Lucy then saw that behind the curtain, there was a group of fierce-looking guys hiding.
"What are you doing?! Who are all of you?!" Lucy cried out in a panic.
Whack!
Salamander grabbed 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 beginning, I planned to take you all as commodities. Just give up."
"Salamander-san anticipated that women under the influence of charm would deliver themselves to him."
"Charm 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 hot figure.
Lucy panicked at these words. She hadn't expected to encounter such a thing 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 instantly shattering.
"First, let's brand you with the slave mark. It'll be a bit hot, but it'll pass if you bear with it."
Salamander took out a red-hot branding iron, preparing to brand Lucy with the 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... are the most shameless..."
Suddenly—
Crack!
The ceiling of the ship's cabin suddenly shattered, and a figure fell from above.
"Natsu?!"
Lucy was greatly surprised to see the newcomer.
"It's that kid from earlier?!"
Salamander also recognized Natsu, the kid who had burst in earlier in the day.
"Ugh... No, I'm so dizzy... Ugh..."
"Eh?! So useless—!"
Lucy thought her reinforcements had arrived, but Natsu collapsed less than a second after 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." Salamander ordered the other human traffickers.
"Yes."
Two human traffickers immediately rushed towards Natsu.
Suddenly—
Boom!
The cabin door flew in, crashing into the two human traffickers who were about to attack.
"Ugh!"
The two human traffickers screamed as their bodies were sent flying by the door.
"Seriously, he knows he gets seasick, yet he still rushes in so recklessly."
At this moment, a figure appeared at the shattered doorway. Takeshi, in Ulquiorra's attire, a white outfit, appeared at the entrance.
"Who are you again?"
The appearance of one uninvited guest after another made Salamander somewhat annoyed.
"Ugh! Takeshi, save me!"
"Takeshi?!!"
Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard Natsu's words.
This person was Takeshi? The change was too great.
Happy flew to Takeshi's side and, seeing Lucy, asked in surprise, "Lucy, what are you doing here?"
"Happy! He tricked me! He said he could let me join Fairy Tail, so I came to the party, but I didn't expect them to be a group of human traffickers."
Takeshi tilted his head and looked at Salamander, a hint of disdain on his lips: "Fairy Tail? You? With that?"
"What? Do you have an opinion?" Salamander raised his chin and looked at Takeshi.
Takeshi nodded. "Yes, I do have an opinion. I don't care if you abuse magic, and I'm too lazy to bother with your deception. Human trafficking is something the Magic Council deals with, but you should never impersonate Fairy Tail to do these things."
"Impersonating?!"
Lucy was stunned by these words, her eyes widening as she looked at Salamander. "You're an imposter?!"
Salamander scratched his face and said dismissively, "Huh? Who told you I'm an imposter? Do you have any proof?"
Takeshi said, "Proof? I'm standing right here, and you're still asking 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'm too lazy to argue with you. Didn't anyone tell you not to board someone else's ship casually? You guys, quickly get rid of him."
"Yes.'
Two burly human traffickers immediately rushed towards Takeshi.
"Oh no! Dangerous..."
Lucy saw the human traffickers about to attack Takeshi and quickly shouted a warning.
However, the two had just rushed in front of Takeshi when—
Bang!
"Ugh!"
The two screamed and were sent flying backward even faster.
Crack!
The two smashed through the cabin wall.
"What?!"
Everyone was startled by this sight. They didn't even see what happened, and the two men were already taken down.
Salamander said angrily, "You idiots! Don't you know how to use guns?!"
"Ah! Yes!"
The human traffickers immediately pulled out guns from nearby.
"Guns?!! Takeshi, run!"
Lucy's face instantly changed when she saw the human traffickers pull out guns.
Bang... Bang...
Numerous human traffickers raised their guns and fired at Takeshi.
Lucy immediately closed her eyes and turned her head away, unable to watch. She was afraid that in the next second, Takeshi's body would be shot full of holes.
Clink... Clink...
All the bullets hit Takeshi's body, making a clinking sound, and all of them bounced off.
"Ho-how is that possible?!!"
Everyone who saw this scene was dumbfounded.
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."
"Crimson Flame Typhoon!"
Salamander raised his hand and unleashed a ball of flame that blasted Takeshi.
"Takeshi!"
Lucy became anxious when she saw Takeshi being attacked by the flames.
Salamander said smugly, "Hmph! Kid, even if your body is made of steel, it will melt in my flames."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Takeshi's voice sounded 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 a bare upper body, emerged from the flames.
***
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