Lucy had been raised by a housemaid who taught her from a young age to be cautious of bad people. She was more than familiar with the taste of sleeping drugs.
"You'd better get this straight—I want to join Fairy Tail, not become your woman."
Sure, she wanted into Fairy Tail, and maybe using a little charm was one thing—but giving up her body for it? Not a chance.
"Haha, so you figured it out. You really are a troublesome girl. If you'd just passed out quietly, none of this would've hurt…"
Seeing that his little trick had been exposed, Salamander dropped the act altogether.
"Huh?"
Lucy barely had time to react—
Suddenly!
The curtain behind her was pulled open, and two large hands grabbed her arms, locking her in place.
"Oh? As expected of Salamander-sama."
"Haven't seen such fine goods in a while."
Only then did Lucy realize there were several thuggish-looking men hiding behind the curtain.
"What are you doing?! Who the hell are you people?!"
She cried out in a panic.
Smack!
Salamander grabbed her chin with one hand, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Welcome to my slave ship. Be a good girl until we reach Bosco, yeah?"
"Bosco…? Wait, what about Fairy Tail?!"
"I told you, didn't I? This is a slave ship. I was planning to sell you off from the beginning. Give it up."
"Salamander-sama predicted that all the women under his Charm Magic would come running on their own."
"This one's got some resistance though. Guess she needs a little training first."
"Hehehe…"
The traffickers around them all laughed lecherously, their gazes raking over Lucy's curvy figure.
Lucy began to panic. She never imagined her first day out of the house would lead to something like this.
Abusing magic, lying, trafficking humans—is this what Fairy Tail mages were like? The dream she'd cherished for so long suddenly felt like it was being torn to shreds.
"Let's brand her first. It'll sting a bit, but you'll get used to it."
Salamander pulled out a glowing-hot branding iron, preparing to mark her as a slave. Once branded, anyone in Bosco would recognize her as property, no matter where she ran.
Lucy clenched her teeth, tears of frustration welling in her eyes. "Fairy Tail mages… are the worst…"
Suddenly!
CRACK—!
The ceiling of the ship's cabin exploded, and a figure dropped down from above.
"Natsu?!"
Lucy's eyes widened in shock.
"That brat from earlier?!"
Salamander recognized him too—it was the kid who barged in earlier that day.
"Ugh… no good… so dizzy… blegh…"
"Eh?! So useless—!!"
Lucy thought she was being saved, only for Natsu to immediately collapse.
"What's going on? Where'd this kid fall from? Whatever—two of you, break his arms and legs and toss him to the sharks."
Salamander waved his hand.
"Yes, sir!"
Two traffickers charged toward Natsu.
Suddenly!
BOOM—!
The cabin door flew inward, crashing into the two men and sending them flying.
"Ugh!"
The door knocked them both into the air with a crash.
"Seriously… You know you get motion sickness and still came charging in."
A figure appeared in the doorway—Kaien, fully transformed into Ulquiorra, clad in white.
"And who the hell are you?"
Salamander scowled at the new intruder.
"Ughhh~~! Kaien, save me~~~!"
"Kaien?!!"
Lucy stared, stunned. That's Kaien? The transformation was unbelievable.
Happy fluttered to Kaien's side and asked, "Lucy, what are you doing here?"
"Happy! I was tricked! He said he could get me into Fairy Tail, so I came to this party… I didn't know they were traffickers!"
Kaien tilted his head toward Salamander, lips curling with disdain. "Fairy Tail? You?"
"Yeah? Got a problem with that?"
Salamander raised his chin at him.
"Damn right I do. I don't care that you abuse magic. I don't even care that you lie. Human trafficking? That's up to the Magic Council.
But the one thing you should never have done—was impersonate Fairy Tail to do it."
"Impersonate?!"
Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief as she turned to Salamander. "You're not really a member?!"
He scratched his face dismissively. "Huh? Who told you that? Got any proof?"
"Proof? I'm standing right here, and you're asking for proof? My word is proof. You dared impersonate Fairy Tail to do this garbage—
are you ready to pay the price?"
"Tch. Brat, I don't have time for this. No one ever taught you not to board someone else's ship uninvited? You guys—deal with him."
"Yes, sir!!"
Two bulky traffickers charged straight at Kaien.
"No! That's dangerous—!"
Lucy cried out in warning.
But as soon as the two reached Kaien—
BAM—!
"ARGH!"
They screamed as they were sent flying back even faster than they'd charged.
CRACK!!
Their bodies crashed through the wall of the cabin.
"What?!"
Everyone froze. No one had even seen what happened—just that both men were suddenly down.
Salamander snapped. "You idiots! Use your guns!"
"Ah—yes!"
The traffickers quickly pulled firearms from the crates nearby.
"Guns?!! Kaien, run!!"
Lucy's face went pale as she saw them raise their weapons.
BANG BANG BANG!!!
Dozens of bullets were fired at Kaien. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head—afraid of what she might see next.
DING! DING! DING!
The bullets hit Kaien's body with metallic pings and bounced off.
"Wh-What?!"
Everyone on board was stunned. He was taking bullets—bare-skinned—and nothing was happening. Was his body made of steel?
"Tch. As expected, a bunch of normies are useless!"
"Red Flame Typhoon!!"
Salamander threw a blast of fire directly at Kaien.
"Kaien!!"
Lucy cried out in panic.
Salamander smirked. "Heh! I don't care if your body's made of iron—my fire'll still melt it down!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Kaien's voice came calmly from within the flames. The fire quickly began to recede from his body.
A young man stepped forward, freckles on his face, wearing a black pair of shorts and an orange cowboy hat—his upper body bare and unscathed.