Fairy Tail: You said you were just acting, are you serious?

"what?"

The leader paused for a moment, then looked at Ron with a puzzled expression.

"Sure, but what exactly do you want to do?"

When Uru saw Ron ask this, his brows instantly relaxed, and he smiled and said:

"Ron, do you really have a plan?"

Ron nodded, then took a deep breath and explained:

"Since they'll run away if we don't hand them over, let's find someone to take over beforehand and hand them over."

Chapter 143 is about Ron.

"Hand them over? What do you mean?"

Uru was taken aback by these words, and to make sure he hadn't misheard anything, he asked Ron again.

"That's right, handing people over in advance, but not handing over the civilians to them."

Ron paused for a moment, then laid out his entire plan.

"What I mean is, have some soldiers from the council disguise themselves as the kidnapped civilians, and send a few soldiers disguised as members of the magic cult to personally follow the liaison onto the ship, and then infiltrate the enemy's territory."

As for the remaining people, they could secretly track the messenger's ship and then reach the isolated island where the Paradise Tower was being built.

Upon hearing Ron's plan, Uruk nodded thoughtfully.

"This plan seems feasible. It can not only pinpoint the exact location of Paradise Tower, but also prevent the rescued civilians from being sent there."

However…

Uru changed the subject and asked again:

"I still have a few questions about this plan."

Our soldiers are clearly insufficient to handle the number of laborers they need, and they actually know the exact location. If we, split up at both ends, lose contact midway, how will the soldiers who have infiltrated escape their surveillance and proactively contact us?

Upon hearing Urru point out the flaws in these plans, Ron adopted a composed expression.

“Sister Ulu, you’ve thought this through very thoroughly, but both of these problems can actually be solved.”

Ron noticed Uru's skepticism about the plan, so he continued explaining to address her concerns:

"The issue of the number of laborers can be addressed by using a strategy. While contacting the contact person in advance, inform him that the council already knows about the movements of the magic order here and has already launched a surprise attack on the nearby stronghold. Since the stronghold received the news in advance, they can only provide these laborers earlier, so that they will not have any questions."

As for the communication issue, to ensure we can contact you, I will also infiltrate with these soldiers.

"You're going to be the bait yourself?!"

Uru's heart tightened, and his expression turned strange.

"No, this is too dangerous! What if..."

"Don't worry, Sister Wulu."

She instinctively wanted to object, but Ron interrupted her worries.

"I wouldn't joke with my own life. I'm certainly capable of protecting myself, as well as the soldiers who infiltrated the area."

Since I proposed this plan, I naturally bear the main responsibility for it.

Looking at Ron's serious gaze, Urru hesitated for a moment before lowering his head and smiling helplessly.

"Since you've put it that way, what else can I do?"

Seeing that Uruk had given his plan preliminary approval, Ron breathed a sigh of relief.

However, in order to completely dispel her concerns, he took out a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Uru.

“This is…” Uru subconsciously took it, a puzzled look on his face.

"As for how to contact you later, just keep this piece of paper safe."

A mysterious smile appeared on Ron's lips.

This piece of paper is the key to the plan, and the main reason why Ron must infiltrate it as well.

……

By the evening of the following day, Lahar had already reunited with Ron and the others.

After everyone was ready, Ron, dressed in tattered clothes, picked up his katana and placed the blade against the neck of the leader of the magic order.

He commanded:

"Now, contact them and speak to me properly."

Upon seeing the cold glint of the blade, the leader could only swallow hard and obediently follow Ron's instructions to contact the contact.

As Ron expected, when the person on the other end of the communication received the message that the council had arrived, they immediately told them to hand over their manpower in advance and prepare to set sail earlier.

Night fell in the blink of an eye, and the full moon hung high in the sky.

On a secluded coastline outside Tide Village, several escort wagons disguised as council soldiers were quietly parked nearby.

"Ha~~"

Inside the carriage, Ron, dressed in the same coarse cloth clothes as the other soldiers, yawned as he sat with them.

“This person is really slow to arrive, don’t you think, Lahar?”

At this moment, Lahar had changed into the robes of the magic order, and her forehead under the hood was covered in cold sweat.

Rahar was clearly very nervous, and as the appointed time drew closer, cold sweat continued to pour down his face.

"Ron, Ron, this handover... wouldn't it be too much of a mess to leave it to me...?"

He was so flustered that he forgot to add "Your Excellency" to the title, and kept rubbing the hem of his clothes with both hands.

He was terrified that he might expose his secret, which would not only harm Ron but also ruin the entire plan and destroy all the clues.

I can't possibly take that kind of responsibility!

"Relax."

To reassure the troops, Ron patted him on the shoulder and began to comfort him.

"When the next person arrives, you need to read the lines I've prepared for you, and then try to speak as little as possible. Once you've handed over our group to him, your mission will be complete."

These are all very simple, so relax.

Hearing Ron's words of comfort, Lahar took a deep breath, nodded vigorously, and put on a fierce expression to bolster his courage.

"Alright, they're here."

Ron, with his keen senses, looked into the distance, alerting the others, and everyone in the carriage closed their eyes.

Before long, the sound of wheels crushing sand and gravel finally came from the distant night.

Several prison vans, specially used for transporting 'goods', emerged from a hidden path ahead and finally stopped at the rendezvous point on the coast.

The man who made the contact had a scar on his face. He jumped out of the car with a dozen or so men and strode toward Lahar.

Lahar gritted his teeth, jumped off the carriage, and went forward to negotiate as planned.

"You guys are way too slow! Hurry up!"

You know how fast those people in the council can go. Hurry up and take these people away; we need to retreat immediately.

Rahar yelled at the scarred man impatiently.

The scarred man didn't suspect anything, and simply replied:

"Hmph, you guys are really useless. Alright, get everyone off the bus and move them into our car."

Hearing Rahar's expression, Ron unconsciously curled up the corners of his mouth.

That's pretty good work, ...what's going on?

Just as the negotiations outside were about to be successfully completed, Ron's brows suddenly furrowed slightly.

He sensed through his mental power that a familiar magical aura was slowly approaching.

This magical fluctuation is... oh no!

"Who's there?!"

Just as Ron opened his eyes in the carriage, something else happened outside at the same time.

The scarred man suddenly turned his head and looked at the bushes in the distance.

Ron looked over through all six eyes and saw the familiar blue-haired boy, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Why, why is Gerald here?!

Chapter 144 Wholehearted Cooperation

The blue-haired boy was Gerald. After being called, he shrank back in fear.

With his pupils constricted, he simply wanted to get out and clear his head, completely unaware that he had stumbled upon a shady handover ceremony.

Lahar was also stunned for a moment, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Why would anyone come to this place? The timing of this visit is terrible.

Just as he was wondering what to do, a familiar voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Lahar, make your move before they do, or that kid's in big trouble."

At that moment, Ron immediately used telepathy to instruct Lahar, the only person present who could move freely, to do something.

Upon hearing Ron's sudden telepathic message, Lahar looked towards the scarred man, only to see that several of his men had already drawn their short knives and were preparing to rush towards Geral.

His eyes widened instantly, and then a thought struck him, and he rushed out first.

"What are you doing loitering around here? Get over here!"

He stormed past the cult's men and grabbed Gerald's wrist.

"Let me go!"

Geral tried to turn and run away in terror, but Lahar held him firmly on the shoulder.

Those who have learned magic naturally have better physical constitutions than those who haven't. Lahar grabbed Geral and threw him into the carriage.

He didn't spend much time tying Gerald up.

"Humph!"

Lahar chuckled, then turned to look at the scarred man and sneered:

"Wow, there are even free laborers here! We'd be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't use them to make up the numbers, let's just take them all!"

Upon hearing this, Geral, who was tied up, panicked instantly.

Just as he was about to break free of the rope in his mouth to call for help and struggle, a familiar voice came to mind.

"Don't attract their attention, just behave yourself."

Gerald froze, his face filled with shock. That voice...

"I'm right next to you, stop looking around."

As soon as he turned his head, he saw those bright blue eyes, and his fear lessened considerably.

Without a doubt, the person lying next to him was Ron.

He also gave Geral a look, and the latter understood, stopped struggling, and huddled in a corner of the carriage with Ron.

Seeing how skilled Rahar was, the scarred man couldn't help but show an appreciative expression and let out a cold snort.

"You're right. Alright, move all those people to my car and get out of here immediately!"

After everyone was loaded into the carriages, the scarred man and his group drove off.

Rahar, who had been acting fierce, finally breathed a sigh of relief after the scarred man's car disappeared into the side road.

The muscles all over his face were sore and numb, all because he rarely used these expressions.

He leaned against the carriage, completely exhausted, his hands pressing against his muscles.

He immediately perked up, turned around and ran in the opposite direction, preparing to meet up with Uru, who was hiding nearby.