A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Since you've come all this way, how about we grab a drink after all this time?"

"So, how's your life in the Protoss world going?"

Rocky was a little taken aback by everyone's reaction: "Everyone...you guys..."

"What the hell are you doing right now?!"

Chapter 764 The Guild Hidden Underground

Half an hour later, the banquet came to a halt, and the mages sat together, listening to the news Loki brought from the Celestial Spirit Realm, as well as the explanations from the current Guild Master Kira and the former Guild Master, now advisor Makarov.

"It's not that we don't want to find Lucy, it's just that we don't have the means!"

“Based on the intelligence I gathered after infiltrating the Empire, Lucy opened the Eclipse Gate, which was designed by Zeref to allow travel through time back to the past. However, after Lucy went in, no news came back, and nothing in the world changed. So there is no doubt that she activated a new timeline, which is consistent with the information you brought about, the ‘parallel world’ mentioned by the Celestial Spirit King.”

"As far as I know, the gate to the solar eclipse has been locked ever since, and since we don't have the ability to travel to other worlds, we can only wait for news."

Two years have allowed most people in the world to understand their own hearts and what kind of person they actually want to be. Take the mages of Fairy Tail for example. Even though they still have some uncontrollable traits like irritability, indifference, cruelty, jealousy, arrogance, laziness, and stinginess, they have basically recovered about 70-80% of their original personalities.

"Waiting for news? You call this waiting for news??" Rocky reached for a newspaper that someone had placed nearby and pointed at the news article, questioning them.

In the newspapers, you can see headlines like "Destroying the train station," "Kidnapping the mayor," "Burning wax figures," and "Disrupting the cinema," each word clearly recording the mottled misdeeds of the Fairy Tail mages.

"Well... we can explain that!"

Makarov squinted his old eyes and said in a deep voice, "Like destroying the train station, it was actually because someone had planted a bomb there, and we went to crack down on the criminals; kidnapping the mayor was because he stole our business... ah no, it was because he was tyrannical and abused the town's residents in all sorts of ways; burning the wax figures was because the wax figures there were ugly and few, not even one for me, and if they were built, they would only affect the city's appearance..."

Rocky was utterly dumbfounded: "I must be dreaming! This world is really different from what I used to know..."

In the past, Makarov would never have said such a thing. Only Kira would have said such a thing. Makarov would only get angry because these kids were reckless and caused damage everywhere they went while working. He would have raged in the guild and scolded everyone, and then laughingly made them write self-criticisms.

Think of Makarov in the past, what a kind and gentle person he was!

His spirit was as unbreakable as steel, his wisdom as unfathomable as the ocean, his strength as awe-inspiring as a mountain, and his eloquence was unmatched in the entire Kingdom of Fiore, always able to move his family to tears or leave them completely convinced.

Despite his short stature, he seemed to possess boundless power!

But now, that gentle, learned, and powerful old man is smoking, reeking of alcohol, and sitting with his legs crossed, like a wicked old man, explaining to these lawless bastards why he's causing trouble in the kingdom!

Is this what it looks like after your personality is reversed? This is outrageous! ...Why didn't I ever encounter anything like this when I was in the guild?

Just as Loki was sighing inwardly, Kira suddenly spoke up and asked, "Loki, you just said that the power of the Eclipse was taken away by the Celestial Spirit King, right?"

"No...that's right..."

"Can I take a look at that thing?"

"You want to study the power of solar eclipses? That's something you can... wait!"

Loki was somewhat surprised. He only knew that Kira was good at making magical items and weapons, but he didn't expect him to also be involved in the research of such space travel items. "Could it be that you can use it to find Lucy's location?"

Kira hesitated for a moment, then said, "I can't guarantee it, but we can try."

The Eclipse Magic, which could even devour the Celestial Spirit King and was filled with dark power, contained a vast amount of spacetime energy. It was essentially generated by the Celestial Spirits, and Lucy's fate was closely related to them.

Whether it's time travel or world travel, and how the world changes afterward, she plays a very important role throughout the entire process, or more directly, her position is irreplaceable.

After hesitating for a while, Loki replied, "Well... alright! But that power isn't in my hands. You might have to come with me to the Protoss Realm; the power of the Eclipse is sealed there!!"

In the past, Rocky would only believe 50% of what Kira said, mainly because Kira always loved to act and trick people. But now, Rocky's level of trust in Kira's words has significantly increased—rising to 70%.

One reason was the wristwatch he was wearing, which gave Loki some confidence that Kira had some ability in magical technology; another reason was that he believed no Fairy Tail mage would abandon their comrade.

Of course, there was another reason why Rocky agreed to Kira's request: he had no other way to find Lucy at the moment.

However, Rocky's agreement spurred the others around him to join in: "We want to go too!!"

"Me too!!"

"Lucy is one of our comrades too, we can't let Kira go alone!!"

"Yes, yes... I'm going too!!"

"Quiet down, all of you!!"

Kira suddenly shouted, silencing the shouts of the mages. His authority as the fourth guild master was clearly greater than that of the previous three. "I'm going to the Celestial Spirit Realm to research the power of the Eclipse. I'm going to do serious business! Do you think I'm going on a trip?!"

All the mages lowered their heads, filled with shame.

But there are always exceptions. Suddenly, a weak voice came from the crowd: "Isn't that so..."

My temper is so bad...

Kira was instantly enraged and shouted in the direction of the voice, "Who said that? Step forward! Let's see which brat dares to challenge the chairman's authority!"

No one responded; in fact, everyone took a step back.

Ultimately, out of consideration for his former teammates, Kira allowed the members of the 'Hearts' to join him on his expedition... no, to explore the Protoss Realm and study the power of Eclipse.

The so-called "Heart Commando" is a special force set up in the guild by Kira after he took over as guild leader. They are like the "Seven Kin of Purgatory" to the "Heart of the Devil" and the "Nine Demon Gates" to the "Gates of the Underworld". They are considered the elite of the guild, but in the form of small teams.

For example, Erza's "Heart Commando" includes herself, Natsu, Gray, Happy, Wendy, Carla, and Lucy, whose whereabouts have been unknown.

In addition, the guild also includes the 'Thunder Special Forces' led by Laxus, the 'Demon Special Forces' led by Mira, and finally the 'Blue Shadow Special Forces' led by Mystogan.

Yes, in this world, everything changed after the 'Nirvana' event, including Mystogan's failure to return to Edolas to inherit the throne.

Because the Kingdom of Fiore was in turmoil at that time, after Edolas used his 'soul' to pack the entire Magnolia into a magic crystal and take it away, Kira broke into it and, relying on the magic weapons he had preserved and the manpower he had previously gathered, conquered it in just one week.

In order to obtain more logistical support in the subsequent war, Kira maintained the connection between the two worlds and did not close it. As a result, the effects of 'Nirvana' also affected Edolas.

Because of the reversal of his personality, King Faust of Edolas became a wise and benevolent monarch, while Mystgang became a villainous prince, which is why he did not return to his kingdom to succeed to the throne.

Today, the Empire has unified the entire Ishgar. Perhaps because Edolas is an independent kingdom in another world, Emperor Zeref values ​​it highly and therefore did not forcibly sever the connection between the two worlds. Instead, the friendship between Aslant and Edolas is maintained, and the connection between the two worlds is located outside Magnolia Town, guarded by the Imperial Magic Army.

In short, by a twist of fate, Mystogan has remained in Aslantrie to this day, living mainly on Kira's magical artifacts. And because he looks like Jellal, Mystogan always wears a veil and a cloak, maintaining his mysterious and powerful image.

Although the guild members already knew what he looked like.

Chapter 765 The Celestial Spirit Realm and the Sealed Power of the Eclipse

The Celestial Spirit Realm.

Led by Loki, Kira and Erza's group arrived here through a time portal.

Before their eyes was a sky full of stars, dazzling and shimmering, some real and some different sizes. Erza, Wendy, Natsu, Gray and the others were all stunned by this scene that resembled a girl's dream.

"Wow!! The Protoss Realm is so beautiful!!"

"This is my first time in a place like this."

"Who isn't..."

"Hey, Rocky, are those stars real? Can I touch them?"

Harpy flapped its wings and flew toward the nearest star, asking this question as it moved faster than expected. However, it unexpectedly found that the higher it flew, the greater the resistance it encountered, until finally it seemed as if an invisible, soft wall was blocking its way.

"I can't fly... I can't fly out..."

Seeing Happy's body being held in place by an invisible force, leaving only a chubby face in the air, and hearing his familiar rolled "r" sound as he spoke, Rocky couldn't help but feel ashamed.

“Every star in the Celestial Realm has a special force field. These force fields form an invisible barrier between stars. This barrier is very difficult to break, so even if two stars are very close, they cannot travel directly to each other by flying.”

Hearing Rocky's explanation, everyone realized there was such a thing, and then asked, "Then how do you travel between the stars?"

"Well... there are special passages between the stars!"

Kira clicked his tongue and exclaimed, "The traffic must be terrible!"

There are two ways to travel in the Celestial Realm. One is within the stars, where people mainly travel by walking and swimming since each star is not very large. The other is between stars, which are special passages created by the Celestial King or someone using the power of the stars. These passages are mainly used for Celestials to travel between stars.

The latter takes the form of a magical teleportation array, which, like the subway in a first-tier city, is crisscrossed and densely packed, even more complex than a spider web.

As an office worker who once suffered greatly from commuting on the subway, and as a mage who has conducted in-depth research on magic, Kira knows how difficult it is to design such a magic circle.

Keep in mind, these are 88 stars! Even if there were 88 subway stations, at least three lines would be needed!

After Loki's explanation, Kira also learned that the Celestial Spirit Realm has not just three magical teleportation lines, but a total of 12, with the center of each line being the star where the twelve zodiac signs are located.

Kira's assessment of this was: "Although this is the first time I've heard of using a magic circle for spatial teleportation and having to transfer stations, this kind of setting doesn't seem too hard for me to accept..."

On the other side, after Loki finished explaining the transportation system in the Celestial Spirit World, Natsu and Wendy visibly relaxed: "Anyway, as long as we don't have to use transportation when we travel..."

If they could find Lucy, they would accept walking, even if it meant ruining their legs. Wendy wouldn't hesitate to show off her stockings and short legs. But as transportation? Sorry, we don't know Lucy... cough cough, we do know her, but we'll be very resentful. We'll definitely make Lucy make up for it later.

Fortunately, they are now traveling using a magic circle, not a vehicle, so the only drawback is that it takes a little longer, which is acceptable to both of them.

"So where are we going with this magic teleportation array?" Natsu asked curiously on the way to the magic teleportation array.

Loki replied, "We're heading to the Celestial King's palace to obtain the Eclipse Power, which is essential for making the tracker!"

"Eh~ The Celestial Spirit King's palace? It sounds like a royal palace. Which star is it on? The biggest one?"

Loki patted Natsu, who was looking around, and said, "You can't see it from here! The Celestial Spirit King is different from the other Celestial Spirits. He is not among the eighty-eight stars in the sky, so his palace is not here, but on a separate star. The only star that is directly connected to it is the star where the twelve zodiac signs are located!"

Erza smoothed her long, loose hair, her bright eyes scrutinizing her surroundings before asking, "So, what star are we on now...?"

"It is the constellation Leo, and my people live here."

After the explanation, everyone realized that Loki was not the only lion-man in the Protoss realm; he was simply the most outstanding among them, which is why he was chosen as the representative of the Leo Protoss.

If Loki dies, his position will be taken by the strongest of his people, which explains why, in the original work, even though he was a Celestial Spirit of the Zodiac, he was banished to death by the Celestial Spirit King when he killed his contractor, Kallen.

"I don't know why, but I feel like your sophistication has suddenly dropped a lot..."

Hearing Kira's undisguised吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical remarks), Loki was furious but dared not speak out. He could only grit his teeth and say, "Well, I'm really sorry to disappoint you!"

Amidst a series of chat messages about "setting supplements," Kira and the others were led by Loki to the palace where the Celestial Spirit King resided. Upon learning that the group had come to obtain the power of the Eclipse, the Celestial Spirit King dared not be careless and immediately appeared on the spot.

"The power of the solar eclipse is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly! However, for the sake of my friend, I may lend it to him..."

Kira was also seeing the Celestial King for the first time. He instinctively compared the difference in their strength and found that this Celestial Giant, who had lived for countless years, was so powerful in the Celestial Realm that he could only be described as 'unfathomable' due to the blessing of the power of the stars. It was impossible to use a single person as a unit of measurement for his strength. If he had to say, he could only be barely classified as a high-level shield. Even outside of this environment, his minimum strength would be at least that of a Wizard.

With the Celestial Spirit King's permission, Kira was the first to step forward and watch.

The power of the eclipse was condensed by the Celestial Spirit King into a black magic ball, which was then bound by special magic. It looked much like the globe placed at the entrance of a university, except that this ball could move and glow, and the special effects were probably worth over a million.

After careful perception, Kira quickly analyzed the characteristics of the Eclipse Power: darkness, corruption, greed, and hunger. It was like a zombie that had lost its mind, its mind filled with an endless desire to eat, and nothing else.

It's not hard to imagine that once someone is tainted by something like this, turning their personality dark is the least of their worries. The most terrifying thing is that they will become a beast that only knows how to expand outward and devour, just like the Celestial Spirit King in the anime who went berserk after his mind was consumed by the eclipse.