A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Do they still have the courage to roar against this ugly world for freedom and equality? They've probably been beaten to a pulp by the heavy blows of fate long ago, haven't they?"

Kira got more and more excited as he talked, and he clearly noticed out of the corner of his eye that more and more people were gathering around him, but he remained calm and composed, without the slightest bit of embarrassment.

"Pirates are a thing of the past, the Navy is heading towards extinction, and the Revolutionary Army has been dying out as soon as it rose. They are all remnants of the old era and will soon be abandoned by this sea."

He suddenly pointed to the execution platform under construction in front of him, "Just like this execution platform in front of us, they will be ended by an incredible group of people in an incredible way and at an incredible speed someday in the future. Then those people will step on their corpses and build a new era step by step!"

pat!

Two half-smoked cigars fell to the ground, which was a pity, but the smoker had no time to feel sorry at that moment.

In the sweltering heat of May, the summer wind was scorching, but Smoker felt only a chill down his spine, a tingling sensation running through him from head to toe, and a storm raging within him that he could not calm down for a long time.

Suddenly, everything around him seemed to fade to pure white, and the whole world seemed to consist only of himself, who was utterly shocked, and the red-haired boy who had just finished his long-winded talk and turned to leave.

Smoker stared wide-eyed and mouth agape at Kira before him, a single thought running through his mind: This man is destined for greatness!

He gives this guy a perfect score for his swagger!

Click! Click! ...

The sound of a camera snapping away startled Smoker awake. The all-white world receded, and he looked around, finally realizing that he had been surrounded by a group of reporters and tourists. The reporters were writing furiously, while the tourists stood there dumbfounded.

Their faces bore the same look of shock as ours.

Just then, Smoker suddenly spoke up, asking the red-haired boy's receding figure, "Kid, who exactly are you?"

I thought I wouldn't get an answer, but to my surprise, the other person actually stopped in their tracks, seemingly helpless, yet also as if they had made up their mind and let out a sigh of relief. Then they slowly turned around, showing Smoker and the reporters and tourists present a flawless profile.

"My name is Kira Hopelight, and I am a mage!"

After Kira finished speaking, he turned around and left without looking back, leaving Smoker and a group of unknown extras standing there dumbfounded.

After an unknown amount of time, the noise has finally subsided.

"Who is that person? How could they say such things in public? Aren't they afraid of dying??"

"What is this 'mage' he's talking about? Is it like a bounty hunter? I've never heard of that before!"

"What an amazing young man! I can sense the aura of the great pirates of the Grand Line emanating from him!"

"They actually claim to be ushering in a new era?! How arrogant! How audacious!! I have a feeling that in the near future, his name will be known throughout this sea!! Hopelight... the light of hope?"

"Hey, did you guys see that? His hair is red. Do you think he might be related to that guy from the New World?"

"This sea looks like it's going to be lively... no, it looks like it's going to boil over!!"

Chapter 815 Future Plans for the Hope

When Kira arrived at the agreed meeting point, the others were already there. Natsu and Happy were as boisterous as ever, arguing with Gray, though it was unclear what they were arguing about. Around them were a dozen or so simple shipping containers, which were undoubtedly the food they had purchased.

"Kira, you're finally back?!"

Erza stopped Natsu and Gray's bickering with two thuds of her fists, and led the others to greet them. "What were you doing just now? Why did it take you so long to get here?"

Kira replied casually, "Oh, nothing much. I just wandered around the area, bought some things, and casually announced the start of the magical era to the world. Then I showed off a little."

Everyone: "..."

What kind of answer is this?! Shopping, buying things, announcing the start of the magical era, showing off—that's what you call not doing anything?! You've done a lot already! That "announcing the start of the magical era" doesn't seem to fit with "not doing anything" at all! And what do you mean by "casually showing off"? Is this something you can just casually do?!

Amidst their internal monologues, the group wore incredibly strange expressions.

"You bought something? But you don't have anything on you!" Melty said, circling Kira and frowning.

"Of course they're all in my personal storage space, how could I possibly keep them on my person?!" Kira stepped past the group and loaded the heavy containers into his personal storage space.

"Oh...I see!"

Melty suddenly realized that she rarely saw Kira use his personal space directly, so she was not familiar with it and had not yet fully grasped the fact that 'Kira can carry a lot of things with him'.

Erza sized Kira up for a few seconds, then asked with concern, "You haven't been causing trouble in town, have you?"

Kira stopped moving the container abruptly, turning around with a bewildered expression: "Huh?? You've asked the wrong person! I'm not Natsu! Who would cause trouble like this?!"

"I said, you're slandering me! I haven't been causing trouble anywhere!!" Upon hearing that he had been called out, Natsu immediately jumped up and down in displeasure.

Kira stared at Natsu, instantly shocked: This kid has become so shameless? Where did he get the nerve to say that? Could it be that Igneel's legacy is actually that tough dragon skin on his face?

Seizing the opportunity, Gray immediately stepped in to ridicule Natsu: "You have the nerve to say that?! Didn't you destroy the plaza and the surrounding streets?! Lucy and Wendy had to pay a lot of money to bail you both out!!"

"What did you say?!"

Kira screamed, interrupting their argument, "You lost all your money?! The two of you together have 40 Berries!!"

"Um... actually, there's also Xia Lulu's, so it's actually 60 Berries..."

600,000 Berries is roughly equivalent to the amount each person receives for completing an S-class mission.

In other words, if this loss was caused by their team during work, they would lose about one person's pay, with each person's income dropping to six-sevenths of the original amount, which translates to more than 86,000 J. That would be enough to pay Lucy's rent for a month and allow her to eat well every day for the next week.

Kira frowned in displeasure: "Are you sure you weren't tricked by the Navy? I don't think the damage there is that bad..."

The group was taken aback: "Huh? Kira, did you go to the plaza and check it out?"

"Yes, that is, the entire square, the office building behind the execution platform, half a street, and a ring of houses..."

Kira counted on his fingers one by one, but the more he counted, the softer his voice became, which sounded very obvious to everyone as a lack of confidence.

"Uh... if you calculate it that way, it seems like they're being kind by bailing you out with 60 Berries!"

Upon hearing Kira's words, Erza and the others, who had initially thought Lucy and the others had been tricked and were about to confront the Navy, were instantly speechless. After a brief moment of stunned silence, they all turned their fierce gazes toward Natsu and Happy.

Natsu: "..."

Happy: "..."

The human and the cat huddled together timidly, afraid to speak loudly.

After all, those Marines only agreed to settle Natsu's debt for 60 Berries because of Lucy and Wendy, those two delicate and fragile girls.

*Smack! Smack! Smack!*

Kira clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention: "Alright, alright, now that Natsu and Happy have been found, and we've bought all the daily necessities, let's set off to find the other crew members!!"

"Oh oh oh!!!"

"An exciting and thrilling sea adventure? I'm fired up!!!"

……

Above the boundless sea, a magical airship that appears to be made of refined iron but is actually constructed from more than a dozen metals and magic stones from the Fairy Tail world is moving at a steady pace toward the location of Reverse Mountain.

This magic airship is about 20 meters long, 10 meters wide, and 10 meters high. It has wings on both sides and is divided into three layers from top to bottom. Excluding some corners, the usable area of ​​the entire airship exceeds 500 square meters, which is quite large.

The bottom floor mainly consists of bedrooms: one for Erza and Lucy, one for Natsu, Happy, and Gray, one for Melty, Wendy, and Carla, one for Kira and Ultear, and so on. There are also bathrooms and toilets. Above that are the kitchen and dining room, control room, warehouse, armory, power room, and Kira's workshop.

What? Eric?

He was a lookout, so he slept on the 'deck' and was responsible for keeping watch.

The ceiling at the top can be closed or opened. The airship is divided into two halves by a ladder in the middle. The front half can raise the control panel below, allowing operation from the top of the airship without having to go into the control room on the second floor. The rear half is used as a conference hall and is covered with a lush green lawn.

On the lawn were tables with magical refrigerators, monster-skin sofas from the First Furniture Merchant Guild of the Kingdom of Fiore, soft and comfortable rattan hammocks, and two summer beach umbrellas and chairs just like those in the Tequila Amusement Park...

The various facilities have transformed this place into a luxurious open-air lounge, even more luxurious than a mansion.

For Kira and his group, the airship currently has plenty of space. However, if they continue to search for other members of the guild, the space will become insufficient.

As for the 'Hope's' armament, the airship is equipped with hundreds of cannons on both sides and bottom, which can be turned to the maximum extent. They are miniature versions of magical spirit power with three levels of power.

Using positioning magic, this magical cluster cannon can accurately hit any target Kira wants to hit. It combines quantity and power, making it an all-around mobile turret and extremely fierce.

The 'Hope' is not constructed like a sailboat. It has no mast, sail, keel, rudder, gears, or anything like that. It is more like a rectangular box made of metal and magic stone with wings.

Operationally, it is fully controlled by the control panel, and the management authority of the control panel is divided into levels. Kira is naturally the highest level, and the others only have management authority. For example, only Kira can activate the highest level of micro-magical spirit power.

Inside the conference hall, five women, four men, and two cats sat down, ready to face what was about to happen.

Kira lay back on the sofa and gathered all the crew members together for a meeting: "Now that everyone is here, I'll announce our fleet's next plans!"

As soon as he spoke, everyone's expressions instantly turned serious, and the previous joking demeanor vanished.

Kira leaned his hands on the table in front of him, interlaced his fingers and rested them under his chin, striking a pose of 'Sasuke's swagger': "Our goal is to make the name 'Fairy Tail' resound throughout the world, to give those pirates and marines a little magical shock, and incidentally end the Age of Exploration and usher in a new era, the Magic Age!"

Everyone fell silent after hearing this: "..."

Making a name for themselves is one thing; it would be abnormal for Fairy Tail not to cause trouble in a new place. It's also not surprising that they shocked the magic world; everyone here is a Muggle, and you can imagine how they would react to a completely new and mature power system. But to end and begin a new era…

"Kira, I remember you're already 22 years old this year, right? Isn't this chuunibyou a bit late?"

"Shut up! How dare a mere barber slander me!!"

Kira interrupted Lucy's rant with a loud shout, then turned and continued, "In order to welcome more companions in the future, the first thing we need to prepare now is a ship!"

"So after entering the Grand Line, we will go to Water Seven. It is the most famous place in the four seas and the entire Grand Line, with the most mature and advanced shipbuilding technology. We will find someone there to build our ships in the future."

The group nodded in agreement. Some of them had never even heard of Water Seven before, but since Kira had said it, it must be true. They also felt that the shipbuilding project should be dealt with as soon as possible, since they were unsure how long it would take to build a ship or how many people would be needed.

Kira continued, "The second thing is money!"

"After all, shipbuilding requires a lot of money, and we mages also need to establish ourselves in this world, so money is essential! After ordering the shipbuilding, we will also go to a sky island called 'Shandora', where there are countless gold treasures, enough to support our entire guild's living needs for the next few years."

It's a bit conservative to say what the next few years will bring, but Kira himself wasn't really sure how much it would cost. Anyway, it was just a casual remark and didn't cost any money, so it was good to give them some idea.

"After money and ships, comes territory and fame."

"In this world, all you have to do is seize territory, and the best way to make a name for yourself is to step on those who are already famous to rise to the top, so let's set our sights higher."

Kira slammed his hand on the table and said in a deep voice, "Take down one of the Four Emperors, and then take over his spoils!"

Chapter 816 Leaping Over the Upside-Down Mountain

In the original One Piece manga, there are countless pirates who challenge the Four Emperors.

For example, Crocodile once challenged Whitebeard, Moria challenged Kaido, Urouge of the Supernovas challenged Big Mom, and Kid challenged Shanks. These are mentioned in the manga but not drawn.

As for what's depicted in the drawings, there's the alliance of Kid, Apoo, and Hawkins preparing to challenge Shanks but getting crippled by Kaido's single blow; Luffy and Law's alliance challenging Kaido also getting crippled; Luffy wreaking havoc on Sweets Island; and Luffy, Law, and Kid teaming up to defeat Kaido and Big Mom...

Except for the last one, which he won by cheating, all the other challengers lost miserably, but Kira wasn't worried at all, because the mages of 'Fairy Tail' also had their own cheat codes.