A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Not long after, Tashigi arrived late: "Colonel Smoker! We're late! Where's the Straw Hat Boy?"

Smoker, puffing on two cigars, demanded, "Tashigi, where have you been?"

If her other soldiers had been present, even if they couldn't have saved 'Fire Fist' Ace and 'Straw Hat Luffy,' they wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.

One of the naval sergeants who was standing next to Tashigi, who looked very honest, replied truthfully: "She led us in the opposite direction!"

Smoker fell silent for a moment: How come I never noticed before that this girl had a terrible sense of direction?

Never mind, there's another more important issue right now!

With the idea that two heads are better than one, Smoker posed the question he had been pondering: "What do you guys think? Vivi is actually with them."

Tashigi was immediately shocked: "Vivi?? Princess Nefertari Vivi?? Why is she with the Straw Hat crew?"

Smoker fell silent again: I posed the question to get your opinion, not to have you repeat it! Why are my subordinates such idiots?!

"That's what I'm thinking about right now! And there's a man in this country that I hate... You know I hate the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea,' right?"

Tashigi was taken aback, but quickly realized who Smoker was referring to: "You mean Crocodile? But in terms of stance, he's on the Navy's side!"

Smoker fell silent for the third time: he was beginning to doubt what the soldiers who had just joined the Navy were actually learning every day, and why they would so naturally assume that the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea' and the 'Navy' were in cahoots.

He took a deep drag on his cigar, intending to give his young subordinate a profound lesson in 'a pirate is still a pirate,' but before he could even utter a word, he heard a smug voice beside him.

"That won't do, Tashigi-san! You can find someone to guide you if you're bad at directions, and you can learn if you lack workplace experience, but if you can't distinguish right from wrong, even the most suitable glasses or laser surgery won't help!"

"Kira-san? What do you mean by that..." Tashigi looked completely bewildered, not knowing what Kira was trying to say.

Smoker, however, caught the sarcasm in Killer's words about the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea,' as he was one of the people who had heard Killer's boastful remarks in 'Logue Times Square.' He immediately raised an eyebrow: "Why haven't you left yet? Besides, my subordinates don't need your instruction!"

Kira didn't hold back his sarcasm: "Tsk tsk tsk... Look at how protective you are of your chicks, just like a mother hen!"

"You bastard..."

Seeing that Smoker was about to draw his Jutsu and exchange a few blows with him, Kira immediately waved his hand and said, "I'm here to say goodbye! The magic signal device shows that we have our companions in Alabasta. Everyone has had enough shopping, eating and having fun here, so we have to leave first."

At this point, Kira changed the subject: "But your target should be the Straw Hat crew, right? If you keep following us like this, we might meet again in a couple of days."

"Do you know something?" Smoker keenly sensed that Kira's words had a hidden meaning.

According to his friend Wakaba, Kira has an incredible ability to gather information and knows secrets that many people don't. If you want to know anything, you can get it from him as long as you pay enough.

Which aspect are you referring to?

"The Straw Hat crew's objective, and the reason why Princess Vivi is with the Straw Hat crew!"

"Oh, you mean this? I thought you wanted to ask about Luffy's background..."

"..."

"Yes, that's right, I know! I know everything from beginning to end!"

Killer said calmly, "Simply put, Crocodile planned to seize the country and deliberately provoked a war between the Kingdom's army and the rebel army. Princess Vivi infiltrated the enemy camp, met Luffy and his crew overseas, and then the Straw Hat Pirates helped them out."

"It sounds like a cliché story, right? But it actually happened!"

"The Straw Hat crew is now heading towards Yuba. They plan to expose Crocodile's conspiracy and persuade the rebels to stop waging war. However, they don't know that the rebels' base, which was originally in Yuba, has now moved to the vicinity of Nahana. So this trip is destined to be in vain."

"So, what does the Navy plan to do now that they know all this? I'm waiting to see what your next move is."

Amidst Smoker and Tashigi's bewildered, shocked, and incredulous gazes, Kira waved and turned to leave.

Chapter 841 As expected, the president of Baroque Works is...it is me!

The scenery of the desert and the sea are completely different, yet each has its own unique charm.

Of course, this is based on the premise that travelers have enough water and food, and the surrounding temperature is suitable. Only under these conditions can they appreciate the beauty of the desert; otherwise, travelers will only experience high temperatures, heat, strong winds, gravel, thirst, hunger, and exhaustion...

Simply put, it's a nightmare!

Kira and his group were undoubtedly the kind of travelers who had water, food, and air conditioning.

After closing the top ceiling of the Hope, the entire airship is completely shut down. The special building materials automatically isolate the high temperature and high intensity of light from the outside. Then, the air conditioning is turned on inside, and the Hope becomes a cool and comfortable air-conditioned room.

Turn on the magnificent magic crystal chandelier, start the most popular dynamic music, and set out on the table sunflower seeds, fruit cakes, fried chicken, hamburgers, fries, cola, chicken cutlets, hot dogs, hand-pulled pancakes, double-skin milk, mung bean smoothies, pearl milk tea, green coconut mango jelly, takoyaki, and a tense and exciting tabletop card game 'Fairy Tail Killer'. Kira and his friends then began to enjoy this leisurely and comfortable desert trip.

The crystal screen on the control panel can be magically connected to the mechanical camera mounted on the outside of the Hope, allowing the people inside to observe all changes in the outside world at all times. In addition, the Hope itself is a high-altitude automatic navigation ship, avoiding all kinds of poisonous insects, poisonous plants and poisonous beasts in the desert, so there is no need to worry about collisions.

Wendy stood in front of the crystal bottle screen, gazing at the rolling golden sand below, and couldn't help but exclaim to the person beside her, "Erza-san, the desert scenery is so beautiful!"

"Yes, it's really good."

Erza nodded, but then seemed to remember something and admonished, "Wendy, be careful in the future, don't say things like that in front of outsiders! It makes people think we're hothouse flowers who haven't experienced hardship, and that it's easy for us to talk when we're not in the same boat."

"But in reality, we are just ordinary people! Everything we have now is the result of our hard work and struggle, and we shouldn't be misunderstood like this!"

Wendy blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Kira's voice came from behind: "Erza is right! Everything I have now is something I've earned through my own hard work, and no one has the right to question it!"

Everyone's faces twitched: "Effort? You've never tried! You're the least qualified person among us to talk about 'effort'!"

……

8 p.m., Baroque Works headquarters, Spider-Man Cafe.

Although it's called Spider-Man Cafe, there's no Spider-Man shouting "With great power comes great responsibility," only a beautiful female manager making coffee. However, her true identity is Miss Twofinger, a high-ranking agent of Baroque Works.

Of course, she wasn't the only one in the shop at the moment. After receiving orders from Mr. 0, whom they had never met, all the high-ranking agents gathered here, preparing to travel together to Rain City, the dream city of the Alabasta Kingdom.

Because of Killer's group's intervention, Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek were not defeated by Luffy's crew in Little Garden, and therefore were not subject to Mr. 0's order to eliminate them. The same situation applies to Mr. 5 and his partner Miss Valentine, who failed to redeem themselves. Therefore, compared to this time in the original work, Baroque Works has more high-ranking agents left.

他们分别是：快斩果实能力者Mr1、荆棘果实能力者Mr双手指；模仿果实能力者Mr2；蜡烛果实能力者Mr3、颜料画家Miss黄金周；棒球胖子Mr4，鼹鼠果实能力者Miss万圣节；爆炸果实能力者Mr5、轻飘飘果实能力者Miss情人节。

If Luffy and his crew were to fight one-on-one, they would definitely run out of manpower. Fortunately, most of them are not very strong, so they would only need one punch to win.

The group of nine also departed from Nahana, traveling overnight in the Baroque Works' exclusive water transport vehicle, the "Fat Demon," heading straight for Crocodile's lair—Rainfield.

The Santo River divides Alabas into two regions, east and west, from north to south. The capital, Albana, is in the eastern half, Nahana is directly south of Albana, and Yudhi and Yuba are on the western side.

As one of the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea', Crocodile's hometown, Rainland, is arguably the most economically developed and populous city in Alabasta, second only to the capital.

If Nahana is famous for its perfumes, then Rainlands is famous for its gambling. The Rain Banquet, the casino at the very center of Rainlands, accounts for nearly one-fifth of the entire Alabasta Kingdom's revenue each year. Moreover, it is rich in water resources and is the best among all the oases in the country, hence the reputation of "ideal land".

The morning after Killer, Luffy, Smoker, and the others left Nahana, all the Baroque Works members gathered in a room at the Rain Banquet Casino. Nine high-ranking agents, plus Nico Robin, the "Devil's Child" codenamed Miss Sunday, were about to begin a high-level company meeting.

As the president's sole messenger, Nico Robin performed her duties as secretary admirably, immediately arranging rooms for all the high-ranking agents upon their arrival.

In the center of the room, a long square table was placed. After all the senior agents were seated, Nico Robin began the meeting as planned: "Before we get down to business, I want to introduce someone to you all, namely the president whom you haven't met yet."

Upon hearing Nico Robin's words, the agents were all taken aback. Baroque Works had been established for so long, and they had never had anyone, not even once, seen this mysterious and unpredictable president. Now that he had suddenly appeared, it seemed like he was planning something big.

'Is the studio going to disband...?'

Gardiner held the red tea tremblingly in his hands, sipping it with his head down. His mind raced, contemplating the impending catastrophe, and a bold idea, one he'd never dared to consider before, popped into his head: 'If that's the case, will we disband? Or will someone take over as president? Mr. 1? That guy's got the skills, but his brains aren't cut out for a leader. If that's the case, I'll be the first to resign! Mr. 2… if that transvestite becomes the leader, we'll be laughed at! Speaking of which, could it be me? After all, I'm so smart, so handsome, and my skills aren't bad either…'

"Crack, crack..."

Miss Golden Week sat expressionlessly eating her rice cracker. As the most intelligent of all the spies present, she had anticipated the content of the meeting and was the only one who could eat her breakfast without a care in the world.

Mr.3's expression changed upon seeing this. Worried that she would be punished by the president, he quickly whispered a reminder: "Hey... Miss Golden Week, stop eating. Can't you at least consider the occasion?"

"Crunch, crunch..." Miss Golden Week ignored him and continued to focus on eating her breakfast.

In fact, Miss Golden Week had long guessed that the president of Baroque Works was likely Crocodile, the 'pirate hero' of this kingdom, but she had no evidence and didn't care much about these things. So she just spent her days hanging out with Mr. 3, often slacking off at work, leaving the fighting to Mr. 3, and only using her brain herself at most.

In her view, the Kingdom Army and the rebel army in Alabasta were like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment. And at this time, their boss suddenly summoned everyone to carry out a major operation, which was definitely not a good thing.

Seeing Miss Golden Week's actions, Nico Robin simply smiled and didn't care. She had a good impression of this precocious country girl: "I used to be his stand-in and direct your work, but now there's no need for that anymore, because the time is ripe!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the chair at the head of the table, which was leaning back, slowly turned around, drawing the attention of all the spies.

Mr1: "Sure enough... I knew someone was in that spot the moment I entered the room!"

Mr2: "He's here?! Is that our president sitting in the chair?"

Mr3: "Show yourself, let me see your true colors!"

Miss Golden Week: "As expected! The president of Baroque Works is..."

As the chair in the main seat slowly turned to face the front, a roguish, arrogant, and unruly man appeared before everyone.

The man was about 20 years old, with long, pointed black hair, strange iron studs in his eyes, nose, chin, and ears. He wore a black metal suit, his arms were bare, a strange black emblem was tattooed on his left shoulder, he had a cigar in his mouth, and a black fur coat was draped over his shoulders. He looked every bit the delinquent.

He casually placed his right foot on his left knee, crossed his arms, and slightly raised his chin, sitting there with an air of domineering arrogance. His arrogant gaze looked down at everyone present. Just sitting there, he exuded an aura of "I am the best in the world".

"Hehehe...It is indeed I!!"

This person is none other than Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer Mage from Fairy Tail!

"puff--!!!"

"What?!"

"What's going on?!"

"The president is so young?!"

"Cough cough... Not Crocodile?!"

Mr. 1's expression changed drastically, Mr. 2 slammed his fist on the table and stood up, the future Imperial Vice-President Mr. 3 spat out the black tea in his mouth, and Miss Golden Week's senbei (rice crackers) fell onto the table with a 'thud'...

All the senior agents froze for a moment, seemingly forgetting to breathe, staring dumbfounded at the young man sitting in the main seat, their faces filled with shock.

Of course, the most shocked person among everyone present was Nico Robin!

Beneath her hat, her delicate face was utterly bewildered. Her large eyes were filled with question marks, her pink lips parted slightly, and her brain seemed to have completely shut down: What's going on?! Who is this man?! Where is Crocodile?! And that coat he's wearing... doesn't it look like Crocodile's?

Why is he wearing Crocodile's clothes?

Chapter 842 Crocodile's Miserable Prison

Why is Gajeel here? The story begins about two weeks ago…

When Gajeel first arrived in this world, he was in the rebel army's base, near Nahana. Shortly after regaining consciousness, he discovered that he was no longer in Aslant, and that there were no magic or other strange events in this world.

With no guild to work for and no Beli to eat, Gajeel was forced to wander the streets. Fortunately, the thugs who had no sense of right and wrong and intended to rob him generously offered their money pouches, solving Gajeel's immediate crisis.

Then, Gajeel set his sights on the ironware in the rebel base—of course, at that time he was just looking for something to eat and had no intention of getting involved in the kingdom's rebellion.