A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

However, for those who planned to launch a rebellion, the importance of ironware... that is, weapons, was self-evident. They fought fiercely with Gajeel, and although they did not win in the end, they successfully made Gajeel patiently listen to the suffering of the country while he was eating.

Although Gajeel outwardly claimed that "that kind of thing has nothing to do with me," he honestly went to the capital Albana to investigate the situation, where he encountered his old partner Lili, who was cleaning up those villains who were committing crimes under the banner of the rebel army.

After the human and the cat reunited, they decided to continue searching for their guildmates, so they went to the Rainlands together. Fortunately, they found Juvia, Marcus, and Levy, who had already reunited with them, in the Rainlands.

The cleverest of them all, Levy, sensed something was amiss in the country, as if some unseen force was orchestrating the conflict between the royal army and the rebels. So, she and her friends enthusiastically launched an investigation.

After dealing with several groups of Baroque Works' Million Elders and Million Elders, the group, relying on Levy's intuition and Gajeel's sense of evil, focused their attention on Crocodile.

With a suspect in mind, the group returned to Rainfield. Taking advantage of his size, Lily infiltrated Crocodile's stronghold, Rainfield, and discovered something amiss. Then, Gajeel and the others received the news and led their men to confront Crocodile directly.

Taking advantage of Juvia's water magic's effectiveness against Crocodile, Gajeel quickly defeated Crocodile, who was originally in the room. He then put on Crocodile's coat, sat in his seat, and then... the high-ranking agents came in.

……

Let's go back to the present...

A strange man appeared in the familiar room, while the person who should have been there was nowhere to be found. This shock was unprecedented for Nico Robin.

You have to understand, the person I'm working with this time isn't one of those nobodies I've encountered before, but a genuine member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile! How could someone like that have his room taken over by a mysterious person without a sound, and this person is even wearing his coat?

What's more, she clearly remembered that Crocodile had spent the entire night in this room! Just now, when she went to the next room to touch up her makeup for the upcoming meeting, he was sitting here smoking and admiring the crocodiles!

In such a short time, how did this man manage to break into this room and make the powerful Crocodile disappear?!

"Who are you? Why are you wearing our boss's coat?" Nico Robin slowly backed away, looking warily at the man of unknown origin in front of her.

However, her questioning left all the top agents dumbfounded once again.

"What do you mean? Isn't he our president?"

"Sure enough... I knew our boss couldn't possibly be that kind of young person!"

"So who exactly is the president of the club, Miss Sunday?!"

Before Nico Robin could answer, Gajeel made his move first. He suddenly burst into arrogant laughter and even slammed his foot on the table with a 'thud': "Didn't I just say? I am your president!"

Nico Robin felt incredibly embarrassed; cold sweat beaded on her forehead beneath her bangs. Faced with everyone's questions, she could only force herself to say, "Mr. 0's true identity is Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. He should be here, but..."

But why did it turn into this man?!

The moment Crocodile's name was mentioned, the senior agents were once again stunned.

"Crocodile... Crocodile?!?"

"That person is our club president?!"

"It's actually one of those important figures?!"

"So you're saying we're pirates' subordinates?!"

"Really?... Why would a 'Shichibukai' who is certified and valued by the Navy form a company like this?"

Miss Golden Week breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the fallen senbei from the table, took a bite, and thought to herself, 'Sure enough, my guess was right!'

"Wait! Wait!! If our boss is Crocodile, then who is this man sitting here??"

Nico Robin paused for two seconds before saying in a dry voice, "I don't know either."

Mr.3 asked tremblingly, "Could it be that you are Crocodile's son? And are you coming to succeed Baroque Works?"

Everyone: "..."

Who is this stupid guy? Why does he seem so out of place with us?

"Hey! You idiot with that ridiculous hairstyle, watch your mouth! Who did you just call whose son?!"

Gajeel was pleased with the shocked expressions on the faces of the people before him, but Mr. 3's words still annoyed him. He immediately pointed to the cage in the corner of the room and said arrogantly, "If you're asking about that old man who uses sand, he's already locked up by me!"

Everyone was startled and, without prior arrangement, followed Gajeel's finger and looked toward the corner of the room. Sure enough, they saw a sea stone cage, and inside the cage was someone they all recognized.

It's Crocodile!

However, Crocodile at this time was very different from the image of the 'Hero of Alabasta' and 'Shichibukai' they remembered. Not only was his face bruised and swollen like a pig's head, but he also looked tired as if he had kidney deficiency. Moreover, he was not smoking a cigar, nor was he wearing a fur coat.

But none of these are the most important!

Most importantly, he was locked in a sealed iron box, with only his head sticking out. His hair was wet, and he couldn't make a sound because of a steel mask covering his mouth. At this moment, he was staring at everyone with wide, angry eyes, as if he wanted to devour them all.

hiss--!!

Upon witnessing this astonishing scene, all the high-ranking agents present were instantly horrified, gasping in shock and simultaneously lamenting: "How tragic is Crocodile!!"

Although they couldn't see inside the iron box, they all knew that Crocodile was a Sand-Sand Fruit user, so they quickly realized that the box must be filled with seawater to prevent him from transforming into his elemental form and to make him look so tired!

"How is this possible..."

"Hehe... Am I still half asleep??"

"Hey, hey, hey... there's a limit to jokes...!!"

"He actually got taken down by this brat? That Crocodile..."

The group of high-ranking agents broke out in a cold sweat, rubbed their eyes hard, and even slapped their faces, unable to believe what they were seeing. When they finally realized that what they were seeing was not a dream, they were once again speechless with surprise.

Crocodile was really defeated?! And rendered like this?!

Nico Robin felt a surge of amusement, but found herself unable to laugh. She adjusted her hat and said softly, "It seems things have taken an unexpected turn, Crocodile..."

Even with his 20 years of dark experiences, he couldn't imagine who could have silently killed Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, in such a short time and made him look like this.

Even the Four Emperors, the Navy, and the World Government probably couldn't do something like this.

In fact, Robin did have people she suspected, and her first suspects were the World Government and CP agents, because their power was unfathomable. But she quickly dismissed these suspicions, because if they were really those people, they would have arrested her long ago.

Robin's words were true, but Crocodile heard them as nothing but mockery. The thought of being kicked while he was down filled him with hatred!

'That woman…! I'll make sure she pays the price when I get out of here!!'

Seeing his subordinates looking at him with pity in their eyes, Crocodile felt an overwhelming sense of humiliation and indignation.

In his extreme anger and rage, he suddenly felt something inside his body break!

Chapter 843 Gajeel vs. Baroque Works

"Our boss got killed, should we get revenge?"

"Are you kidding me! That's someone even Crocodile couldn't beat!"

"Attack together! I refuse to believe he can take on so many of us at once!"

"Calm down! We don't know if he has any help yet, so don't act rashly!"

In just half a minute, a group of high-ranking agents went from learning their boss's true identity to discovering that their boss had been imprisoned and tortured. Their emotions were like a small boat tossed about in a storm on the Grand Line, rising and falling hundreds of times, leaving them bewildered and helpless.

What to do now? That has become their first thought.

Baroque Works' agents are mostly former assassins, pirates, or bounty hunters. They relied on their skills to make a living in the first half of their lives and have no management or leadership abilities. When faced with this kind of situation, they naturally become like headless flies.

Mr. 1 turned to Nico Robin: "What did you say, Miss Sunday?"

Everyone turned their attention to Nico Robin, since she was the one who used to give these people missions. Everyone knew she was the number two person in Baroque Works, and now that the boss was in this state, it was only natural to ask for her opinion.

"Well, since our boss is in this state, the original plan can't be carried out anyway..."

Nico Robin ignored Crocodile's furious glare, a smirk playing on her lips as she spoke, half-seriously, half-probingly, her eyes fixed on everyone present, "Then how about we disband?"

To Robin, this delinquent youth, exuding an aura of thugs, was so powerful that even Crocodile was no match for him. He was clearly no ordinary person and could be considered as her next collaborator. However, given his unknown origins and stance, she couldn't afford to tie herself to such a person before gathering sufficient information.

As for Crocodile, she and Crocodile were mutually exploitative. Once either of them was no longer of use, the other would discard them without hesitation. Both of them knew this, so there was no need to say more.

The thought of giving up on the Alabasta historical texts that I've spent years pursuing still fills me with resentment...

Finally, Nico Robin gritted her teeth and said, "...Or should we launch a counterattack against this person? All the top agents are here; if we act together, we might have a chance!"

"Or perhaps you wish to submit? The decision is yours!"

The air suddenly fell silent. The group of high-ranking agents looked at each other, but no one responded, because Robin's words were as if they hadn't said anything at all.

The silence from the others fueled Crocodile's anxiety in the cage, who roared inwardly, "What are you guys doing?! You're actually considering breaking up the group?! A bunch of useless bastards, come save me now!!"

Unfortunately, because of the metal mask, he couldn't make a sound, and at that moment, being soaked in seawater, he didn't have the strength to speak.

But perhaps he should be grateful that he can't speak now, otherwise, if he really spoke his mind, those who originally wanted to save him might not want to anymore.

Just then, Gajeel suddenly sneered, his voice rising abruptly: "Disband? What a joke! Didn't I just say? From today onwards, you are my subordinates! Or..."

"You can also choose to take action! Whoever can defeat me, the Boss position is yours!"

That's incredibly arrogant! That's outrageous!

Is this guy declaring war on all high-ranking agents? Even Crocodile might not be able to handle so many of us at once, how dare this brat? He's utterly ignorant of his own limitations!

Gajeel's arrogant and haughty attitude immediately shattered the hesitation of everyone present. These were all proud, ruthless, and cold-blooded killers, with thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lives on their hands. How could they possibly submit to a mere brat like Gajeel?

The next moment, their gazes toward Gajeel changed.

"I have no interest in changing another president!"

Mr. 1, an assassin from the West Sea, had a cold expression. In an instant, he transformed his arms into sharp, silver-white blades and charged towards Gajeel like a tiger descending a mountain!

"0-chan, I'll come rescue you after I'm done dealing with him!!"

With a light leap, the ladyboy Mr2's body soared several meters into the air like a swan. Then, he spun two and a half times in the air, and one of his ugly, hairy legs cleaved down like a sharp axe!

"Crocodile is one thing, but if you brat want to be our president, you'll have to prove yourself with your abilities!!"

Flames erupted from the '3'-shaped bun on the head of the future Imperial Vice-President Mr. 3. With a stretch of his arms, countless candles transformed into a tall giant wielding a sharp sword and a giant axe. The giant attacked from both sides with his left and right hands!

Baseball player Mr. 4 brandished his weapon and charged toward Gajeel with a series of thuds; Mr. 5, who loved picking his nose, pulled out an air pistol from his waist and fired several shots at Gajeel, the 'bang bang bang' sounds echoing continuously in the room.

In an instant, five high-ranking agents launched an attack simultaneously, while their deputies rushed toward the cage, intending to release Crocodile and bolster their fighting strength.

Only Nico Robin remained, quietly observing Gajeel's strength without making a move.

There are many reasons why she didn't take action. First, she didn't feel much of a sense of belonging to Baroque Works. Second, her combat abilities weren't suitable for use right now, and it would be a loss if she were accidentally injured by those guys who rushed in. Third, everyone else had already taken action, so it didn't matter whether she was there or not, and she could see things more clearly from the rear.

In fact, Nico Robin was also somewhat surprised by the situation. She did not expect that these high-ranking agents who usually disliked each other could launch such a coordinated attack.

Is this what the professional ethics of an assassin are?

Seeing all five of them attack at once, Gajeel was not afraid at all. Instead, he revealed a smile full of fighting spirit: "Well done!"

"Iron Dragon Staff!"