A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

A flash of anger crossed Smoker's eyes. Upon hearing the words "Fairy Tail mage," he had already guessed that Kira was the instigator of this hunting game. "I knew it! That red-haired brat is no pushover!"

"What does that guy take us for?!"

Luffy, running ahead, completely ignored the noise above him. Seeing Smoker stop, he immediately turned and ran towards the Rain Banquet: "I don't want to participate in any arena defense game! I just want to beat Crocodile to a pulp!!"

However, he hadn't run far when a voice above him made him stop in his tracks: "I've already informed Baroque Works and Fairy Tail of their rewards. Now let's talk about the rewards for the other two. If the Straw Hat Pirates win, I'll hand Crocodile over to you; and if the Navy survives to the end, the Straw Hat Pirates and all the members of Baroque Works with bounties in the Rain Country will be your reward."

When Crocodile's name was mentioned, the whole town erupted in excitement.

Passerby A: "Just now... he was talking about Lord Crocodile??"

Passerby B: "What did that person do to our Alabasta heroes?!"

Passerby C: "Who's the owner of that voice? He sounds like a handsome guy. I'd love to meet him..."

Whether it was Luffy and his crew, the Marines led by Smoker, the members of Baroque Works, or the ordinary residents of the Rainfield, everyone was stunned by the voice above their heads—a voice that screamed "handsome guy." They all whispered among themselves and began a heated discussion.

"What's going on? Did I hear that right?! That voice actually said they'd hand over Lockdal to us?? Could it be that he's not from Baroque Works??"

"Could it be that someone defeated Crocodile before us?"

"That's a 'Seven Warlord of the Sea'! And this guy just offers it to us like that? There might be a trap!"

The Straw Hat Pirates' intellectual powerhouse Sanji, luck-bearer Usopp, and sane Nami were running around discussing Killer's words, but they couldn't seem to reach a conclusion.

Smoker, noticing Luffy starting to run away, quickly turned into smoke and gave chase: "Do we Marines need charity to catch criminals? Looks like I've really been underestimated..."

Suddenly, Luffy stopped in his tracks because someone was blocking his way—Natsu.

"You two must be the pirates and the Marines' bosses, right? How lucky!!"

"You are... the one who ate Ace's flames back then..."

Smoker, with two cigars dangling from his lips, looked at Natsu with scrutinizing eyes and asked in a deep voice, "Natsu, what are you trying to do?"

Natsu clasped his hands together in front of him, sparks flying, and laughed, "Kira already made it very clear, didn't he? It's a hunting game! If we win, we'll get a million Berries as a reward!"

Luffy pulled his straw hat down and shouted, "Hey, I said! I don't have time to play games with you guys right now, I'm going to beat Crocodile to a pulp! Get out of my way!!"

Happy flew over, held up the photo of Crocodile he had taken yesterday, and said to the two of them, "The guy you're talking about has already been defeated by us! You're too late!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Luffy was immediately shocked. He opened his mouth wide and took the photo. Sure enough, he saw a person who was soaking wet, locked in a cage, and looked very disheveled. "This person is Crocodile??"

"It really is Crocodile! You actually captured him?"

Smoker's expression was one of utter astonishment. He hadn't expected that this group would actually kill a Shichibukai so quickly, and judging from their performance, they seemed to have suffered no losses.

He didn't have any problem with Crocodile's capture, but he was a little annoyed that he hadn't done it himself.

Hearing Smoker's words, Luffy finally realized he was really going to eat, but soon, the expression on his face changed from frustration to indignation, and he snorted out two puffs of white breath: "I don't care! Even if I'm late, I'm going to fight again!"

"Then you'll have to defeat me first! Because he's our prisoner now!"

Natsu, engulfed in flames, stared at the two before him, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. "I've been looking for someone to fight since yesterday!"

On the rooftop, Natsu, Luffy, and Smoker faced off, their fighting spirits surging.

Of the four factions, Fairy Tail is undoubtedly the strongest, followed by the Straw Hat Pirates, then Baroque Works, and the Navy is the weakest. However, if they were to actually fight, the outcome would be different.

Each of the mages possesses strength comparable to that of a Shichibukai, and can essentially wipe out an entire other force single-handedly.

Luffy's crew can only fight three and a half people. The cowardly trio and Vivi's fighting strength is so great that they would struggle to deal with ten people at the same time, and can be completely ignored.

Baroque Works has the most mid-level combat power. Even the weakest, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, can easily handle dozens of marines. In addition, they have handsome henchmen and are familiar with the terrain, which gives them a great advantage in battle.

In the Navy, only Smoker is considered a capable fighter. Tashigi is neither the best nor the worst. The rest of the Navy members are just extras, like the assassins from Baroque Works, but they are better equipped and operate more systematically.

"If it's a matter of soldiers versus generals, the Navy doesn't have enough men. Aside from Smoker, who might survive to the end, everyone else will be eliminated. The Baroque Works agents are cowards who bully the weak and dare not cause trouble for Erza and her group, so their targets will only be the Navy and the Straw Hat crew. The Straw Hat crew's target is Baroque Works, but they also have to deal with the Navy. Erza and her group's thinking is much simpler; they definitely see everyone as a target to be defeated! After all, Mr. 1 and those guys haven't joined Fairy Tail yet..."

Inside the train carriage thousands of miles away, Kira gazed at the chaotic rain-soaked land he had created, analyzing the targets of the various forces and speculating on how the battle would unfold.

This was a task he set for himself, with the aim of improving his combat simulation skills.

"From this perspective, it feels like Natsu and his friends have become the troublemakers..."

Lucy was immediately displeased when Kira called her man a troublemaker. Her face darkened as she retorted, "Please! Natsu and the others only stayed because of your sudden hunting game. How can you talk about them like that now? That's going too far!"

Kira waved his hand dismissively: "Study your own methods! Or just watch the live stream! They're the troublemakers, everyone else is just..."

The passengers in the carriage were speechless.

Chapter 853 Each of Their Own Battlefields

After Kira's report, all the sensible residents immediately ran home to hide in order to avoid being caught in the battle. Several places in the town changed from a chaotic chase into a tense battlefield.

On the street, Erza, Zoro, Mr. 1, and Tashigi accidentally collide.

As their eyes met, they realized they had met the right opponent. The four had a premonition that they were about to engage in a duel of swordsmen. However, around them, there was a group of marines and a group of millions of elders who were watching them with predatory eyes.

"Miss Erza?!" The moment Tashigi saw Erza, she was instantly shocked, both confused and fearful, as she knew how strong Erza was.

"Sorry, Tashigi! I'll give it my all in this game!" Erza smiled and nodded to Tashigi.

"Huh?!? Why...??"

Looking at Erza, who was wearing armor, Zoro keenly sensed that she had the aura of a swordsman, but he scanned Erza from head to toe and did not see a single sword, which aroused his suspicion.

"This woman's aura... Could she also be a swordsman? But where is her sword?"

Just as I was wondering, Mr. 1 suddenly came from behind me with a faint, sarcastic remark: "It's very rude of you to look at a girl like that..."

"Stop talking nonsense!!"

Zoro blushed instantly, then asked, "Which of you is from B.W.? What was that voice talking about Crocodile?"

Mr. 1 answered frankly, "I am Mr. 1 from Baroque Works. The previous boss has indeed been killed. The person who killed him was that woman's accomplice. Right now, we high-ranking agents are racking our brains to come up with a plan for our future work..."

Zoro's pupils contracted immediately upon hearing this, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He looked at Erza and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you should be the mage from 'Fairy Tail' mentioned on the broadcast, right? May I ask why you're targeting Crocodile, and how many of you are here right now?"

Erza chuckled softly, already understanding Zoro's intention in asking this question, and immediately replied, "Don't worry, there are only five of us left in Rainlands, including me, and I'm the strongest among us. As for why we wanted to fight Crocodile, it was probably just a whim of our comrades..."

She remembered Gajeel fighting Crocodile, it seemed like it was just to become the company president?

Zoro breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then chuckled dryly, "Really? That's quite unfortunate..."

Unfortunately, it was because they arrived late and couldn't defeat Crocodile themselves; it was also because they were now facing a group of opponents even stranger than Crocodile, and he was extremely unlucky to be facing their strongest opponent; and it was also because he was not good at dealing with women, and there were two female swordsmen here.

"Now that we have four people, how about we split into two groups?" Zoro pointed at Mr. 1 and said, "I'll fight this guy, and you two fight?"

Mr1 was the first to speak: "I'm fine with anything."

Tashigi resolutely refused: "No way! My purpose in coming here is to bring you to justice, Roronoa!"

"Damn it! You're such a nuisance..."

Zoro scratched his head in frustration, then looked at Erza. "What did you say?"

"Me? Didn't I just say I'd go all out in this game!" Erza's lips curled into a smile, magic surged, a magic circle opened, and she deftly drew a silver-white iron sword from it with her right hand. "All of you, come at me together!!!"

"What?!"

"This woman...?!?"

"I knew it……"

……

In the alley, Usopp and Nami had ferocious expressions on their faces, because they were being chased and fleeing in a sorry state by a group of million-strong elders.

"Think of something quick, Usopp!!"

"What can I do in this situation?! I'm not a monster like Luffy and his crew!!"

BOOM!! BOOM!!

Suddenly, the two nimbly leaped over the obstacles piled up in the alley, and with a series of chaotic thuds, the pursuers behind them were all knocked down.

"The operation plan was a great success!"

"It was just luck, wasn't it?"

"Well... I admit there was an element of gambling involved, but I won the bet!"

On this ship, everyone has some special buffs besides combat-related ones. For example, Luffy has an attractive charm, Zoro has an inexplicable way of attracting women, Sanji always manages to have a showdown with the boss of the opposing forces, and Usopp is amazing. His luck is extremely high, second only to the world's strongest luck king, 'Clown King' Buggy, who always manages to turn bad luck into good and save them from desperate situations.

It's often said that Zoro is the best in good times, Sanji is the best in bad times, and Usopp is the best in desperate situations. This isn't just a casual saying.

"Anyway, at least we've temporarily dealt with the pursuers! You heard the announcement just now, right? Although we didn't do it, Crocodile seems to have been defeated. Now all we need to do is hide..."

Nami had just breathed a sigh of relief when she turned around and froze. Standing at the alley entrance was a woman with a blue afro, a waist as thick as a hand, and an extremely strange and awkward figure—it was Miss Doublefinger.

Noticing that Nami was acting strangely, Usopp immediately turned around and froze, because the woman in front of him looked anything but simple.

"Who is this person...? Is he an assassin from Baroque Works? Or a Fairy Tail mage who appeared out of nowhere?"

"I am Miss Twofinger of the Baroque Works, a Thorn Person who ate the Thorn Fruit."

Before the battle even began, Miss Golden Finger introduced herself and her abilities. Long, sharp spikes sprouted from her wrists, resembling sea urchins. "Sorry, for the sake of winning this game, I have no choice but to eliminate you! But don't worry, we've been ordered not to kill!"

Usopp and Nami's hearts sank immediately: Well, if it were those mages, they could try to negotiate, but since the other party is from Baroque Works, there's nothing to talk about. After all, the other party is Crocodile's subordinate, so what kind of good people could they be? Absolutely not!

Besides, it seems the other boss has been taken down. If they don't take it out on his subordinates, how can they get justice for Weiwei?! If they don't get justice, wouldn't all of Weiwei's years of enduring humiliation have been for nothing?

"Usopp!"

"What's wrong??"

"We can't run away from this battle! For Vivi's sake, we have to fight, you understand?"

"Of course!!"

Whether out of revenge or self-preservation, the only option left for the two is to fight. However, they are in a narrow alley with high walls on both sides and their escape route blocked by the obstacle they just encountered. This means that their only way to fight is to confront the enemy head-on, which is a huge challenge for these two people who are not very strong.

Before Usopp could even think, his body reacted instinctively. He lifted his feet, his leather boots shifting slightly, and bravely shielded Nami in front of him.

"It's up to you now, Nami!"

Bang! !

Enraged, Nami punched Usopp: "Hey, can't you be a little more manly?!"

"That being said, I'm a sniper! Head-on combat isn't my forte!!"