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On the calm sea, a warship bearing the emblem of the Alvarez Empire slowly approached the waters of Ishgar.
The soldiers on board each performed their duties without the slightest slack, especially when their superior, a blonde, brown-eyed, slender and refined young woman, like a female leopard, walked past them—every soldier was as invigorated as if they had been injected with a stimulant.
The reason the soldiers were working so hard was not the young woman's beauty, but her identity: one of the Spriggan 12—the Warrior Queen, Dimaria.
Alvarez is a military empire that believes in the supremacy of the strong, and powerful individuals like Dimaria, who come from military backgrounds, are especially revered by soldiers.
Along the way, she was met with admiring gazes, which Dimaria had long grown accustomed to. In her view, deeply influenced by the empire's education, it was only natural for the weak to revere the strong.
After inspecting the deck, Dimaria ignored the soldiers' salutes and walked directly toward a room.
Pushing open the door, what greeted her was a glass table piled high with snacks, and a short, green-haired girl with bangs, dressed even more revealingly than Irene, leisurely eating potato chips on the sofa, a picture of relaxation.
Dimaria unladylike squeezed onto the green-haired girl's sofa, her hand restlessly embracing the girl's smooth waist, and said bluntly, "Brandish, we have already entered the waters of Ishgar. In another half day, we will reach a hidden landing point marked by our intelligence officers."
Upon hearing this, Brandish silently nodded and continued to put potato chips into her mouth.
For a warship to illegally enter the territory of another power, any other country would certainly be extremely cautious, but Dimaria's tone and Brandish's attitude made it sound like a trivial matter.
Even Ishgar's number one "God" had joined the Empire and become a member of the Spriggan 12 for power. The level of mages on this continent, in the eyes of them, who were also Spriggan 12, was easily predictable.
Although Brandish and Dimaria were not yet comparable to God Serena due to their age, they were confident enough to look down upon Ishgar.
Strength was their greatest confidence.
After having enough of clinging to Brandish, Dimaria's gaze swept toward the key pouch spread out in the corner of the glass table, where twelve Golden Celestial Spirit Keys sparkled under the crystal lamp on the ceiling.
Looking at the Aquarius key, which Brandish wiped three times a day, Dimaria's eyes cunningly darted around, and she said to Brandish beside her with a hint of playfulness, "How do you plan to deal with those two people?"
Brandish did not answer, putting down her potato chips and picking up the melting ice cream on the table, as if nothing could interrupt her enjoyment of the food.
The playful look on Dimaria's face grew stronger. "Bran, I brought the warship to Ishgar just because of a single word from you, and in the end, you're not willing to explain anything to me. I'm truly heartbroken."
While saying her heart was cold, Dimaria's "wandering hand" never left Brandish's thigh. It turned out she was a lesbian who liked women.
The air was silent for several seconds.
Brandish, who had been continuously eating, finally stopped. A trace of helplessness appeared on her usually unruffled face.
Although her relationship with Dimaria was very good, Brandish did not want to talk to others about her mother's past. Only August, whom she regarded as her grandfather, knew about this matter.
But looking at the current situation, it was impossible to fool Dimaria anymore.
Brandish's hesitant expression made Dimaria's heart bloom with joy. Her plan to conquer Bran finally had progress; she had been coveting her body for a long time.
After much deliberation, Brandish still chose to tell Dimaria about her past.
When she heard that the blonde woman among the two captives was very likely the daughter of the person who caused Brandish's mother's death, Dimaria immediately could not sit still.
"How dare they bully my girl... bah, how dare they make my most important companion sad and upset. Just wait and see how I deal with them!"
Seeing Dimaria rush out of the room in a huff, Brandish also became anxious. She hadn't expected that she, the person involved, wasn't anxious, but Dimaria was.
"Oh! Why did I tell her all this..."
Brandish was filled with regret and immediately chased after her. If she went too late, she would truly only be able to collect the bodies of those two half-captives...
In the warship's brig, two people and a cat, bound by magic-restraining chains, hung their heads dejectedly. They were Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, whom Invel had searched all over the Western Continent for but failed to find.
Just as Noah had guessed, they hadn't entered the Western Continent's territory at all.
On the neutral island of Caracole, Lucy met a green-haired girl queuing to buy limited-edition ice cream. After shamelessly asking several times, she learned the girl's name was Brandish, and she was precisely Grammi's daughter, whom Lucy was looking for on this trip.
Lucy felt very lucky at the time, just like their mothers, she and Brandish also had a connection.
Just as Lucy introduced herself and was about to reveal the truth of Grammi's death, Natsu, who was horsing around with Happy, accidentally knocked over Brandish's freshly acquired limited-edition ice cream.
Question: What would a foodie do if her limited-edition delicacy, bought after queuing on a hot day, was knocked to the ground?
The answer to the question was already very clear.
The culprits, Natsu and Happy, were immediately subdued by Brandish, who used her Command T to shrink their bodies on the spot.
And Lucy, who wanted to tell her the truth, also did not escape misfortune; she was knocked unconscious by Dimaria before she could even utter a word of explanation.
Now, they had been locked in the cell for a week. During this time, apart from the soldiers bringing food, Lucy had not seen anyone else, as if they had been forgotten by Brandish.
Because they were on a ship, Natsu, being a Dragon Slayer, had suffered terribly this past week. For seven days, he had been nauseated by seasickness, staggering back and forth, wanting to vomit but unable to, and was utterly tormented.
Natsu had never experienced such a long period of motion sickness. His body and mind had reached the brink of collapse.
"Lucy, Happy..."
"I think I see Igneel and Atlas Flame waving to me, asking if I want their help. Am I going to die soon...?"
Lying weakly on the ground, Natsu's dispirited and barely breathing appearance terrified Lucy and Happy.
Happy anxiously circled Natsu, tears welling up in his eyes.
Lucy scrambled to her feet, banging hard on the cell door, and shouted with a hoarse throat, "Is anyone there! Help! Help!"
However, just as her plea for help was uttered, Lucy heard a cold voice from the corridor outside the cell.
"No need to call for help."
"Because people are really going to die."
Dimaria walked over, a gleaming battle-knife strapped to her waist, her utterly cold gaze making Lucy feel as if she had fallen into an ice cave, causing her to shiver involuntarily.