anovelconsole Chapter 147 The Strongest Guild and the Richest Alliance!
Chapter 147 The Strongest Guild and the Richest Alliance!
Chapter 147 The Strongest Guild and the Richest Alliance!
"Wow! That's awesome!"
"This is the most interesting stage play I've ever seen, the interactivity is amazing!!"
After a brief moment of bewilderment, the audience standing on the ruins cheered loudly, applauding this stage play that was, in a sense, incredibly brilliant.
The strongest team stood frozen in place, while the theater manager, who was lurking in the corner, had his eyes gleaming and revealed the cunning face of a shrew.
"This development was completely unexpected—"
Chase dusted himself off and removed the magical barrier that had been covering the area.
Although none of the buried viewers in the original story were seriously injured, this is the real world after all, so he still took some precautions just in case.
"Oh dear, I underestimated Natsu and the others a bit."
Mira stood to the side, looking apologetic. "I thought this request wouldn't cause any damage."
"Relax, relax. No matter what, the audience's reaction doesn't lie," Makarov said with a chuckle.
"Is this Lucy's magic soil job? This is outrageous!" Jiude said angrily, blowing his beard and glaring.
As the eldest daughter of the Heartfilia family, Lucy has always been a dignified and proper lady.
How could someone do such a thing?
Despite the significant change in his mindset, Jiude still found it hard to accept for a moment, and walked towards Lucy step by step with a gloomy face.
Lucy seemed to sense something, tightened her not-so-spacious prince's cloak, and looked up to meet Jude's gaze.
Even during the performance, she had a strong intuition, and the moment their eyes met, that intuition became certain.
My father, who should be immersed in his busy work, actually came to see my performance!
This should have been a happy occasion, but Lucy was overwhelmed by a mix of emotions—joy, entanglement, worry, fear, and apprehension—making her lower her head silently, unable to face Jude as he slowly approached.
Like Jiude, although the father and daughter have reached a reconciliation, how can the stereotypes that have existed for more than a decade be easily eliminated?
Finally, the footsteps stopped, and Jiude stood in front of Lucy: "Lucy."
The man's tone sounded quite serious.
"Father, I'm sorry, I—"
Just as Lucy was about to apologize, her vision suddenly went dark, followed by a warm feeling that flowed through her body—Jiu De took off his cloak and draped it over her.
"A pretty good performance. You look cool working hard, Lucy," Jude said in a deep voice.
It is indeed shameful for the young lady of Heartfilia to do such a thing, but the current Lucy is a free and unrestrained mage.
For a fleeting moment, Jiude saw a reflection of Leila in Lucy, a scene from when they first met at the Business Guild.
I remember that Leila back then was just like Lucy is now, taking her work seriously, being proactive, and giving it her all.
That's what attracted him so much.
Thinking of this, Jiude subconsciously stretched out his hands, but hesitated for various reasons, and froze in mid-air with nowhere to put them.
He had even forgotten when the last time he hugged his daughter was.
A few years ago? After Leila died? Or even further back, right after he was born?
Just as I was at a loss, I felt a heavy impact on my chest.
The girl threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his hands, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears: "Thank you, thank you so much for coming to see me, Dad!"
"Lucy—"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, even the usually meticulous Jiude broke down, his old eyes glistening with tears.
He tremblingly embraced Lucy, his movements gradually increasing from cautious to forceful.
Only then did Jiude fully realize how foolish he had been, almost losing the things Leila had left him.
The most important "wealth"!
Seeing the father and daughter embracing, the onlookers were completely bewildered: There's another show?
Knowing the various reasons, Nazgre Makarov and the others smiled with relief.
"Wow! After the prince defeated the dragon and rescued the princess, is it a happy ending where the princess and the king reconcile? What a wonderful happy ending!"
In the crowd, a card player shouted loudly.
"The King? Is that blond man supposed to be the princess's wicked father?"
"Ah! No wonder this guy has been waving his light stick like crazy from the very beginning, the actor was right next to us!"
"Wow! This ticket was totally worth it! When is the next show?!"
The audience went wild again, giving the "king" and "princess" who had reconciled amidst the ruins an incredibly enthusiastic cheer and applause.
As it turns out, all it takes is a little spark for bystanders to conjure up all sorts of wonderful scenarios in their minds.
"You're doing something unnecessary again, Chase." Mira leaned closer to Chase and winked playfully.
"A rare occasion should be lively," Chase laughed.
"That's true."
As they were chatting, with a thud, Juvia's head popped out of the rubble: "Ahhh, Juvia, Juvia really wants to be Lord Gray's dog too~"
Well, the word "playing" is really a bit redundant.
The theater manager was very satisfied with the performance and immediately added more content and compensation, requesting the strongest team to conduct another week-long tour.
After greeting the strongest team that had taken on the task, Chess and the others returned the way they came.
Bob, Goldman, and Yajima returned to their city, while Jude boarded the train back to Magnolia with the others.
Besides coming to see his daughter's performance, Jiude had an even more important reason for visiting.
That is to discuss comprehensive development with Makarov and establish an alliance between Fairy Tail and the Heartfilia family!
In fact, long after Leila's death, Jiude had a deep understanding of the principle that might makes right in the magical world. However, in his previous view, all the magic guilds were profit-driven madmen who could only be used and not befriended.
For example, entrusting the Phantom Lord to bring Lucy back and placing excessive trust in the Magic Earth Guild will only destroy the business empire that you have worked so hard to build.
But now, with Lucy by his side and having personally experienced the unique bonds and passion of Fairy Tail members (even though he was the one being targeted), Judo naturally has no qualms about it.
Makarov, of course, wouldn't refuse such a good opportunity that came to him, and was quite enthusiastic about it.
However, trust is one thing, but since it is a business collaboration, there are bound to be specific matters and terms that need to be finalized, and all aspects need to be taken into account.
Upon returning to Magnolia, the two immediately engaged in a tug-of-war meeting over their conflicting interests.
Makarov wanted to involve Chase, but Chase had no interest in such troublesome matters and instead used a Substitute Summoning to have Mira, who was familiar with guild affairs, take over.
The two sides worked until dark before finalizing the most basic terms of their cooperation.
The following day, at an internal meeting of the Heartfilia Foundation, Jude announced the decision.
The news of the alliance between Fiore's strongest guild and its richest conglomerate spread rapidly, causing an earthquake within the Kingdom of Fiore and moving countless corporations and mage guilds.
Some forces that had been trying to bring down the Heartfilia Foundation were hesitant to act, so they cancelled their original plans and instead strengthened their cooperative relationship with Heartfilia.
A tiger with teeth and a tiger without teeth are two completely different concepts.
In the past, they wouldn't have been so panicked.
Based on information gathered through their respective networks and undercover agents, Fairy Tail has recently gained immense popularity within the Council. Not only are the neutral faction wavering, but even some of the opposition is beginning to falter.
They didn't know exactly what had caused this change, but they were certain that Fairy Tail was now an existence that the magical world could not easily provoke!
Unless the royal family intervenes to impose sanctions, the Heartfilia Foundation will only grow stronger, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Fairy Tail, on the other hand, saw even more significant gains.
With the wealthy and powerful Hatfilia family as his backing, Makarov's financial problems, which had often troubled him, were completely resolved.
His pension is safe.
The guild's commission board has also seen a surge in commissions from Heartfilia, such as caravan escort, bridge demolition and reconstruction, and land reclamation and road construction.
The partners have more choices and no longer worry about not having a suitable job.
Of course, all commissions are reviewed through official channels and issued to Fairy Tail by the Council.
After all, they are the regulators of all legitimate guilds. If they don't give those people some kickbacks, it could easily lead to big trouble!
As seasoned veterans of the magical world, Makarov and Judd were well aware of the intricacies of human relationships involved.
Unfortunately, S-level commissions are still not available.
So compared to his partners' increasingly proactive work attitude, Chase was much more relaxed. He was either staying at his own new house construction site or going to the guild construction site to freeload, occasionally helping Mira with her work when she couldn't manage it all.
Ten days passed quietly.
The guild's scaffolding has been completely removed, and the exterior wall tiles and interior wall decorations have been completed. Construction of surrounding projects (swimming pool, commercial street) has begun.
During this time, the strongest team, who had finally finished their torturous performance, came back for a short break and then hurriedly accepted a commission to attack the Dark Guild.
That morning.
They moved to a temporary bar and work area inside the new guild.
"Chess, haven't you noticed how much colder the weather has gotten lately?"
"I was planning to go with Elfman, but he doesn't seem to be free lately."
Watching Chess devour his breakfast, Mira propped her cheek on her hand, pulled out two pre-prepared tickets from her pocket, and said with a smile, "We don't have much to do today, how about we go to the hot spring town for a soak?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Elfman, who was standing in front of the commission board vying with Nob for the NPC identity, immediately turned around: "Sister Mira, it seems I haven't found a suitable commission!"
"Really? Didn't you say yesterday that you were going to help with the railway construction in Heartfilia?"
"Huh? Did I say that?" Elfman scratched his head in confusion.
How come he doesn't remember?
"Yes, there is." Mira's smile suddenly turned kind.
"Oh yes, yes, yes, I did say that!"
Elfman finally realized what was happening, and in a panic, tore off the commission book and ran out the door, shouting, "A real man! I'm going to do the commission, Sister Mira!"
"Let me register you. Be careful, okay?" Mira smiled and waved at his receding figure.
Hey, isn't this way too obvious?
Chase, who witnessed the whole process, really wanted to complain.
then.
Without the slightest hesitation, he snatched the ticket from Mira's hand: "Then I won't be polite."
Mira blushed slightly but smiled happily.
Meanwhile, the strongest squad, having finished their work, was on their way back to the guild.
Fortunately, the addresses of the dark guilds are all located in remote, remote mountains and forests, so even if Natsu Gray and Erza demolished the entire guild, they don't need to worry about compensation.
Lucy was overjoyed to finally receive all her payment and thought she could take this opportunity to go to a hot spring to relax her tense nerves.
The proposal was immediately passed unanimously.
Quite coincidentally, the two groups arrived at the village of Impatiens, west of Magnolia, on the same night.
This village, with its oriental architectural style, is famous for its hot springs, making it the top choice for residents of Magnolia and surrounding cities to enjoy hot springs.
A winding bamboo path leads to a secluded spot.
After soaking in the hot spring, Lucy wandered aimlessly with Prudential, the Canis Minor.
"That was terrifying. I was so stupid to even think about having a pillow fight with those monsters—" Lucy raised her hand and rubbed her throbbing forehead.
Just now, she enthusiastically joined the pillow fight that Natsu had suggested.
As expected, he was instantly knocked out by the pillow that flew right in his face!
"Pfft, it's already a blessing that you're not dead, Master~" Pru said out of the blue.
"Huh? Huh?! You can talk after all?!"
Lucy was startled and her whole body stiffened as straight as a wooden stick.
"Pfft, umm, I just look like a dog, but I'm still a Protoss at heart~" Pru continued.
Something's not right, something's really not right!
Hearing the strangely familiar tone and glancing at the trembling, dazed Pru, Lucy quickly realized what was going on. She strode over to the bamboo grove and pulled out the cheeky Happy who was hiding behind it.
"I knew it was you, you damn cat, who was behind this!"
"Oh my, Lucy's suddenly become so smart. I thought I could fool you for at least a week." Happy frowned, looking puzzled.
"—I'm so sorry this didn't meet your expectations!!"
Lucy, feeling offended, had a mouthful of jagged teeth and wanted to drown the wretched cat with her saliva.
The commotion successfully attracted the attention of two men who were passing by.
"Wow! I never expected to meet such a cute girl while just soaking in a hot spring. I'm so lucky!"
"Little sister, it's very dangerous to walk your pet cat and dog outside so late!"
"Hehehe, let me take good care of you!"
The two seemed to be repeat offenders, and they surrounded Lucy without any restraint, starting to grope her.
The sudden disturbance made Lucy frown and reach for the Celestial Key she always carried.
Happy, on the other hand, shamelessly hid far away, but didn't forget to peek out and emphasize, "I'm not a pet cat, I'm a mage!"
Dead Cat saw things very clearly; these two were just small-time thugs with no real magic and posed little threat to Lucy.
In such a safe situation, of course, protecting the fish in your pocket should be your top priority!
Lucy really wanted to give this unreliable dead cat a piece of her mind, but she still needed to deal with these two thugs in front of her first.
"Activate! Gold—"
Boom!
Before the Celestial Gate could even open, a loud bang was heard.
"You dare to lay a hand on my cute little sister? You must have been prepared for a fight, right?"
Standing in the thick smoke, Chess stretched his hand joints.
"Chesco!" Lucy was quite surprised.
Looking at the two unconscious figures lying on the shattered ground, she couldn't help but remark, "These two are no longer able to fight—"