"Look, there's no sign of any bees here." Baggs stepped on an innocent daylily, "I told you it must be because we went to the place they pointed out that we were so unlucky."
Loka and Semus stared at the flower for a while, relieved only when they were sure it hadn't turned into a bee.
Loka sighed thoughtfully, "It does seem like that, nothing good ever happens when you run into the Fairy Tail."
"Could it be that the bees have been attracted away? Do you think they'll be okay?" Semus was worried about Rhode and the others, mainly Wendy, who was helping him heal.
The little girl looked so frail, and she was so young. The Fairy Tail was reckless for bringing her on such a dangerous mission.
Baggs shot him a glance, "Stop joking around, you should worry about yourself more."
Loka thought about the terrifying swarm of insects and agreed, "That's right, they have the Ten Wizard Saints leading them, they're safer than us."
Semus nodded.
But the more Baggs thought about it, the less right it seemed. What did he mean they're safer than you? Kid, are you hinting at something?
Just then, Semus pointed to the left and said, "Brother, there's an apple tree over there."
It was already late afternoon, the spring sunlight slanted into the forest. The apple tree, about three meters high, was lush with branches and leaves, and a hefty fruit hung from the branch, gleaming golden in the sunlight.
"Ah, really, it's a yellow apple, my favorite!" Loka happily moved forward, "I'm feeling a bit thirsty, I'm going to pick a few."
Baggs took a swig from his wine gourd, wiped his mouth, "Such a hassle, why don't I feel thirsty?"
"..." Semus looked at him. You better put down the wine gourd before you say that.
Sure enough, Baggs tossed the wine gourd down, his body lunging out like a swift leopard, running while shouting, "Loka, don't touch it!"
Loka was tiptoeing to pick the lowest apple when he heard the shout and turned around.
But what he saw was not Baggs' face, but a snake tongue at arm's length and two pairs of glistening fangs.
"This...this is..." Loka was taken aback, quickly dodging the snake's attack, but felt a pain in his shoulder, immediately feeling dizzy.
Before he fainted, a strange thought arose: fortunately, I always wear a collar as per the Guild's habit, otherwise, I'd be done if bitten on the throat!
"Damn it!" Baggs shouted angrily, delivering a powerful Splitting Palm to the snake's neck.
Yet the arm-thick snake seemed able to absorb part of this strong and fierce attack.
Its flexible body swayed with Baggs' force, curling halfway around and coiling up on the treetop above.
"Loka!" Semus rushed over to help Loka.
At that moment, two more snakes poked their heads out from the tree crown, opening their mouths to bite Semus.
"Enough already!" Baggs swung a palm horizontally, striking the apple tree's trunk.
The trunk shook violently, not breaking but being uprooted, tumbling over with its chaotic roots.
The two snakes' ambush naturally failed, and Semus quickly shouldered Loka to move away from the tree.
With a thud, the apple tree fell, yet none of the golden apples dropped.
Rather, three snake heads emerged from the tree crown, crawling toward the roots along the trunk.
Three scarlet snake tongues flicked, six cold eyes fixed on the three people ahead.
Baggs stood between them, using Void Palm as he assumed the starting position for a Splitting Palm: "What's the deal with this guy?"
He could clearly see that behind the three snake heads, there was only one snake tail.
This was not three snakes, but a three-headed snake.
"Looking for the Three-headed Dog, but first encountered a Three-headed Snake?" Baggs quipped to himself, "Is this a good omen?"
"Hiss~ hiss~" The Three-headed Snake let out a sinister sound, its three heads attacking from different directions simultaneously.
Recalling the previous snake head's behavior, Baggs didn't strike directly but employed Hawk Soaring Through the Forest from within Splitting Palm.
He raised his left hand down and his right hand up, striking the right and left heads. At the same time, his body twisted right, dodging the middle snake head's bite.
Then his body twisted at an incredible angle, forcefully changing the move to Cyan Dragon Emerges from the Sea — gathering the three snake heads together and pushing them forward.
"How can a snake fight against the 'Drunken Eagle'?" Baggs said.
The snake heads struggled to turn back and bite Baggs' wrist, but the position he was gripping was so tricky that they couldn't twist back at all.
Semus shouted, "Brother, Loka's condition is getting worse!"
Baggs firmly holding the Three-headed Snake, quickly turned and stepped on the snake tail on the trunk, preventing himself from being entangled.
Only then did he say, "Take him to town... no, take him to the north, find the Fairy Tail!"
This snake obviously wasn't simple, the small hospital in town might not be able to heal him, better to go straight for the Sky Witch.
Semus gathered up Loka and ran.
Baggs was pondering how to deal with this creature when he suddenly felt that he couldn't hold onto the three snake heads anymore.
His hands were being pried apart by a force, and the snake's neck seemed to thicken, sprouting fur.
"Awooo~~~" The Three-headed Snake and apple tree vanished, replaced by a massive Three-headed Dog.
Baggs was caught off guard, slammed sideways by the Three-headed Dog and sent flying. His right hand tapped the ground, his body spinning and landing.
He looked up at the beast, finding it incredible yet also showing a look of relief, "So it was you!"
The Three-headed Dog roared, spewing Flame toward Baggs.
"Baggs, big bro!" Semus stopped in concern.
The torrent of Flame parted, with Baggs standing with his left palm upright, "Do what you need to do; after I handle this guy, I'll catch up to you."
He swaggered a few steps, flicking the wine gourd into the air, catching it and downing it dry.
Seeing his big brother drink, Semus felt reassured, taking off in the direction of Rhode and the others.
The Three-headed Dog glanced at Semus and Loka, seemingly hesitating.
Baggs had already ghosted to its side, "Where are you looking, little doggy!"
Before the Three-headed Dog could react, Baggs' palm was already pressed on its shoulder blade.
"Drunken · Splitting Palm · Under the Moon!"
With a dull thud, the massive body of the Three-headed Dog toppled over, skimming across the ground, crashing through trees before coming to a halt.
Baggs landed at the start of the wide scrape, posing with Eagle's Wings, his face flushed from the drink:
"You only have three heads, but I'm WILD~~~"
Missing was his brother's distant shout, leaving him to finish: "FOUR~~~"