Rhode temporarily rejected the possibility of necromancy controlling the dragon crowd.
Then the second guess is, 400 years ago, dragons were not slaughtered by Acronologia like Jilconis said.
Some dragons knew they couldn't match Acronologia at the time, so they hid somewhere to sleep, practice, or reproduce.
And now they've accumulated enough power, or reproduced enough in numbers, or waited for some opportunity, and have jumped out to cause chaos again.
Destroying cities and such is to attract Acronologia's attention, and once they lure him in, they will swarm and defeat him, then regain control of the world, restoring the glory of the dragon race.
And Igneru, Grandeeney, and other coexistence faction dragons have specially trained Natsu, Wendy, and other Dragon Slayer Mages to guard against that day.
Fourteen years ago, their sudden disappearance was to seek the possibility of communication or investigate the whereabouts of the dragon race.
Rhode speculated that the long absence of news might be due to encountering danger or being trapped somewhere.
When this incident draws out the dragon crowd, it might be Natsu and the others' chance to find their foster parents, uncover the truth, and defeat the dragon crowd, thus becoming genuine Dragon Slayer Mages without the risk of Dragon Transformation and without motion sickness?
The more Rhode thought about it, the more plausible he found this possibility.
As for the hiding place of the dragon crowd, it might be related to the Eclipse Gate.
Bolder thinking suggests there was Zeref 400 years ago, possibly also an Eclipse Gate, and they hid in the past or future through it.
On July 7th, they might return to the present through their Eclipse Gate.
Rhode felt his brainstorming couldn't stop, with guesses popping out one after another.
Due to incomplete information from Future Lucy, his speculations were somewhat fantastical and not completely logical.
He selected some more reliable ideas and shared them, then reminded, "Insufficient information, unable to analyze further. We need to find out how those 10,000 dragons came, and prepare… it's already past midnight, now it's July 4th, less than three days left, right?"
Future Lucy nodded, "The events happened shortly after the clock struck midnight on the 7th."
Ultear took a breath and frowned, "The most suspicious now is the Eclipse Gate, but you said getting close to the Royal Palace would trigger magical mechanisms…"
"I might know what that magic mechanism is," Rhode said, "Lucy, you mentioned using magic near the Eclipse Gate would drain the magic power, right?"
Future Lucy nodded, "Yes, because the function of the Eclipse Gate is to absorb the minute magic released by mages during the Fairy Tail fighting."
"Since the palace and arena are quite far apart, it hadn't been discovered. But if too close, using magic would be drained instantly."
Rhode realized. At that time, Stone Beetles used Earth Magic to drill up from underground, Ghosts used Piercing Magic…
Turns out they were drained of magic power and disappeared.
Luckily, it didn't affect him as a Summoner.
Ultear immediately understood his point, "I see, the Eclipse Gate is that mechanism? I get it, next we'll find a way to infiltrate and investigate the truth of the Eclipse."
Erza said, "Without the ability to use magic, you all aren't much stronger than ordinary people, right? It's too dangerous."
Ultear said confidently, "It's precisely because it's dangerous that we should go. But please think of some ways to conduct investigations in the open."
Gray said, "Don't push yourselves too hard, there might be another way."
Ultear smiled at Gray, "This risk is worth taking."
Gray, looking at Ultear's face which closely resembled Ultear, resolutely said, "I'll go with you."
Ultear directly refused, "No, you have competitions tomorrow. If you suddenly miss them, it'll raise suspicion."
"We can use a substitute slot."
"That's still not possible; your way of acting doesn't align with ours, and there's a kwestia d.obieniaż problem of compatibility in terms of synergy."
"I…"
"I know what you're worried about." Ultear interrupted him, smiled gently, and said, "I have many sins yet to repay, and I will value my life, rest assured."
"… " Gray didn't speak, and looked at Rhode, indicating he should think of a good plan, at least offer some safety-related advice.
"I'll first find Yukino after the match tomorrow, and see if I can directly find Princess Jade and the King. Your actions…" Rhode pondered and said, "I'll dispatch a reliable helper to protect you discreetly."
He planned to choose a dragon to watch from the sky, and if something really happened, it would immediately dive down to rescue.
Even if the Eclipse Gate could absorb magic power, it must operate with some magical principles, right?
Can it drain an entire dragon's power all at once?
If it can, then there's nothing to fear.
Because then there's no need to worry about a dragon crowd attack, just set up the Eclipse Gate and guard against dragons, one dies one at a time.
The group of Sin of the Witch could think of a way to bail out after the fact.
With this simple arrangement, Gray felt much more at ease.
Ultear felt a touch of warmth from being cared for, turned to leave, "Then we'll go prepare."
"Don't rush," Rhode called her, and asked Future Lucy, "Think again, is there anything important that we missed?"
Future Lucy frowned in thought, Lucy spoke softly on her behalf, "Such an important matter, how could there be anything missed…"
"Is that so?" Rhode looked at her, "I remember someone forgot they could use magic because they took medicine from Mystogan during Edolas, right?"
Lucy blushed suddenly, stammered, "That… that was because…"
Future Lucy also felt a bit embarrassed, as she seemed to be the same. Worrying about the same possibility made her reluctantly think harder.
Lucy saw her future self's troubled expression, argued, "I've already been punished for it, don't mention it anymore!"
Future Lucy pondered for a while, suddenly said, "Right, there's also this!"
She used her left hand, which was still unaccustomed, to take out a compact notebook from her body and handed it to Rhode, "I noted some important things in here."
Seeing her awkward action, Rhode and the others couldn't help but feel a wave of distress.
"How's your injury?" Erza asked, "Rhode, is there a way for her hand…"
Rhode could only regretfully shake his head.
Neither Wendy nor Porlyusica could regenerate a severed limb.
To Rhode, losing an entire arm was akin to cutting down his life limit, and neither his Healing Magic nor Crown of Embers was effective.
The best solution was to make a prosthetic, and fortunately, Magic Technology is very advanced now.