I gestured to Laffite with my hand as soon as the ensign was on board the black pearl, and Laffite instantly obliged as he took several steps forward to stand in front of the marine officer and presented him with a wooden box.

The marine ensign opened the box and carefully scrutinized its contents for several seconds, then closed the box with a nod of his head.

"It's Jelly bean Jack's head indeed," He said as he raised his head and looked at me. "But I will need to hand it over to our medical department for further inspection to confirm the fact since pirates with such high bounties tend to fake their own deaths once in a while," the ensign concluded with a shake of his head.

"That makes sense, I suppose," I said with a nod. "How long will it take your medical department to do that?" I asked the ensign as I lit up a cigarette.

"It shouldn't take more than an hour or two," stated the ensign, and I can hear Wilson sigh in annoyance at that. "You are welcome to stay at our base during that time," he concluded in a calm tone.

'Something doesn't feel right,' I thought while eyeing the ensign, trying not to show blatant suspicion.

"That's fine too," I said with a smile. "We'll be in your care for the meantime then," I concluded.

'Something is definitely wrong, and I need to know what it is," I thought while still making eye contact with the marine officer, waiting for him to leave so I can discuss this with the rest of the crew.

"Then I will stay here until we reach the base if it's no trouble, of course," the marine ensign said in a polite tone, but I can hear the demanding undertone in his voice.

'So he wants to scout the crew and gather information, but that's fine too since I can get some information about the situation from him too,' I thought as my head began spinning at top speed, trying to analyze the situation.

"Your more than welcome to stay here," I stated after several seconds of pause to make it look like I was thinking about it. "By the way, I didn't catch your name," I said with a friendly smile that hid my suspicions or amusement at the situation.

"Obrien, Ensign Obrien," He said as he took several steps to stand in front of me with his hands extended in my direction.

"Johnny, but you already knew that," I replied with a smile as I shook ensign Obrien's hand with a chuckle, and he smiled with a nod in return.

"Alright, you lazy sea bastards, you heard the man, so hurry up and follow the marine's battleships to their base," I said with a loud voice, and the crew responded quickly.

They, of course, understood my hidden message to make themselves look busy and not give the marine officer a chance to draw any information from them.

"So, ensign Obrien, I don't think I've done something that would make myself know even to an outstanding marine officer such as yourself," I said, trying to make the marine officer drop his guard with some compliments. "Care to elaborate?" I concluded with a sincere smile that would have caused flowers to bloom if we were standing on soil and not wooden blanks.

"Don't sell yourself short. You took down one of the five great families, who were causing us, west blue marines headaches for several decades now," he stated with a sincere smile of his own.

"I can't imagine why the Nitti family is considered such a threat," I said while tilting my head to the side in confusion. "I did take them out, after all, and they didn't seem that troublesome to me," I concluded and paused, waiting for the ensign to elaborate further.

"The Nitti family, no, the entire five families of the west wouldn't be so troublesome to deal with if they weren't always hiding in the shadows," He stated with a sigh. "But they're always hiding and avoiding conflict with the marines, and only bounty hunters like yourselves can take care of them since you can cross lines that we marines can't," He concluded with a sigh.

"In that case, why didn't you simply raise their bounties to rally some competent bounty hunters to take care of them?" I asked with an obviously confused voice.

"We couldn't do that because the five families have deep connections with the royalty in west blue, and they would pressure us to lower their bounties every time we tried to raise them," He said as he heaved another deep sigh.

"Besides, even if we somehow managed to raise their bounties, most Bounty hunters would be too scared of the underworld's joker to hunt them down since they're business partners with him," He concluded while shaking his head in annoyance.

I even heard him mutter, "Fucking royals and mobles," under his breath. 'Joker, huh? Shit, it looks like I already have a target painted on my back. Oh well, whatever," I thought with a mental shrug.

"It looks like we're already here," said the ensign as he turned around and gestured at the marine base docks.

"I'm afraid we have to cut the conversation short, as I have some business to attend to in the base. One of my subordinates will guide you through the base," ensign Obrien concluded as he jumped off the ship with a quick soru step and landed on the docks.

It was soon the time for us to disembark the ship too. I only had time to caution my companions by telling them that I felt something is off about the situation and to be careful, so we left the ship while leaving Bob behind to guard the ship and the injured Byron in the lower decks of the black pearl.

"Greetings, silver hand bounty hunters. I am warrant officer Tom, and I will guide you to the waiting area. Which you can use to rest until the medical department finishes the necessary procedures," said a tall, lean marine officer, who approached us as soon as we set foot on the docks.

"Show us the way then, officer Tom. We'll be in your care," I replied with a friendly smile as I walked in his direction, causing him to turn around and gesture for us to follow him.

It took us several minutes to reach the waiting area while traversing the large marine base. Officer Tom was quiet during our march, only speaking to greet his fellow marines that we came across while making our way towards the waiting area.

Speaking of the marines that we came across. They were showing all kinds of reactions to us. Some were sending us dirty looks, while some seemed entirely indifferent to our existence, and there were even those who looked at us with respect, but we ignored it all until we reached the waiting area.

"Help yourself to the beverages and snacks here, if you'd like. Ensign Obrien will come here personally to conclude your business as soon as he receives word from the medical department," warrant officer tom stated and turned around to leave as soon as he finished his sentence.

...

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