"We should not stay here much longer," Law stated while looking at the furious inhabitants. "They had a creative mind."
"Ikahaha! ... Everyone has a unique train of thought. Look, that one screw the eyes of the poor pirate. " Ikari laughed at the scene in front of them. "I wonder how long they enslaved this town to have them react like that?"
Ikari and the others soon arrived at their ship, Sweet Caroline. There, they saw Shachi training with his sword and had weights around his body. Grunting noises could be heard from the ship.
"It's unusual to witness Shachi being serious for once." Bepo mused and they hopped to the galleon.
"Let's pile the loot!" shouted Ikari. "Bepo, take a detour to a marine base. Shachi will be the one to claim the bounty."
Bepo nodded and looked at the map in his pocket. "There is a town a day from this island. We can resupply and head straight to the reverse mountain. "
"This will be the last detour so buy a lot of food, and barrels of water. Penguin, check if we have enough planks to repair the ship. " Ikari got to the cockpit and swiveled the wheel. "Turn the rudder 45 degrees! Grab the anchor, Caribou! Law, hoist the sails!"
The group quickly got into action. Ikari smiled. "Let's set sail unto the horizon!"
A day soon passed, and Sweet Caroline docked at the port. Shachi grabbed a couple of heads from Caribou and leaped down. "I'll be back!"
Law and Bepo also jumped down the ship and went to buy their ration for the trip.
Ikari contemplated his previous actions and unconsciously balled his hand into a fist. "Hah! ... I'm still far away from Kaido and I got triggered easily. What will happen when I get to see him up close...? I need to control my rage. Fuck!" he muttered while looking at the sky.
...
Shachi walked along the street of the town. He attracted a lot of contempt and disgusted looks from the locals. Having a couple of heads in his hand while strolling was an eccentric sight.
"Bueno Marine Base. " the sign indicated, he inhaled and continued to enter the base. A marine ensign had a hand raised at him. "Stop! This is a marine base! Are you blind? Stay there!" he had not looked at Shachi as his eyes caught the ugly faces the guy held.
The marine ensign continued to keep his gaze while his hand moved to the den-den mushi.
Beriberi! Beriberi! Kacha!
"Sir! Rear Admiral Drake! A man is in front of the marine base with two suspected corpses. I infer that the suspected corpses are pirates. " the marine ensign reported.
"Let him in. "
Kacha!
The marine ensign still had his gaze at Shachi. Never break eye contact even reporting to his superior. "Rear Admiral has ordered! Let him in!" the gate opened at his words.
Grabbing his rifle, the marine ensign signaled to walk ahead of him.
Shachi chuckled at his giddiness. "You don't have to be so stiff. First time?" he teased the inexperienced marine.
Though he only got a frown from the young marine. Walking inside the base, Shachi felt that if his identity as a pirate got exposed here, he might die. "Being a bounty hunter sucks. You know that. How is life being a marine, maybe I can join you guys...?"
The young marine had a surprised expression evident on his face and decided to humor the bounty hunter. "Well, you'll start as a chore boy, which you certainly wouldn't like. But as you have experience and assuming that two heads are high-bountied pirates, you can exchange it for an application with privileges or contribution points."
Shachi touched his chin. "That's a sweet deal... I might think about it after enjoying the beli from these heads. " he smiled and thought that he established his occupation very well.
They went inside the building and climb toward the Rear Admiral's Office.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in. " a deep voice sounded within.
The Ensign unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Rear Admiral!" he saluted. "This bounty hunter intends to exchange the heads of these assumed pirates' bounties for their valued beli. "
An orange-haired man with an 'X' mark on his chin stared deep into Shachi's eyes. "Very well. May you introduce yourself, bounty hunter. Also, have you know their names?"
Shachi twitched his eyes well to convey that he felt insulted. "Yes. Are you implying that I just somehow picked them up? Huh?"
The marine ensign gasped at his words. "The— "
"I didn't mean to imply such thoughts. I am sorry if you ever felt offended by my words. " the rear admiral still kept his eyes on him.
Shachi scoffed at his insincere remarks. "Let's cut to the chase. You already knew their names, why not just give me the damn beli?" he stopped pretending who he was not.
"Hm. Okay then. Bring me forty-six million beli, ensign. And check the heads with their wanted posters. " the rear admiral ordered.
Shachi felt the calculations were wrong. "Are you truly implying that I'm dumb to not calculate their bounties? Or are you still prejudiced of my occupation?" he betted that exposing his calculations was right.
The Rear Admiral turned his gaze to the window and stood up and faced him. "No. Gunslinger Gotti had his bounty increased to four million. He attacked a marine base as a way to elevate his reputation as a master marksman."
Shachi breathed a sigh of relief as his speculations were wrong. "Oh, a boon for me aye? Why not just tell me immediately, I thought that you treated me like a savage. "
Rear Admiral walked behind his desk. "I held no such thoughts. You're a promising man, I initially wanted to invite you to our cause. But it seems that you enjoyed this kind of freedom...?"
"Freedom...?" Shachi muttered not getting his train of thought. Suddenly, the ensign came back with the beli promised as the posters. "I'll take my leave then, have a good day. "
"... A good day indeed... " Read Admiral Drake mumbled as his gaze followed Shachi's back. A few moments later, he saw that the bounty hunter exited the premises of the base.
Beriberi! Beriberi! Kacha!
"Attention! A pirate ship docked at Buen Port. Scout the ship, and report sightings immediately. Don't engage! Suspected Hawkins Pirates ahead. I repeat! Don't engage! Suspected Hawkins Pirates ahead. " Rear Admiral Drake's voice sounded all around the base.
"'The Magician' Hawkins! I can finally send you to the depths of the sea...!" he muttered.
Shachi walked back to the port with belies in his arms. A grin plastered on his face indicated his happiness. "Millions of belies... I have millions of belies... Hahaha!"
Unbeknownst to his happy-go-lucky emotion, marines stealthily followed him. Arriving at Sweet Caroline, he hopped and dropped the money he had. "We're fucking rich! I am seriously rethinking our occupation! There are so many pirates in this world... A couple of heads equals millions of belies!!! I seriously think that this should be the Great Age of Bounty Hunting!"
"Ikahahaha! You wanna change career paths now? Marines flocked on our ship... I should seriously be considering your position on this crew. Hm?" Ikari had a no-nonsense gaze directed at his subordinate.
Shachi gulped. "I'm joking! I acted as a convincing bounty hunter, maybe an award as the great actor should be given unto me. " he jokingly said, trying to dispel the awkward mood.
"Should be a bounty hunter. Not a convincing bounty hunter. You wanna act as a wanna-be pirate?" Ikari exposed his flawed thinking. "It seems that having a bounty on our heads is truly inevitable... "
"Hawkins Pirates! Surrender now! You all are surrounded!" a marine captain yelled on his megaphone. "Rear Admiral Drake is approaching. Surrender peacefully or die...!"
"Kehihihi! What Hawkins Pirates? oh, the pirates that we stole this ship from?" Caribou's voice was heard loud and clear by all onlookers.
"You idiot!" Ikari shouted with frustration evident in his voice. "Fuck! Why do I have retarded crewmates?"
"Now, now, that is not a nice thing to say. " Law chuckled at his outburst. "You've been grumpy since that incident... What triggered you so bad?"
Ikari looked at him. "Ever since knowing our target is one of the Four Emperors!" he said grimly.
Collective gasps sounded on the deck. "Are fucking serious? We are not even in Grand line and our target is one of the Four Emperors?" Law revealed his shock. "I thought that having a warlord as a target is ridiculous enough. And now you have an Emperor on your mind?"
"Make sense why you're so grumpy these days. " Penguin added. "I thought Orochi guy is the only target we have in Wano. "
"That's in the near future, we have a rear admiral to entertain lads!" Ikari turned his gaze at an orange-haired man with an 'X' scar on his chin. "To what do owe a pleasure to meet a man of such caliber?"
"Surrender—, wait, where is The Magician Hawkins?" confusion evident in his voice. "Don't tell me you stole his ship?"
"It would seem that our Rear Admiral has eyes. " Ikari said sarcastically. "We happened to meet his unfortunate crew in Swallow Island. I mean, stealing a ship from a pirate should not be a crime, is it?"
Frown formed on Drake's forehead. "Identify yourselves this instant! If you are an upstanding citizen, abandoned the ship. "
"Parley...?" Ikari trailed his voice.