With Lafitte's hypnotic abilities, all the thorny problems that had troubled Jay were resolved with ease.
By the time Jay returned to the base, more than ten days had passed.
During those ten days, a lot had happened. Colonel Hammond had completely broken ties with the Capone family and aligned himself with the other four mafia families.
A large number of Marines were dispatched, supposedly to "eliminate pirates," but in reality, they launched attacks on several strongholds of the Capone family.
Once the mask was off, Colonel Hammond acted decisively.
Then came the most critical issue, armaments. The military supplies issued by Marine Headquarters were far from enough to sustain the war for those four mafia families.
So Colonel Hammond activated his top-secret contacts and got in touch with people from the North Blue, requesting an urgent shipment of new weapons. Judging by the timeline, the delivery was almost due.
Once they got their hands on that large shipment, it might not be enough to win the war outright...
But it would definitely tilt the balance back in their favor.
Eventually, even if they had to drag it out, they'd wear down the Capone family.
Did Capone really think he could take on four families at once?
Capone Bege had already contacted and urged Jay multiple times.
Clearly, he was getting desperate.
…
"Ensign Jay, who are these two? You know the rules, outsiders aren't allowed in."
"Outsiders? They're Marines too, remember?"
At Jay's meaningful glance, Lafitte immediately used his Devil Fruit powers to hypnotize them. He said calmly, "It's us, we even drank together last time, remember?"
The Marine guards instantly turned dazed and slow, then suddenly "came to" and nodded, "Oh, it's you guys! I remember now. Go on in."
And just like that, Jay brought the two of them into the base without any obstruction.
They went straight to the base's archives department.
Faced with Lafitte's terrifying hypnotic powers, the regular Marines had zero resistance.
They easily completed the registration process, even getting listed as part of the same batch of recruits as Jay.
Lafitte and Bonez were now officially Marines.
There were still a few loopholes, of course, but as long as no one investigated, it wouldn't be noticed.
After all, Colonel Hammond had been drawing fake salaries for fake names for years without any issue.
The only real risk was Bonez's appearance.
Someone had seen him during a mission.
And there was no telling if others might recognize him as well.
Still, it wasn't a big problem. A bit of disguise, combined with a reclusive personality, should help him stay under the radar.
Besides, the infamous assassin Bonez was supposed to be dead, and it had been a long time.
Even if someone thought he looked familiar, they probably wouldn't make the connection.
Worst-case scenario, Lafitte's hypnosis was the safety net.
That's the confidence Jay had when bringing them in.
A few days later, the shipment arrived in the West Blue.
Colonel Hammond immediately sent people to escort the first batch of weapons for a transaction with the four mafia families.
"The goods are clean, fresh out of the factory."
"The money's good too."
"Pleasure doing business. Please tell Colonel Hammond that we can take as much as he can send. No need to worry about the money."
"No problem, I'll"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A barrage of shells rained down, catching both sides of the deal completely off guard.
"We're under attack!"
"Damn it! It's Capone's ships!"
"We've been betrayed!"
The Marine lieutenant went pale and hurried to explain, "It wasn't us! We didn't leak anything!"
The mafia guys sneered, "With how hidden this location was, if Capone found us, someone definitely spilled the beans. If not you Marines, then who? Us?"
Hard to argue with that logic.
First, the idea of coincidence could be ruled out.
Second, the four mafia families were at war with the Capone family, buying weapons specifically to fight them, so they were the least likely to leak intel.
Even if there was a mole, they sure wouldn't admit it now.
So, once all impossibilities are eliminated, the only remaining possibility must be the truth!
Bang!
"Open fire! Take the money back!"
The lieutenant didn't even get to say another word, he was riddled with bullets in an instant. The carefully counted cash was also seized.
The mafia tried to retreat immediately.
But it was already too late.
Armed with precise intel from Jay, and personally leading the assault, Capone Bege's goal was simple: Leave no survivors.
He took the money and the weapons without hesitation.
"Stop the shelling! Don't blow up my cargo!"
"Chase them down! Kill every last one, leave no one alive!"
"Yes, Godfather!"
...
Crash!
Smash!
Colonel Hammond, who had just received the news, went into a furious rage, destroying everything in the room.
Not only were the weapons stolen, but the money was gone too.
A perfectly good transaction had been hijacked and robbed by the Capone family!
Unforgivable!
And what was worse, now that Capone had access to brand-new weapons, they could easily crush the other four mafia families.
War might be about money, but even with money, you still needed channels to convert it into weapons.
You couldn't exactly bludgeon people to death with a sack of Berries.
The four mafia families sent word, bluntly accusing his side of leaking the intel.
Colonel Hammond was suspicious too, but he would never admit it.
Because once he did, he'd have to take full responsibility for the loss.
And he wasn't that stupid.
So he insisted it was someone on the mafia side who leaked the meeting location.
These kinds of disputes never have a clear answer anyway.
Even if they did find the mole, it would be handled quietly behind the scenes, without informing the other side.
After a round of shouting, no one could produce any real evidence, so in the end, it all amounted to nothing.
Moreover, the transactions had to continue.
The only fortunate thing was that Colonel Hammond, in order to make more money, hadn't sold all the weapons in one go, he had only traded a third of the stock.
In other words, he still had two-thirds of the weapons in hand.
But this raised another issue: without knowing which side had the leak or who the mole was, how could they ensure that the next transaction wouldn't go wrong?
Both sides had to restrain themselves and spent a long time discussing it, eventually deciding to carry out a sting operation.
They would each head to different transaction locations at the same time. If the Capone family showed up again, that would confirm the presence of a mole.
And whichever side the Capone family targeted would be the one with the leak.
The side at fault would then have to compensate the other for the losses from the last deal.
Colonel Hammond had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree.