The guards at Gray Bay Harbor stared at the head in Ling Chu's hand, their expressions growing more spectacular by the moment.
Lucas had run rampant across the Black Reef waters for years, and now a young woman was carrying his head as casually as a cabbage.
A guard who looked like a squad captain snapped out of his daze and shouted over his shoulder, "Get to the Tide Hunters Office! Tell them the Nautilus... no, tell them someone brought Lucas's head! Hurry!"
One guard turned and ran to deliver the message. Ling Chu was in no rush. She set the head on a wooden post nearby and folded her arms to wait.
Before long, hurried footsteps sounded from the end of the pier.
More than a dozen people in dark gray short robes strode over, each with a silver fishhook embroidered on their cuffs. The woman leading them was middle-aged, with a Bronze Conch Earring hanging from her left ear and a curved short sword at her waist.
She spotted the head on the wooden post from a distance and stopped abruptly.
"Make way."
The guards immediately cleared a path.
The woman in charge took the head and handed it to a subordinate behind her. "Verify it first."
The subordinate immediately opened a metal case they had brought along and took out a round magical device the size of a palm.
Its body was made of brass, with a transparent crystal set in the center and a dense ring of names and runes engraved around its edge.
The subordinate placed Lucas's head on a table, then pressed the crystal against his forehead.
A faint blue light lit up.
A few seconds later, several lines of translucent text appeared above the crystal.
``` [Bounty target: Tattooed Lucas]
[Identity verification: match]