One Piece: Crown of Darkness

"You-You- Young Master?"

Night was deep. Giolla, on ship watch, was dozing off. The sudden light footsteps instantly snapped her awake, and her loaded shotgun instinctively pointed towards the sound. But she quickly lowered it.

Doflamingo, bored, sat in the chair opposite Giolla, gazing up at the sky.

"Trebol, Diamante, they... Young Master?!" Seeing Doflamingo's low spirits and no sign of Trebol or Diamante, Giolla couldn't help but worry that something had gone wrong.

Doflamingo sighed. "Don't worry, they're having a great time."

"Did you take care of those guys? Oh~ hohohoho~ As expected of the Young Master himself leading the charge!" Giolla's surprise turned to joy, and she happily leaped onto the deck, performing a dance... a rather good one, at that.

Doflamingo clapped, his mood visibly improving. He praised her generously, "That was a beautiful dance, Giolla."

"What? Did you say I'm a princess?! Oh, you're just terrible~ absolutely terrible~" Giolla's intermittent auditory hallucinations flared up.

Doflamingo adjusted his sitting posture and said, "Den Den Mushi, fufufufu~ I need to send my regards to a long-lost friend."

"Yes, Young Master~" Giolla quickly found the Den Den Mushi, and also inquired, "Since you got what you wanted, why aren't you happy, Young Master?"

Doflamingo dialed the Den Den Mushi, listening to the "Pere pere pere~" of the busy signal. He said casually, "Perhaps my expectations weren't met. I was hoping for an intense confrontation, but in reality... I overestimated them and underestimated us."

Giolla: "..."

A short while later.

Click!

"This is Spandine, who is this?"

The Den Den Mushi connected. Spandine's voice was hazy and muddled, as if he'd been asleep.

"Fufufufu~" Doflamingo chuckled deeply. "Who is this? My friend, my dear friend! You haven't contacted me in such a long time. Have you completely forgotten about me? You've deeply wounded my heart."

"Donquixote Doflamingo!"

Spandine's sleepiness vanished instantly.

Completely forgotten Doflamingo? He couldn't even if he tried.

Even though two years had passed, he still vividly remembered the failure of that mission in the North Blue and that eerie human-shaped devil in a brat's skin. Every recollection sent shivers down his spine.

Perhaps realizing his lapse, Spandine struggled to compose himself, saying hoarsely, "It's not that I haven't contacted... you. It's just that after the last mission failed, Cipher Pol headquarters demoted me to a regular agent. My clearance level doesn't allow me to access information about you..."

"I see," Doflamingo said, seemingly understanding, but his tone immediately changed. "A lie! Even if your clearance doesn't allow you to access information about me, you could inquire, you could learn from others. But you did nothing! Tell me the truth, based on my judgment, I'll decide whether to grant you 'friendship' or... destruction!"

Spandine was silent for a while, then said with difficulty, "I did hear some rumors, though I don't know if they're true. After my last mission failed, Cipher Pol intensified their search for you, but they found nothing in the North Blue, so they dropped it. Your last known appearance was when you plundered a merchant ship."

"Fufufufu~ See? Isn't that quite clear information about me?" Doflamingo sneered.

Spandine was silent, trembling with fear.

"The photos witnessing the moment we became friends are our little secret, so rest assured, my friend! What you should be anxious about isn't me, your friend, but your current awkward status and position, fufufufu~" Doflamingo coaxed. "Don't you want to climb the ranks and make a fortune anymore?"

Spandine swallowed hard. "I..."

"I called you specifically to offer you the 'friendship' to overcome this small setback," Doflamingo's voice was incredibly sincere. "Fufufufu~ My friend, I promised you, I will definitely help you gain control of the entire CP9 department."

Spandine fell silent again for a while, as if resigned but still uneasy, he said awkwardly, "What... what can I do for you?"

"Nothing at all," Doflamingo said, smiling. "Oh, no, that's not quite right. The only thing you must do is open a few covert bank accounts and tell me the numbers."

Spandine was startled and jumped at Doflamingo's abrupt way of speaking.

"Fufufufu~ Oh, by the way, have any interesting major events happened recently?" Doflamingo asked suddenly.

Spandine pondered. "Major events? Hmm... Whitebeard Pirates' 2nd Division Commander, Kozuki Oden, the lord of the Kozuki Family of Wano Country, switched sides and joined the Roger Pirates."

"Hm," Doflamingo's eyes twitched.

Spandine, assuming Doflamingo was dissatisfied, quickly added, "The Big Mom Pirates, that monster-led brute army, has been going wild recently, rampaging around, plundering wealth. They even accidentally offended both 'Golden Lion' and 'Whitebeard's' territories at the same time, forcing them to leave the New World and enter the South Blue to escape 'Golden Lion' and 'Whitebeard's' wrath. Our Cipher Pol informants say 'Big Mom' wants to build something, but it hasn't been fully investigated yet."

"'Big Mom'... fufufufu~" Doflamingo licked his lips. "Send me the data on Cipher Pol's informants embedded within the Big Mom Pirates. Tomorrow, I'll have someone transfer 100 million Berries to you. Use it well to climb up the ranks."

Without waiting for Spandine to refuse, Doflamingo said, "Long live friendship, my friend."