"Behehehehe~"
"Beta Beta Chain!"
Whoosh!
A chain of mucus rings precisely lassoed the blasted Spandine. Having been pirates who'd traversed the New World, Trebol certainly had some skill.
"Did we just take care of CP9 like that?" Diamante, who was lying in ambush behind Doflamingo, ready to protect him at any moment, twitched his mouth, barely believing it.
Doflamingo tilted his head. "That's why I told you to chatter less. Just listen to me, and you'll be fine." He stood up and spread his arms. "Hey, Trebol, well done, fufufufu~ Bring my 'esteemed guest' over quickly."
"Behehehe~" Like a slug, Trebol gripped Spandine and wiggled. "Nyeh, nyehh, this guy's so weak. Is he really an agent?"
"It's chief agent!" With his subordinates protecting him to the death, Spandine hadn't suffered too much damage, but he was still dizzy and disheveled from the explosion, with quite a few injuries. The moment he regained consciousness and heard Trebol's description, he couldn't help but retort, even if the point of his rebuttal was a bit off.
Trebol held Spandine a bit higher, scoffing, "What an arrogant fellow, behehehe~ A completely useless chief agent, worse than an ordinary person."
"You're too close! No! You bastard, you..." Spandine resisted, pushing Trebol's ugly face, with its disgusting dangling snot, away from him. He furiously retaliated, but before he could utter more unpleasant words...
Click.
A bullet was chambered, pressed against Spandine's head.
Spandine immediately fell silent, cold sweat trickling down his forehead. His adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.
"Scared?" Doflamingo licked the corner of his lip, asking with a smile.
Spandine nodded vigorously like a pecking chick. He couldn't help it; he was just such a sensible (cowardly, fearing death) person.
"Fufufufu~" Doflamingo laughed even more heartily, moving the flintlock away and signaling Trebol to put Spandine down.
Trebol roughly tossed Spandine down, making him yelp in pain and curse under his breath.
"Why would I kill you, Spandine-san? You are so outstanding. Killing you would be a loss to all humanity, wouldn't it?" Doflamingo helped the prone Spandine... to his knees, meticulously dusting off the grime on his suit, his tone exceptionally sincere.
Spandine's face flushed, his eyebrows raised in delight, almost forgetting his kneeling posture and his status as a prisoner. He chuckled foolishly, "Hehehe, no, no, it's not that exaggerated!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Doflamingo said, extending a hand abruptly in an odd manner.
Spandine, without much thought, extended his hand as well.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The moment their hands clasped, there were crisp sounds and flashes of light.
Diamante held a camera. "Done, Doffy."
"Let me see," Doflamingo's expression instantly changed, his smile completely gone as he opened Spandine's hand, took the camera, and examined the photos. Then he clicked his tongue, saying, "The pictures are quite clear. I thought there wouldn't be something like this in a backwater like this. It's all thanks to you, Diamante, for going to all that trouble to get it."
"No, no, no, you're giving me too much credit," Diamante righteously refused the praise.
Doflamingo shook his head. "It is your credit."
"No, no, no, you're giving me too much credit," Diamante again righteously refused the praise.
Doflamingo spread his hands. "Alright..."
"Since you put it that way, yes! I admit it's all my credit!" Diamante declared loudly.
Doflamingo: "..." So conceited, he'll get beaten to death sooner or later.
"..." Spandine was bewildered, not quite understanding the meaning of everything before him.
Doflamingo shook the camera and said, "Spandine-san, I think with these photos proving our 'friendship,' we can become loyal friends, don't you think? Fufufufu~"
"Uh, of, of course," Spandine vaguely sensed trouble. Those photos were hardly proof of "friendship." If the World Government found out he was so intimate with a Celestial Dragon traitor, it would be a death warrant, a stain that would ruin his chances of becoming a high-ranking official!
Doflamingo sat down, leaning back against the broken sofa. "It seems you're quite sensible, my friend! Friends should help each other, shouldn't they?"
"Yes, yes," Spandine trembled. He no longer thought of Doflamingo as a mere child; demon was more accurate.
"The help I'm giving you is letting you continue to live, how significant is that help?! What kind of help can you give me?" Doflamingo curled his finger, smiling nonchalantly. "Fufufufu~ Please! Please! Please don't be stingy! Otherwise, I'll get angry, and if I get angry, then we won't be friends anymore. I'll kill people, you know, dismember them and kill them, you know."
Spandine: "..."
"Or I can teach you," Doflamingo said, seeing Spandine's utterly lost expression. "Go back to Mariejois and tell the Gorosei and Celestial Dragons how arduously you searched for my whereabouts, risking shipwrecks, losing all your companions, yet persistently persevering, finally locating my hiding place. Unfortunately, I escaped a step ahead, but you found a note I left behind."
Spandine was stunned. "Huh?"
"The note reads..." Doflamingo leaned in, his expression filled with gloom and malice: "'I've got you all figured out!'"
Diamante secretly glanced at Trebol with a shudder, only to find Trebol excitedly watching Doflamingo, completely oblivious to him. He desperately wanted to tell Trebol, "You thought you picked up a 'prince' cast out among humans? Now it seems more like you picked up a born Yaksha!"
"You don't need to understand the whys and wherefores; just memorize this," Doflamingo said, his smile returning, his tone warm and friendly. "My friend, will you provide me with information about myself? Like when the World Government plans to apprehend me, who they're sending, and so on?"
Spandine remained in a daze. Doflamingo's volatile temperament was tormenting him into an imbecile.
"Relax, my friend. You're not becoming an informant for me, no! You're just telling your friend a bit of news, fufufufu~" Doflamingo patted Spandine's shoulder. "And besides letting you live, in a few years, I can also help you get promoted and get rich. Chief Agent... I mean the Chief of the entire CP9 department, not just the superior of your small squad."
Spandine stammered.
"Do you have the training methods for Rokushiki?"
"And that ship, you 'encountered a shipwreck,' so that ship no longer exists."