"Doffy, things haven't been going well lately. Almost none of our ships that left the port recently have managed to send back any messages."
Trebol leaned on his cane as he stood before Doflamingo, his voice laced with an indescribable gravity.
"Not just that—all our hidden operatives in Flevance were captured not long ago. Not a single one escaped, and even Rosinante was caught. However, before he was taken, he managed to desperately relay one last message."
Doffy's voice was hoarse as he glared at Trebol, the veins on his forehead bulging like serpents.
"What did Corazon say?"
"He said... there's a traitor among us. All the operatives we sent were arrested at the same time. If there wasn't a Marine spy within our ranks, this would have been impossible!"
At this, Trebol glanced at Doflamingo.
He knew his young master's temperament—knew what his young master could least tolerate.
Betrayal.
That word burned like salt in an open wound.
Doflamingo could accept incompetence from his subordinates.
He could accept their failures.
He could even tolerate open defiance.
But the one thing he could never abide was betrayal from those he considered family.
Unlike the expendable pawns he treated as mere tools, Doflamingo harbored an almost pathological obsession with those he truly considered his "family."
And now, one of them had turned traitor.
How could he possibly remain calm?
Yet, to Trebol's surprise, even in this situation, Doflamingo didn't lose his composure.
He rubbed his temples before speaking in a raspy voice.
"That's just Corazon's word. It might not be true. Maybe the Marines' intelligence network is just that strong. Maybe our people were discovered the moment they infiltrated."
Trebol shook his head.
"That's highly unlikely, Young Master. The reason I don't doubt Corazon is because after he entered Flevance, I secretly dispatched other spies—people he'd never even met—into the country, disguising them as refugees."
"To avoid raising suspicion among the Flevance natives, I made sure each operative knew their own identity, mission, and connection to the previous agent. I even used the names of dead Flevance citizens to cover their tracks.
"I reported this to you before, Young Master, but you didn't pay much attention—you just told me to handle it.
Those people weren't just unknown to Corazon—they arrived in the village even later than he did. There's no way he could've known their exact locations or movements."
Listening to Trebol's words, Doflamingo fell silent for a moment.
He sighed, then suddenly revealed a slightly deranged smile at the corner of his mouth.
"It seems just as Corazon said—there are indeed some among our senior executives who have betrayed the Donquixote Family... So, what is our usual method of dealing with traitors?"
Trebol's expression turned cold as he looked at Doflamingo and spoke word by word.
"Find the traitors, skin them alive, impale their bodies on iron hooks, and hang them at the docks! Until the vultures pick their bones clean!"
Hearing this, Doflamingo covered his eyes, his laughter suppressed yet maniacal:
"Fufufufufu... Then let's proceed as you suggest, Trebol. Tell me, who do you think is most likely the traitor among us?"
"Doffy, I can't give you a definitive answer on that right now. Like you, I've always treated them as family. Without solid evidence, I won't rashly suspect any of them."
"That would be agonizing for me. If I wronged an innocent family member, it would be a guilt I'd carry for the rest of my life."
Trebol's reasoning was sound, and Doflamingo didn't press further.
He knew there was truth in those words—and falsehood too.
But whether it was him or Trebol, both would undoubtedly feel furious and heartbroken over a traitor within the family.
Unlike Trebol, however, Doflamingo voiced his own suspicions.
He lowered the hand covering his eyes and spoke calmly.
"Vergo—has he been sending us any updates lately? I mean, the usual intel reports from within the Marines."
Hearing this, Trebol understood Doflamingo's implication.
Yet he hesitated at the suspicion directed at Vergo.
"Doffy, are you doubting Vergo now? But you must remember—when we decided to plant a spy in the Marines, none of us senior executives were willing. In the end, it was Vergo who chose to give up all his freedom for you and infiltrate the Marines as our mole."
"He's already sacrificed so much for us. If he wanted to betray us, there'd be no reason for him to have volunteered as a spy back then. Besides, the later recruits I assigned were all newcomers after Vergo's infiltration. He shouldn't even know their identities."
"From every angle, Vergo couldn't possibly be the traitor here."
Trebol's analysis was logical, but Doflamingo's next words shut him down completely.
"People change, Trebol. When Vergo first became a spy, he might have been loyal. But now? We haven't seen him in years. Who knows what he's become?
And you know, within the Marines, there are powerful Devil Fruit users like Vice Admiral Tsuru. It's possible Vergo didn't betray us willingly, but rather his identity was exposed and the Marines conducted various experiments on him, extracting most of the secrets from his mind.
As for what you said—that Vergo couldn't possibly know the identities of the spies you recruited afterward—have you considered that he might be familiar with our methods and patterns of planting spies?"
At this point, Trebol felt cold sweat drenching his entire body.
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