The first half of the Grand Line, on the Never-Sleeping Island of Justice Island, one of the Three Strongholds of Justice.
At the top floor of CP-9's headquarters, inside Commander Spandine's office.
Outside the door stood a tall man—slender rather than bulky—wearing a black suit and long pink hair. He was Spandine's top operative, Who's-Who.
Who's-Who knocked lightly on the door. Hearing Spandine's voice from inside, he pushed it open and stepped in.
"Commander, you called for me?" Who's-Who asked with a smile.
He immediately noticed Spandine buried in a pile of gift boxes. With a touch of exasperation, Who's-Who said, "What on earth are you doing?"
"The New Year is coming. If you don't prepare something for the higher-ups, how are you supposed to move up?" Spandine replied while picking up a gift bag labeled "Vice Admiral Benn."
He opened his safe, which was packed with gold bars and stacks of Berry. For a moment, he considered slipping two bars into the bag but shook his head.
"No, that's too crude…"
After some thought, he opened another safe. Inside was a Devil Fruit. Spandine hesitated, his face showing reluctance, but in the end, he grit his teeth and stuffed it into the gift bag for "Vice Admiral Benn."
From across the room, Who's-Who exclaimed in surprise, "Commander, wasn't that thing meant for me?"
Indeed, the Devil Fruit Spandine had just packed away was the Zoan-type Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Saber Tiger!
"Look at you, so impatient!" Spandine snapped, glaring at him. "It's just a Devil Fruit. I'll find you an even better one later!"
Who's-Who rolled his eyes inwardly. Yeah, right. Maybe Devil Fruits weren't rare within CP, but ones with powerful abilities like this were still extremely hard to come by.
All these years and he hadn't seen Spandine produce another Ancient Zoan.
Still, Spandine was his commanding officer. Even if Who's-Who felt helpless, there was nothing he could do to stop it.
After busying himself for a while, Spandine finally finished. Breathing heavily, he collapsed into his chair, gulped down two loud mouthfuls of tea, and only then caught his breath.
"About that matter in Flevance I asked you to investigate—how did it go?"
"The intel checks out. The Donquixote family has already started moving in there. By the way, the profits from Amber Lead are huge. Isn't Mary Geoise planning to take over?" Who's-Who asked curiously.
"Don't ask what you shouldn't. How would I know what Mary Geoise wants? But so far, I haven't heard anything about them stepping in. I figure they see it as too much trouble.
If you want to mine there, once the Flevance issue blows up, you won't find normal miners. You'd have to use slaves instead. But you know as well as I do, the slaves, criminals, and convicts Mary Geoise gathers usually get sent to the East Blue to build bridges. That's the Celestial Dragons' thousand-year plan—politically untouchable.
So in the end, this Amber Lead will probably fall into the hands of the Donquixote family and the Big Mom Pirates…" Spandine sighed.
"So how should we proceed?" Who's-Who asked again.
"Since Vice Admiral Benn has already made arrangements and even reached an agreement with CP-0's Queen Stussy, we should naturally add our own contribution. Once the Reverie concludes, I'll bring gifts to Mary Geoise and casually mention it to the higher-ups. That's all that needs to be done."
Spandine waved his hand dismissively, his tone calm and assured.
After finishing this matter, Spandine beckoned again. "Enough of that for now. Headquarters just sent a new assignment today. You'll be handling it..."
"What is it?" Who's-Who stepped closer, raising an eyebrow.
"That Alabasta business..." Spandine muttered irritably. "The Nefertari family really has nothing better to do. Every single Reverie, they bring up the Heavenly Tribute, and it's put the lords of Mary Geoise in a foul mood. They're ready to teach them a lesson, but because of the family's special status, most methods aren't suitable. Until now there wasn't a good solution. But now, isn't that Shichibukai Crocodile sitting right in Alabasta?"
"What do you mean?" Who's-Who asked after a brief hesitation.
"The higher-ups want us to get in touch with Crocodile, have him stir up trouble in Alabasta. The Nefertari family needs to stop pestering Mary Geoise every chance they get and start minding their own damn business instead." Spandine's tone carried clear irritation.
Who's-Who nodded, but then frowned in puzzlement. "But that guy's a Shichibukai. Normally, when opportunities like this come up, you always go in person. Why send me this time?"
"Crocodile has no future. Befriending him will only make enemies, and I've no interest in associating with him. When you go, just deliver the message. Tell him we might even back some of his little schemes to give Alabasta a beating. But don't get too close to him, understood?" Spandine warned.
Who's-Who still didn't quite get it. "Who exactly did he offend?"
"How can you call yourself a senior agent when you're this clueless?" Spandine slammed the desk. "Don't you know? Out of the current Shichibukai, Crocodile is the only one who hasn't paid his bond to Vice Admiral Benn of G-5!"
"What? Bond?" Who's-Who's eyes widened. He had never heard of the Shichibukai having to pay a bond before.
"You're hopeless—destined to be nothing more than muscle, no brains at all!" Spandine barked, cursing Who's-Who in frustration before lowering his voice. "Anyway, Crocodile has already crossed Vice Admiral Benn. Right now, he's hiding out in Alabasta, but just wait—if he ever tries to step into the New World, he'll get what's coming to him. In short, he's already a dead end. Why waste my time building ties with him? Just do as I say."
Seeing that Spandine had no intention of explaining further, Who's-Who stopped asking questions. He nodded. "Understood. I'll head to Alabasta right away."
Just as Who's-Who was about to leave, the Den Den Mushi on Spandine's desk rang. Spandine stiffened instantly and snatched it up.
"This is Spandine. What is it?"
Though his reaction was quick, his tone made it clear the caller was a subordinate.
"Commander, urgent report from Mary Geoise headquarters. Donquixote Doflamingo has hijacked six ships transporting next year's Heavenly Tribute from the North Blue member nations. The news has been suppressed, but Mary Geoise is furious. Headquarters has ordered immediate resolution, and the commander-in-chief plans to assign someone. I figured this could be a great chance to earn merit, so I'm notifying—"
Before the subordinate could finish, Spandine erupted the moment he heard "Doflamingo."
"Don't you dare stick your nose in this! We play dead on this one—act like we never heard a thing!"
What kind of man was Doflamingo? What kind of status did he hold? The subordinate might not know, but Spandine sure did. A Celestial Dragon of the mainline Yellow Flag branch, walking among mortals. Hijacking Heavenly Tribute was clearly part of his internal power struggle with the World Government's elders. To interfere would be nothing short of suicidal.
Just as Spandine was about to hang up and feign ignorance, something occurred to him. His brow furrowed slightly.
"Wait. Stay quiet at headquarters for now. I'll find someone to confirm the situation before I give you a definite answer..."
He hung up the Den Den Mushi and turned to Who's-Who.
"What are you still doing here? Go find that Crocodile guy!"
"Ah... Right, I'll head out now, Commander." Who's-Who snapped back to attention and quickly left the office.
Once he was gone, Spandine muttered under his breath, "If it weren't for your fighting skills, I'd have tossed you out long ago. You never use your head..."
Though cursing, Spandine was already dialing another line. The moment the signal connected, his entire demeanor flipped. Even though the other party couldn't see him, his face twisted into a sycophantic grin, and his voice turned obsequious.
"Vice Admiral Benn, allow me to wish you an early Happy New Year. This is Spandine... Yes, yes, I deeply apologize for disturbing you. I just wanted to ask about something. I heard you and Donquixote Doflamingo of the North Blue seem to be on good terms..."