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Chapter 48: Crushing Defeat! Doflamingo's Ecstasy!
The Vice Admirals filed out.
A dazed shock, from the intense impact, still lingered on every face.
They whispered to each other, their voices low, but the storm in their hearts could not be concealed.
"Other worlds... Is it real?"
"Even Admiral Aokiji... three minutes... That's too much."
Meanwhile.
Marine Headquarters, G-5 Branch Direct Intelligence Processing Section.
In a nondescript office.
A tall, young officer wearing sunglasses was meticulously wiping a file rack with a white cloth.
His name was Vergo.
In the eyes of his colleagues, he was a silent, but extremely serious and responsible, junior.
However, at this moment.
Vergo's wiping movements paused, almost imperceptibly.
His ears twitched.
From the hallway outside, the hushed discussions of the Vice Admirals, who had just left the meeting, drifted in.
"East Blue..."
"Admiral... crushing defeat..."
"S-rank mission... Vice Admiral Gion..."
"...Absolute secrecy!"
Fragmented words, like puzzle pieces, were keenly captured by Vergo and quickly assembled in his mind.
His brow, hidden behind his sunglasses, furrowed slightly.
Something's wrong.
Very wrong.
A top-level meeting that summoned all of Headquarters' top brass.
After the meeting, everyone's emotions were extremely unstable.
Admiral Akainu was furious, Admiral Aokiji was shaken.
Even Admiral Kizaru, known for his laziness, was assigned an S-rank secret mission to... the "East Blue."
The East Blue?
The weakest of the seas?
It requires a Marine Admiral to be dispatched, and at the highest secrecy level?
This is even more absurd than the Yonko announcing a marriage alliance!
Vergo calmly put down the cloth, picked up an irrelevant document, and walked out of the office.
"Senior Yamada, hard at work."
He passed the logistics office and nodded with a smile at a logistics officer who was on the phone, looking overwhelmed.
"Ah, Vergo."
Senior Yamada wiped the sweat from his forehead, a look of despair on his face.
"Don't get me started. Someone up top suddenly went crazy. They want us to prepare Admiral Kizaru's flagship for departure, at the highest specifications, within half an hour!"
Vergo feigned surprise, pushing up his sunglasses.
"Admiral Kizaru is shipping out? So urgently? Is he off to the New World to subjugate some great pirate?"
"I wish it were the New World!"
Senior Yamada lowered his voice, leaning in to complain.
"The destination is the East Blue! The East Blue! Can you believe it?"
The East Blue!
It really is the East Blue!
Vergo's heart tightened, but his face maintained the perfect expression of confusion and solidarity.
"I really don't get what the higher-ups are thinking."
He chimed in, then politely excused himself, "so as not to disturb his senior's work."
Returning to his private quarters.
Vergo closed the door and locked it.
He meticulously checked the room for any listening devices, a habit he repeated several times a day.
After confirming it was secure.
He took a small, strangely shaped black Den Den Mushi from a hidden compartment under his bed.
This Den Den Mushi had no eyes. It was jet black and fast asleep.
Vergo tapped its shell lightly.
Bururururu...
Bururururu...
The Den Den Mushi woke up, but made no sound, simply waiting in silence.
Vergo picked up the receiver, his voice extremely low, but his words clear.
"Young Master."
The other end was silent.
After a long moment, a laugh, filled with wickedness and arrogance, slowly rang out.
"Fuffuffuffuffu..."
"Vergo, my family. You rarely contact me at this hour."
"Is Marineford executing some boring 'justice' again?"
The owner of this voice was none other than one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea (Shichibukai), the "Heavenly Yaksha," Donquixote Doflamingo!
"Young Master, the situation is abnormal."
Vergo's tone was flat, as if he were delivering a dry report.
"Marine Headquarters just concluded a top-level, emergency meeting."
"After the meeting, Admiral Kizaru will lead a Headquarters fleet to the East Blue for an S-rank secret mission."
"The East Blue?"
Doflamingo's laughter stopped.
His playful tone came through the Den Den Mushi.
"That sea known as the 'weakest'?"
"Fuffuffu... Interesting."
"The specific mission is unknown."
Vergo continued.
Doflamingo's interest was completely piqued.
The Marines' top power... heading to one place... in top secret.
The weakest sea, the East Blue!
If there wasn't something fishy going on, he'd change his name!
"Anything else?"
Doflamingo's tone was still flippant, his fingers drumming a rhythm on his lavish armrest.
"Based on the fragments I overheard."
Vergo's voice was still that emotionless, robotic drone.
"This mission may be related to the 'crushing defeat' of a certain Admiral."
On the other end of the line, the drumming stopped.
Dead silence.
Vergo could clearly hear his young master's breathing, growing heavier... and more excited.
"Crushing... defeat?"
For the first time, Doflamingo's voice held an incredulous tremor.
A Marine Admiral.
A monster representing the World Government's highest power.
Crushing defeat?
How could those two words... be in the same sentence?
"Specifics are unknown."
Vergo reported.
"The secrecy level is too high. I couldn't get close. I only know that, besides Admiral Kizaru leading, Vice Admiral Gion also seems to be on the list."
"Fuffu..."
"Fuffuffuffuffuffuffu!"
A laugh, suppressed to its limit, yet incredibly sharp, suddenly burst from the other end of the line!
It was a laugh filled with madness and ecstasy!
"Interesting! Too interesting!"
"Vergo!"
Doflamingo's tone suddenly shot up, filled with an unquestionable command!
"Use every means at your disposal! I need to know what the hell happened in the East Blue!"
"I need to know what it was that dealt an Admiral a 'crushing defeat'!"
"Was it a person? A weapon? Or... something else!"
"I want all the intel! All of it!"
"Understood, Young Master."
Vergo replied calmly.
"Be careful, my family."
Doflamingo's tone returned to its usual, wicked drawl.
"You are the most important piece I have, buried in the heart of the Marines."
"It's not time to use you yet."
"Fuffuffu... Go. Go and uncover what massive secret those hypocrites... are hiding in the 'weakest sea'!"
"Yes."
Click.
The Den Den Mushi hung up, falling back asleep.
Vergo, expressionless, placed the black Den Den Mushi back in its hidden compartment, straightened his suit, and pushed up his sunglasses.
His face showed no emotion.
It was as if that world-shaking phone call... had just been a query about tomorrow's newspaper delivery.
He walked out of his quarters, blending back into the massive, precise machine of "Justice" that was Marine Headquarters. He continued to play his role as the silent, reliable, and responsible officer.
Dressrosa.
The King's Plateau, in the palace.
Click.
Doflamingo casually tossed the receiver onto the table.
He slowly stood up, his tall figure casting a twisted shadow in the luxurious room.
He walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down on the country he controlled so tightly with his "strings."
On the streets, humans and toys lived in harmony, a picture of laughter and joy.
What a beautiful sight.
What a perfect lie.
But at this moment, Doflamingo's face held none of its usual pleasure.
His lips were pulling up... higher and higher... in a crazed smile!
Behind his signature sunglasses, his eyes were wide, and bloodshot!
Veins bulged from his forehead all the way down his neck, writhing under his skin like grotesque worms!
"Crushing defeat..."
He whispered the words.
"An Admiral... a crushing defeat..."
"S-rank secret mission..."
"East Blue..."
"Haha..."
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
A low laugh rumbled from his throat.
It grew louder... and more unhinged!
He spread his arms, tilted his head back, and let out a roar of laughter at the empty ceiling, a laugh so loud it shook the entire palace!
"Fuffuffu! Fuffuffuffuffuffuffuffuffu!"
"Hahahahahahaha!!"
This was not his usual laugh!
This was a sound mixed with the ultimate excitement, the ultimate greed, and the childish ecstasy... of having found a brand new, even more exciting, toy!
.....
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