"Also send these gray particles to the Marine Science Research Institute. And send another sample to the World Government's scientific division. I want a complete analysis of exactly what this substance is."
Saint Roselith Seraphina handed the sealed black bag to Bruce.
As a CP0 agent, Bruce possessed the authority and connections necessary to handle such matters efficiently.
"Understood, Your Highness."
Bruce accepted the sample and nodded respectfully.
"What about Reyes?"
Bruce then brought up the World Government official who had stubbornly refused to reveal the identity of the mastermind behind the operation.
At first, they had assumed he was merely protecting his own interests.
Now it seemed he had been terrified of someone else entirely.
Someone operating under the codename Spade.
After witnessing Gladius's ability to turn nearly anything into a living bomb, Bruce could understand Reyes's fear.
Most ordinary people would be frightened out of their minds by such power.
Seraphina's golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"I want to see whether this so-called Young Master is more terrifying…"
A cold smile appeared on her lips.
"…or whether the Roselith Family is."
With those words, she turned and walked toward the upper deck.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Bruce immediately followed.
Not long afterward, the interrogation resumed.
"I'll talk!"
"I'll tell you everything!"
"It was Doflamingo!"
"Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
Reyes collapsed to his knees as tears streamed down his face.
"Your Highness, it's not that I didn't want to tell you!"
"I didn't dare!"
"You saw what that monster could do!"
"I thought that if I exposed him, we'd all be blown to pieces!"
His body trembled violently.
"This mineral is called Spark Rock. It's a specialty product from Gat Island in the East Blue!"
"I don't know what Doflamingo intends to do with it!"
"They simply offered me a huge amount of Berries."
"I thought it was an easy job."
"Just a small favor for an enormous reward."
"Who could have imagined that Doflamingo would send someone as terrifying as Gladius?"
"Please spare me, Your Highness!"
After watching Seraphina effortlessly subdue Gladius, Reyes finally broke down completely.
Every secret he had been hiding poured out without resistance.
The reality was simple.
Doflamingo possessed enormous influence throughout the Grand Line.
As a minor World Government official, Reyes might be able to leverage his position against ordinary criminals, but against someone like Doflamingo, he was insignificant.
If the former Celestial Dragon wished him dead, it would happen without difficulty.
The only reason Doflamingo exercised restraint was because he still needed his status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
The title granted him privileges that were too valuable to lose.
More importantly, Gladius himself had been enough to terrify Reyes into silence.
After witnessing the power of the Pamu Pamu no Mi, Reyes had become convinced that resistance was pointless.
In his eyes, Gladius possessed enough destructive capability to annihilate the entire luxury vessel.
Naturally, he had never imagined that a young Celestial Dragon noblewoman could defeat such an opponent.
Had Seraphina lacked her overwhelming strength, that assumption would not have been entirely wrong.
Gladius truly possessed the power to turn the ship into a floating graveyard.
What puzzled Reyes more than anything else was another matter entirely.
Why had a Celestial Dragon become a Marine?
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand.
Perhaps only the heavens knew the answer.
"I will have you escorted back to Mary Geoise."
Seraphina looked down at him coldly.
"You can explain everything to your father personally."
"I suggest you make the right choices from now on."
She had no interest in wasting additional time on him.
For the sake of a handful of Berries, he had nearly cost himself his life.
No amount of wealth was worth spending if one died before enjoying it.
Meanwhile, Seraphina was still thinking about another matter.
Who exactly was Donquixote Doflamingo?
Sensing her curiosity, Bruce stepped closer and lowered his voice.
"Your Highness, Doflamingo is one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the current king of Dressrosa."
"Before becoming a Warlord, his bounty had already exceeded 340 million Berries."
"According to intelligence reports, he controls a significant portion of the underworld and is known there by the codename 'Joker.'"
Bruce paused briefly.
Then he added another piece of information.
"Furthermore… Doflamingo was once a Celestial Dragon."
Seraphina stopped walking.
Bruce continued carefully.
"His full name is Donquixote Doflamingo."
"He originates from the Donquixote Family."
"For reasons unknown to most personnel, his family lost its status as World Nobles many years ago."
"The details remain classified."
"Even within CP0, access to those records requires a clearance level beyond mine."
As one of the World Government's most elite agents, Bruce possessed information unavailable to ordinary Marines.
Even so, certain secrets remained hidden from him.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea…"
"Joker…"
"A former Celestial Dragon…"
"The Donquixote Family…"
Seraphina quietly repeated the information.
She had never paid much attention to the Warlord system.
To her, they had simply been government-sanctioned pirates.
Nothing more.
Now, however, Doflamingo was beginning to sound far more troublesome than she had originally imagined.
A ruler.
An underworld kingpin.
A former World Noble.
A man powerful enough to maintain influence across the seas.
Such a person was certainly not an ordinary opponent.
For a brief moment, Seraphina remembered Dracule Mihawk.
What if Doflamingo possessed power comparable to the World's Greatest Swordsman?
The thought made her smile faintly.
Perhaps her earlier confidence had been somewhat premature.
Still, she felt no fear.
Only curiosity.
As for the underworld itself, she was familiar with its existence.
Illegal weapons.
Smuggling networks.
Poison gas.
Black-market transactions.
Slave trafficking.
Countless forbidden industries survived beneath the surface of the world's legal order.
Both governments and criminals relied upon those networks more often than they cared to admit.
For someone to dominate a significant portion of that world required exceptional influence and strength.
Even so, Seraphina had no intention of letting this matter rest.
She simply chose to postpone dealing with it.
For now.
"Contact Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
She calmly gave the order.
"Understood."
Bruce immediately picked up the Den Den Mushi.
"Buru Buru Buru…"
"Buru Buru Buru…"
Click.
"This is Sengoku."
The familiar voice emerged from the receiver.
Far away at Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku answered the call while seated behind a mountain of paperwork.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
Seraphina spoke directly.
"Is the mission you assigned related to Donquixote Doflamingo?"
The moment the name left her mouth, Sengoku's expression changed.
"Doflamingo?"
His brows immediately furrowed.
That was not the name he had expected to hear.
"Explain."
His voice became noticeably more serious.
Seraphina summarized everything that had occurred.
The intercepted shipment.
The mysterious mineral.
Gladius.
The confession.
Doflamingo's involvement.
She reported every detail without omission.
When she finished, silence lingered on the other end of the line.
"That doesn't make sense."
Sengoku frowned.
"The intelligence we received indicated that a shipment connected to the underworld was being moved."
"It was supposed to involve Seastone."
"Not some mineral called Spark Rock."
"Wait."
Suddenly, Sengoku froze.
His eyes widened slightly.
"What did you just call it?"
"Spark Rock."
Seraphina repeated.
The confusion in her voice was obvious.
For several seconds, Sengoku said nothing.
Then realization struck him.
"Spark Rock?"
His expression changed completely.
At last, he had identified the crucial detail hidden within the entire report.
Spark Rock.
The true key to the operation.
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