Chapter 22: Sorry, I’m Not Interested
The Den Den Mushi rang.
It was a never-before-seen unknown number.
“An unknown number… How rare!” Prince Elus blinked his eyes. The Den Den Mushi used bioelectric waves as the transmission medium, and each Den Den Mushi had its own unique wave within its body, meaning each Den Den Mushi was a one-of-a-kind existence.
And this world had no developed network to leak and sell personal information. Without channels to obtain accurate intelligence, it was basically impossible for a stranger to suddenly call in. As for someone idly dialing numbers randomly and coincidentally hitting Prince Elus’s Den Den Mushi number due to sheer boredom or something, such a minuscule probability was better off ignored entirely.
So,
this was someone wanting to establish contact with him.
“It couldn’t be…”
Prince Elus recalled what his grandfather had mentioned earlier. Vergo… or rather Joker was investigating his intelligence, and his grandfather had very cooperatively provided some irrelevant information, including one of his many Den Den Mushi numbers.
He reached out and picked up the microphone.
“This is Sokachio Elus. May I ask who this is?” Prince Elus leaned obliquely on the sofa, bringing the microphone close to his mouth, and asked in a very light and casual tone.
“Fufufufufu!!”
A uniquely eccentric laughter was transmitted perfectly through the Den Den Mushi.
Sure enough!
Prince Elus rolled his eyes. It really was Joker.
The laughter stopped, and finally a somewhat normal voice came through. “Prince Elus, this is Joker!” Doflamingo, sitting by the royal palace pool, introduced himself straightforwardly. It was a very intriguing self-introduction.
Doflamingo had many titles. He was the King of Dressrosa and a Seven Warlord, but he didn’t mention these official identities. Instead, he greeted Prince Elus with the reputation of Dark World Intermediary.
This was very much worth pondering.
“Joker?”
Prince Elus savored the name.
“What business does the Dark World Intermediary have with a minor prince like me?” He kept his eyes open and told a blatant lie without batting an eye. Though he didn’t know why Doflamingo was contacting him, it was surely related to the dispute between him and Umit.
“Fufu!”
Doflamingo, sitting by the pool, laughed very happily.
“Prince Elus, I’m not prepared to waste time on boring probes. My purpose in contacting you is simple: Umit has arrived in Dressrosa. I have information on Umit and his subordinates. If you’re interested, we can make a deal.”
Doflamingo was not dragging his feet at all. Though accustomed to being an intermediary, he himself was also a dark magnate controlling the New World arms business and had never lost his ability to do business directly with people.
“Intelligence on Umit? Joker, are you planning to break with Umit?”
“I’m just planning to sell some intelligence. I have no intention of meddling in extraneous matters.”
“Just selling some intelligence? If Umit finds out, he might not see it that way.”
“How he thinks isn’t important. What matters is what is done, isn’t it? Moreover, Umit and I have never been friends, so ‘break’ doesn’t even apply. I’m just doing the job a qualified intermediary should do. So, are you interested in this intelligence?”
Doflamingo asked again.
“Sorry, I’m not interested.”
Prince Elus rejected very decisively, leaving no room for bargaining or haggling.
“Not interested… Fufufu… Looks like my sales pitch failed!” By the pool, Doflamingo, sitting on the sofa, gripped the microphone tightly. His laughter didn’t diminish, but the smile on his face receded by a third.
The chatter of the surrounding modern ladies quietly dropped a few degrees. Each one perked up with full attention, watching the Young Master’s expression closely. Even Trebol subconsciously reduced the noise of his sniffling.
The only one unaffected was the little girl ‘Sugar’, sitting by Doflamingo’s side, focused on eating grapes.
“Is there anything else, Mister Joker?”
Prince Elus asked.
“If there’s nothing else, forgive me for not having time to keep you company. The card game is about to start; it’s my turn to play.”
After waiting two seconds with no response from Doflamingo, Prince Elus promptly hung up the microphone, stood up from the sofa, walked to the card table nearby, replaced Eschbach who had lost and been subbed out, and continued playing cards with the subordinate officials.
Completely unconcerned about the call just now.
————
Dressrosa, Royal Palace.
By the pool,
“Sokachio Elus…” Looking at the hung-up Den Den Mushi, the smile on Doflamingo’s face grew even fainter. His cold gaze was palpable even through his sunglasses. The air slowly seemed to solidify, and the poor modern ladies kept even their breathing low.
“Young Master, Young Master, what’s wrong?”
It was Trebol, the tactless supreme executive, who broke the suffocating atmosphere.
“Trebol, be quiet!”
Doflamingo glared at this not-too-bright ‘family member’. Couldn’t this guy’s brain work a little better? He was one of the family’s Four Supreme Executives, yet he was just Sugar’s personal bodyguard, incomparable to the other three who each bore heavy responsibilities.
“Alright! Got it, Doffy.”
Trebol flicked his long booger, agreed, and obediently stood by Sugar’s side.
“…Black Prince, what a distinctive guy. More interesting than I expected… He actually rejected me. So confident he can take down Umit? Or perhaps…” Doflamingo fell into thought.
Prince Elus’s reaction was somewhat out of his expectations.
Before contacting Prince Elus, he had anticipated the outcome and considered the possibility of rejection. But Prince Elus’s attitude in rejecting him was something he hadn’t foreseen—so casual and indifferent… It was really quite strange.
Arrogance, or confidence?
If the former, Umit would surely teach this Black Prince the rules of the New World.
If the latter, it meant someone in the New World had risen by stepping on the corpses of predecessors.
“Fufufufu!!!”
Doflamingo laughed again.
He looked at the clear pool water, as if seeing the future storm of blood and violence, and murmured: “Black Prince, King of Maritime Transport… Let me act as the referee in the middle and see what you’re made of.” His laughter gradually amplified.
Soon,
there would be a new spectacle to watch.
