Doflamingo was in a very foul mood…
He had only just learned—from the call he received from Vergo—that the mermaid he wanted to capture was actually on that damned Hunter ship.
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, Doflamingo couldn't figure out how Sherwin, who had merely gone to Fish-Man Island once, managed to recruit a mermaid companion.
Even if Sherwin had rescued two Fish-Men from him before, this still made no sense!
Before this, he had always assumed the target was some pure Fish-Man faction similar to the Sun Pirates.
But Doflamingo no longer had the patience to think about how Sherwin managed to bring a mermaid aboard, and he cared even less about whether Baby-5 and Buffalo were dead or alive.
Vergo had brought him another piece of news—one that irritated him even more.
"What exactly is the World Government trying to do?"
Doflamingo frowned deeply.
As a former Celestial Dragon, he could intimidate the Marines and some pirates, but to the other Celestial Dragons, he was no different from any other "commoner."
He also had no desire to see those pompous faces again. Because of this, he had absolutely no channel to learn about the World Government internal decisions…
Even though part of the Donquixote line still remained in Mary Geoise.
But Doflamingo didn't stay tangled up for long like Sherwin imagined.
In his view, regardless of the World Government intentions, the fact remained that Nico Robin was on Sherwin ship—meaning Sherwin would inevitably become a target for everyone.
And just as Hua Mei Meow had predicted, Doflamingo intended to add fuel to the fire.
"Trebol, leak the news that Nico Robin has joined the Hunter to those people…"
The people he referred to were, of course, the major pirates like Big Mom and Kaido—those who held Poneglyphs and sought the Pirate King throne.
Just as the Donquixote Family began spreading the news at full force, Doflamingo Den-Den Mushi rang again.
"Hello~ Doflamingo~"
Sherwin bright and cheerful voice came through the Den-Den Mushi, direct as always.
"I just caught two of your subordinates. What are you planning to trade for them?"
"Young Master, we're sorry… we failed."
Buffalo voice followed right after.
In truth, it had taken Vergo a bit of time to find another Den-Den Mushi, and the reason Sherwin called even later wasn't because he wanted to mislead Doflamingo or anything complicated. It was simply because…
He forgot.
He'd been busy petting cats! What was Doflamingo compared to cats? Did he think he had the right to interrupt that?
"It not your fault. Those pirates deliberately hid the information."
Most of the time, Doflamingo could still play the role of a "family head" quite well.
He softened his tone toward Buffalo and Baby-5. "As long as you're safe, that enough. I'll find a way to buy you back."
Then he turned to Sherwin. "Name your conditions. As long as you don't harm my family, I'll do everything I can to meet them!"
Clap clap clap…
Applause came from Sherwin side, followed by his mockingly emotional tone.
"Such touching 'family love.' Hard to believe you once personally killed your own younger brother, huh~"
"What do you know?!"
Hearing Sherwin mention his little brother shattered Doflamingo composure.
"He betrayed me first! He betrayed the Donquixote Family!"
But his outburst earned only Sherwin casual—
"Oh."
Then Sherwin continued, tone as nonchalant as ever. "That sort of thing doesn't matter.
It has nothing to do with me anyway. I just happened to hear it from Fleet Admiral Sengoku.
How you treat your family is your business. Let get back to the ransom."
Mhm. He casually dumped a pot of blame on old man Sengoku… That what you get for trying to scheme against me.
Doflamingo, simmering with anger after being provoked by Sherwin, took a long moment before finally regaining his calm.
Though he knew Sherwin had said that on purpose, he didn't believe it was a lie.
After all, before dying, Rosinante had revealed his Marine identity to Doflamingo.
And given Sherwin age and connections, the only person he could have heard that from was Sengoku.
But even knowing that was meaningless. Doflamingo wasn't stupid enough to go after Sengoku.
So after taking several deep breaths to suppress his rage, he asked through clenched teeth, "What do you want? Belly? A famed blade? Or Devil Fruits?"
"Two Paramecia users, so two Paramecia Fruits sounds fair, right? And aside from their abilities, they're your 'family,' so trading one famed blade for each of them is also reasonable, isn't it? Considering we're both Warlords, I won't ask for Belly!"
Sherwin said magnanimously.
This time, he didn't ask for Logia Fruits. No matter how well Doflamingo crafted his "I value my family" persona, there was no way he'd cough up two Logia Fruits.
Sherwin was only one shard away from completing his Paramecia pool summon token, so after discussing with the cats, they decided pooling resources for that was the most cost-effective choice.
For reference, the pirate Robin defeated earlier did drop something—the Paramecia Kama-Kama Fruit.
Sherwin remembered it seemed to be anime-original. Unfortunately, it still didn't give him the final shard he needed for the Paramecia pool.
Likewise, a Fruit that mainly created wind blades didn't impress the cats at all.
Any one of Seijurou Crescent Moon Slashes was far stronger. Even Sanji Meow Air Kick surpassed it. Rather than waste time developing that ability, training the body was more worthwhile.
"Two Paramecia Fruits and two famed blades? Fine."
Doflamingo agreed almost instantly without hesitation.
"Huh? Did we lowball him?"
Sherwin turned to Hua Mei Meow and Robin.
When they discussed it earlier, they had actually left room for negotiation. Their real bottom line was one fruit plus one famed blade. They hadn't expected Doflamingo to agree so easily…
"Should we ask for more?"
Sherwin began to suspect he had underestimated Doflamingo wealth and wondered if he should raise the price on the spot.
"I can hear you!"
Doflamingo gritted, furious voice came from the Den-Den Mushi. "Don't push your luck! Don't think I'm afraid of you!"
"Tsk… fine then…"
Feeling as if he'd lost at least a billion, Sherwin smacked his lips in regret, though he had no intention of really forcing the Heavenly Yaksha into a corner right now.
After all, he had promised Law that he would help him take revenge, and he had only just become a Shichibukai.
Even if it was just for show, it wouldn't look good to start fighting his "colleagues" this soon.
"I'll be waiting for your arrival on Mystoria Island."
"No need!" Doflamingo replied coldly. "I'll be there shortly!"