Although they possessed human-like intelligence, elemental Homies like Hermes did not actually have many things they feared because of their own nature.
An enraged Charlotte Linlin, things capable of attacking souls, and elements that naturally countered them—those were the kinds of things Hermes feared.
But Doflamingo after being tormented by Alber… still gave Hermes a chill that seemed to reach the very depths of its soul.
It realized that it had underestimated the human race.
Hermes’ instincts told it that Alber had never been trying to extract any secrets from Doflamingo at all.
He simply wanted to torture him.
“Tell Alber to clean everything up.”
“Don’t worry, Princess Nanamo. From what I can tell, it’ll be impressive if even a little ash is left behind.”
At the same time, Dressrosa’s large live-broadcast screens were also switched on. Normally, they were used to broadcast the duels in the Corrida Colosseum, though King Riku also used them to make announcements to the public.
King Riku’s message was very simple. The kingdom had encountered a crisis, but with the help of friends, it had already been resolved. He asked the people not to worry and, for the time being, to stay with relatives or friends.
Once the damage from the night had been fully assessed, the Riku Royal Army would help them rebuild their homes and handle the rest.
Rosinante was busy as well. He was explaining to the other Marine soldiers that Vergo was Doflamingo’s undercover agent and that they had all been deceived.
The problem was that Rosinante’s words were not very convincing. Even after Rosinante revealed his own undercover identification code, those men were only willing to believe that Rosinante was a Marine. As for Vergo, they were convinced he had been falsely accused.
After being knocked unconscious by the intimidation of Conqueror’s Haki, the Dressrosa royal army had confiscated the Marines’ weapons and placed them under guard.
At this point, the soldiers who stubbornly believed in Vergo’s identity were also beginning to irritate the royal army, leaving Rosinante with no choice but to do his best to calm both sides while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
But the first to arrive were actually members of CP0.
“Greetings, Princess Nanamo. We have come under orders from the Five Elders to discuss… compensation regarding this matter.”
Under normal circumstances, the World Government would never pay money over something like this.
It was only because Doflamingo fell into the hands of the Ryugu Kingdom, and the World Government needed to get some information from Nanamo’s side, that they had chosen to spend a small sum of money.
The CP0 agents did not put on airs either. After all, they were following orders from above, and from the beginning, they had prepared themselves to negotiate with Nereus.
Putting on airs in front of a monster like that was an easy way to become a decoration.
In theory, Dressrosa was the party being compensated, but CP0 knew perfectly well that Dressrosa’s voice did not matter much in a situation like this.
This so-called compensation was really just an intelligence fee for confirming Doflamingo’s condition.
“And regarding the former Shichibukai, Doflamingo…”
“He’s already a former Shichibukai? You people move fast.”
“Of course. We will not tolerate pirates who endanger an affiliated nation.”
“I’m not interested in empty formalities. If you want to take Doflamingo away, that’s impossible. At most, I can help you bury his corpse.”
“Is that so? That’s excellent.”
“?”
Nanamo had assumed these agents had come to demand that Doflamingo be handed over, and she had been preparing to teach them a lesson. Their immediate response instead made her feel that something was off.
[The World Government has immortals… could they even resurrect someone?]
“You misunderstood what I meant. I’m saying that b*stard is dead, but you still won’t be taking his corpse away.”
“That’s fine, Your Highness. We were planning to execute this pirate anyway. What you’ve done has actually saved us quite a bit of trouble. However… could you allow us to see his corpse?”
These agents only wanted to confirm Doflamingo’s death and did not care about anything else, which actually left Nanamo in a difficult position for a moment.
Not long after those agents arrived, the reinforcement ship sent by the Marines also reached Dressrosa.
Perhaps because the matter involved Doflamingo, Tsuru was once again the one leading the force. Like the Cipher Pol agents before her, her objective was very clear: she only wanted to take this group of Marines away.
And… to make sure what had happened in Dressrosa did not get leaked.
What the Marines needed was a story about Rosinante risking his life as an undercover agent and foiling a pirate conspiracy.
Not a scandal about the Marines being infiltrated by a pirate and ultimately ending up in a confrontation with a kingdom’s army.
When reputation was at stake, money was a minor concern.
After both Tsuru and the Cipher Pol agents had left, Nanamo once again tallied up the gains from this incident.
“Adding this in, then according to the insurance terms, after deducting Dressrosa’s repair costs… did we actually make a huge profit from this operation?
“No, that’s not right. If Alber hadn’t caused such a huge commotion, I should’ve made even more.”
The Cipher Pol agents only needed to confirm Doflamingo’s condition before they could return and report back, but Tsuru’s task was much busier. She also had to clear Rosinante’s name and bring all the Marines from the G-5 Branch back.
“After verification by Headquarters, the true identity of G-5 Branch Captain Vergo has been confirmed as a member of the Donquixote Pirates. Headquarters has already removed him from the rolls.”
“Vice Admiral Tsuru! How could that be?! There has to be some kind of mistake!”
“Exactly! How could Captain Vergo possibly be a pirate?!”
Different pirate crews had different styles of doing things, and the Marines were actually much the same. Although they all shared the same general direction, the atmosphere among soldiers differed somewhat from branch to branch.
Usually, this was determined by the commander leading them, or by how Headquarters assigned personnel.
For example, the troops under Garp were unmatched when it came to construction work, capable of repairing buildings damaged by Garp at astonishing speed.
The soldiers of the G-5 Branch, on the other hand, had a much rougher culture. Disobeying military orders and acting on their own were commonplace. At their core, the branch was made up of a huge collection of troublesome hardheads.
Before an externally appointed commander earned their recognition, it was practically impossible to command them. But once they accepted someone, these soldiers were willing to risk their lives for that person.
Even though the person announcing the truth was the Marines’ Great Staff Officer from Headquarters, they still found it difficult to believe at first.
But it was merely difficult to believe, not that they were actually questioning her. Deep down, they simply did not want to believe it was true.
“This is the conclusion reached after repeated verification by Headquarters. Commander Rosinante has been undercover within the Donquixote Family for many years. He is an undercover agent reporting directly and exclusively to Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and he is trustworthy.”
It was only before departing that Sengoku had finally explained Rosinante’s situation to Tsuru, also allowing Tsuru to learn where all the previous intelligence concerning Doflamingo had actually come from.
Tsuru carefully looked Rosinante over. She even began to suspect that he might be Sengoku’s illegitimate son.
“This operation was not your fault. Stand down and prepare to return to base.”
To prevent these Marines from spreading things that should not be spoken about, Tsuru did not tell them what else she had done after arriving here. She simply took Rosinante away along with them.
As for the other members of the Donquixote Family, neither the Marines nor the agents from the Cipher Pol branch cared very much.
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