It is also the First Half of Grand Line.
Meanwhile, on Enies Lobby, the Island of Never-Night, Spandine locked his office door, activated various anti-eavesdropping devices, and finally, with trepidation, answered the incessantly beeping Den Den Den Mushi in his hand.
"Hello? Mr. Dragon?" Spandine greeted him somewhat guiltily.
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Dragon's voice was filled with anger as he questioned, "Spandine, did you betray us? You really think I burned those photos, didn't you?"
Upon Spandine cursed inwardly. "You worthless bastard, unlike Admiral Benn, who was a man of his word! You promised it would be burned long ago!"
Although he was furious, Spandine quickly explained, "No, how could I betray you? We swore an oath together with Admiral Ben!"
"Then what happened this time? The intelligence you gave us was completely wrong! Because of your faulty intelligence, our Revolutionary Army in the East Blue China Sea were almost wiped out, and even our East China East Army commander was arrested by your CP Agency!" Dragon questioned angrily.
"It's not a problem on my end, it's a problem at headquarters. The original intelligence was accurate, but who knew that our CP Agency's chief of staff would personally lead a team to the East Blue and coordinate with the East Blue Marines to carry out the operation? From the moment the chief of staff gave the order, I had absolutely no reason or excuse to participate in this operation. I know nothing about the subsequent situation!" Spandine quickly explained.
Did he genuinely not know what was going on? Why did the Chief of Staff suddenly get involved in this matter personally?
He is now extremely fearful because...
"Besides, how could I possibly betray Captain Ginny? Captain Ginny knows my identity. If she gets caught and can't withstand the interrogation at headquarters, she'll expose me. Wouldn't I be finished?" Spandine gave another very compelling reason.
You know what, Spandine said that, even those who were initially skeptical of Dragon started to think that it made sense.
Although he didn't think Ginny would betray them, Spandine certainly didn't think so.
Ginny has been arrested, Spandine is probably in a panic right now.
After a moment of silence, Dragon spoke, "If it's interrogation and inducement, Ginny might actually think you betrayed him, and it's not impossible that she'll implicate you..."
Spandine hearing this. Yes, leading interrogations were a common tactic, and the CP was very skilled in this area. If they used the pretense of someone betraying Ginny as bait to interrogate Ginny might fall for it immediately and actually believe that it was Spandine was behind it all, and then he would be finished.
"What should we do, Mr. Dragon?!" Spandine asked anxiously.
"I'll give you two choices," Dragon said in a deep voice. "First, you pack your things right now, take all the important intelligence you have, and run away to the East Blue to meet me. I'll appoint you as the new Army Commander of our Revolutionary Army's East Army. Although your strength isn't that great, I highly value your abilities. You're a formidable character. Don't do any more CP stuff; just obediently follow me!"
Spandine was overwhelmed by these words. Follow you? If I follow you, I'll never get to eat four hot dishes in my life. No matter what, I, Spandine, am still Admiral Bane's good friend. If all else fails, wouldn't it be better for me to join the Admiral?
Even if the Admiral thinks there's something wrong with my identity and it's hard to explain to the World Government, he could easily put me in the Big Mom Pirates or Totto Land Totto Land. No matter what he chooses, I wouldn't follow you!
Look at Captain Ginny, how miserable she is after hanging out with you?
That's right. Although Spandine was influenced by Dragon to some extent, he genuinely looked down on the Revolutionary Army. He thought, "Look at how many years your Revolutionary Army has developed, but our CP Chief of Staff wiped out your East Army in one fell swoop. No matter how you look at it, you have no future!"
Moreover, Spandine believed that the main reason he was forced to serve the Revolutionary Army was that he had not made up his mind to leave the CP Agency and betray the World Government.
If he could let go of his current power and status within the CP, how could Dragon possibly blackmail him? He could simply pledge allegiance to Admiral and serve Admiral faithfully. Would Dragon still dare to utter any nonsense then?
So Spandine didn't even consider the first point, and asked directly, "What about the second one?"
"Do I need to say the second point? Aren't you supposed to be all-powerful on Mary Geoise? If you can get Ginny out of here, then everything will be fine!" Dragon said without hesitation.
Of course, he wasn't stupid. He knew that someone Spandine would never choose to follow him. Moreover, their Revolutionary Army didn't really need someone Spandine who lacked firm stances and beliefs. Taking him in might just be a disaster.
This "scourge" doesn't mean that Spandine would betray their Revolutionary Army for the World Government, but rather that Spandine would absolutely sell out all the secrets of their Revolutionary Army to that bastard, Ortolan.
So from the very beginning, Dragon's so-called first choice was all to create tension and force Spandam to find a way to rescue Ginny.
"When did I become so powerful?" Spandam complained, "This matter is being handled by our CP's Chief of Staff. Usually, when something like this happens, it means that the Chief of Staff has received an absolute order from the Five Elders, the kind where you either succeed or die. Under such circumstances, no matter how capable I am, I can't possibly get in touch with Captain Ginny. In fact, even Admiral Bane probably couldn't do that now... The Chief of Staff won't give anyone a chance!"
"Isn't Ortolan also here?" Dragon asked, his tone somewhat heavy.
His original plan was that if Spandam couldn't help, he would swallow his pride and ask Ortolan for help to see if he could do anything.
In the original story, when Ginny was arrested, Dragon had no connections and was powerless to help. But now, Dragon has Ortolan, his beloved friend and brother... so of course he'll try to pull some strings.
"Uh..." Spandam hesitated for a moment, seeing that Dragon seemed to have this idea, and finally said, "No, I was just using an analogy. The Admiral is truly all-powerful. How could I possibly fathom the Admiral's abilities? Perhaps I could..."
Dragon remained silent for a long time on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, without saying a word.
Back in the day, Ortolan was willing to burn down the Holy Land in order to rescue people from Mary Geoise, and even used the opportunity to get promoted and become Admiral.
Now, it shouldn't be unreasonable to ask him to come up with a solution again, right?
Without saying a word, Dragon hung up the Den Den Mushi with Spandam and prepared to try contacting Ortolan.
After all, in Dragon's impression, Ortolan really had a wide network of connections, so who knows, he might have a solution?
Looking at the Den Den Mushi in his hand that had been hung up on without a word, Spandam said angrily, "You have no manners at all. No wonder you can't get your hot food!"
While thinking about these things, Spandam turned off all the miscellaneous devices, such as those for preventing eavesdropping.
As soon as he turned it off, the Den Den Den Mushi in his hand rang again!
Looking down, I saw it was the Chief of Staff calling!
This startled Spandam, who wondered if Ginny had been implicated.
However, he didn't dare to delay anything at this moment, so he quickly answered the Den Den Mushi and cautiously asked, "Chief? You wanted to see me?"
"Spandam, as far as I remember, you have a pretty good relationship with quite a few Marines officers, right?" the Chief of Staff's voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
Upon hearing this, Spandam immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as if he hadn't come to question me.
So he immediately replied, "Yes, Chief of Staff, but this is all for the sake of our CP's work. You know, our relationship with the Marines has never been great, but we have to cooperate in many situations. Someone has to act as a lubricant in this, so..."
"I understand, I understand everything. Of course I know you are loyal to our CP. You don't need to worry. There's something I need you to do this time." The Chief didn't mind these things, because Spandam's words made sense.
In the CP, there is indeed a need for someone like him to act as an intermediary between the Navy and the Marines, and to mediate between them.
Spandam immediately replied, "Yes, Chief of Staff, please give your instructions!"
"Over in the New World, Admiral Bane is somewhat wary of those above. Those five want to use some means to divide and win over key members of the Marines under Admiral Bane. Since you have a good relationship with the Marines, you should take charge of this. Remember, the higher-ups are now somewhat dissatisfied with the Marines. This is our CP's best chance to turn things around since the Holy Land was burned. If you can do this well, we might be able to put the Marines above us again. Such a great achievement might even put you in my position in the future, understand?" the Chief of Staff said in a deep voice.
Spandam???
Don't you know I am Admiral Ben's beloved friend, brother? You want me to do this kind of thing?
Oh, right, you really didn't know.