Spandine

Over the next few days, unlike the Kingdom of Sorbet outside, which had descended into complete chaos, the church where Gigue lived continued on as before, as though nothing had happened.

The only difference was that Ivan, who used to go out and run wild every day, had settled down. He stayed in the church every day and occasionally helped Kuma receive the elderly people who came seeking treatment.

No one mentioned what had happened that night again, and the few of them still got along as they always had.

Until one day, a Marine warship arrived at the harbor.

A large number of Marine soldiers quickly disembarked from the warship, along with a Marine officer holding the rank of major general.

The nobles and ministers of the Kingdom of Sorbet had been waiting there for a long time. The moment they saw the Marine major general, they immediately crowded around him.

A minister eagerly stepped up before the Marine major general and said,

"You must be Major General Babus from Headquarters, right? We've been waiting so long for you!"

Major General Babus nodded and gave a military salute. However, instead of looking at the minister again, he turned his gaze toward the warship.

Following Babus's gaze, they saw a man with slicked-back hair and a black-and-gray striped overcoat slowly descend from the warship with two men in suits following behind him, striding with arrogant swagger.

The Marine soldiers on both sides wore awkward expressions and lowered their heads one after another, clearly unwilling to look at the man.

A flash of disgust crossed Major General Babus's eyes, but it quickly vanished. He bent slightly and said respectfully,

"Mr. Spandine, we have arrived in the Sorbet Kingdom."

Spandine ignored Babus. He cast a sidelong glance at one of the suited men beside him, who immediately understood and skillfully took out a cigar, held it to Spandine's mouth, then lit it with a lighter.

Taking a deep drag from the cigar, Spandine swept his eyes disdainfully over the ministers before him, then glanced at the town in the distance and blew out a huge cloud of smoke.

"This is the Kingdom of Sorbet? Tch, you call this a country? No wonder the Celestial Gold you pay every year is so little. Ptui!"

A thick gob of phlegm landed on the ground after brushing past a noble's collar. Yet that noble, who was usually accustomed to throwing his weight around, did not dare make a single sound.

The ministers and nobles were no fools. From Spandine's arrogant behavior and what he had just said, they vaguely realized who he was. He was from the World Government!

The minister who had just been fawning over Major General Babus immediately changed targets. Bending his body like a shrimp, he edged up to Spandine and asked in a flattering tone,

"Please forgive my poor eyesight, sir. May I ask who you are?"

Spandine remained as arrogantly haughty as ever. One of the suited men beside him took a step forward to block the minister and barked,

"Why are you getting so close? You're not worthy of knowing my lord's identity. Get lost!"

The minister jumped in fright and hurriedly backed away, saying fearfully,

"I'm terribly sorry! I have offended you, sir. Please do not be angry!"

Spandine waved his hand impatiently and said,

"Enough, enough. I heard your King is gone? Such a trivial matter can be handled by Babus. I came here with an important mission!"

The minister bowed several more times in succession. Seeing how pitiful he looked, Babus spoke up.

"Tell us about the current situation. Do you have any leads regarding King Beckley?"

Though he was a minister of a nation, neither Major General Babus from Headquarters nor Spandine from the World Government was someone he could afford to offend. He immediately answered,

"His Majesty the King was perfectly fine during the day, but after one night, he suddenly vanished. We suspect this was most likely connected to Gigue! He may be young, but he possesses a strange ability. More importantly, he has no regard for law or authority. He is an extremely dangerous person!"

Hearing the minister's description, Babus nodded slightly and thought,

A strange ability? Could he be a Devil Fruit Ability User? No wonder...

Devil Fruits were rare treasures. Especially in a remote little country like this, even a somewhat powerful Ability User was beyond the means of ordinary people to deal with.

Babus wanted to ask more about Gigue, but Spandine's expression suddenly changed dramatically, and the cigar fell from his mouth to the ground.

He abruptly pushed past the two suited men, grabbed the minister by the collar, and shouted as spit flew everywhere,

"Who did you just say? Say that again!"

The minister, whose face had been sprayed with saliva, answered obediently,

"Gi... Gigue. King Beckley was probably taken away by him!"

Slap!

A sharp slap rang out. In full view of everyone, Spandine's heavy backhand sent the minister sprawling to the ground. If Babus's leg had not happened to stop him, who knew how much farther he would have rolled.

Once Babus came to his senses, he frowned and spoke with displeasure.

"Mr. Spandine, although you are an official of the World Government, isn't this behavior a bit excessive? The Kingdom of Sorbet is one of the affiliated nations, after all. You cannot treat a minister like this without cause, can you?"

Spandine took several heavy breaths. He did not have much fighting ability to begin with, and that slap had exhausted him.

Once his breathing calmed slightly, he pointed at the trembling minister lying beside Babus's feet and cursed furiously,

"Damn it! Take a look at the kind of person you are! Is that great lord's name something you can just say? I'll fucking—"

As he spoke, Spandine pulled out a pistol and was about to shoot the minister. One of the suited men hurriedly stopped him.

"Lord Spandine, do not kill him yet. We still need to learn from him where that great lord is!"

That worked. The enraged Spandine lowered his pistol and ordered the two suited men to drag the minister over like a dead dog.

This time, Babus did not step forward to speak for the minister. He fell silent. This matter seemed to be far more complicated than he had imagined.

Not long ago, Admiral Sengoku had assigned him to investigate the King's disappearance. But just as he was about to depart, Spandine suddenly arrived and demanded to accompany him to the Kingdom of Sorbet.

Babus had wanted to report to Sengoku first, but Spandine produced a document signed by the World Government, giving him no chance to report it.

With that document in hand, no matter how displeased Babus was, he could only obediently let Spandine swagger aboard the ship.

Spandine had never revealed his purpose to him, and Babus had not cared to ask. He had only thought that once they reached the Kingdom of Sorbet, they would each handle their own business. But now, it seemed their missions were intertwined.

And the key was the young man the minister had mentioned: Gigue.

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