Sorry, I'm Not Interested

The Den Den Mushi rang.

It was a number he'd never seen before.

"An unfamiliar number... How curious!" Aleus blinked. Den Den Mushi communicated through bioelectric waves, and each individual had its own unique wave pattern. In other words, every Den Den Mushi was one of a kind.

And this world didn't have an advanced internet where people's personal information could be leaked or sold. Unless someone had access to reliable intelligence, it was basically impossible for a stranger to suddenly call him. As for someone with nothing better to do randomly dialing numbers for fun and just happening to hit Aleus's Den Den Mushi, the odds were so low it was better to disregard the possibility.

So,

someone wanted to get in touch with him.

"Could it be..."

Aleus recalled what his grandfather had just told him. Vergo... or rather, Joker, was investigating his background, and his grandfather had helpfully provided some irrelevant information, including one of his many Den Den Mushi numbers.

He reached for the receiver.

"This is Sokachio Aleus. Who's calling?" Aleus leaned back against the sofa, held the receiver near his mouth, and asked in a casual, airy tone.

"Fufufufufu!!"

A distinctive laugh came through the Den Den Mushi, clear as day.

Just as he'd thought!

Aleus rolled his eyes. It really was Joker.

The laughter stopped, and at last a more normal voice came through. "Prince Aleus, I'm Joker!" Sitting beside the Royal Palace pool, Doflamingo introduced himself without preamble. It was a rather interesting introduction.

Doflamingo had many titles. He was the king of Dressrosa and one of the Shichibukai, but he mentioned neither of those public identities. Instead, he greeted Aleus under his title as an underworld broker.

That was certainly food for thought.

"Joker?"

Aleus rolled the name around in his mouth.

"What business does an underworld broker have with a little prince like me?" He kept his eyes open and lied with a straight face. Though he didn't know why Doflamingo had contacted him, it was surely related to his conflict with Umit.

"Fufufu!"

Doflamingo, sitting beside the pool, laughed merrily.

"Prince Aleus, I don't intend to waste time on pointless probing. My reason for contacting you is simple: Umit has arrived in Dressrosa. I have information on him and his subordinates. If you're interested, we can make a deal."

Doflamingo didn't beat around the bush. Though he was accustomed to acting as a broker, he was also a dark-world magnate who controlled the New World's arms trade. He hadn't lost his ability to conduct business directly.

"Information on Umit? Are you planning to break with him, Joker?"

"I'm only planning to sell some information. I have no intention of getting involved in anything else."

"Just selling information? Umit might not see it that way."

"How he sees it doesn't matter. What matters is what he does, doesn't it? Besides, Umit and I have never been friends, so there's no question of breaking with him. I'm simply doing the work of a good broker. So, are you interested in the information?"

Doflamingo asked again.

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

Aleus turned him down without hesitation, leaving no room to name a price and haggle.

"Not interested... Fufufu... Looks like my sales pitch failed!" Beside the pool, Doflamingo tightened his grip on the receiver as he sat on the sofa. His laughter continued, but his smile faded a little.

The Modern Girls around him gradually quieted down, each of them watching their young master's expression with rapt attention. Even Trebol instinctively sniffled more quietly.

The only one who wasn't affected was the little girl sitting beside Doflamingo, intently eating grapes: Sugar.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Joker?"

Aleus asked.

"If there's nothing else, you'll have to excuse me. I don't have time to keep you company. The card game is about to start, and it's my turn."

Doflamingo didn't answer. After waiting two seconds, Aleus hung up, stood from the sofa, and walked over to the card table. He took the place of Eschbach, who'd lost and been replaced, then continued playing with his officers.

He acted as if the call had never happened.

Dressrosa, Royal Palace.

By the pool,

"Sokachio Aleus..." Doflamingo looked at the Den Den Mushi that had been hung up on. His smile grew ever more faint, and his cold gaze could be felt even through his sunglasses. The air seemed to solidify, and the poor Modern Girls barely dared to breathe.

"Young master, young master, what's wrong?"

It was Trebol, the most oblivious of the top executives, who finally broke the suffocating silence.

"Trebol, be quiet!"

Doflamingo glared at this dim-witted "family" member. Couldn't the man use his head just a little? He was one of the family's four top executives, yet all he did was serve as Sugar's personal bodyguard. He couldn't compare to the other three, who each carried major responsibilities.

"Okay! I understand, Doffy."

Trebol swung his long snot around, answered, and obediently stood beside Sugar.

"...The Black Prince. What a character. He's even more interesting than I expected... He actually turned me down. Is he that confident he can take Umit down? Or is it..." Doflamingo fell into thought.

Aleus's reaction had surprised him somewhat.

Before contacting Aleus, he'd already considered how the conversation might go. He'd accounted for the possibility of being rejected, but he hadn't expected Aleus to reject him so casually, so indifferently... It was rather strange.

Was it arrogance, or confidence?

If it was the former, Umit would surely teach this Black Prince the rules of the New World.

If it was the latter, then someone else had climbed to power in the New World over the corpses of their predecessors.

"Fufufu!!!"

Doflamingo laughed again.

He gazed at the pool's clear water, as if he could already see the coming bloodshed, and murmured, "The Black Prince, the King of Maritime Transport... Let me play referee and see what each of you is made of." His laughter gradually grew louder.

Soon,

there would be another spectacle to enjoy.