The moment the confiscated Den Den Mushi began to ring, Bardock stood up from his desk and walked directly down into the belly of the White Dragon, heading straight for the brig where Diamante was being held.
Diamante was currently shackled to the wall with heavy Seastone handcuffs. The dense sea-energy completely drained his stamina and neutralized his Devil Fruit powers, leaving him slumped against the cold floor, unable to muster the strength to even stand. Because the Seastone was so effective, Bardock hadn't bothered with any additional restraints; he wasn't worried about the Executive trying any sneaky tricks.
"Your Young Master is calling," Bardock said casually, stepping into the cell and holding the ringing snail out. "Come on. Say hello."
Ka-cha. Bardock answered the call.
"YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD! You better release me this instant!" Diamante immediately roared, his voice hoarse but filled with venom. "If you don't, Doffy is going to completely annihilate you!"
Of course, all this aggressive shouting was largely a desperate facade to mask the profound, trembling panic in his heart. He had failed his mission, lost a massive shipment of tribute, and brought a massive headache to his Young Master's doorstep. He was absolutely terrified that Doflamingo would simply deem him a liability and abandon him.
While it was true that Doflamingo highly valued his core "family" members, Diamante knew better than anyone that when the situation required it, Doflamingo could be utterly ruthless, discarding people without a single microsecond of hesitation.
"Fuffuffuffuffu..."
A dark, chilling laugh emanated from the Den Den Mushi, the snail's face perfectly mimicking Doflamingo's terrifying, vein-bulging grin and trademark sunglasses. "Diamante. Why don't you explain to me exactly what happened? Why did my intelligence network just inform me that your entire subordinate fleet was handed over to a Marine Branch?"
The Donquixote Family's information network was horrifyingly efficient. Doflamingo had already caught wind of the arrest.
"I'm... I'm so sorry, Doffy," Diamante lowered his head, his arrogant bravado completely shattering. "The target was far stronger than we anticipated. They were completely prepared for us. I wasn't strong enough... I was captured."
"Yo! Donquixote Doflamingo, how are you doing?"
Bardock smoothly pulled the Den Den Mushi back toward himself, cutting off the apology. "It seems one of your beloved family members has gotten himself a little lost at sea. If someone doesn't provide a suitable reward to help guide his way, I'm afraid he might never make it back home."
On the other end of the line, Doflamingo's blood boiled with absolute rage, but he forced out his signature, psychotic laugh. "Fuffuffuffuffu! What exactly is it that you want, Explorer?"
By deliberately emphasizing the word 'Explorer', Doflamingo was subtly flexing his muscles, demonstrating that his intelligence network had already completely identified Bardock's crew and their recent global exploits.
Bardock was completely unfazed by the subtle threat. "It's not about what I want, Doflamingo. It's about how much you are willing to pay for your precious family."
"Hmph! Don't get too greedy, brat!" Doflamingo's voice instantly dropped an octave, radiating a dark, suffocating killing intent. "Diamante is indeed my family... but do you seriously think you have me backed into a corner? Listen closely: I do not accept threats from anyone!"
As a seasoned Underworld broker, Doflamingo knew the absolute rules of negotiation. If he immediately folded and showed desperation, the other party would relentlessly extort him for every single Belly he had. He had to project an aura of absolute, uncompromising strength.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I suppose your legendary 'family bonds' aren't worth much after all," Bardock mocked seamlessly. He turned the snail's eyes back toward the chained Executive. "Diamante, do you have any final words you want to say to your Young Master before I toss you overboard?"
"I'm sorry, Doffy! Don't worry about me!" Diamante yelled, puffing out his chest. "Just make sure you avenge me!"
Whether it was genuine loyalty or just a desperate gamble to win Doflamingo's sympathy, Diamante spoke with the fierce, righteous conviction of a martyr completely prepared to lay down his life.
Bardock pulled the snail back, a wicked smirk on his face. "Did you hear that, Doflamingo? Look at this absolute loyalty. Are you really going to sit back and let such a dedicated subordinate accidentally slip and fall into the deep, dark ocean? You know how it is... once a Devil Fruit user sinks, they never come back up."
Silence hung over the line.
In truth, Doflamingo was in a highly frustrating dilemma. Diamante was one of his Top Executives, a foundational pillar of the Donquixote Family. If Doflamingo coldly abandoned him to die now, it would inevitably plant seeds of doubt and fear in the hearts of his other loyal subordinates. The timing wasn't right; it absolutely wasn't the time to sacrifice a core executive.
Doflamingo couldn't help but grit his teeth in sheer annoyance. 'If that idiot Diamante had just been captured by the Marines, this wouldn't be an issue,' he thought bitterly. Once his grand scheme to steal the Heavenly Tribute succeeded and he successfully blackmailed the World Government into granting him Warlord status, the Navy would have been legally forced to release Diamante back to him anyway.
But Bardock was a rogue pirate, a completely uncontrollable wild card who operated entirely outside the law. Blackmailing the Government wouldn't save Diamante from getting tossed into the sea.
"Diamante, put your mind at ease. I will bring you back," Doflamingo finally said, officially breaking the stalemate and compromising. He then shifted his focus back to Bardock, and the brutal haggling began.
Doflamingo initially tried to offer massive chests of Belly. Bardock flatly refused. Doflamingo pivoted to offering premium, military-grade firearms and artillery. Bardock declined. Doflamingo even offered to supply a massive workforce of strong slaves. Bardock scoffed.
It wasn't until Doflamingo finally put Devil Fruits on the table that Bardock expressed satisfaction.
Then began the fierce debate over the exact quantity.
Technically speaking, Diamante's current active bounty was 99,000,000 Berries. In the Underworld market, the absolute lowest, baseline price for an unknown Devil Fruit was 100,000,000 Berries. Economically, Diamante's life literally wasn't even worth a single fruit.
Bardock, completely ignoring this mathematical reality, aggressively demanded an astronomical ransom of five Devil Fruits.
Doflamingo nearly shattered the receiver in his hand, furiously refusing the outrageous extortion. He insisted he would only pay a single Devil Fruit.
After several minutes of intense, venomous negotiation, the two Underworld figures finally struck a binding deal: Three Devil Fruits in exchange for Diamante's life.
Doflamingo agreed to dispatch a courier to a highly specific, neutral drop point to complete the exchange.
Surprisingly, Doflamingo wasn't overly concerned about Bardock trying to scam him or take the fruits and run. In Doflamingo's arrogant mind, he was simply too busy orchestrating his massive Heavenly Tribute heist to personally hunt Bardock down right this second. Once he successfully secured his Warlord title and freed up his schedule, he fully intended to hunt the White Dragon down, slaughter the crew, and take his Devil Fruits right back.
Furthermore, as the Underworld's premier broker, he currently held several incredibly obscure, practically useless Devil Fruits in his vault. To him, temporarily handing over three 'trash-tier' abilities to secure Diamante's release wasn't a painful loss in the slightest.
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