"Doffy, you need to rest! If you keep going like this, your body won't hold up!" Trebol pleaded anxiously, his voice carrying genuine concern.
"If you want me to rest, then hurry up and finish the work in your hands! If we delay even a moment, the entire project will fall behind schedule. Do you have any idea how much money we lose every single day of delay right now? Our monthly income before can't even compare to the daily loss now! Fufufufu… You tell me, how am I supposed to rest?" Doflamingo snapped, glaring fiercely at Trebol.
Only those who run a household truly understand how hard it is to make ends meet. Doflamingo had been managing things since he was young, but now, seeing the money being spent like water—on a scale that could be called astronomical—made his blood boil.
Even though that money didn't technically belong to him, his controlling nature simply couldn't stand watching it go to waste.
Don't be fooled by Doflamingo's usual flamboyant attitude. Sure, he enjoyed luxury and liked to spend as if money existed only to be burned—but that was when it came to small amounts. When he watched vast sums being poured out like an open faucet, it made his stomach twist in pain.
"But Doffy, at this rate, your body will give out," Trebol continued to plead.
"I'm fine," Doflamingo said coldly. "Go call Diamante. There's something I need him to take care of."
"Alright…" Trebol sighed, knowing further persuasion was useless. He was about to head out when Rosinante suddenly walked into the room.
"Yo," Rosinante greeted casually.
"'Yo,' my ass!" Doflamingo's temple veins bulged. "Don't tell me you're here to change the design again! I'm warning you—absolutely not this time!"
"Well, actually—" Rosinante started.
"No 'actually'! Do you have any idea how much money your every single change of the blueprints costs us?!" Doflamingo's voice rose in fury.
"Now, now, calm down, Doffy. Rosinante-sama, forgive him, Doffy's been overworked these days—he's… ah, overheated," Trebol quickly tried to smooth things over, nervous sweat beading on his forehead.
"Heh, I actually came here today to bring you a helper," Rosinante said with a chuckle, unfazed by Doflamingo's outburst. In fact, seeing Doflamingo this worked up made things even more amusing for him. "But since you don't need one, I suppose I'll just take her back."
"A helper? What kind of helper?" Doflamingo asked, instantly suspicious.
"Laki," Rosinante replied.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" A small maid stepped into the room.
Doflamingo and Trebol both turned toward her curiously.
"Her?" Doflamingo frowned.
They recognized Laki. She was one of Rosinante's personal maids, a member of his so-called Battle Maid Squad. But what could a maid possibly help with on a construction project?
"Laki, show them what you can do," Rosinante said with a smile.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Laki stepped forward, approaching Doflamingo's desk.
"There are three numerical errors here. This one's a duplicated reimbursement. And this one…"
She skimmed through the pile of papers once, her eyes moving like lightning, and began pointing out the mistakes one after another—recalculating, cross-referencing, correcting. Within minutes, she had neatly reorganized what would normally take half a day's work.
Doflamingo and Trebol stood frozen in disbelief, their jaws practically hitting the floor.
Doflamingo immediately snatched the documents from her hands, scanning through them to verify. To his astonishment, not a single error could be found—she had caught even the tiniest discrepancies.
"These bastards!" Doflamingo roared in fury as he finished reviewing the papers.
Just the fraudulent claims, duplicate reports, and deliberate accounting manipulations Laki had identified added up to tens of millions of Berries.
Normally, Doflamingo would've caught a portion of those, but even then, a few million would've slipped past him every day.
That meant every single day, there were people down the chain pocketing millions—smirking, sneering, maybe even laughing behind his back.
"Those scumbags! I'll tear their tendons out and skin them alive!" Doflamingo growled, his rage nearly boiling over.
"You can do that," Rosinante said lightly, "but you'll have to wait until the City That Never Sleeps is completed. If you start punishing people now, it'll spook the suppliers—we can't afford to scare off anyone bringing us materials."
The truth was, Rosinante had known about the corruption for a while now—not from the reports, but thanks to Enel.
Enel's Mantra covered the entire Sabaody Archipelago. Every whisper, every move was under his awareness. Nothing escaped him, so Rosinante had long been fully informed of the embezzlers' tricks.
"Fufufufu… Rosinante, you damn bastard, you're just sitting back enjoying the show, aren't you? You had someone like this all along and didn't bring her out sooner?!" Doflamingo's veins throbbed as he glared at his brother.
"Don't underestimate Laki," Rosinante replied with a grin. "She's the user of the Quick-Calculation Fruit. She's not only part of my Battle Maid Squad but also one of the core members of the BloodSworn Guard. If it weren't for how ridiculously busy you've been lately, I wouldn't have revealed her ability so soon."
As a core member of the BloodSworn Guard, Laki was bound to attract attention from all sides. Her strength was still developing, so Rosinante hadn't wanted to expose her too early.
"The core of the BloodSworn Guard?" Doflamingo and Trebol exchanged astonished looks, taking a fresh look at the unassuming young maid. They never would've guessed that such a quiet girl was one of the elite under Rosinante's command.
"Fufufufu… I have to admit, you do have an eye for talent. The Quick-Calculation Fruit—if used properly—is a strategic ability," Doflamingo said with a dark chuckle, now clearly impressed.
"Well then, I'll leave Laki in your care for now," Rosinante said, waving lazily. "But don't you dare work her to the bone like you do yourself—she's a lady, after all."
He turned and walked out, leaving Doflamingo seething.
"This guy… Is he always like this?" Doflamingo asked Laki through gritted teeth.
"Is that bad? His Majesty only cares about results. The process… he doesn't really concern himself with that," Laki answered simply.
"The fact that the Gray Domain hasn't collapsed yet is a damn miracle," Doflamingo muttered, face dark as storm clouds.
With Laki's analytical power, Doflamingo finally managed to catch a break. He could hand off mountains of paperwork to her and focus solely on overseeing the project leads. It saved him an incredible amount of time.
At last, the poor man could eat properly again, take short breaks, and even sleep peacefully at night.
But just when Doflamingo thought he could finally see the City That Never Sleeps through to completion without incident—Rosinante suddenly recalled Laki back.
That was the final straw.
Face dark, veins bulging on his forehead, Doflamingo stormed straight into Rosinante's villa.
This time, he swore, if Rosinante didn't give him a damn good explanation—he was done with this job!