On the eastern side of Flevance, within an ostentatious structure built atop ruins, a slovenly man with a perpetual sniffle hobbled urgently toward Doflamingo on his cane.
"Doffy! Doffy! Disaster! The Marines—the Marines are moving against us!"
Trebol barged through Doflamingo's door without hesitation as he spoke.
There were no formalities to observe here—Doflamingo had granted Trebol the privilege of unconditional trust and access.
The door's abrupt swing drew a shrill shriek from the woman beside Doflamingo.
Unperturbed, the latter merely sat up, draping the soft blanket over her before running a hand through his disheveled hair.
Without bothering to adjust his state of undress, he addressed Trebol directly.
"The Marines are making a move? Details. Now."
Trebol took a deep breath, sucking back the mucus threatening to drip into his mouth, and answered.
"Just got word—the nearly abandoned Marine base in Flevance has been reactivated today. And they've stationed a Marine Headquarters commodore as its leader."
At this, Doflamingo's brow furrowed in puzzlement.
"Is this what you meant by the Marines moving against us? Although Flevance has been destroyed now, its geographical location remains significant. Most countries' cargo shipments and pirates' voyages basically pass near Flevance. The Marines would never choose to abandon those areas no matter what."
"Some time ago, due to the turbulent situation in Flevance, the Marines chose to temporarily withdraw from the island to avoid unnecessary conflicts—or rather, to restrain their soldiers' foolish sense of justice. After all, the combat strength of soldiers from other nations paled in comparison to the Marines, especially with Akainu serving as the branch base officer at the time."
At this point, Doflamingo's expression darkened drastically.
He turned to Trebol, who was still panting heavily, and asked with grave seriousness.
"Hey, hey, hey… Don't tell me the Marine sent to rebuild the Flevance branch this time is Akainu again!"
Seeing Doflamingo's grim expression, Trebol hurriedly explained.
"No, no, no! It's not that guy. He's about to be promoted to Admiral—there's no way he'd come to rebuild a branch base. He's currently in the New World, busy fighting those monsters among the Four Emperors."
Hearing this, Doflamingo let out a sigh of relief.
Then, picking up the clothes discarded on the ground, he casually dressed himself while asking Trebol.
"So who's coming this time? There are too many Rear Admirals to guess, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Marines are targeting us, does it?"
"The one coming this time is… Jake."
At the mention of the name "Jake," Doflamingo froze momentarily before an overwhelmingly terrifying aura erupted from his body.
With a twisted grin, he stared at Trebol, his voice trembling with unmistakable fury.
"Are you sure it's that brat? The damn brat who killed Pica?!"
Trebol, observing Doflamingo's uncharacteristic outburst, nodded solemnly before replying.
"Doffy, it seems the Marines believe that bastard Jake now has the power to completely overthrow us. That's why they're sending him here as the branch base commander."
"Of course I can see that! But, fufufufufu! Being looked down on like this by those bastards really pisses me off! It's almost nostalgic, don't you think, Trebol? Remember when we first established the Donquixote Family? How many people looked down on us back then?"
Doflamingo's tone gradually steadied, no longer as hysterical as before.
Yet, hearing his voice grow calmer, Trebol knew this signaled an unprecedented level of focus and rage from his young master.
Still, as the most loyal member of the family, he answered the question.
"Back then, almost no one respected us. No one believed we could succeed. They openly mocked us without hesitation and threw countless obstacles in our way when our business was just starting."
Hearing this, a near-feral grin spread across Doflamingo's lips.
"So, how did we respond to those bastards who underestimated us?"
A nostalgic expression crossed Trebol's lecherous face as he ran a hand through his hair and slowly replied.
"Ah, that really brings back memories. I remember back then, Doffy, you had them all strung up, left to bake under the scorching sun. Each day they were given just enough food to survive, each day another cut was made, until after a full month they finally died. Even after death, their withered corpses served as excellent deterrents for the Donquixote Family's subsequent development."
Hearing this, Doflamingo's voice grew calm as he looked at Trebol and said evenly.
"But we can't do that to Jake. He's now the face of the Marines, the main figure behind that so-called Great Cleansing Movement. He represents too much—we can't go that far with him. Even excessive retaliation might bring catastrophic consequences upon our family."
Trebol grew agitated at these words.
"But—but Doffy, Pica was killed by that bastard! Last time he had Admiral protection that saved him from death. This time there's no Admiral by his side—why don't we go kill that bastard now?"
"The current situation is completely different from back then. That damned brat now represents the entire Marine force. Do you really want to start an all-out war with the Marines now?"
"No, that's not what I meant. I just... I just can't accept Pica's death..."
"I understand how you feel, Trebol. Rest assured, I won't let that bastard off either. He will die—but the blade that kills him doesn't necessarily have to be ours."
"Say, Trebol... have you heard the story of Joy Boy?"
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