A series of knocks sounded at the door, accompanied by a man's curses and a woman's startled gasp.
Jake heard the sharp click of leather shoes against the floorboards.
The footsteps were quick, the breathing heavy.
Whoever was inside was clearly displeased at having his business interrupted.
Jake stood outside the door, flanked by rows of neatly assembled Marine soldiers.
Some had been brought from the abandoned Marine base, while others had followed Jake and Monet from headquarters to Flevance.
They held their breath, their gazes fixed on the unopened door.
With a creaking sound, the door was violently pushed open.
The man, seemingly too agitated, didn't focus his gaze on the Marines soldiers behind Jake but instead fixed his eyes on Law, who was standing beside Jake.
The next moment, the man suddenly bent slightly at the waist, then snarled at Law with a twisted expression.
"You damn brat! I was still considering whether to just break one of your legs the next time I saw you and let you beg for scraps. But now it seems you little bastard don't even deserve that much sympathy from me. Ahhh, how disappointing! Since you're so eager to die, I'll help you achieve that goal right now!"
Having said that, the man completely ignored Jake, who stood beside Law with a dark expression.
Only when his foot, aimed straight at Law's chest, was ruthlessly blocked did the man finally turn his attention to Jake.
But as he stared at his own right leg, effortlessly restrained without any injury, his face flushed with humiliation.
He immediately began cursing at Jake.
"And who the hell are you, you damn bastard? Some hired help for this little bastard? One after another, all of you think you're the main character, all of you believe you can build a new nation on this rotten wasteland. But so-called 'main characters' like you are a dime a dozen on the Grand Line!"
Seemingly furious that his attack had been intercepted by Jake, the man roared insults at him.
Jake found the man's reaction strange at first.
No matter how closely connected this guy was to the Doflamingo family, no matter how powerful his background, he should have at least shown some wariness upon seeing the uniforms they wore.
Yet this man acted as if he hadn't even noticed the identical attire, continuing to hurl abuse at Jake without restraint.
It was then that Jake caught a whiff of a stench of alcohol from the man's breath. That explained his irrational behavior.
The man was drunk—so drunk he couldn't even distinguish the gender of the person standing in front of him, let alone recognize the insignia on Jake's uniform.
Now, with his foot still firmly gripped by Jake and unable to pull free, the man grew increasingly frantic.
In a fit of rage, he reached for his waist and drew a somewhat battered revolver.
Without hesitation, he fired three or four shots directly at Jake.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the otherwise quiet street.
The faint smell of gunpowder lingered at the doorway, and inside the house, a woman's terrified gaze met Jake's.
Outside, dozens of soldiers watched the scene unfold with calm indifference, not even blinking.
They knew their commanding officer's strength all too well—those bullets wouldn't have harmed Jake in the slightest.
Monet frowned at this moment, his gaze fixed on the drunken man now held up by Jake, his expression filled with disgust.
"Open your eyes and see who I really am?"
Jake's cold voice reached the man's ears, accompanied by faint flickers of electricity coursing through his body.
The excruciating pain sent the man into violent convulsions.
The intense agony suppressed the drunken haze.
Clutching his head, he stared at Jake, then at the stern-faced Marines, feeling as if every hair on his body stood on end.
Though he had profited immensely through illicit means after the fall of Flevance, those gains were built on knowing exactly who he could afford to offend—and who he couldn't.
To secure an escape route, he had even buried all the Berries he had collected underground, not daring to spend a single coin.
Even when bullying others, he picked his targets carefully—most of the time, he only preyed on orphans like Law, those with no parents or anyone to rely on.
To survive in such a world, he had been as cautious as possible.
But today, when a beautiful young woman with a child came to him for help, he had been too elated.
He brought out a half-empty bottle of liquor he had been saving, and just as he finished drinking and was about to get down to business, the sudden knocking at the door had thrown him into a frenzy.
The liquor's aftereffects were potent.
At first, he hadn't felt anything, but as soon as he moved or the wind hit him, he lost all sense of direction.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself staring into the cold eyes of a young man draped in a Justice Coat.
He didn't know how to explain himself or why things had turned out this way.
The only thing he could do was raise his hands, trying not to provoke this Marine who clearly wasn't the forgiving type.
...
Half an hour later, the man's corpse was hung in the streets.
During Jake's investigation, the man's subordinates and some of his victims collectively exposed all his crimes—including how, at the start of Flevance's war, he had looted and slaughtered an entire family of six, along with countless other heinous acts.
Simply electrocuting the man didn't feel like enough vengeance to Jake, but time was pressing.
He had to accelerate the restoration of Flevance.
Once Doflamingo learned of his presence here, he would undoubtedly start making moves.
Jake had to revitalize Flevance's foundation before Doflamingo's attack arrived.