As Sakazuki spoke, Jake's mind rapidly analyzed the underlying meaning behind his words.
Jake was familiar with Flevance from the original storyline.
Based on the current timeline of 1509, the town should be at the stage where the toxicity of its mineral deposits had just been exposed and war had broken out.
What made Jake more wary was that in the original story, the town was currently under the control of the Doflamingo Family.
That place was a complex web of intersecting forces—Celestial Dragons, CP agencies, World Government affiliate nations, Marines, underworld organizations—virtually every element of the One Piece world could be found there.
What exactly was Sakazuki's purpose in sending him and Monet to such a place?
First, Sakazuki was born in North Blue and after joining the Marines, about sixty percent of his activities were concentrated there.
Forty percent of the hawkish Marines under his command came from North Blue—it could be said that North Blue was essentially Sakazuki's stronghold.
Sending them to North Blue was likely meant to signal to Marine higher-ups that they were part of his faction—that was one purpose.
Second, although the lead ore extracted in Flevance was highly toxic, his abilities might potentially cure the resulting diseases.
If he could indeed cure the lead-induced illnesses afflicting the local population, he could essentially save the already collapsing nation.
And if they succeeded in saving Flevance, the vast amounts of land, resources, materials, ports, and political status that came with it... all these would become achievements credited to Jake, or rather, the Akainu faction.
This way, both Jake and Akainu would reap tremendous benefits from this operation.
Akainu could ensure his promotion to admiral through this, while Jake could also gain significant reputation and secure political benefits and upward mobility for his future.
Third, although the Doflamingo Family was currently operating in the ruins of Flevance, if Jake were to be stationed there as an outstanding new-generation member of Akainu's faction, he would inevitably cross paths with Doflamingo.
However, this was a critical period for the Doflamingo Family's development and the final stage of his search for the Ope Ope no Mi.
Given Akainu's notorious temperament, Doflamingo would likely be wary of Jake, which was sufficient for their purposes.
Akainu was leveraging his own fearsome reputation to shield Jake, allowing him to move freely under Doflamingo's watch and thereby subtly threatening the latter.
Whether there was also an underlying motive to assist Tsuru in gathering intelligence on Doflamingo to earn her favor remained unclear.
Fourth, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's adopted son, the Calm-calm Fruit user known as Corazon, had infiltrated the Doflamingo Family as a spy.
If Jake could offer Corazon some assistance or use his knowledge of the original plot to save him, both Akainu and Sengoku would view him in a new light and hold him in high regard.
Sakazuki might have only intended for Jake to use Corazon as a means to slightly win over Sengoku, but Jake, armed with his knowledge of the original story, could leverage this to gain even more influence within the upper echelons of the Marines.
Fifth, as long as Corazon survived, the Ope Ope no Mi would essentially remain in the Marines' hands.
With Corazon alive, Jake couldn't imagine any reason for Trafalgar Law to become a pirates.
Sixth, this was more of a personal matter for Jake—the whereabouts of Monet's younger sister, Sugar.
At this point in time, Sugar had likely already been found by Doflamingo and recruited into the family.
It seemed Jake had no choice but to make a trip to Flevance.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Jake replied to Sakazuki.
"We have no objections. Everything will proceed as Vice Admiral Sakazuki commands!"
Hearing Jake's response, a faint smile appeared on Sakazuki's stern face.
He then looked at Jake with a hint of probing in his eyes.
"You and Monet were both born in the North Blue. You should know what Flevance is like now and which faction controls it. Knowing all this, why do you still choose to go?"
In response, Jake smiled and answered.
"The disease in Flevance is most likely not contagious. Even if it were, my Devil Fruit abilities should allow me to cure it. If I can successfully heal Flevance population, it would bring tremendous benefits to the Marines."
At this, Sakazuki nodded slightly, while Monet instinctively asked Jake.
"But didn't the newspapers say the disease in Flevance is contagious and that the surrounding areas have already been quarantined?"
To Monet's question, Jake simply explained softly.
"The disease in Flevance, according to newspaper reports, is caused by contact with the mineral, leading to toxin accumulation in the human body. These toxins are passed down to the next generation and can also infect others."
"But Monet, think about it—Flevance had prospered for decades by selling amber lead, amassing immense wealth. Countless merchant ships and travelers passed through and endless amounts of amber lead were sold worldwide."
"If the disease from Flevance were truly so easily contagious, the country couldn't have flourished for decades. Even if the illness caused by amber lead had an incubation period, there's no record of related cases in neighboring countries that imported it."
"So, with just a little deduction, we can conclude that the disease caused by amber lead requires prolonged, extensive and high-concentration exposure to amber lead for the toxins to accumulate to lethal levels."
"The expensive and scarce amber lead imported by other nations was never enough to reach that level of accumulation. That's why no cases of amber lead disease appeared elsewhere."
"Moreover, the blockade around Flevance was entirely orchestrated by its neighboring countries—it had nothing to do with the World Government. If amber lead were as contagious as the newspapers claimed, the World Government would have been the one to enforce the blockade."
Hearing this, Monet's face paled slightly, her voice tinged with shock and disbelief.
"So Jake, are you saying those countries attacked Flevance because they coveted the wealth it had accumulated from selling amber lead?!"
"Though I wish it weren't the case, but—"
"You two brats don't need to speculate anymore. The truth is exactly as Jake said!"