At that moment, Elior gripped his right hand, and a blade formed—an ice blade, sharp and elegant. The moment it took shape, a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki coated its surface.
To Elior, it was just a simple ice blade, but with Haki, no matter how fragile it seemed, it was as hard as a famed sword.
He effortlessly dodged Gion's slash, and she noticed that Elior's entire demeanor changed the instant he gripped the blade. He now carried the presence of a swordsman.
No... more than that—he emanated the presence of a great swordsman.
Impossible. It had to be an illusion.
In truth, Elior had just learned advanced swordsmanship back in the Sabaody, and this was his first time using it.
A sharp clash echoed as their weapons collided, releasing a gust of force.
"If you're using that fragile thing to face a real swordswoman, you're bound to lose" Gion scoffed, looking down on Elior's weapon.
"Oh really?" Elior smirked. He had initially planned to rely on swordplay, but her comment made him change his mind.
Gion caught that smirk—and it unsettled her. It wasn't just arrogance. It was wicked… almost demonic.
"Mahapadma"
Elior whispered the words in his mind, and a radiant blue light burst out around him. In that instant, time and space froze. No dramatic gestures were needed—it was as if the ability responded to his mere will. It was like casting a named ultimate move where the name itself held no real weight.
Caught completely off guard, Gion was enveloped in the icy-blue domain.
As her consciousness faded, she recalled the Fleet Admiral's warning and cursed internally. Her body froze mid-air and collapsed into Elior's arms, weightless and helpless.
"Tch. Did you really think I was a good person?" Elior said, mocking and scornful.
He had never claimed to be one.
"Strong and beautiful women… rare creatures in this world."
"Do you think death is the most painful feeling?"
Gion couldn't respond. Frozen in time, she didn't even know what he was doing to her.
"I think the worst pain lies between life and death."
"To live without control over your fate… that's true torment."
"If you hadn't interfered, we could've left each other alone. But you just had to pick a fight with a villain wielding immense power."
Suddenly, thick ice walls rose from the ground on all sides, sealing them in a dome-shaped frozen fortress.
Inside the space, Elior looked down at her. Killing her would be a waste. It would be far more useful if Gion became his piece on the board—an agent embedded within the Navy or even the world government itself.
This world was full of spies and double agents. Stussy, the Queen of the Pleasure District, was a CP0 agent planted in Big Mom's territory. There were others, like Drake, who infiltrated pirate crews.
When the sun rose the next morning, Elior left Gion in the presidential suite of a luxury hotel… and quietly departed.
An hour later, the members of the Elior Pirates gathered as planned.
"Looks like something big is about to happen" Shiryu said, wiping down his blade "My sword's getting hungry."
Crocodile stood nearby, cigar in hand, unfazed by the heat in his heavy coat. He might've been the most arrogant man in the room.
"What's the current power structure on Hachinosu again?" someone asked.
"I wonder if the captain knows what's going on here?"
Elior looked over the crew and began briefing them on what he had learned from the bar the previous night. He started assigning targets.
Bullet was ordered to eliminate the Blood Spider. Elior was confident that Bullet's strength alone was more than enough to carve through the island.
Shiryu and the Urouge would handle the group led by Kriss.
Crocodile and Hawkins were tasked with dismantling Scar's group.
That left Blackmoor. After the others finished their missions, they'd regroup to wipe him out too.
These four figures controlled the four quadrants of the island—north, south, east, and west. Once they were crushed, the whole island would tremble.
If any enemy proved too strong, retreat was an option — but Elior knew it wouldn't come to that. Hachinosu, no matter how chaotic, was not on the level of a Yonko. Not even close.
The Elior Pirates were more than enough to seize control of this place. They would pierce through the island—and dominate the surrounding seas.
As for the central district, Elior, Law, and Weevil would suppress any remaining resistance.
By tonight, the island would fly the banner of the Elior Pirates.
"I don't have enough men," Elior muttered to himself. "I'll need to recruit some trustworthy subordinates here. If I want to rule a large sea territory, I'll need an army. The strength I have now isn't enough."
With that, he set out toward his first target.
And so, the battles across the island began to unfold—one after another.