At this moment, after watching the head of a Celestial Dragon fly into the air only to be kicked away by Elior, countless people were paralyzed with fear.
Even Gion was shaken by the scene.
In fact, Gion was Elior's first woman, yet this was her first time following him into the field.
Faced with Elior's brutal actions, she felt helpless, but said nothing.
As Elior's woman, wasn't it her role to support him in conquering the world?
At that moment, Elior handed the ice blade in his hand to her.
"Pick one for yourself."
Elior pointed at the three Celestial Dragons trembling in absolute terror.
The headless body of their companion was sprawled on the ground, blood gushing from the neck. The remaining three were so terrified that they wet themselves.
It was horrifying beyond words.
Until this moment, they had never imagined that anyone would dare behead a Celestial Dragon—and in such a public, ruthless fashion.
If they could turn back time, they would never have set foot in Gran Tesoro.
The three Celestial Dragons begged for mercy in pitiful voices, their fear so overwhelming that it almost stirred sympathy among some.
But for the many who despised the Celestial Dragons, excitement burned within them.
Terrified as they were of Elior's cruelty, who wouldn't want to see the so-called "gods" slaughtered?
Compared to the Yonko, the Celestial Dragons were the ones people feared most.
Eight hundred years of domination had ingrained that fear into humanity.
The Yonko had existed for only two decades since the Great Pirate Era began.
It was like the world's fear of the Donquixote family in the past—the Celestial Dragons were nightmares in human form. But at the same time, people secretly dreamed of their downfall.
It was human nature.
Even many Marines had thought it before.
Elior paid them no mind.
Tezoro looked on with a smile.
Baccarat trembled, while Reiju and Bonnie watched from a distance, finally realizing what Elior wanted Gion to do.
He wanted her to kill a Celestial Dragon.
And he had just set the example.
The two women shivered. They could hardly believe Elior would push things so far.
By then, Gion had already taken the ice blade from Elior's hand.
She glanced at him—her eyes steady, resolute—then swung.
Even with a crude weapon, as a master swordswoman she could still unleash kendo techniques.
Her blade flashed in a crescent arc.
The three Celestial Dragons who had been groveling for their lives were cleaved in half in an instant.
Their bodies fell to the ground in pieces.
Gion also despised the Celestial Dragons.
Elior had told her to choose just one, yet she slaughtered all three without hesitation.
That was the resolve of Elior's woman.
Elior had placed great hopes on her, and she refused to disappoint him.
She wanted to remain the most important woman in his heart—always.
Besides, they were only Celestial Dragons. Strip away their titles, and killing them was no different from killing anyone else.
"Hm?"
Elior raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Gion to be so direct.
He thought she might hesitate, but not only had she acted—she had executed all three in a single stroke.
As the three Celestial Dragons were dismembered, shock rippled through the entire port.
The Celestial Dragons—cut to pieces.
This time, there was no coming back.
And the one who did it was the masked woman at the side of Elior.
Boom!
Elior released his conqueror haki, a crushing wave of willpower sweeping over the port. In an instant, ninety-nine percent of those present collapsed unconscious.
The port, moments from erupting in chaos, fell into dead silence once more.
"Tezoro, the rest is yours. Deliver my will: from now on, Gran Tesoro will never allow Celestial Dragons to set foot here again."
"Everything shall follow the King's will" Tezoro replied with deep reverence.
Then, Elior turned and left with Gion, Reiju, Bonnie, and the others, heading back into the Golden City.
On the docks, only unconscious bodies remained. Those few who resisted Elior's Haki were left in a daze.
Four Celestial Dragon corpses littered the port—three dismembered, one headless.
The sight was staggering.
In this brutal world, death was normal—but for Celestial Dragons to die? That was something no one could remain calm about.
Tezoro stayed behind, not to clean up corpses, but to deliver Elior's decree to the Marines.
He had submitted to Elior, and now Gran Tesoro belonged to the Yonko.
Never again would a Celestial Dragon be allowed entry.
Of course, the Celestial Dragon race itself didn't have long left.
The four who had died today were merely Elior's warm-up.
How Mary Geoise would respond was anyone's guess.
Meanwhile, Elior and his companions returned to their quarters.
When Elior went to bathe, Reiju and Bonnie finally seized the chance to question Gion.
To them, it looked as if Elior had forced her to kill the Celestial Dragons.
It left them shaken—and more afraid of Elior than ever.
But Gion? She sat calm, expression unchanged.
This very day, she had killed three Celestial Dragons with her own blade—yet she looked unaffected.
No reaction at all?
Faced with their curiosity, Peach Rabbit only shook her head and said nothing.
Inside, however, she was elated.
She could feel her place in Elior's heart had grown stronger.
Elior himself was impressed.
At first, he thought Gion might balk at killing even one.
Instead, she cut down three.
Since the Great Pirate Era began, she was now the second person to slay Celestial Dragons.
The first had been Elior, who killed four.
And Gion had slain three.
Even Elior was surprised.
She truly was his strongest, most devoted woman.
As Reiju and Bonnie whispered between themselves, Elior's voice called from the bath, summoning Gion to join him.
Without hesitation, she obeyed.
Soon after, Reiju and Bonnie could hear the unmistakable rhythm of what followed.
Time slipped by.
By nightfall, news of the four dead Celestial Dragons had reached Mary Geoise.
Fury swept the Holy Land.
But upon learning that Elior was responsible, even the Gorosei were silent.
Something even more alarming followed: Tezoro, master of twenty percent of the world's wealth, publicly declared his submission to Elior and decreed that Gran Tesoro was forever closed to the Celestial Dragons.
It was Tezoro's final break with the World Government.
Of course, they didn't know he was under Elior's control.
To them, it simply meant Elior had gained a powerful new subordinate.
With Tezoro's financial empire under his command, Elior's influence grew even more terrifying.
The World Government grew uneasy. They knew well how vast Tezoro's wealth was, and how dangerous his power could be.
Now that Tezoro was Elior's subordinate, didn't that mean Elior indirectly commanded that same colossal fortune?