In the middle of the night, Gion woke from her sleep. Lying on her side, she saw Elior the moment she opened her eyes. He was very close, sleeping peacefully. Looking at him like this, Gion couldn't bear to disturb him. Unconsciously, she found herself enjoying the sight. When Elior wasn't being ferocious, frightening, or angry, he was simply quiet.
When will this all end? Gion felt helpless. In truth, she knew the blood she had washed off him earlier had been his own, even if she didn't know how he had been injured. It couldn't have belonged to an enemy; it was spread too evenly across his body for that. She guessed that Elior must have been seriously injured and recovered with unimaginable speed.
Looking at the young man beside her, Gion was gripped by fear. She worried about the terrifying enemies Elior would face when he eventually attacked the World Government. The Celestial Dragons, with eight hundred years of heritage, would never be simple opponents. Although she hadn't witnessed the specific details of his last battle, she had felt the destructive force from hundreds of kilometers away. It was far beyond anything she had seen at Marine Headquarters.
Gion understood that Elior had no way out. He had offended the Celestial Dragons beyond any hope of reconciliation. Having surpassed the legends of Rocks and Roger, he was someone the World Government wanted to tear apart. Finding it hard to fall back asleep, Gion made a silent vow to advance and retreat together with him. When the time came for the massacre at Mariejois, she would be by his side to kill every last Celestial Dragon.
At that same time in Mariejois, more than a day had passed since the War Ghost's departure. The high-ranking Celestial Dragons began to feel that something was wrong because the creature had not yet returned. However, they still believed it was impossible for Elior to defeat an eight-hundred-year-old monster. They remained confident that Elior was not powerful enough to overcome such a legend.
The Five Elders held a meeting with other high-ranking nobles to discuss the destruction of Paradise Island. They believed the War Ghost's victory was a certainty. "Will there be any problems? With the War Ghost's power, killing Elior shouldn't be an issue, right?" one asked.
"There can be no problems!" another replied. "The War Ghost's power is second only to Imu-sama in Mariejois. He possesses terrifying regenerative abilities. No matter how monstrous Elior is, it's impossible for him to kill the War Ghost." They waited impatiently for his return so they could send troops to purge Paradise, intending to leave no one alive and erase the island from the map. They sat in their palace singing and dancing, completely unaware that their ultimate weapon didn't have a single cell left in existence.
The next afternoon, Elior returned to Paradise. He sent Gion back to Marine Headquarters first, using multiple spatial jumps to ensure her safety before returning to his own base. When he arrived and explained the details of the battle, Kaido and the others were stunned. The realization that the War Ghost was an existence far beyond them made Elior's victory seem even more miraculous.
Coincidentally, the final Road Poneglyph arrived at Paradise on that same day. After Elior deciphered the stone, he finally obtained the last coordinate. The New World is vast, and Laugh Tale remains hidden deep within its reaches, unreachable to anyone without all four markers. With the path finally clear, Elior decided to set sail for Laugh Tale in the coming days.