After returning to Whole Cake Island, Elior didn't forget to ask Brûlée, who had the power to manipulate memories, to alter Tama's memories.

The operation was simple: Elior ordered Brûlée to erase all memories of Fire Fist Ace from Ayu's mind.

Of course, this was just a small side event.

Soon after, the grand banquet at Whole Cake Chateau began.

When the Marine learned that Big Mom was hosting a banquet for Elior, they couldn't stay calm.

Elior and Big Mom, who had clearly been at each other's throats before— why were they suddenly working together?

"This doesn't make sense! Intelligence reports showed that Elior and Big Mom were fighting over Fish-Man Island, and their conflict was already set in stone. But now…"

"Yeah, it's completely abnormal… and unsettling!"

"Damn it! Are those two planning some kind of alliance?"

Even Akainu and the other high-ranking Marines couldn't suppress their unease.

Tsuru said calmly,

"There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. They could be making some kind of deal we don't know about."

"It's unclear… but not impossible. After the war, anything can happen."

With endless speculation and no answers, the eight Marine warships had no choice but to withdraw.

The same was true for the Red-Haired Pirates.

After all, there was no way Shanks' crew could openly enter Whole Cake Island right now.

But both the Red-Haired Pirates and the Marine felt the same unease:

What exactly were Elior and Big Mom planning?

Rumors of an alliance between them were terrifying enough.

And while it was only speculation, no one could deny the possibility.

Maybe… it really could happen.

Meanwhile, the banquet at Whole Cake Chateau continued, rivaling even the grand wedding banquet from before.

Seeing the two Yonko talking and laughing together left the entire Charlotte Family in disbelief.

Since the start of the Great Pirate Era, since the rise of the Yonko, there had never been a case of two Yonkoforming an alliance.

And now, three were preparing to unite!

The fourth, of course, was the Red-Haired Pirates—the ones they planned to eliminate!

The thought alone made people shiver.

The banquet lasted most of the day. By late night, the Elior Pirates were finally preparing to leave Whole Cake Island.

"Linlin" Elior said coldly, "we agreed: in one month, unless something unexpected happens, we attack the Red-Haired Pirates. I'll contact you when the time comes."

"Well… I'm looking forward to it!"

Big Mom laughed wildly, slipping back into her usual madwoman demeanor.

Half an hour later, the Elior Pirates left Whole Cake Island.

Not long after boarding the ship, Elior contacted Doflamingo via Den Den Mushi.

Besides asking about the location of the final Poneglyph, he ordered him to gather information on the Flame-Flame Fruit, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the Dark-Dark Fruit, and the Ice-Ice Fruit.

Doflamingo, now Elior's unwilling servant, immediately set his massive underground network into motion.

With Doflamingo's vast intelligence resources, Elior was confident he would soon have results.

What Elior didn't know was that the World Government was also searching for those same four Devil Fruits.

After all, three were among the most powerful Logia Fruits, and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit was the strongest Paramecia in existence.

Even the World Government couldn't ignore such power. Their massive intelligence network was already mobilizing.

Meanwhile, the Elior Pirates were preparing to return to Paradise.

"Captain" Shiryu said to Elior, "besides the Red-Haired Pirates, we also need to watch the Revolutionary Army and the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"Of course," Elior replied. "Someone needs to track down the Revolutionary Army's headquarters soon."

Crocodile smirked. "When the time comes, we'll wipe them out."

"Exactly. Otherwise, they'll just keep plotting in the shadows—annoying as hell. As for Whitebeard's remnants, we'll deal with them after the Red-Haired Pirates are gone."

Elior knew both the Revolutionary Army and Whitebeard's remnants would eventually come after him.

After all, he had personally killed the people most important to them. Revenge was inevitable.

But Elior wasn't worried.

None of them were strong enough to threaten him.

It was that simple.

"By the way," Elior said suddenly, "I'm heading to Gran Tesoro first. We're not returning to Paradise yet."

This morning, he had already asked Big Mom for Gild Tesoro's contact information.

The Golden Emperor ruled Gran Tesoro, a massive moving entertainment city on the seas.

Without knowing its location, finding it would be impossible.

"Captain" Bullet said, clearly excited, "let me spar with you again."

"Wait until I get back. There'll be plenty of time" Elior replied.

Half an hour later, Elior set off separately, taking Reiju and Bonney with him.

The two women were overjoyed to be traveling alone with Elior.

The others returned to Paradise.

Elior planned to stay in Gran Tesoro for a few days—to eat, drink, and enjoy himself.

But he also had plans for Gild Tesoro.

Tesoro, whose strength rivaled Doflamingo's and who had also awakened his Devil Fruit power, was next on Elior's list to bring under his control.

After all… talent like that couldn't go to waste.