Dressrosa, the Royal Plateau — inside the palace, Doflamingo crouched on the windowsill, holding a custom-made Den Den Mushi designed to his specifications, watching the cityscape below.

From the heights of the royal palace, the entire town lay within his sight.

"So many orders coming in from the New World lately. Fufufu..."

He had just ended a call from one of the pirate factions in the New World, who wanted to purchase a large shipment of weapons. As a broker dealing in both the underworld and the pirate world, Doflamingo was the go-to middleman for many, supplying weapons and other illicit trades.

And today alone, ten different factions had contacted him to place military orders.

They weren't major powers, but far from insignificant. To Doflamingo, business was business — the more, the merrier.

The reason for this surge in orders was no mystery: Whitebeard's territories were up for grabs. Even Big Mom, one of the Yonko, had started moving — but unlike others, she only seemed interested in Fish-Man Island beneath the Red Line.

With the largest territory in the New World suddenly vacant, power-hungry factions were already stirring, each eager for a piece of the pie.

Just then, his Den Den Mushi rang again. Doflamingo instinctively thought it was yet another order and was already considering delegating the call to his subordinates.

However, the voice that greeted him made his eyes narrow in surprise.

Crocodile?

"Well, well, Sand Croc, what's your business with me?"

Doflamingo's expression turned serious. Crocodile now served under Elior—and Elior was no ordinary pirate, but one of the current Yonko.

If Crocodile was calling, was this actually a message from Elior?

"Our captain wants to know the locations of Whitebeard's territories" Crocodile said bluntly.

"All of them?" Doflamingo's heart skipped a beat.

If Elior wanted to know where all of Whitebeard's territories were, that could only mean one thing: he was about to seize them.

And if Elior was making a move, what did that mean for all the smaller factions placing orders with Doflamingo? Could they even stand a chance against a Yonko?

Anyone who dared cross a Yonko was either suicidal or insane.

Doflamingo felt his pulse quicken. As he suspected, Elior wasn't about to leave Whitebeard's legacy unchecked.

"Besides Fish-Man Island, our captain wants everything else mapped out."

Crocodile's voice remained steady. Elior had instructed him to contact Doflamingo, knowing the broker had extensive connections in the underworld.

Elior himself had no clue where all of Whitebeard's territories were. In the original story, Blackbeard managed to conquer them quickly because he had been one of Whitebeard's crew, familiar with every inch of their holdings—and who could resist Blackbeard's growing might?

"Fufufu... understood."

"Give me a day—no, maybe not even that long. You know my intelligence network is the third-best in the world."

"Your captain plans to move in three days, doesn't he?"

"Three days at the latest" Crocodile confirmed.

"Fufufu... I'm looking forward to it."

After the call ended, Doflamingo immediately gave orders to mobilize his intelligence network to gather information on every island and sea area under Whitebeard's former control.

Doflamingo's intelligence was indeed the third best in the world.

"Looks like the New World is about to tremble again. Fufufu... Those little factions eyeing Whitebeard's territories—do they really think they can compete with Elior? The only ones who could contest him are Big Mom or someone of similar stature."

The thought of the chaos to come excited Doflamingo.

Meanwhile, back on Paradise Island—

"Captain, Doflamingo says he'll have the information within a day — maybe even sooner."

Crocodile reported to Elior. The plan was to move in three days, but first, they needed the precise locations of Whitebeard's territories to draft a proper strategy.

"Good" Elior replied.

After Crocodile left, Elior was idly toying with arcs of electricity in his hand when Gion walked in.

Unlike the previous day's cheongsam, she now wore a formal military uniform, complete with the Justice cape draped across her shoulders.

She looked stunningly composed and mature, the outfit accentuating her curvaceous figure.

"Elior, I need to return to Marine Headquarters for a while."

There was reluctance in her eyes.

"Marine HQ? For what?"

"The funeral's been postponed. All key Marines are required to attend."

"A funeral, huh?"

Elior could understand that. After all, most of the dead were his doing — it was only right for the Marines to hold a formal memorial.

"Come here."

At his command, Gion obediently sat on his lap.

"Tell me honestly — which is more important to you: your justice or me?"

"My master... Elior is the most important."

Satisfied, Elior grinned. He was proud—he'd turned a Marine vice admiral into someone who would abandon justice for him. Gion remained his favorite woman so far.

"Next time you return, I'll reward you properly, Gion"

She smiled and nodded.

"Oh, by the way, Elior... Marine HQ is preparing for a global conscription drive. I also heard the World Government wants me and that old man Tokikake to become admirals. Akainu is set to be promoted to Fleet Admiral."

Global conscription? Akainu as Fleet Admiral? Gion promoted to admiral?

Elior absorbed the information. It was no surprise; after Marineford, the Marines and World Government had to rebuild, just like in the original timeline. But this time, there'd be no struggle over the Fleet Admiral position—Aokiji was dead, so Akainu's promotion was guaranteed.

Then came the topic of new admirals.

"If I become an admiral, what will you do?" Gion asked worriedly. Admirals had little freedom and were often tied to HQ duties. As a vice admiral, she'd enjoyed more liberty—especially to visit Elior.

Garp had famously refused promotion for that very reason — but not everyone could reject such an offer.

"Don't worry. You won't be an admiral" Elior said, shaking his head.

"Why not?" she asked, feeling slightly underestimated.

"Because there are two monsters from the civilian world — stronger than you and Chaton — who will be appointed admirals instead. You'll remain a candidate, unless they die."

"Two civilian monsters?" Gion frowned in disbelief.

"Yes. They aren't Marines yet, but their strength is so overwhelming the World Government will break protocol to recruit them directly as admirals."

"Is that true?"

"You'll see soon enough. And when you're back at HQ, keep me updated. You brought the mini Den Den Mushi, right?"

"Of course" Gion showed him the watch on her right wrist—a disguised Den Den Mushi for direct contact with Elior.

Thus, Gion became arguably the most powerful spy in the world. As Elior's woman, stationed right within Marine HQ, she was the perfect insider—especially since her once-pure sense of justice had been entirely subverted by him.

The likes of Bullet and the others knew Gion visited Elior frequently, but said nothing. A woman? That was nothing.

Two hours later, after a final indulgence that left her cheeks flushed, Gion boarded a small Marine vessel at Paradise's harbor, setting off toward the Red Line.

As a Marine officer, she didn't need to coat the ship for underwater travel to the first half of the Grand Line. Instead, she could cross the Red Line directly via the authorized passage exclusive to the Marines, World Government affiliates, or sanctioned merchants.

Pirates and other forces? They had no choice but to brave the perilous underwater route.

On the other side, what Elior didn't know was that a Marine warship was passing by in the distant waters. Aboard that ship was none other than Zephyr the former admiral who had since retired from active duty, now traveling with his students.

"Pirates... every last one of them deserves to die."

Zephyr stood at the bow, glaring in the direction of Paradise Island. In his mind, he could almost see the face of the pirate he now hated most — Elior.

Elior had personally killed one of Zephyr's most beloved students Aokiji. Among the three Marine admirals of the previous era, all had been Zephyr's students — the three great monsters of the Marine — and Aokiji had been the youngest of them. He was only in his early forties and should've had many years left ahead of him, yet his life had been cruelly cut short by that villain Elior.

Zephyr had cried through the night when he first learned the news. Now, over two days had passed, and he hadn't touched a bite of food or drink, still consumed by grief over Aokiji's death.

He was trapped in that pain, unable to free himself.

The once non-lethal admiral was long gone. Through his years of loss and disillusionment, Zephyr's sense of justice had warped into something even more absolute and brutal than Akainu's ruthless brand of justice.

Now, he was on his way back to Marine Headquarters, preparing to attend the funeral.

"Teacher Zephyr..."

His student, Ain, stood beside him, her expression full of sorrow, but she didn't know how to console him.

Everyone on the warship, including Zephyr's other students, remained silent. The heavy weight of grief and anger hung over them all.