Early the next morning, little Aileen came running over. Seeing that Leno was awake, the little girl cheered and leapt straight into his arms.
"Big brother, you're finally awake! Aileen missed you so much," the little girl said with some grievance.
"Aileen, while I was away, did you behave at home?" Leno asked as he hugged her and sat down at the dining table.
"Aileen was very obedient!"
"Really? Aileen is such a good girl! Here, big brother brought you some pastries. Want to try?"
"Wow! Big brother, you're the best, mua!" Aileen cheered.
"Hahahaha…" Seeing her silliness, the few women nearby also couldn't help but laugh happily.
After breakfast, Leno carried Aileen outside. The villagers, upon seeing he had awakened, came forward one after another to greet him. Feeling the warmth from their concern, Leno greeted them back, then carried Aileen away.
At the orange grove, Belle-Mère was busy working. When she saw Leno, she quickly came over to take Aileen from him, but the little girl stubbornly refused to let go. In the end, Belle-Mère had no choice but to let her be. For the rest of the day, Aileen clung tightly to Leno without getting down, leaving him half amused and half helpless.
"Leno, today's newspaper—take a look," Nami walked over holding it.
"The Legendary Great Pirate Golden Lion Falls!"
"Mysterious Youth Slays the Golden Lion!" Beneath the headline was a photo: Leno in his dragon-man form, holding a long blade and gazing down at the Golden Lion's corpse.
"Huh? How did Morgans even take this picture? There was no one around at that time…" Leno muttered in confusion.
"The Mysterious Youth's Relationship with Kaido" —below, the paper boldly speculated that this mysterious youth might be Kaido's son, abandoned and left adrift. Leno's face darkened.
"Morgans, huh? Better not let me run into you, or I'll beat you until you can't write again..."
"So, the one you fought that day… was the great pirate Golden Lion?" Kuina asked.
"Yeah. I originally went to the Calm Belt to hunt a Sea King to give Aileen a feast, but ended up running into Golden Lion there," Leno replied.
"And in the end, you killed him?" Nami's eyes sparkled. Leno was incredible—after all, this was the Golden Lion!
"No way, his strength was terrifying. Just look at the wounds on me. Of course, even if I wasn't the one who struck the final blow, his death was still because of me," Leno sighed.
"Then what's with this dragon form? I thought you had the Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers, weren't you the Thunder God?" Nami teased with a sly look.
"Ahem, well, my body is… special. I can eat three Devil Fruits. But girls remember to keep this a secret." Leno said mysteriously.
"Really?!" the three exclaimed together, shocked.
"Yeah, seriously." The girls all sucked in a sharp breath. If this spread, the entire world would erupt.
"By the way, have you checked out our ship? How does it feel?"
"It's amazing!" they all rushed to speak at once.
"The facilities are perfect—an art studio, a workshop, and the rooms inside are huge! There's a kitchen, a medical bay, even an aquarium! This ship is just too… too amazing!" Nami said excitedly.
"Oh, and also! This ship can sail without relying on wind, and it can even fly! It's unbelievable! I love this ship so much!" she added.
The others nodded quickly, their faces filled with satisfaction.
"As long as you're happy. Makes all my trips back and forth worth it."
"Satisfied? We're beyond satisfied, hahaha…"
While the girls were enthusiastically discussing how to decorate the ship—
Meanwhile, in the New World, on unfamiliar seas, a massive white-whale ship slowly sailed.
"Oyaji, Oyaji, look at today's newspaper! The Golden Lion is dead!"
Gulp, gulp, gulp. Whitebeard, who had been drinking, took the paper.
"Gu-ra-ra-ra… Shiki, you bastard, so you've gone as well." He muttered while gazing into the distance.
At Whole Cake Island, Totto Land:
"Mama Mama, here's today's newspaper. The Golden Lion Shiki was killed!" Katakuri said.
BIG MOM, devouring sweets with her gaping mouth, snatched the paper.
"Shiki, that old fool is finally dead? Good! He should have died long ago! As for this mysterious young man—find out who he really is. Could he be my dear brother's son?"
"Yes, Mama," Katakuri replied, but his sharp eyes lingered on the photo of the dragon-form youth.
In Wano Country, Onigashima:
"Uorororo… Who can kill me? I want to die so badly," Kaido muttered, drunk and dazed.
"Captain Kaido, today's newspaper says Golden Lion was killed. And the one who killed him… was your son," King said as he entered, holding the paper.
"Nani!? Golden Lion is dead? And my son killed him? Yamato!?" Kaido blinked in confusion.
"No, Captain, just look at the paper."
"…Emmmm, don't tell me this brat really is my son?"
"Captain, you'd be the one who knows that!" King groaned, black lines forming on his forehead.
"I don't know. Eh, whatever. Let's drink, drink…"
King: 'I can't deal with this Captain anymore.'
In Dressrosa, King's Plateau, Royal Palace:
"So… the fruit that bastard stole has already been eaten? Interesting, too interesting, feh-feh-feh-feh…"
At Marineford, Marine Headquarters, Meeting Room:
"There's a good chance this mysterious young man who killed Shiki is the dragon the Holy Land told us to look for," Marine General Staff Officer Tsuru asserted.
"Hahahaha… What a powerful kid from the East Blue! I'm going to bring him into the Marines and train him to be an admiral! Sengoku, I want to take a leave of absence and go to the East Blue to bring this kid back to the Marines," Garp said, raising his hand and shouting at Sengoku.
"Shut up, you fool! You just want to see your grandson. You just came back from less than a week ago!" Sengoku's veins bulged as he shouted furiously, almost ready to punch him.
"My-My… To kill the Golden Lion, that's something," Kizaru said lazily while polishing his nails.
Aokiji and Akainu, however, stayed silent. After all, they still didn't know the truth of the matter.
On Sabaody Archipelago, Shakky's Rip-off Bar:
"Ara, so Golden Lion's dead? Another one of us old folks gone," Shakky sighed.
"Yeah, not many of us left," Rayleigh agreed.
"Well Well, the more I look at this photo, the more I feel this mysterious boy is Thunder God, little brother Leno," Shakky suddenly exclaimed.
"And he's in the East Blue, too."
"If it really is him, then this is shocking. After all, his ability was supposed to be the Rumble-Rumble Fruit," Rayleigh said gravely.
"Well Well, what a world-shaking piece of news," Shakky's eyes gleamed.
Back with Leno—after several days of rest and recovery, he finally had time to quietly reflect on the insights gained from that battle.