Although Golden Lion didn't agree to help Lilith kill the Celestial Dragons, he still "tricked" her onto the floating island under the pretense of teaching her Haki and swordsmanship.
Several kilometers away, hidden in the distance, Noah sensed Lilith tearing the card attached to her body, signaling that she had successfully infiltrated the Golden Lion Pirates.
Lilith didn't carry a Den Den Mushi with her. Her only backup was the space-coordinate gem hanging from her neck and a deck of playing cards crafted by Noah.
On the floating island, Lilith displayed her talent for navigation while pretending to be an ordinary person, using the opportunity to learn Haki and swordsmanship from Golden Lion.
After more than half a month of careful planning, Lilith's status within the Golden Lion Pirates had soared, almost rivaling that of the second-in-command scientist, Indigo.
At the same time, Lilith discovered Golden Lion's weakness— the ship's rudder lodged in his head. Not only did it limit his Haki abilities, but it also caused him to have frequent bouts of confusion.
Inside a secluded training ground on the floating island, Golden Lion was explaining advanced techniques for using Armament Haki. After a few minutes, his eyes suddenly glazed over, and he started crowing like a rooster.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."
"This is my chance!" Lilith thought, seizing the moment. She instantly burst into action, and a colorless, odorless poison began to seep from her body.
Before long, the toxin had entered Golden Lion's lungs through his breathing.
In less than a minute, Golden Lion fell into a deep coma. The compound poison not only worked as a fast-acting anesthetic but also induced vivid hallucinations, creating an excellent sleep aid.
Lilith tore another card from her deck.
In a flash, the space-coordinate gem in her necklace was activated, and a wormhole opened up in the training ground.
Thanks to the remote location of this training ground and Lilith's vigilant use of Observation Haki, none of the other Golden Lion Pirates were aware that their captain had already fallen into a deep slumber.
Noah and Ari jumped through the wormhole.
"Big brother, mission accomplished!" Lilith said, a proud smile on her face, clearly expecting praise.
Noah patted her head gently. "You've worked hard. Now let's deal with the rest of the Golden Lion Pirates. Lilith, you handle Golden Lion."
"OK."
Lilith continued injecting poison into Golden Lion's body to ensure that he remained in a deep sleep. Of course, she didn't dare to submerge him in seawater just yet—if the floating islands lost their buoyancy, they would come crashing down from the sky.
Noah, Ari, along with Mary, Jay, and Anthony, quickly snuck towards the Golden Lion Pirates' base.
During this time, Noah activated his full Observation Haki, locking onto every person on the floating islands.
Besides the bird-people that originally lived on Vermeil Island, there were over two thousand pirates under Golden Lion's command. The bird-people lived on another floating island, while most of Golden Lion's crew were stationed on Lion Island, the main island of the floating archipelago.
Several other islands, used to raise evolutionary beasts, housed a few hundred pirates as well.
According to Lilith's intel, the scientist Indigo and the red ape Skaretto were both on the main island.
The fish-man swordsman, however, was on Beast Island #1.
Noah assigned Ari and Jay to eliminate the fish-man swordsman, while he personally took care of the main island.
Soon, Noah's Observation Haki "saw" Indigo. Knowing that Indigo could create poison through chemical reactions, Noah decided not to engage in close combat.
Before Indigo even realized what was happening, Noah appeared behind him. Due to spending so much time on the floating islands, Indigo had grown complacent and dropped his guard.
By the time Indigo's Observation Haki sensed danger behind him, it was already too late.
Noah knocked him out with a swift hand chop and quickly sealed him away.
Immediately after, Noah unleashed a terrifying burst of Conqueror's Haki.
The overwhelming Haki instantly knocked out a large portion of the pirates, but the few who remained conscious didn't suspect anything unusual.
After all, Golden Lion would sometimes unleash Conqueror's Haki during his episodes.
It wasn't until Anthony's infrasonic waves and Mary's razor-sharp attacks struck the conscious pirates that they realized something was wrong.
"Enemies?!"
"You idiots! Fight back!"
"Damn it! You're dead! Captain Shiki will never let you off…"
"Ahhh!"
The invisible ultrasonic blades sliced through the air like a scythe cutting through wheat, toppling pirate after pirate.
Mary darted through the air with incredible speed, moving too fast for the eye to follow. Her short sword, polished to a mirror-like smoothness, left the pirates she struck split cleanly in two.
"Damn you!" The red ape roared in fury.
In the next second, Noah appeared in front of the red ape, focusing his Conqueror's Haki directly on him. The simple-minded ape felt as if he had seen his worst nightmare.
Before the ape could react, Noah flung a card coated in Armament Haki at a precise angle, cutting into the back of its left knee—an old injury. The hit immobilized the ape's left leg in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Noah condensed Armament Haki into his fingertips and, with lightning speed, drove them into the third rib on the right side of the red ape's chest.
Armament Haki: Internal Destruction!
The red ape's eyes widened in shock as its body felt as though it had been shattered by a sledgehammer. It collapsed heavily to the ground, completely unable to move.
In less than twenty minutes, the pirates on the main island were wiped out.
Meanwhile, Ari and Jay, with lightning-fast efficiency, eliminated the pirates on the Beast Islands, along with the last officer—the fish-man swordsman.
Despite the fish-man swordsman's formidable strength, against Jay, who could manipulate thousands of graphene wires, and the stealthy Ari, his fate was sealed. He was soon tied up like a bundle of straw.
With the pirates dealt with, Noah and his crew finally began to assess their spoils.
Aside from Golden Lion himself and his two Supreme Grade swords, the most valuable asset on the floating islands was the cultivated IQ Grass and the research notes on it.
However, the most pressing issue now was how to handle the unconscious Golden Lion.
Noah found himself in a tricky situation. The only safe way to remove the rudder from Golden Lion's head was to use the powers of the Op-Op Fruit.
Unfortunately, the Op-Op Fruit had yet to appear.
If they didn't deal with Golden Lion soon, the immobile floating islands would eventually be discovered by the World Government, and the area would become extremely dangerous.
But Noah hesitated to modify Golden Lion just yet. A Tarot reading had shown no possibility of success in doing so, which was why he was being cautious.
After all, the Float-Float Fruit held immense strategic value.
With that fruit in hand, the Noah family could remain invincible, even the World Government would struggle to corner them.
Golden Lion's capture had largely been due to his reckless decision to challenge both Garp and Sengoku at Marineford, refusing to back down from a hopeless battle.
With modifying Golden Lion off the table for now, Noah would have to resort to a more conservative approach.