A “Chekhov-explicit” plant delivered partly through a now-dead character (Harald): Oda names the existence of a secret without disclosing it, guaranteeing a later payoff. It knots Shanks’s privileged Mary-Geoise access (his Ch. 907 Five-Elders audience) to Elbaf and the WG–giant conflict. See Shanks Figarland Connection, The Truth of the Aurust Castle Massacre, King Harald.