Ignoring Cudius' jokes, Dragon pressed on and asked, "Is there some kind of conspiracy?"

  Cudius chuckled and said, "I wouldn't call it a conspiracy, but yes, there's a major move happening. However, it has nothing to do with your Revolutionary Army. Don't worry."

  Hearing this, Dragon was skeptical. He responded with clear distrust, "The World Summit has always been connected to our Revolutionary Army. Now, all of a sudden, a hundred nations are gathering for a meeting, and you're telling me it has nothing to do with us? That seems… unlikely."

  "What, don't you trust me?" Cudius smiled.

  Dragon ughed awkwardly and said, "Haha, hahahaha, what are you talking about? Aren't we close friends? Of course, I trust you."

  "You sound guilty just saying that," Cudius replied helplessly.

  "It's just that what you're saying is hard to believe," Dragon admitted. "How can the World Government gather a hundred nations and have it not involve the Revolutionary Army? Are they pnning something against the pirates instead?"

  Cudius froze for a moment before ughing. "Impressive, Dragon! You actually guessed it. That's right—this time, our target is the pirates."

  "Stop messing with me, Cudius. What are you really after? Just tell me straight," Dragon said, not believing him at all.

  "Hah! Do I look like someone who needs to covet your scraps?" Cudius replied casually.

  "Oh really?" Dragon pondered for a moment before saying, "Alright then, return the Road Poneglyph to me."

  "Ahem—let's stick to discussing the World Summit," Cudius coughed and quickly changed the subject.

  "As a high-ranking Celestial Dragon, could you at least pretend to have some integrity?" Dragon said in exasperation.

  Cudius just chuckled and said, "Alright, enough nonsense. I won't lie to you.

  Yes, we're pnning a major operation, and I won't deny it.

  Before the World Summit begins, we're going to make a move against the Whitebeard Pirates. That's what all these preparations are for.

  It really has nothing to do with your Revolutionary Army, you're overthinking it."

  We are making a move against the Whitebeard Pirates before the World Summit begins, so everything happening now is just the preparatory phase.

  Dragon was momentarily stunned. Damn… so it's really a major event? He had originally thought the sudden expansion of the World Summit was targeted at the Revolutionary Army, but now he was hearing that the World Government was actually going after Whitebeard?

  "You're really getting bold… You dare to challenge Newgate?" Dragon muttered.

  "The bolder the dream, the greater the achievement," Cudius teased. "Besides, without dreams, aren't we just lying around like dead fish?"

  "Need my help?" Dragon suddenly asked, as if he were eager to join in on the action.

  Cudius rolled his eyes. "The st time you stirred up trouble on Whole Cake Isnd, how many benefits did you secretly snatch up?"

  Hearing this, Dragon chuckled. "That was years ago! Do you think I keep track of every little thing I do? There weren't any real benefits, right? Aside from the Road Poneglyph, but that's yours now anyway."

  "Yeah, right," Cudius scoffed.

  He didn't believe a word of Dragon's nonsense. This guy was cunning as hell, there was no way he didn't make huge gains from the Whole Cake Isnd operation. Otherwise, why would he be so eager to 'help' again now?

  Did he really expect Cudius to believe he was some benevolent Revolutionary Army leader, a selfless man of justice?

  It wasn't that Cudius was unwilling to give Dragon a slice of the pie, there just wasn't a slice for him this time.

  "Just knowing ahead of time that we're making a move on Whitebeard is already a huge advantage for you," Cudius said. "As for the battle itself, stay out of it. This will be a direct head-on war, and I doubt you'd want to get caught in the crossfire."

  Hearing that, Dragon reconsidered and rubbed his chin. "Then maybe I should start making some preparations too…"

  Now that he had confirmed the information, the ever-opportunistic Dragon felt that he was the one getting an advantage. With that thought in mind, he smirked and said, "Alright then, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up."

  Cudius rolled his eyes. "You're so damn straightforward."

  "If I weren't realistic, how do you think I manage an organization as massive as the Revolutionary Army?" Dragon responded, completely shameless.

  "Hold on, don't hang up yet," Cudius said. "You called me first, but I was actually pnning to reach out to you."

  "Huh? Then why didn't you just say so earlier?" Dragon asked, caught off guard.

  "I didn't want to look desperate," Cudius replied with a grin. "It's better if you come to me first, it makes me look more important."

  "You were counting on me to contact you about the World Summit, weren't you?" Dragon said, exasperated.

  "And didn't I give you the information?" Cudius responded smoothly. "We're even."

  Dragon sighed, deciding not to argue over such trivial matters. Instead, he asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about? Are you pnning something big?"

  Cudius was silent for a moment. A sharp glint fshed in his eyes as he spoke in a quiet, serious tone:

  "I'm the one who orchestrated the changes in the upcoming World Summit."

  Upon hearing this, Dragon immediately fell silent, deep in thought.

  "If I remember correctly, you didn't even attend the st two World Summits," Dragon eventually said.

  "That's true," Cudius confirmed.

  "So why are you suddenly stepping in this time?" Dragon asked quietly.

  Then, before Cudius could respond, Dragon lowered his voice further and asked, "Have you already made your move?"

  Cudius simply ughed in response.

  "Tch. That's the difference between taking the top-down approach versus my bottom-up struggle," Dragon muttered bitterly. "You have the resources to make things happen easily, while I'm still grinding my way through."

  "That's why I keep telling you, you should stop comparing yourself to me in these matters," Cudius teased. "Why don't you just change your banner and join me?"

  "And how would I expin that to my people?" Dragon countered.

  Before Cudius could come up with some absurd remark, Dragon continued in a serious tone, "So, you're pnning to disrupt this World Summit, aren't you? This is your big move?"

  Cudius fell silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, "Yes. The time has come."

  "Couldn't you wait just a little longer?" Dragon sighed.

  "I was waiting for you," Cudius replied calmly.

  Dragon went silent at that. Neither of them spoke for a long while.

  After an extended pause, just as the atmosphere grew heavy, Dragon finally broke the silence. "Cudius, what exactly do you pn to do?"

  "There's not much I can reveal to you at this stage," Cudius admitted. "But I will say this, I intend to dismantle the current Celestial Dragon system."

  "You're a Celestial Dragon yourself. What happens to you?" Dragon asked in a deep voice.

  "Have you ever seen someone willingly give up their own power?" Cudius responded, without pretense or deception.

  Dragon chuckled. "Well, at least you're honest about it. Not that I expected anything different."

  "I told you long ago," Cudius continued, "stop indulging in idealistic theories. Look at the world as it really is. The way your Revolutionary Army has developed, I'm sure you've matured beyond those na?ve ideas, haven't you?"

  Dragon was silent for a moment. Then, he admitted, "You're right… I'm not that na?ve anymore."

  ***

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