Cudius ended up staying at Naval Headquarters for seven days, though six and a half of those were spent in the hospital. By the third day, Gion, the beautiful odore who had been injured alongside him, was discharged. She was growing impatient in the high-end ward.

  There were three people sharing the ward Cudius, Dragon, and Gion—but Gio out of pce, like an outsider. Cudius and Dragon seemed to hit it off immediately, spending most of their time deep in versation about ideas that Gion had little i in. She often found herself rolling her eyes as the two exged thoughts, feeli out and somewhat ignored.

  Wherever Gio, she usually attracted attention. After all, she was the Marine's renowned beauty, and admirers followed her everywhere. Even the sed-in-and at the officer training camp, a maio be an Admiral didate, ractically her biggest fan, visiting her four times ihree days she spent in the hospital.

  But here? It seemed Cudius and Dragon barely noticed her. They might exge a few polite words when they were all resting, but that was it. As if that wasn't enough, Nia, Cudius's butler, didn't hide her disdain fion, stantly giving her cold gres, likely bming her for Cudius's injuries.

  Feeling humiliated by the cold treatment, Gion had had enough. Her Zoan fruit ability had already sped up her recovery, and as soon as she was well enough, she signed her discharge papers a, no longer willing to stay in the ward where she felt so unwele.

  As fon, his injuries had healed days ago, but he deliberately stayed in the ward loo engage Cudius in more philosophical discussions. Dragon was at a crossroads in his life, and though he had a budding sense of rebellioill hadn't fully formed his ideas. The things Cudius talked about resonated with him in a way that few other things had.

  Though Dragon already had strong opinions about the injustices in the world, Cudius had access to ideas and philosophies far beyond what Dragon had been exposed to. Cudius, having e from an era of information and diverse political thought, was familiar with theories and movements that had no terpart in Dragon's time. Even if Cudius wasn't a master of these philosophies, they were more than enough to open Dragon's eyes to new possibilities.

  By the end of the seven days, Dragon had developed a deep respect for Cudius not for his strength, but for his ideas and his way of thinking.

  Just as Cudius and Dragon were ing up one of their discussions, an ued visitor arrived at the ward.

  It was her than Garp, Vice Admiral of the Marines and one of its stro batants. His arms were crossed, and his nose was tilted up arrogantly as he sat on's bed, clearly there to reprimand his son.

  "You idiot! What kind of injury do you have? You should've been discharged from the hospital five days ago! But here you are, loafing around for another five days. What are y to do, dodge your duties as a Vice Admiral? How am I supposed to face the world if my son acts like this? Yetting out of this hospital today, whether you like it or not! There's a mission waiting for you."

  As Garp said this, he gnced over at Cudius oher bed, deliberately avoidiioning the specifics of the mission. It wasn't that Garp was worried Cudius might leak the information; after all, Cudius was Celestial Dragon, a position that came with access to far more cssified details. No, Garp didn't want to risk Cudius showing too muterest in the mission and deg to tag along. The st thing Garp wanted was to babysit a Celestial Dragon on a dangerous operation.

  There was also another reason farp's reluce: his long-standing disdain for the Celestial Dragons. After the God Valley I, Garp's pt for the world nobles had only deepened. While Zephyr Admiral had vouched for Cudius, saying he was different from other Celestial Dragons, Garp wasn't quick to ge his mind. At best, he thought Cudius was a det fighter tough enough to stab himself to defeat Gion.

  "I'm not going," Dragon said bluntly, rejeg his father's proposal without hesitation. "I'm not the only Vice Admiral in the Marines. Someone else take care of it. You seem to have plenty of free time, so why don't you ha yourself and leave me out of it?"

  Garp's temper fred, and he smmed his hand against the bed. "Do you even know what's going on in the New World right now? Golden Lion Shiki just took down Ochoku! Now's the perfect ce to hunt Ochoku down and lock him up in Impel Down. This is a big deal, and you're sitting here sg off? You've got to e with me. Let's catch him together."

  Hearing this, Cudius's curiosity iqued. He knew of Golden Lion Shiki, but Ochoku wasn't a name he was too familiar with. He khat Ochoku had once been part of the Rocks Pirates, just like Shiki, but the details of his story were murky. Judging by Garp's rea, Oust've been one of his old rivals.

  "I've got more important things to do than that," Dragon said, clearly irritated.

  "What could be more important than upholding justice as a Marine? More important than wiping out evil?" Garp demanded, his frustration growing.

  "Ochoku is already weakened by Shiki. You don't need me for this you ha on your own. This is a trivial matter for me. What's important right now is that I'm at a critical point in my life, figuring out my beliefs. I'm finally starting to see through the fusion I've been feeling. That's far more important to me than chasing some pirate."

  "You idiot! I'm your father!" Garp shouted, his patience wearing thin.

  Watg the heated argument, Cudius couldn't help but refle Garp's skills as a mentarp was strong, legendary even he had power, fame, and experience. But in one area, he struggled immensely: raising the geion.

  Marine had two promi figures when it came to training future leaders. One was Zephyr, who ractically the "headmaster" of the Marines. He had trained many of the Navy's top officers, including the future Admirals. He was a respected teacher who produced disciplined, formidable Marines.

  Then there was Garp.

  Garp was a different story. His iions were good, and he genuinely wao raise great Marines, but the results spoke for themselves. He had raised his own son, Dragon, to bee the world's most notorious criminal. Strike one.

  Then, after realizing he'd botched his son's path, Garp turned his attention to Ace, Roger's son, hoping to mold him into a top Marihat didn't go so well either Aded up being Whitebeard's adopted son and a pirate through and through. Strike two.

  Lastly, there was his grandson, Luffy. Garp had tried to raise Luffy to be a strong Marine, but the boy had also gone off to bee a pirate, charging headlong toward the same rebellious path as his father and brother. Strike three.

  If it weren't farp's incredible reputation and aplishments, Cudius figured the Wover would've e after him, maybe eveing or punishing him for being a terrible influence.

  Now, watg Garp and Drague, Cudius could clearly see why Garp's mentorship hadn't panned out. Garp was too overbearing. He wanted his son and grandson to follow the paths he had id out for them, never really sidering their desires. No wohey had all rebelled.

  It was time for Cudius to intervene. If he didn't step in, Garp and Dragon might end up in a full-blown argument, and Garp could easily find out that the real reason didn't want to leave the hospital was because of Cudius's discussions with him. Cudius didn't want to end up being the scapegoat for their fight.

  Also, if Garp and Dragon started brawling here, Cudius didn't want to be caught in the crossfire his injuries still weren't fully healed, after all.

  "Dragon," Cudius said, trying to calm the situation. "Don't be too quick to dismiss your father's suggestion. There's value in theory, but you also need practice. You o see the world with your own eyes, experie. That's how you refine your ideas. Vice Admiral Garp's mission might be the perfect opportunity for you to do just that."

  Dragon paused, turning to listen as Cudius tinued, "The versations we've had ideas are important, but they o be tested against reality. You might find new inspiration, or see things from a different perspective while out there. sider it part of your journey."

  Dragoated. He respected Cudius's opinions, and it was true that he had learned a lot from their talks. After a moment, he finally nodded. "Fine, I'll go with you, then."

  Garp was a bit stu the moment. He knew just how stubborn his son was—how could he not? Yet, watg Cudius sway his son's resolve with just a few words left Garp genuinely surprised.

  As a result, his impression of Cudius shifted slightly.

  "It seems… maybe Zephyr was right. This Cudius might be different from the usual spoiled, arrogaial Dragons," Garp thought to himself.

  After Dragon agreed to Garp's missiourned and looked at Cudius with a smile. "Mr. Crowe and I hit it ht away. We'll be parting ways for now, but who knows when we'll get to meet again? Why don't we exge taformation? If I find myself fused iure, I might reach out to have a chat."

  Naturally, Cudius wouldn't refuse su offer. He nodded and called out, "Nia."

  Nia knew what to do. She immediately took out a phoransponder snail from her bag and ha ton. The two exged signals, ensuring they'd be able to unicate iure. With that settled, Dragon followed Garp to begin the formal discharge procedures.

  As they walked down the corridor of the Marine hospital, Dragon remained silent for a while before finally speaking up. "Who is that Mr. Crowe? I get the feeling he's more than just a CP-0 agent, right?"

  Garp g Dragon with a plicated expression. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "If he didn't tell you himself, then it's not my pce to say any more.".