Mariejois was unusually noisy today, especially within the Celestial Dragons' residential distrionly referred to as the "House of the Gods."

  The source of the otion? her than Cudius himself.

  The Ministry of Internal Affairs didn't dare keep a Celestial Dragon like Cudius waiting for the three days he had allotted. In just a day and a half, they delivered a prehensive list of all sves in Mariejois inating from Fish-Man Isnd to Cudius' pace.

  With the list in hand, Cudius gathered a rge ente and began his self-procimed mission to " up" Mariejois.

  Walking down one of the grand avenues of the Domain of the Gods, Cudius held the list in one hand, a pen iher. Having just left a Celestial Dragoe, he crossed a name off the list with a flick of his pen.

  Trailing behind him was a frail fish-woman, her body scarred and her spirit broken, moving like a lifeless puppet. She followed Cudius' group in silence, a stark reminder of the system he was now challenging.

  "Who's on the list?" Cudius muttered, sing the hen, with a slight smirk, he said, "Well, well, well, Rosward. Let's see what you've been hiding."

  The list showed that Saint Rosward's household held four fish-women as sves.

  "Tch, unbelievable. I only have two mermaids in my house, and that bastard dares to keep four? Disgusting." Cudius clicked his tongue in irritation.

  Without looking back, he waved his hand and decred, "Turn around. We're heading to Rosward's pce."

  As the words left his mouth, a familiar voice called out behind him.

  "Yhness, what's all this otion about? Making such a se?"

  Cudius turned, and his expressihtened as he reized the speaker. "Well, if it isn't Stussy. Long time no see."

  It was iussy. She looked as youthful and radiant as ever, her appearanged despite the years.

  "You haven't aged a day," Cudius said with a grin. "Still as stunning as always."

  A faint blush crept onto Stussy's face as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it. I'm barely over twenty, what's supposed to ge?"

  Cudius chuckled but didn't press the topic further. For all the years they'd known each other, Stussy had never revealed her real age. It didn't matter to him, she was beautiful, and that was enough. (T/N: Once again don't fet that this fic was written ba 2020)

  Thanks to Stussy's influence, even Nia, his ever-effit butler, had maintained a near-ageless appearance over the years. What sort of tricks these two womeo maintain their looks was a mystery to Cudius, but he wasn't particurly ed. If he ever stumbled upon a way to prolong his own life, whether through "pure gold" or the Ope-Ope Fruit—he'd gdly seize the opportunity.

  "Hahaha, just got back today?" Cudius asked, ging the subject.

  Stussy nodded. "That's right. I only just returo Mariejois and thought I'd e see what you were up to. As soon as I ehe Domain of the Gods, I could tell something was off, the atmosphere was strange. I asked around and found out you're on some kind of mission. Care to expin?"

  "Hah, it's simple enough," Cudius replied with a ugh. "I'm raiding houses."

  Stussy blinked in disbelief. "Raiding houses? You're raidiial Dragons' homes?"

  "Why not?" Cudius shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  "Yhness, isn't that going a bit too far? What if this backfires? you hahe sequences?" Stussy asked, her tone ced with .

  Her worries weren't unfounded. Even though Cudius held a special status and was valued by the Five Elders, openly antagonizing other Celestial Dragons could create enormous pressure, pressure that even he might struggle to withstand.

  Cudius uood her s perfectly. His reputation as a "wild card" among the Celestial Dragons allowed him to act freely in many ways, but it wasn't without its risks. This entire "-up" operation was bound to offend the majority of Mariejois' elite families.

  And o was over, Cudius would have no choice but to lean even harder on the Five Elders for prote. Without their support, the backsh could be overwhelming.

  But Cudius didn't care.

  Outside of his own Donquixote family, the rest of the Celestial Drago nothing to him. In his eyes, they were just parasites. This world wasn't big enough for all of them to coexist forever. Eventually, there would be only one family standing at the top, aended for it to be the Donquixote family.

  Even the Five Elders posed a dilemma for Cudius. Initially, he'd viewed them as the root of the Wover's problems. But over time, as he ied with them more, he began to see them in a different light.

  Unlike most Celestial Dragons, the Five Elders genuinely seemed to care about the world's stability and development. They uood that a strong, orderly world would make the Wover strohey worked tirelessly to suppress pirad maintain peace, and they fought back against the Revolutionary Army because it threatehe established order.

  Of course, they had their fws, power-hungry and self-serving as they were but who didn't? Cudius hadn't yet uncovered any deep, unfivable secrets about them. For now, he could only specute about their darker side.

  What troubled him more was how well the Five Elders treated him. Despite occasionally setting him up to take the fall for various schemes, they had otherwise supported him wholeheartedly, even going so far as to groom him freater responsibilities.

  Sometimes, Cudius couldn't help but wonder: were they preparing him to succeed them one day?

  This thought made him hesitate. If the Five Elders tireating him with such generosity, would he even have the heart to elimihem wheime came?

  For now, though, these were questions for the future. As long as they maintaihis mutually beneficial retionship, there was no harm iing things py out. If they could accept his leadership down the line, Cudius might even sider sparing them.

  But as for the rest of the Celestial Dragons? They were irrelevant to him. He wasn't afraid to offend them, if anything, they'd likely hate him even more after today's events. And if they wao pin, they could take it up with the Five Elders.

  "Don't worry, Stussy," Cudius said fidently. "If this operatioes any trouble, there are people above me who ha. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

  With that, Cudius haussy a royal order from the Five Elders, granting him full authority over the operation.

  Stussy skimmed the dot, her eyes widening slightly. She couldn't help but smile. "I see. You're carrying out the higher-ups' orders. Well, I suppose that makes things easier."

  As they talked, Cudius' group reached the gates of Saint Rosward's estate. The gates were shut tight, as if to ward off Cudius' intrusion.

  Looking at the grand, ornate pace, Cudius smirked. "Ah, how weling. Log me out, are they? Well, no matter."

  Without hesitatiouro his men and ordered, "Break the door dow's see what treasures they're hiding inside."