The Prometheus tio glide smoothly through the deep sea as Cudius chatted casually with the girls around him. At that moment Nia approached with a Den Den Mushi in hand, saying, "Yhness, it's Enel."

  "Oh? The Thunder Lord?" Cudius asked with a chuckle.

  Nia smiled as well, handing him the Den Den Mushi. "Yes, it's our very own Thunder Lord."

  Taking the receiver, Cudius smiled as he greeted, "Enel, is that you? How are things tely? I hear yoing by the hunder Lord' now."

  The voi the other end of the line practically buzzed with excitement. "Yhness! Are you paying attention to me? I'm so happy!"

  Cudius couldn't help but ugh at Enel's enthusiasm. The guy really was like a loyal little puppy—eager to please, ecstatic at even the smallest bit of praise. pared to Crocodile, who always acted like a stubborn, arrogant tsundere, Enel was oddly refreshing.

  "Hahaha, of course, I'm paying attention. You're my favorite subordinate, after all," Cudius said, lying through his teeth without the slightest hesitation.

  Truthfully, he hadn't been keeping track of Enel's pirate activities until Sengoku Admiral had casually mentiohem a few days ago. But hearing the excitement in Enel's voice, Cudius resolved to give him a bit more attention iure.

  "Yhness, guess where I am right now!" Enel said, his excitement mounting.

  Cudius tilted his head, trying to piece it together. Based on his earlier versations with Sengoku, he had a rough idea of where Enel might be. "Let me guess… You're near Water 7? Or maybe you've taken one of the other routes?"

  "Wrong, Yhness! You'll never guess it! Hahaha!" Enel replied gleefully.

  Cudius raised an eyebrow. "Alright then, where are you?"

  "I'm in the White Sea!" Enel decred.

  For a moment, Cudius was stuhe White Sea? How in the world had Enel ended up ba the sky?

  "The White Sea? How did you end up there?" Cudius asked, now genuinely curious.

  "Well, it's like this—I was inally heading toward Water 7 along the Abasta route. But then I stopped at Jaya Isnd. Have you heard of Jaya Isnd, Yhness?" Enel asked, his voice brimming with excitement.

  "Of course. That's the starting point for the Sky Isnd route, with the infamous Knock-Up Stream. Did you… Did you take the o current to get bato the sky?" Cudius asked, his tone a mixture of surprise and amusement.

  "That's exactly what happened!" Enel said proudly.

  Cudius couldn't help but ugh in disbelief. Only someone like Enel would casually take such a dangerous and uable route as the Knock-Up Stream and live to tell the tale.

  "Well, sidering you're talking to me right now, I assume you survived the trip unscathed. You've got some luck, I'll give you that," Cudius said, shaking his head with a wry smile.

  "It was amazing! The Knock-Up Stream shot us straight into the sky! Yhness, it's incredible up here," Enel said.

  "So, what brought you to the White Sea? Feeling nostalgic for your old home?" Cudius teased.

  "Not at all! The pce where Yhness is, that's my home now," Enel replied with surprising siy. "Didn't you always say, 'This peaind is my hometown'?"

  Cudius raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised. He had indeed quoted that phrase from Su Shi, a poet from his previous world. It seemed that his random musings had left an impression on Enel.

  "Well, I didn't expect you to remember that," Cudius said with a ugh. "Alright, then—what are you up to in the White Sea?"

  "Yhness, I've made a huge discovery!" Enel said, his voice dropping to aed whisper. "I think I've found a great treasure!"

  Cudius's curiosity iqued. "A treasure? Tell me more."

  Excitedly, Enel unched into the story of his test adventure. As it turned out, Enel had stopped at Jaya Isnd on his way to Water 7. He had heard rumors about the fabled City of Gold—Shandora—and became intrigued.

  Apparently, Enel recalled stories from his time on Birka about a mysterious "nd" in the White Sea. Pieg everything together, he theorized that the City of Gold had been unched into the sky by the Knock-Up Stream turies ago.

  Uo resist the allure of such a grand treasure, Enel had used the s current to reach the White Sea. Ohere, he began expl and soon firmed the existence of the Golden City near Angel Isnd.

  "I k, Yhness! The Golden City is real! There's gold everywhere, but it seems like it's been in the middle of some war for turies. But I'm sure we take it all!" Enel said excitedly.

  Cudius was equal parts amused and impressed. He had sidered searg for the City of Gold years ag his visit to Sky Isnd but had ultimately been too busy to follow through. Yet here was Enel, stumbling uporeasure almost by act.

  "Well, well. It seems you've had quite the adventure, Enel. I'll figure out how to send some people up to help you," Cudius said with a smile.

  After a bit more versation, the call ended, and Cudius leaned back, deep in thought. The Golden City, Shandora… This could turn out to be a massive haul.

  Enel might have stumbled into somethiraordinary, but now Cudius had to figure out how to capitalize on it. With a smirk, he began pnning his move.