After the senior officers of Marine Headquarters approved Sengoku's proposal and decided to colborate with Cudius, Tsuru quickly mobilized a fleet of retired warships a sail for the West Blue.

  Acc to the pn, the Marine fleet would rendezvous with Cudius and his CP-X team in the West Blue before traveling together to the summit. From there, they would asd to Sky Isnd, meet with Enel, and transport the treasures of the Golden Land baariejois.

  With the World Summit fast approag, the Wover's various branches were operating at full capacity. Mariejois, in particur, was abuzz with activity. Once again, Cudius spearheaded a sve liberation movement, direg CP-X to free Fish-Man sves from households across the Holy Land. Fisher Tiger personally oversaw these efforts and witnessed Cudius keeping his promise.

  In Cudius's pace, he sat in his study holding a dot while speaking to one of his subordihrough a phone snail.

  "The first phase isn't enough. After this, we'll move into the sed and third phases. Before the World Summit begins, all the Fish-Man sves in Mariejois must be freed. This summit is the first time Fish-Man Isnd will participate officially. We o make a good impression, uood?" Cudius said, his tone firm.

  "Yes, Yhness!" came the prompt reply through the Den Den Mushi.

  From his position within the Wover, Cudius could see that the advent of the Great Pirate Era had forced even the mid institutions to adapt. Slowly but surely, ges were being made to ter the esg chaos of the times.

  For Cudius, the liberation of the Fish-Man sves was just the beginning. He could already foresee more signifit reforms ing iure.

  After ending the call, Cudius leaned back, but Nia immediately approached, handing him a new dot.

  "Yhness, Stussy sent over some informatiarding the CP agency," Nia said.

  Cudius smiled wryly as he accepted the dot. "It feels like I've been busier thaely."

  Opening the file, Cudius sed through its tents, his lips curling into a smirk. "Oh, this isn't good news for them."

  "A colossal failure, it seems," Nia said with a slight chuckle.

  Acc to the report, the CP agency had initiated a rge-scale operation in the New World, aiming to crush the Revolutionary Army in a decisive blow. However, the pn had somehow been leaked or derailed, resulting in the Revolutionary Army setting a trap. The CP agency suffered signifit losses, both in manpower ae operatives.

  Cudius couldn't help but ugh. "I'd bet anything that it was Dragon who orchestrated this. That guy has a knack for turning the tables."

  Of course, there was no crete evideo back this up, and Cudius didn't particurly care to verify it.

  "It seems the Wover was hoping to deliver a major blow to the Revolutionary Army before the summit, maybe even as a show of strength. Instead, it's backfired spectacurly. What a mess," Cudius said, shaking his head.

  Nia chuckled lightly. "Yhness, perhaps you shouldn't enjoy their misfortuoo much."

  Cudius raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you suggesting this mess will somehow involve us? Don't worry. Even if someories to pin it on me, I've bee pletely out of the loop on this one."

  "That's not what I meant," Nia said, her smile widening. "But isn't CP-X often called in to up after the CP agency's failures? If the higher-ups decide the CP agency isn't up to the task, they might hand the Revolutionary Army situatioo you. How would you ha then?"

  Cudius paused, momentarily caught off guard. Then he ughed. "Do they think CP-X is some kind of glorified janitorial service? Rex. Dismantling the Revolutionary Army is a long-term mission for the CP agency. They might stumble now and then, but they've also caused Dragoy of headaches. As long as they don't pletely lose the trust of the Five Elders, we won't have to step in."

  "And if they do lose that trust?" Nia asked curiously.

  Cudius's grin turned mischievous. "Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'The thief cries thief'?"

  Before Nia could respond, Cudius leaned ba his chair, his tone pyful yet calg. "If it ever es to that, I might just masquerade as the Revolutionary Army myself. Imagi—me taking down their anization uhe guise of being one of them. Wouldn't that be poetic justice?"

  Though Cudius was clearly joking, the glint in his eyes suggested he wasirely dismissing the idea. Still, he doubted such a sario would arise anytime soon.

  After a few more lighthearted exges, Cudius shifted the topic. "By the way, where's Ace? What's he up to?"

  "He's training in the Six Styles with Koa," Nia replied. "The young master has a remarkable aptitude for it, but surprisingly, Koa's performance isn't far behind."

  Cudius burst into ughter. "Is that so?"

  He wasirely surprised. Cudius had suspected for some time that Koa was an exceptional talent. The fact that she could master Fish-Man Karate as a human had already proven her potential.

  "Speaking of which, I asked you to find out if they were ied iing Devil Fruits. What did they say?" Cudius asked.

  Nia chuckled. "Koa deed. She didn't like the idea of losing the ability to swim. But the young master? He's very ied—on one dition. He wants a Logia-type Devil Fruit, just like yours."

  Cudius houghtfully. "I see… looks like I'll have to keep a for something suitable."

  Of course, there were several powerful Logia fruits that Cudius could pursue, but when it came to Ace, one fruit immediately came to mind: the Mera-Mera no Mi.

  In Cudius's opinion, Ace ractically born to wield the Mera-Mera Fruit. Though all Devil Fruits had their strengths and weakhe fme-based Mera-Mera Fruit was undeniably formidable. While it was theoretically tered by Sakazuki's Magma-Magma Fruit, Cudius wasn't particurly worried.

  After all, if Ace was under his prote, not even someone as ruthless as Sakazuki would dare harm him. Furthermore, as long as Ace wasn't a pirate or in direct flict with the Marihere would be no reason for frontation.

  Beyond its theoretical weakhe Mera-Mera Fruit was immensely powerful. In terms of destructive capability, it could rival even Kuzan's Ice-Ice Fruit.

  The key, of course, was matg the fruit's potential with the user's own strength and creativity. As Cudius thought about it, he grew increasingly vihat finding the Mera-Mera Fruit for Ace wasn't just a good idea—it was the right idea.

  "Alright then," Cudius said, his voice resolute. "It's settled. I'll start looking for the Mera-Mera Fruit. It's time to set A the path he was meant for."