In the New World waters, aboard the fgship of a fleet of five massive warships, Vice Admiral Garp, Admiral Sengoku, Rear Admiral Kuzan, Rear Admiral Borsalino, and others were gathered around Gion and Vice Admiral Tsuru, b them with questions. They were all eager to know the details of how the Golden Lion, Shiki, had been captured.

  "A storm? You mean to tell me you guys got lucky and just crashed into Shiki's damn ship?" Vice Admiral Garp asked, his expression incredulous.

  "Lucky? Garp, we almost died. If you think that's luck, why don't you pick a nice day and try jumping off Sky Isnd yourself!" Vice Admiral Tsuru shot Garp a sharp gre, clearly annoyed by his casual attitude.

  "You know I didn't mean it like that, Tsuru..." Garp quickly backpedaled.

  Admiral Sengoku, more serious than Garp, pressed for specifics, "What exactly happened? All I know is that His Highness Cudius took down Shiki, but what was the process?"

  "We don't know the full details ourselves. We were separated during the impact. Only Crocodile was with His Highness at the time, but he was so exhausted that he passed out. He doesn't remember anythiher," Gion expined, shaking her head.

  "By the way, you mentiohat Shiki had started a naval battle iers of Edd War?" Vice Admiral Tsuru asked.

  "Yes," Gion firmed. "He was trying to ambush the Roger Pirates, but it seems fate wasn't on his side. He ran straight into the storm, and the Roger Pirates disappeared. What's even worse for him was that we ended up capturing him."

  Sengoku chuckled, shaking his head, "Shiki sure had rotten luck."

  Three days had passed sihe Battle of Edd War. Sengoku and the others had rushed to the se, gathering Tsuru and the rest of the survivors aboard their warships. Crocodile and Enel had regained sciousness, but Cudius was still out cold.

  Thankfully, his injuries had stabilized, and the medical team assured them he'd wake up once his body had fully recovered. Shiki, oher hand... things didn't look so promising.

  The military doctors suspected Shiki's brain had been damaged during his battle with Cudius. So far, there had been no response from him.

  "The doctors say Shiki might've bee brain dead," Tsuru said with a heavy sigh.

  No one knew if or when Shiki would ever wake up. With both Cudius and Shiki out of ission, Sengoku and the others were still in the dark about the finer details of the battle.

  "We're lucky His Highness is rec well. Even though we caught Shiki, if something had happeo Cudius, we'd all be in for a world of trouble," Vice Admiral Tsuru noted.

  "I hope he wakes up soon. Those Five Elders seem pretty pleased with him. Not even half a year after injuring Shiki, and now he's captured him alive? Cudius might end up creating a powerful new division within the Wover," Sengoku said with a smile.

  Garp, who had been more or less ign the political talk, asked, "What new division? And what exactly did Cudius promise those Five Elders?"

  Sengoku shot Garp a stern look. "Show some respect, Garp. Cudius isn't like the other Celestial Dragons you've dealt with. Haven't I told you that a thousand times?"

  Garp blihen chuckled, "Alright, alright, Saint Cudius. So what's the deal?"

  "Over half a year ago, the Five Elders summoned His Highness Cudius and, after a lengthy discussion, authorized him to form a new anization: CP-X. At the time, we all thought it was nothing more than ay title, something symbolio oook it seriously," Sengoku expined.

  "Yeah, I remember that. His Highness said CP-X was supposed to handle problems her the Marines nor the CP agencies could solve," Garp remarked.

  "Exactly. Back then, we all thought Cudius was just being a bit overfident. After all, he's a Celestial Dragon, so he's got a certain pride and youthful arrogance. But, even if this was just a ce, we have to admit, he mao solve a problem both the Marines and the CP couldn't: the Golden Lion, Shiki," Sengoku said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  "Luck is a kind of strength too," Garp mused. "If Roger wasn't so damn lucky, I'd have caught him long ago."

  As Garp and Sengoku noted, no matter how many ces pyed into the capture, the fact remaihat Shiki had been caught. Even the most powerful people could be brought down by a stroke of bad luck. The world was full of supredictable forces.

  "Shiki's fall really marks the end of an era," Tsuru added.

  "Wheurn to Mariejois, CP-X's name will probably start making waves. Who knows? It might actually bee an anization on par with the Marine Headquarters, just like His Highness envisioned," Sengoku said thoughtfully.

  "That won't be easy. But if Cudius keeps being this lucky, well, maybe I'll take back my doubts," Garp joked.

  Just as they were talking, a Marine el rushed into the room aed, "Sir! Saint Cudius has woken up!"

  Before anyone else could react, Gion shot up from her seat, her long legs carrying her out of the room in a fsh.

  The others were left blinking in surprise. Rear Admiral Kuzan chuckled, "Ara ra, it seems His Highness Cudius has gained more than just Shiki from this mission."

  "Puy. If he knew what was waiting for him, he'd probably freak out," Rear Admiral Borsalino quipped in his usual id-back tone.

  "I thought Gion had her sights set too high to ever settle down. Guess I was wrong," Garp said with a grin.

  Before he could say anything more, Tsuru hurled a teacup at his head, smag him squarely on the forehead. Garp, not wanting to anger her further, simply ughed awkwardly.

  Sengoku stepped in to defuse the situation, "Alright, enough fooling around. Let's go che His Highness and see how he's doing."

  By the time they reached Cudius' room, he was already sitting up in bed, looking around. The young Enel sat beside him, having stayed by his side the eime, which warmed Cudius' heart.

  "How long have I been out? And where are we? This looks like a warship," Cudius asked groggily.

  Enel, visibly excited, responded, "You've been asleep for three days, Yhness. We're on a Marine warship. I don't really get all the details, but I heard Admiral Sengoku came to escort us. We're heading back to... uh, what's it called again? Marie-something."

  "Mariejois," Cudius corrected, smiling slightly. "That's where my home is."

  Just then, the door opened, and Gioered in a rush. But as she stepped inside, she seemed to realize how hasty she'd been and froze for a moment. Cudius noticed a slight flush on her face but didn't ent on it.

  Gion collected herself and stepped forward, asking, "Yhness, how are you feeling? Any pain or disfort?"

  Cudius winced, "Well, I got stabbed, so yeah, it hurts. But I don't think it's anything too serious. I just hope Shiki didn't mess up my kidney... that's about where he stabbed me, right?"

  Gion's expression shifted, a mix of embarrassment and amusement fshing across her face. Her eyes darted away for a moment, and Cudius panicked slightly, clutg his side, "Wait, don't tell me... did that bastard actually ruin my kidney?"

  Shiki's capture was ohing, but losing an a? That would be an insult Cudius couldn't bear.

  Seeing his panic, Gion ughed, "Rex, Yhness. I'm just teasing you. You're fihe bde missed all your vital ans."

  Cudius sighed in relief but shot her a disapproving look, "Don't scare me like that!"

  "It's just too fun teasing you, Yhness," Gion said with a pyful smile.

  At that moment, Sengoku and the rest of the group ehe room.

  Sengoku approached first, shaking Cudius' hand with genuine relief, "It's good to see you awake, Yhness. We were worried."

  As Cudius shook hands with the old admiral, he couldn't help but think, "Why's this old man so enthusiastic? 't he let Gion hahis? What's he doing holding my hand like this?"

  After exging pleasahey got down to business. Cudius didn't hold anything bad reted the events that led to Shiki's capture. As he finished, Admiral Sengoku and the others sat in stunned silence, processing the of ces and pure luck that had led to Shiki's downfall.

  "So in the end, it really was just luck. That rudder did half the work before you even fought him," Sengoku finished, shaking his head in disbelief. "I didn't expect Shiki to be half-defeated before you even id a hand on him."

  "Yeah, it was a lucky break, but luck's still a kind of strength, right?" Cudius grirying to downpy the severity of the fight. "I just happeo be in the right pce at the right time. But if I'm being ho, I didn't expect it to turn out like this either."

  "Regardless, Yhness, this is a huge achievement," Sengoku said seriously. "However, we've kept the news tained for now. Something this important needs careful handling. Once wets out that Shiki has been captured, the whole world will react. We o be prepared for the fallout."

  Cudius houghtfully. "I uand. It's better to wait until everything is in pce. We don't want Shiki's allies or the other pirates in the New World making any sudden moves while we're still rec."

  "Exactly," Sengoku agreed. "We're pnning to use this opportunity tthen our position in the New World. This could give us the leverage we o establish a solid foothold there."

  Cudius chuckled. "Well, when you Mariart carving up the New World, don't fet to throw CP-X a bone. We're all part of the same team, after all."

  Garp suddenly burst out ughing, "UhaHaHahaha! Don't worry, kid! We'll save you a nice piece of the a!"

  The room fell silent, and everyouro Garp with exasperated expressions. His loud and carefree attitude never failed to break the mood.

  Cudius ughed along, not minding the remark. "Thanks, Garp. I'll hold you to that."