When Spandine heard Cudius's and, he was startled. He wao dissuade him but didn't dare to be too direct about it.

  Fortunately, his mind worked quickly, and he immediately said, "Yes, Yhness. We'll do everything possible to locate Edward Weevil as quickly as possible, but…"

  Cudius frowned, his tone sharp as he asked, "But what?"

  "But, Yhness, this matter shouldn't be rushed. Why don't you return to Mariejois first? In the meantime, we'll liaise with Mario smooth things over?" Spandine said, his voice hesitant but careful.

  Cudius took a deep breath, reigning in his emotions. After a moment, he replied, "Something like this has happeo Zephyr, so I must visit him. But you're right, we should let Marine hahings on their end first. I'll return to Mariejois for now and wait."

  Spa out an internal sigh of relief. It seems I still have some influen His Highness. Good news!

  "Uood, Yhness. I will return to Mariejois and await your arrival," Spandine said quickly.

  After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Nia noticed that Cudius was in a foul mood. Without prying, she simply reminded him to drink more hot water before leaving to instruct the Prometheus crew to return to Mariejois at full speed.

  ---

  Zephyr's situation was both signifit and delicate. While no longer active on the front lines, Zephyr had once been an Admiral, a symbol of Marine's power. Though his influen the seas had waned over time, he still carried siderable weight within the Marine ranks, especially as the leader of the Marine Officer Training Camp.

  Zephyr wasn't just a former Admiral; he was a mentor to many of Marine's current powerhouses. Virtually all of Mariop officers had once been his students.

  Now, however, the teacher had suffered a devastatiback. While leading a group of recruits on a live bat exercise, Zephyr had been ambushed and lost an arm iack. The i shook Mario its core, no one could accept such a tragedy.

  The situation highlighted Zephyr's deing strength. Years of being away from the front lines had dulled his bat instincts, and his body wasn't what it used to be. He suffered from asthma, which limited his ability to endure prolonged battles.

  Despite these setbacks, Zephyr had been a formidable fighter. Acc to Spandine's report, he had mao hold his ground against Edward Weevil, also known as Whitebeard Jr., using his experiend skill. However, his strio-kill" philosophy had allowed Weevil to exploit an opening, resulting in Zephyr's arm being severed during a sneak attack.

  If Garp hadn't arrived in time, the oute could have been even worse.

  Edward Weevil was a monster of a man, physically powerful but mentally g. Cudius had once sidered recruiting him as an enforcer due to his incredible strength, but ultimately decided against it. Weevil's parentage, as the supposed son of Edward e, made things too plicated. If Cudius were a pirate, it wouldn't have mattered. But as a Celestial Dragon allied with the Wover, associating with someone like Weevil risked inviting Whitebeard's wrath.

  Besides, Weevil was a wanderer with no fixed location. Even if Cudius wao recruit him, the sheer difficulty of trag him down across the vast seas made it impractical.

  Still, the fact that Weevil had now targeted Zephyr enraged Cudius.

  ---

  The Prometheus wasn't far from Mariejois when Cudius received the news. He ordered the ship to speed up, and within days, they arrived. Without pausing, Cudius picked up Spandine and immediately set course for Marine Headquarters—Marineford.

  "Spaell that birdman Mans that if he dares publish anything that tarnishes Zephyr's reputation, I'll pluck every feather off him and roast him into a chi!" Cudius said coldly.

  Spandine, well aware of Cudius's respect for Zephyr, quickly replied, "Don't worry, Yhness. Mans wouldn't dare. I've already warned him, and our infiltration of the World Ey Neer is solid. If anything happens, CP-X will know immediately."

  "Good," Cudius said with a curt nod.

  Spandiated before adding, "Yhness, we still don't know if Edward Weevil has any real e to Whitebeard. Many cim he's Whitebeard's illegitimate son. If we act against him, we should be cautious of provoking the Whitebeard Pirates."

  This art of the reason Spandine had tried to dissuade Cudius earlier.

  "That old fool better have nothing to do with Weevil. Otherwise, I'll deal with him too," Cudius said icily.

  ---

  Upon arriving at the Marineford hospital, Cudius found a rge crowd gathered around Zephyr's ward. As it happened, Zephyr's injury had cided with the development of a groundbreaking "restru teology" by the Marine Sce Division, led by Dr. Vegapunk.

  This teology, a byproduct of the research ducted on Bartholomew Kuma, allowed for advanced cyberihas. A prototype robotic arm had been developed, and Vegapunk had suggested using it to repce Zephyr's lost limb. Zephyr, ever practical, agreed without hesitation, eager to test its capabilities.

  Now, everyone was gathered to withe results of Zephyr's transformation.

  Ihe ward, Zephyr flexed his new robotic arm, which gleamed uhe lights. "Not bad," he said with raised brows, his toinged with curiosity.

  A stist in a white coat stepped forward to expin. "This arm is equipped with signifit upgrades. It's reinforced with seastone for durability, and its internal meisms greatly enhas attack power.

  However," the stist added, "its weight is substantial, about 300 kilograms. It's only thanks to Zephyr-sensei's exceptional strength that he wield it. For an ordinary person, lifting this would be impossible."

  Zephyr houghtfully. "It's a bit heavy, but it's better than having no arm at all. I'll just need some time to adjust."

  At that moment, a loud voice echoed from the corridor: "Move aside! His Highness Cudius is here, don't block the way!"

  Spandine's sycophantic shout carried through the halls as Cudius ehe hospital.

  ***

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