The books from the Tree of Knowledge were quickly taken by Cudius and his crew. Once he had what he came for, Cudius decided he wouldn't get further involved in the events about to unfold on Ohara. The rest was bound to get messy, and he preferred to avoid the hassle.

  Walking toward the port with Spandine, Cudius observed as CP-9 agents and Marine soldiers kept tight trol over the schors who had beeained iree of Knowledge. It was only a matter of time before they discovered the aext hiddeh the tree.

  Following behind them, Stussy held onto little Robin, who kept looking back, clearly distressed. Just as they he port, Robin spotted a familiar figure in the distance, one she'd only seen in faint memories, but that still held a p her heart. She watched as the woman hurried towards the Tree of Knowledge, looking frantic.

  Cudius noticed too and raised an eyebrow. The woman had silver hair and a sharp, fox-like expression—distinctly resembling Robin's future self. This must be Nico Olvia, Robin's mother.

  Spandine saw her as well a out an angry shout. "Nico Olvia!!!"

  "Mom!" Robin cried out, her voice high with emotion. She didn't need any more firmation after hearing Spandine's outburst. That was her mother.

  Olvia stopped iracks as she heard Robin's voice, her eyes widening in shock as she looked at her daughter in the arms of strangers. She didn't know why Robin was with these people, had they captured her to use as leverage?

  "Mom?" Spandine gnced between Robin and Olvia, putting the pieces together.

  Cudius watched in silence for a moment befiving Stussy a small nod. Stussy uood and released Robin's hand, letting her ruo her mother. Robin flung herself into Olvia's arms, and the two embraced tightly, Olvia's face streaked with tears as she held her daughter close.

  Spandine, his irritation momentarily masked by curiosity, g Cudius. "She is the fugitive from Marine."

  Feigning ignorance, Cudius asked, "Is that so?"

  Spandine quickly firmed. "Yes, it was because of her that we were able to firm Ohara's suspis in the first pce."

  Cudius nodded. "Well, it looks like you have your hands full here. I'll leave you to it. I'm heading baariejois."

  "Uood, Yhness," Spandine replied, almost too eager to please.

  Cudius tinued, "Once everything's ed up here, make sure to finish your work at CP-9 and bring Robin to me in Mariejois. Oh, and don't fet t Lucci as well."

  Spandine nodded eagerly, his face lighting up with the prospect of a promising future under Cudius. "Yes, Yhness! I'll arrange everything. I also have some capable subordinates in CP-9… I was w if…"

  Cudius waved a hand, signaling he wasn't particurly bothered. "If you think they're up to the task, bring them along. I'm assigning you to set up a specialized intelligence division simir to CP's structure under CP-X. You'll be responsible for it."

  Spandine was visibly thrilled. "Thank you, Yhness! I promise to serve you well. Once I finish up matters here, I'll report to Mariejois without dey!"

  Cudius nodded, his expression one of mild approval. "I'm ting on you."

  Satisfied, Cudius turned and walked away with Stussy and the rest of his ente, leaving Robin and Olvia to share a final moment together. As far as he was ed, Robin was in no danger. His own orders and Spandine's presence were enough to ensure her safety.

  Watg Cudius disappear from view, Spaurned his attention back to Olvia. In another sario, he would have treated her as any itive, capturing or eliminating her without a sed thought. But now, knowing she was the mother of the child Cudius seemed to have taken an i in, he hesitated. He didn't want to risk offending the youial Dragon.

  Is this some kind of test from His Highness? Spahought, overanalyzing the situation. After a brief pause, he muttered to himself, Maybe I'll just detain her instead of exeg her ht. That way, the Wover gets their prize, and Cudius's protégée doesn't lose her mother pletely. Everyone wins.

  Unaware of Spandine's internal flict, Cudius had already boarded his ship, the Prometheus. As the ship pulled away from Ohara, he walked briskly towards the library that had been structed onboard. The sight of row after row of books lining the shelves brought a genuine smile to his face.

  The library was nearly two-thirds full, filled with the rescued knowledge from the Tree of Knowledge. Cudius was thrilled, pig up a random volume and skimming through its tents. The book tained information he had never entered before, insight into different cultures, a records, and mysteries lost to time.

  "'The History of the Land of Flowers,' 'The Fairies of Dressrosa,' 'ari, the Desdants of the Twenty Kings'..." he murmured, reading off the titles. A spark of excitement lit in his eyes.

  The depth and range of these records were astounding, c the histories of tless nations and regions. It truly was a treasure trove of human culture and knowledge.

  "With all this," Cudius muttered to himself with satisfa, "I could train aire geion of schors… ones who'll be loyal to me."

  The Prometheus sailed further from Ohara's shores as Cudius tinued his exploration of the library. Nia walked in quietly, carrying a steaming cup of tea, and smiled when she saw her master's enthusiasm.

  "Yhness, would you care for some tea?" she offered.

  "Ah, Nia," Cudius said, taking the cup from her with a grin. "What do you think? Isn't this library magnifit?"

  Nia looked around, clearly impressed. "Indeed, Yhness. I just didn't expect that eveire Tree of Knowledge couldn't pletely fill these shelves."

  Cudius chuckled. "True. We should keep adding to this colle. If we e aore rare books or even records from other races—like from Fish-Man Isnd—we'll bring those in as well."

  They chatted a bit longer about future pns for the library. Then, a thought struia, and she hesitated before voig it. "Yhness… as we left the port, I noticed Marine and the CP agents were anizing some evacuation vessels. Do you think they're… pnning to do something drastic?"

  Cudius took a thoughtful sip of tea. "And which Vice Admirals are leading the Buster Call this time?"

  Nia replied, "It's Kuzan, Sakazuki, Onigumo, Strawberry, and Doberman, if I'm not mistaken."

  Cudius sighed, the weight of realizatioling in. "Well, that's quite the lineup."

  "Hm? What do you mean, Yhness?" Nia asked, slightly puzzled.

  Cudius didn't answer directly. Instead, he gnced back at the distant shores of Ohara. In the quiet that followed, faint sounds of explosions and on fire reached their ears, eg over the water.