The storm came fast a just as quickly. Using the remnants of the shattered ship to stay afloat, Cudius and the others weathered a few more waves. The sky slowly began to clear, with the storm seemingly chasing after Rroup.

  Lying on the wreckage of the deck, Cudius gnced over at the unscious Golden Lion, Shiki. He didn't have aone handcuffs to properly restrain him. The kill stu Shiki's abdome pulling it out could cause even more blood loss. Cudius briefly wondered if the infamous pirate would bleed to death before he did.

  Summoning what little strength he had left, Cudius grabbed a piece of hemp rope from a broken barrel and tied it around Shiki's waist. Then, with a swift kick, he sent Shiki's body into the sea, leaving most of it submerged. It wasn't as effective as Seastone, but it was better than nothing.

  After doing all that, Cudius finally allowed himself a moment to rex. He leaned against the remains of the mast, breathing heavily. Time passed slowly. Cudius had no idea what fate had in store for them—whether aorm would e and finish them off, or if, by some miracle, they'd drift to an isnd and survive.

  As for everyone else, he didn't care much. He only khat Crocodile had been lucky enough to crash near him and hadn't died. He'd passed out after falling into the . Probably overexerted himself, as usual.

  "If I make it baariejois alive, I'll buy you a whole box of tonics," Cudius muttered with a weak smile.

  The sea eventually calmed down, and a few survivors both Marines and pirates could be seen ging to floating debris, just hoping to stay alive. At this point, it didn't matter ho. Everyone was just trying to survive.

  Just when Cudius thought he might actually bleed out, a figure leapt from the broken half of the ship in the distanding with impressive power.

  "Bunny girl?" Cudius managed a faint, blood-stained smile.

  Gion froze for a moment, stunned by the sight before her.

  She, Vice Admiral Tsuru, and the others had beeively lucky. They hadn't suffered as much damage, and ohe storm subsided, they immediately began searg for Cudius. After all, losing a Celestial Dragon of his status was uable, and they were friends.

  Now, seeing Cudius in such a miserable state, Gion didn't know what to say.

  Snapping out of it, she tore a strip of cloth from her tattered justice cloak and hurried over to Cudius.

  As she approached, her eyes fell on the ku his side. "Looks like yhness was rather unlucky, running straight into a bde. But don't worry it doesn't seem to have hit any vital ans. I'll stop the bleeding for you."

  "Ran into a bde?" Cudius paused. "I'm a Logia user, remember?" Then he gave a weak, bitter ugh. "If only that were the worst of it... you have no idea what I've just been through."

  Gion blinked, fused, and asked, "What exactly did you gh, yhness?"

  Just as Cudius was about t that he'd taken down the legendary Golden Lion, a sharp pain shot through his waist, cutting him off. Gion, by act, had yahe knife from his side.

  "Uh... maybe be a little mentle ime?" Cudius gasped, blood dripping from the er of his mouth.

  Ign his ent, Gion quickly bandaged him up, then studied the knife more closely. "This knife... I feel like I've seen it before."

  As one of the top swordswomen of the Marine, Gion was familiar with many famous bdes. This one seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite pce where she'd seen it.

  Cudius weakly poioward the nearby hemp rope and said, "The owner of that knife is tied up over there. If it feels familiar, why not take a look?"

  Gion turo where Cudius ointing, and her eyes widened in shock. "Golden Lion? Is that... Shiki?! No wohis is Yubashiri!"

  In a fsh, Gion rushed over to Shiki's limp body. A knife was lodged in his abdomen probably Cudius' work and there was a rudder embedded in his head. Half of his body was submerged in the sea, with a rope tied around his waist. He looked pletely pathetic.

  Realizing that Cudius had mao subdue arain the infamous pirate, Gio a wave of disbelief. "Wait, we were just on the same warship, and somehow during all this chaos... you took down the Golden Lion?"

  "Yhness! You actually captured Shiki, the Golden Lion? But how... how did this even happen?" Gion hurried back to Cudius, pletely flustered, unsure of what to say.

  Cudius coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, then smiled weakly. "Just lucky, I guess. Shiki must've gotten caught in the same storm. You know, his abilities are pretty much useless in these ditions. Especially with that rudder stu his head, he couldn't even use Haki properly. He ractically powerless…"

  Seeing Cudius trying to keep talking, Gioly interrupted him, "Yhness, maybe you should save your strength and stop talking."

  "Did you find everyone else? What about Enel?" Cudius asked, his voice tinged with .

  Although capturing Shiki was a huge success, Enel was the main reason for this mission. If Enel had been lost iorm, it would've been a major setback.

  Gion quickly reassured him, "Enel's fine. He passed out, but Vice Admiral Tsuru has him. We haven't found Crocodile yet, though. He might've..."

  Her voice trailed off, sadness filling her eyes. After all, if not for Crocodile, they might not have survived the storm. He'd overexerted himself, and now he was missing. Since Crocodile was a Devil Fruit user, if they couldn't find him soon, it was very likely he had already drowned.

  Cudius let out a sigh of relief when he heard Enel was safe. Then he gestured toward the broken . "As for Crocodile, I tossed that bastard into the earlier. He's probably still unscious. Go che him."

  Gion's eyes brightened. She nodded and quickly disappeared into the . Moments ter, she emerged, dragging the unscious Crocodile behind her. "He's fine just passed out."

  After ensuring Crocodile was safe, Gion took out a fre gun from her belt and fired it into the air. The bright fre sigo the other Marines and firmed to Vice Admiral Tsuru that the important individuals, Cudius and Crocodile, were still alive.

  As for the pirates? Well, saving them wasn't a priority. They were left to their own fate.

  "Do you think we'll make it back alive?" Cudius asked weakly, slumped against the mast.

  Gion g him, and for a moment, it seemed like the usual strength and pride in Cudius' eyes had been repced by a hint of vulnerability. Her heart uedly skipped a beat.

  Without thinking, she reached out and smoothed Cudius' messy, wet blonde hair. A gentle smile appeared on her lips as she said softly, "We'll definitely make it back alive, so don't worry. Vice Admiral Tsuru has a distress signal transmitter. O's activated, any nearby Wover ships or allied forces will e to rescue us as quickly as possible."

  "Really? I guess I'll live to fight another day..." Cudius murmured, a faint smile on his lips.

  Exhausted, his body finally gave in to fatigue. After fighting Shiki and surviving the storm, his adrenaline was wearing off. As he whispered a few more words, he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

  Listening to the soft sound of his breathing, Gion gnced down at him. Cudius was curled up against the broken mast, his body battered and bruised, his once-pristine appearance trasting sharply with the wreckage around him. There was something oddly beautiful about the se a kind ile strength.

  Gion's heart stirred once more. For a brief moment, she felt her heartbeat skip again.

  After colleg herself, Gioly stroked Cudius' wet hair and whispered, "Sleep well, yhness. I'll protect you."

  This time, it had nothing to do with her duties as a Marine or her mission. Gion simply wao protect this unique Celestial Dragon—this proud, strong, yet uedly vulnerable Cudius.

  Hours passed, and as night began to fall, a rge sailing ship finally appeared on the horizon. It was from a nearby nation that had received the distress signal and hurried to the rescue.

  Still unscious, Cudius was carried aboard the ship by Gion, who cradled him in her arms like a princess. They had survived the ordeal, but at great cost.

  Nearly half of the Marine soldiers had been lost in the shipwreck. Their bodies hadn't been recovered, so they were presumed dead. Yet despite the heavy losses, they'd gained something moal.

  Tsuru Vice Admiral looked at the unscious Golden Lion, Shiki, lying on the deck, feeling as though she were living in a dream. Somehow, amidst all the chaos, Shiki had fallen from the skies, been caught in a storm, and ended up as their prisohe infamous Golden Lion, captured alive? It seemed unbelievable.

  "His highness Cudius... I 't tell if he's the luckiest or the unluckiest man alive. But thanks to him, the whole world is about to be shaken. The Golden Lion, Shiki, who once ruled the seas, has been captured. And ira ossible," Tsuru muttered to herself with a helpless smile.

  She quickly reyed all the details of their enter and the capture to Marine Headquarters. When Marine's Fleet Admiral Kong received the news, he was left in utter disbelief.

  "What? Sengoku and the others just set sail for the New World, and now you're telling me Cudius has already captured the Golden Lion? Are you kidding me?"

  As the photos as reached Marineford, shockwaves spread through the ranks. The entire Marine force was buzzing with disbelief and amazement. The legendary pirate, Golden Lion Shiki, had been captured alive?!