diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI.yml b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
index 7a8ab47..fc2aee9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ on:
     - cron: '0 2 * * *'
 
 jobs:
-  endurance:
+  Daily:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     steps:
@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run Endurance Test
         run: |
-          go test -p=1 -v ./waku -count=1 -timeout=360m -run '^(?!TestStress).*' | tee testlogs.log
+          go test -p=1 -v ./waku -count=1 -timeout=360m \
+            | tee testlogs.log
 
       - name: Upload Test Logs
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: endurance-logs
+          name: daily-logs
           path: testlogs.log
diff --git a/.github/workflows/CI_endurance.yml b/.github/workflows/CI_endurance.yml
index 16a8fe6..27b2cf6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/CI_endurance.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/CI_endurance.yml
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          go test -p=1 -v ./waku -count=1 -timeout=360m -run '^(TestStressMemoryUsageForThreeNodes|TestStressStoreQuery5kMessagesWithPagination|TestStressConnectDisconnect500Iteration|TestStressHighThroughput10kPublish)$' | tee testlogs1.log
+          go test -tags stress  \
+          -p=1 -v ./waku -count=1 -timeout=360m -run '^(TestStressMemoryUsageForThreeNodes|TestStressStoreQuery5kMessagesWithPagination|TestStressHighThroughput10kPublish|TestStressLargePayloadEphemeralMessagesEndurance|TestStressConnectDisconnect1kIteration)$' | tee testlogs1.log
 
       - name: Upload Test Logs (Group 1)
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
@@ -89,7 +90,8 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          go test -p=1 -v ./waku -count=1 -timeout=360m -run '^(TestStressRandomNodesInMesh|TestStress2Nodes2kIterationTearDown|TestPeerExchangePXLoad)$' | tee testlogs2.log
+          go test -tags stress \
+          -p=1 -v ./waku -count=1 -timeout=360m -run '^(TestStressRandomNodesInMesh|TestStress2Nodes2kIterationTearDown|TestPeerExchangePXLoad)$' | tee testlogs2.log
 
       - name: Upload Test Logs (Group 2)
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
diff --git a/.github/workflows/Repeated_tests_endurancce.yml b/.github/workflows/Repeated_tests_endurancce.yml
index 42e1aa2..0632cb0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/Repeated_tests_endurancce.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/Repeated_tests_endurancce.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ name: Repeated Test Suite
 
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
- 
+
 jobs:
   repeated-tests:
     runs-on: [self-hosted, ubuntu-22.04]
@@ -14,13 +14,13 @@ jobs:
           submodules: true
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Initialize & update submodules
+      - name: Initialize submodules
         run: git submodule update --init --recursive
 
       - name: Prepare third_party directory
         run: |
-          sudo mkdir -p third_party
-          sudo chown $USER third_party
+          mkdir -p third_party
+          chown $USER third_party
 
       - name: Set up Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v4
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Go dependencies
         run: go mod download
 
-      - name: Build nwaku dependencies
+      - name: Build dependencies
         run: make -C waku
 
       - name: Clean environment
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f1241a2..0dc817b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 go.work
 
 # Generated dependencies and cache
-third_party
 nimcache
 
 waku/store.sqlite3
@@ -31,3 +30,5 @@ waku/store.sqlite3-shm
 waku/store.sqlite3-wal
 
 waku/test_repeated_start_stop.log
+
+third_party/
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 13c88e4..abfaf25 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 [submodule "third_party/nwaku"]
 	path = third_party/nwaku
-	url = https://github.com/waku-org/nwaku
+	url = https://github.com/waku-org/nwaku.git
diff --git a/waku/stress_test.go b/waku/stress_test.go
index 45137ae..44fd484 100644
--- a/waku/stress_test.go
+++ b/waku/stress_test.go
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-//go:build !stress
-// +build !stress
+//go:build stress
+// +build stress
 
 package waku
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func TestStressStoreQuery5kMessagesWithPagination(t *testing.T) {
 	}()
 
 	
-	iterations := 4000
+	iterations := 1000
 
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at start")
 
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ func TestStressStoreQuery5kMessagesWithPagination(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to query store messages")
 			require.Greater(t, len(*storedmsgs.Messages), 0, "Expected at least one stored message")
 		}
+		Debug("##Iteration #%d",i)
 	}
 
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at end")
@@ -119,40 +120,44 @@ func TestStressStoreQuery5kMessagesWithPagination(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestStressHighThroughput10kPublish(t *testing.T) {
-
 	node1Cfg := DefaultWakuConfig
 	node1Cfg.Relay = true
+
 	node1, err := StartWakuNode("node1", &node1Cfg)
-	require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to start node1")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "failed to start node1")
 	defer node1.StopAndDestroy()
 
 	node2Cfg := DefaultWakuConfig
 	node2Cfg.Relay = true
+
 	node2, err := StartWakuNode("node2", &node2Cfg)
-	require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to start node2")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "failed to start node2")
 	defer node2.StopAndDestroy()
 
-	err = node1.ConnectPeer(node2)
-	require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to connect node1 to node2")
+	require.NoError(t, node1.ConnectPeer(node2), "failed to connect peers")
 
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at start")
 
-	totalMessages := 2000
-	pubsubTopic := DefaultPubsubTopic
+	const totalMessages = 1000        
+	var pubsubTopic  = DefaultPubsubTopic
 
 	for i := 0; i < totalMessages; i++ {
-		message := node1.CreateMessage()
-		message.Payload = []byte(fmt.Sprintf("High-throughput message #%d", i))
+		msg := node1.CreateMessage()
+		msg.Payload = []byte(fmt.Sprintf("high-throughput message #%d", i))
+
+		hash, err := node1.RelayPublishNoCTX(pubsubTopic, msg)
+		require.NoError(t, err, "publish failed @%d", i)
+        Debug("Iteration-10kpublish #%d",i)
+		err = node2.VerifyMessageReceived(msg, hash )
+		require.NoError(t, err, "verification failed @%d", i)
+
 
-		_, err := node1.RelayPublishNoCTX(pubsubTopic, message)
-		require.NoError(t, err, "Failed to publish message %d", i)
-		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
-		Debug("###Iteration number#%d", i)
 	}
 
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at end")
 }
 
+
 func TestStressConnectDisconnect1kIteration(t *testing.T) {
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at start")
 
@@ -169,11 +174,11 @@ func TestStressConnectDisconnect1kIteration(t *testing.T) {
 		node1.StopAndDestroy()
 	}()
 
-	iterations := 2000
+	iterations := 1000
 	for i := 1; i <= iterations; i++ {
 		err := node0.ConnectPeer(node1)
 		require.NoError(t, err, "Iteration %d: node0 failed to connect to node1", i)
-		time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
+		time.Sleep(150 * time.Millisecond)
 		count, err := node0.GetNumConnectedPeers()
 		require.NoError(t, err, "Iteration %d: failed to get peers for node0", i)
 		Debug("Iteration %d: node0 sees %d connected peers", i, count)
@@ -187,7 +192,7 @@ func TestStressConnectDisconnect1kIteration(t *testing.T) {
 		err = node0.DisconnectPeer(node1)
 		require.NoError(t, err, "Iteration %d: node0 failed to disconnect from node1", i)
 		Debug("Iteration %d: node0 disconnected from node1", i)
-		time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
+		time.Sleep(250 * time.Millisecond)
 	}
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at end")
 }
@@ -196,7 +201,7 @@ func TestStressRandomNodesInMesh(t *testing.T) {
 	r := rand.New(rand.NewSource(time.Now().UnixNano()))
 
 	minNodes := 5
-	maxNodes := 20
+	maxNodes := 15
 	nodes := make([]*WakuNode, 0, maxNodes)
 
 	for i := 0; i < minNodes; i++ {
@@ -213,7 +218,7 @@ func TestStressRandomNodesInMesh(t *testing.T) {
 
 	captureMemory(t.Name(), "at start")
 
-	testDuration := 30 * time.Minute
+	testDuration := 10 * time.Minute
 	endTime := time.Now().Add(testDuration)
 
 	for time.Now().Before(endTime) {