"Ace!"
"Ace!"
"..."
The Whitebeard Pirates watched helplessly as Ace shot out like a cannonball, plummeting straight into a fissure in the ground at the edge of the bay.
The closest people were Vice Admiral Onigumo and "Flower Sword" Vista, who were currently fighting. Both sheathed their swords simultaneously, jumped to the edge of the fissure, and leaned down to look.
"Thump."
The fissure was bottomless. Faint sounds of seawater hitting the rock walls could be heard, and after a long while, a dull splash finally echoed.
"Fire Fist Ace has fallen into the sea!" Vice Admiral Onigumo observed for a moment, stood up, and reported to Akainu,
"In his exhausted state, survival is absolutely impossible, Admiral Sakazuki!"
Naturally, the Whitebeard Pirates didn't believe this. They all looked at Vista, only to see Vista saying nothing, just weeping uncontrollably.
The pirates' hearts sank immediately. They cried out Ace's name, and some even tried to jump down to search and rescue him, but they were desperately held back.
"You can't. This fissure is already connected to the sea. The water will rise quickly. Below there are only undercurrents and whirlpools. Ace..."
He couldn't continue speaking, but his meaning was already quite clear.
Just then, Jinbe and Luffy had just collapsed onto the ice. Akainu's strike had not only pierced Jinbe's chest but also scorched Luffy's chest.
Luffy, having recovered some strength, ignored his own injuries. He pulled out Ace's Vivre Card and placed it in his palm to examine it.
He saw the Vivre Card quickly ignite as if burning, rapidly shrinking from the size of his palm to the size of his thumb, and then continuing to shrink until it was barely visible to the naked eye.
A gust of sea wind swept up, scattering the ashes of Ace's Vivre Card. Luffy froze for a moment, reaching out to grasp the air, but catching nothing.
"A...ce!"
Luffy threw his head back and let out a hoarse, desperate roar, loudly calling Ace's name. Finally, with a gasp, he collapsed from exhaustion and passed out.
Garp, seeing this scene from afar, handed Taro over to the Military Doctor for care, stood up, lowered his head, clenched his fists, and walked toward Akainu.
Sengoku, who was confronting Blackbeard, slammed his palm down. In his Great Buddha Form, his enormous hand completely pinned Garp to the ground.
"Sengoku, keep holding me down like this, or I swear I will kill Sakazuki!"
Pinned entirely into the ground, Garp was weeping profusely.
Akainu also noticed the dissipation of Ace's Vivre Card. He frowned, feeling suspicious, and said in a deep voice:
"Has communication with Impel Down been restored? Tell them to send the Blue Masira Jailers over to search all fissures and undercurrents! I want a corpse!"
Only then did he walk toward Jinbe and Luffy again,
"My apologies, I missed. If I had pierced your heart directly, allowing you to die instantly, you would have suffered less."
Having successfully landed a blow, Akainu activated his 'Show-Off Mode,' rambling as he walked,
"It's your turn, Straw Hat Luffy. Now, not even God can save you!"
And then, God arrived!
Monkey D. Dragon, wearing a dark green coat, suddenly appeared and landed a punch squarely on Akainu's head, flipping him completely onto the ground.
Then, streams of Qi continuously surged from his hand, gradually smashing Akainu into the ice layer.
"You seem to have forgotten my existence, Sakazuki!"
Dragon's cold, clear voice betrayed no emotion.
"Cough"
Half of Akainu's head seemed to be flattened by the Qi flow. Instantly, his head was bleeding, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
"Pheasant Beak"
Aokiji's lazy voice rang out, and a gigantic bird-shaped ice block attacked Dragon.
Dragon waved the hand hidden beneath his coat, and a stream of Qi wrapped around the bird-shaped ice block, changing its direction and guiding it into the air.
Then he kicked Akainu in the abdomen with his right foot, and the ball of Qi on his foot suddenly exploded.
Akainu, already bleeding from the head, coughed up another mouthful of blood, was swept into the air, and then fell back down. At the same time, Dragon formed his right hand into a Dragon Claw Shape, and threw another punch, hitting Akainu square in the chest,
"Waaah!"
Akainu coughed up large mouthfuls of blood and was shot away mid-air. The immense power erupted into a strong current of Qi, carrying Akainu's body, like a kite with a snapped string, toward the gigantic cliff behind Whitebeard.
Whether intentional or unintentional, both Akainu and Ace disappeared from everyone's sight in this manner.
The Marine Soldiers also lay prone at the edge of the fissure, looking down, but they could only see the pitch-black precipice, immediately becoming anxious.
Seeing this, Sengoku released Garp, but Garp remained lying on the ground, burying his head in the rubble, just as Taro had done earlier, weeping uncontrollably.
Seeing Akainu defeated, Kizaru also flashed over, working with Aokiji to restrain Dragon from front and back.
Aokiji's entire body condensed into ice. Every breath carried a chilling coldness. He pressed his hands together, then slowly pulled them apart, and an Ice Spear appeared, grasped in his hand.
At the same time, Kizaru—whose 'Paycheck Arrived'—lightly tapped his index finger. A golden light suddenly appeared, and he began charging power.
Severely injured, Jinbe struggled to pick up Luffy and stared at Kizaru, "Even if this old man dies, I won't let you harm Straw Hat Luffy!"
"How scary. Talking such a big game in that condition..."
Before Kizaru finished speaking, a Sand Blade slashed through, cutting his body in half at the waist.
It was Crocodile!
After interrupting Kizaru's Casting Wind-up, Crocodile didn't stop. A Sandstorm suddenly rose in his hand, which he then threw out.
The intense Tornado instantly swept Jinbe and Luffy into the air.
"Get them onto a ship!"
Crocodile said coolly:
"If there's something you want to protect, protect it to the end, Jinbe! Don't let these guys have their way anymore!"
Jinbe and Luffy, swept into the air, happened to smash squarely into "Clown" Buggy, who was floating in the sky.
This great deity of "Haoshoku Luck" had already fled the moment Blackbeard displayed the Tremor-Tremor Fruit Ability.
Subconsciously, he hugged the things that had crashed into him, his eyes wide with surprise.
"What is this?"
His admirers, the prisoners who had escaped Impel Down following him, were qualified Hype Men.
"Captain Buggy rescued Straw Hat and Jinbe! You pretended to flee first, then seized the opportunity to save them..."
"How magnificent!"
The prisoners' eyes shone with golden light, moved beyond measure, weeping while covering their faces.
Taro would certainly deeply understand Buggy's current feeling, if he were conscious.
Just as Buggy was wondering where to take Luffy and Jinbe, a Yellow Submarine surfaced.
Trafalgar D. Water Law stood on the bow, carrying his sword.
"Move Straw Hat-ya over here! I'm a doctor!"
...At the same time, the battle between Sengoku and the Blackbeard Pirates also resumed.
Sengoku, in his Great Buddha Form, feared no contest of strength. He raised his arm high and slammed down a palm. A powerful Shockwave burst forth with dazzling light, instantly suppressing the Blackbeard Pirates.
The dazzling golden light illuminated half the sky and also illuminated Taro's consciousness.
Taro woke up!
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