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•———•———•———•———•
Chapter's Events:
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"If we reach the sea, I'll have the advantage!!!"
"We can escape!!" Jimbei continued running while carrying the unconscious Luffy.
As he leaped from the bay towards the sea, he was met with a shocking sight. "Damn!! The ice!!!"
The sea below was frozen, and the one responsible for this, Aokiji, apologized, saying, "Sorry, Jimbei..."
"Uwaaah!!!"
"Gyaah!!" At that moment, Jimbei heard the cries of the pirates behind him.
"He's here!!" Jimbei turned in mid-air and used Fish-Man Karate to defend against Akainu's attack, but he wasn't stable enough. "Damn!!"
This resulted in a serious injury to Jimbei, who was pierced like Ace but less severely.
Luffy's stomach suffered a severe burn because of it.
"Jimbei!!"
"Aaahhh!!!" Jimbei screamed in pain.
"...!! He pierced Jimbei and hit Ace's brother!!!"
"Is he still alive!!?" The Whitebeard Pirates were horrified at the sight.
"You're still resisting, Jimbei!?" Akainu walked leisurely towards Jimbei.
"Uuhh!! Luffy... haa... I'm sorry!!!"
"You've taken unnecessary wounds...!!!" Jimbei regretted allowing this to happen.
"Are you really in a position to be worrying about others right now? You were on the way, so I missed it. If I had pierced his heart, it would have been painless. Right, Jimbei?"
With one hand in his pocket and the other filled with hot magma, Akainu prepared to deliver a fatal attack once more.
"Why do you still protect him with his chest gouged out like that? He'll die soon anyway-" Before Akainu could finish speaking, his body was sliced by a torrent of sharp sand.
"Nnn...!!"
"Crocodile!!" Crocodile appeared near them at that moment.
Seeing Jimbei carrying the injured Luffy, he decided to take them both away. "Sables!!!"
As soon as he said this, a sandstorm engulfed both Luffy and Jimbei.
"Someone grab them and take them to a ship!!!" he exclaimed.
"Crocodile!!" Jimbei looked grateful.
"If you want to protect someone, do it right!!! Don't let them have their way anymore!!!"
•———•———•———•———•
"He's right, if you want to protect someone, do it properly..."
"But it's okay; your counterpart has already done everything he could..."
Jimbei looked with admiration at the heroic appearance of Crocodile at that moment, rescuing both Luffy and himself from Akainu's clutches.
"This is amazing..."
"I didn't expect this man to play such an outstanding role in this arc; he has really done a lot."
Fisher Tiger smiled, praising Crocodile's decisive character in this arc.
"It's surprising how this man continues to impress us every time -Nyuu!" Even Hatchan had become a fan.
"Anyway... it seems Akainu has caused significant harm to Luffy this time... He appears to need urgent medical attention..."
"Otherwise, what Akainu said might happen..."
Jimbei was worried about Luffy's condition, which did not look promising.
"No need to worry; this is the protagonist. No matter what happens, he will come out fine... Ace's death was already unfair; the heavens won't be crueler than that from now on."
Fisher Tiger said with calm assurance.
He was certain that even in the most difficult circumstances, hope would surely appear if it involved Luffy.
…
Not far from Tiger and Jimbei's group, Franky had been crying bitterly since Ace's death.
"Waah… Why? Why? Just why did this scene have to happen!?"
"Waah! It's unfair! Unfair! Ace… Luffy… they don't deserve this… uwaaah!"
Franky's tears flowed almost continuously as he was still stuck in the scene of Ace's death.
Seeing this, Tom sighed with regret.
"This was meant to happen, boy… Ace is already dead, and what happened can't be changed no matter how undesirable, but Luffy, your future captain, is still alive, and he bears his late brother's will within him."
"Look at all of them, Jimbei, Marco, Vista, Jozu, and Ivankov, and all the Whitebeard Pirates, even former enemies like Crocodile, they're all doing their best to save Luffy and get him out of this war."
"This is a losing war, a heavy blow to Luffy, but it will be a strong metal to refine the future Pirate King… for the true kings' journeys are not free of falls."
"If he can overcome this disaster, he will come back much stronger than before."
"Akainu knows this, which is why he wants to kill him and end him here, not allowing him to progress any further. It's his warrior's instinct."
Hearing all this from his teacher, Iceburg nodded with a smile, and Franky stopped crying.
Not far from them, Kokoro was happy to see this.
…
In the Sorbet Kingdom, inside the art store, everyone was praising Crocodile and cursing Akainu.
Seeing how Crocodile used his sand to cut through Akainu's magma body at the moment everyone thought he was going to finish off Jimbei and Luffy was a stunning sight.
Everyone cheered happily at seeing that, including Crocodile himself, who was very pleased with this.
"Take that, you arrogant dog! Hmph! How's that? My sand can also become hotter than magma if I heat it."
Seeing this childish and enthusiastic reaction from Crocodile, Garp couldn't help but laugh, and even Ivankov and the rest laughed.
"Buwahaha! Good boy! Good hit."
"Interfering in an Admiral's affairs, disrupting his goals, hitting him, and getting out alive... that would be an unparalleled achievement if it happened..."
"After everything your counterpart has done here, I bet everyone forgot what he did in Alabasta."
Garp laughed, having already moved past the tragedy of Ace's death.
"Good… Your counterpart has performed very well in this war." Dragon was also praised.
"Amazing… But I feel there is a purpose behind everything your counterpart has done so far…"
"I really want to know the secret my counterpart knows about you~"
Crocodile was happy until Ivankov opened his mouth and soured his mood… at that moment, he wished he could slice Ivankov instead of Akainu.
…
Sphinx Island:
"My death means a humiliating loss for my sons… I really feel sorry after seeing what happened after my counterpart's death."
"This manga will help me a lot; it has already taught me not to continue taking sons who might be like Teach or worse."
"Death at the hands of a son you once acknowledged is not a good end, no matter how glorious the way of dying."
"There is no glory in a treacherous death…"
"But Newgate, don't you prefer dying in battle rather than dying in bed amidst the tears of sons and daughters?" Rob asked quietly.
"That was my thought before I saw my disgraceful end in this manga… now I see that dying in a warm bed surrounded by sons after a respectable meal and great drink is the most wonderful decision."
"Hahaha!!" Hearing that, Rob couldn't hold back his laughter.
Who would have thought that the volume of the Summit War would be a major reason for changing the great Edward Newgate's perspective on life and death?
"Well, this Crocodile isn't bad."
Seeing what Crocodile did at that moment, Whitebeard praised with admiration.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 760: The Doctor Has Arrived.
Chapter 761: The Invincible Blackbeard!
Chapter 762: Continuation of the Chaos.
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