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In the small house on Baterilla Island, Portgas D. Rouge sat there by the window, staring vacantly into the horizon where there was nothing but trees and the endless blue sea.
She watched the sea quietly, but what she saw at that moment was a reflection of a certain scene that never left her mind, even though she had closed the volume and thrown it away because she couldn't continue looking at it.
No matter what she did, she saw that scene in everything.
Her tears started falling again, this time without stopping.
"Ace..." She uttered Ace's name with indescribable sadness.
Not far away, Roger was still holding the manga volume and reading the chapter quietly.
Unlike Rouge, who naturally had a tender heart, he was more resilient to shocks, sadness, and death. After all, Roger was the Pirate King.
"He sacrificed himself for Luffy…" he said in a shaky voice, trying to maintain his composure.
…
•———•———•———•———•
Chapter's Events:
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"This era will be known by Whitebeard's name!!!" Using his fire ability, Ace punched towards Akainu, who also used his power to attack.
"Stop, Ace!!!" A loud explosion resounded as Ace's flames clashed with Akainu's magma. But immediately, Ace grabbed his burnt hand and started groaning in agony. "Uwaaah!!!"
"Ace!!"
"Ace!! He was burned!!?" The pirates exclaimed in shock upon seeing this scene.
"Did you get careless because you're a logia type as well?"
"You are merely 'fire'! I am 'magma' that consumes fire!" Akainu mocked, then added in a superior tone; "My power completely outclasses yours!!!"
"Ace!!…!!" Luffy felt extremely exhausted due to his depleted energy at that moment, collapsing to his knees.
"Hey, Luffy!! You're at your limit!!" Jimbei warned as he approached Luffy anxiously.
At that moment, Ace's vivre card fell from Luffy's hand. "Haa… Haa…" "Ah… Ace's vivre card…"
…
"The pirate king, Gold Roger! The revolutionary, Dragon! I'm amazed that their two sons turned out to be brothers!!" Akainu expressed his astonishment at that moment, then added; "Great sin already runs through your blood!! No matter who else escapes. I will never let you two brothers go!!!"
Akainu set his sights on the collapsed Luffy and said to Ace; "Take a good look…"
"Hey!! Wait!! Luffy!!!" Ace felt terror and rushed unconsciously to protect his younger brother.
Akainu chose to attack the defenseless Luffy at that moment.
Akainu's magma hand pierced through Ace's abdomen after burning most of his internal organs and puncturing his back.
Ace stood defending his brother Luffy until his last breath.
"Eh?" Luffy stumbled back, unable to comprehend what was happening.
"Cough!!" Ace coughed up blood as he was dying.
The color drained from the faces of Marco, Vista, and everyone who saw this scene among Whitebeard's pirates.
Ace's vivre card started burning again, this time much faster.
•———•———•———•———•
In the art store, the air froze gradually as the readers absorbed what happened in this scene.
"No way… Ace…"
Buggy stopped clowning around when he saw this scene; the situation had turned so quickly that he couldn't even understand how it happened.
"He killed him…"
Rayleigh swallowed the last drop of sake with difficulty, his mood sour from the scene. He set the sake bottle aside and stared at the scene carefully.
"He really did it..."
Gaban's eyes widened in extreme shock, especially after he turned the pages to the next chapter and saw its contents… "Akainu…!! What have you done!?"
Even Shakky, who rarely showed her emotions, looked visibly disturbed, "I never expected this to happen… Ace… he's dying…!"
"Impossible …" Shanks also felt despair.
Ace was one of his favorite characters in the manga, aside from being Captain Roger's son… His death was undoubtedly shocking and unacceptable to Shanks.
"Sigh… Fate cannot be predicted… Ace will die here."
Crocus sighed with indescribable sadness, then added, "Like father, like son, both with great destinies and bad luck."
The regular readers were in a state of unreal shock, and some were in deep sorrow due to their strong attachment to Ace's character.
Some of them even had Ace as their favorite character in the story! These people were shedding tears openly, especially after moving to the next chapter.
While others sat in complete silence, unable to believe what had happened.
"How could this happen? Why is Ace coughing up blood…? Why is his Vivre card burning?" a young girl murmured, holding her father's hand, who was trying to comfort her… He hadn't expected to break his daughter's heart on her birthday… If he had known what would happen, he would never have suggested bringing her to the art store today!
Another young man, wearing a shirt with Ace engulfed in flames, looked at the scene in the manga with tearful eyes, "He was my hero…! Why does he have to meet such an end!?" he said in a choked voice.
It wasn't just the death of a manga character, but the loss of a hero who had inspired many.
…
For a moment, the servers of the global forum crashed! The world fell silent, a devastating loss, indescribable pain, and sorrow engulfed everyone.
No one expected Ace to end up being stabbed by Akainu's magma hand like this.
On Sphinx Island, the expression on Whitebeard's face was identical to his counterpart in the manga.
After Akainu retracted his arm from Ace's back, Whitebeard's pirates couldn't believe what they saw… This was what happened in the manga, but it wasn't much different from the reactions of Whitebeard's pirates in reality.
They all froze in their seats, shocked, without uttering a single word.
When the commotion grew louder in the art store, Whitebeard's pirates returned to reality.
"Damn it! What did Akainu just do!" Marco shouted.
"He killed him! He burned his insides with his magma! This! Not even my healing abilities can treat such wounds!"
"He used Haki! And advanced Haki at that… This is a fatal blow… it's over." Jozu felt deep sadness after understanding the situation.
"Why didn't anyone intervene!? This… can't be…" Vista felt his throat dry up.
Whitebeard's expression darkened so much that Stussy, who was beside him, almost choked from his aura alone despite the art store's restraints.
"We underestimated the extent of this man's madness…" Whitebeard said, referring to Akainu.
"Sakazuki is your name, right? Just wait…" Whitebeard vowed with bloodshot eyes.
"Oyaji… This man killed Ace, he cannot be allowed to live and grow, undoubtedly he will do the same in the future if given the chance."
"We must eliminate him now."
"Admiral Akainu should not exist in this world."
"I hate this bastard; I want to dance on his grave!"
"Oyaji… the suffering of our defeated counterparts in the Summit War… I feel it's not just fiction! I have a feeling this is what will happen in the future!"
"Why don't we let the Summit War come 20 years earlier?"
Whitebeard listened to his sons' words with a calm and detached expression, no one knew what he was thinking.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 746: The Death of Portgas D. Ace! (Part 2)
Chapter 747: His Last Words.
Chapter 748: Thank you for loving me.
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