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"Three-Sword Style: Tiger Hunt!"
"Shoulder Meat—Shoot!"
Just as Smoker and Tashigi launched their attacks, two more voices rang out from behind Ace.
He turned—and saw two figures running over.
One had three swords, the other had a curly eyebrow.
Ace immediately recognized them as Luffy's crewmates.
Zoro and Sanji.
But what confused him was—why were they only showing up now?
And the injuries on them looked even worse than Luffy's.
Before he could ask anything, the two of them rushed past him, heading straight for Smoker.
Zoro slashed with Tiger Hunt, slicing the incoming Black Spear attack out of the air, then lunged at Tashigi with lightning speed.
CLANG!!!
Tashigi managed to summon another Black Spear just in time to block Zoro's slash, but the sheer force still knocked her back hard.
Sanji's right leg flared with Armament Haki as he landed a solid kick on Smoker's smoke-formed arm.
Smoker felt the pain and had no choice but to pull his smoke back.
"Black Leg Sanji."
"Pirate Hunter Zoro."
Smoker's face darkened. He hadn't expected these two to have awakened Armament Haki too.
At that moment, a thought crossed his mind—once all this was over, maybe it was time he started training his Haki more seriously.
Just then, two battered and bruised figures, their clothes torn and their bodies covered in wounds, finally moved into action.
Zoro tied on his bandana, his eyes cold and sharp as he said slowly:
"I won't let you bastards…"
Sanji lit the cigarette in his mouth, raised his right leg high, and flames instantly swirled up around it.
"…lay a finger on our captain and vice-captain!"
Their voices weren't loud, but they sent a rare chill down the spines of Smoker, Tashigi, and even Ace.
It was like the two of them had been set ablaze by pure rage.
And honestly, that wasn't far from the truth.
Right after Luffy had burst up from underground, Zoro and Sanji had taken action too.
Sanji even told Nami to take the ship and leave the port as soon as she could.
Because they all knew—Bai Ye staying behind was basically him choosing to sacrifice himself.
And that was completely unacceptable to them.
Not to mention, Luffy had already charged into the fight—so of course, they wouldn't back down either.
But when they finally broke through and rushed back to the scene…
…the only thing they heard was Luffy's pained scream.
And in his arms—Bai Ye, lifeless.
Just thinking about it…
…was enough to set both Zoro and Sanji's hearts on fire.
The next second, both of them launched into the air again, charging straight at Smoker and Tashigi.
Their fierce assault left the enemy with no choice but to fight back.
Sanji, now wielding Armament Haki, unleashed his Diable Jambe.
With both powers stacked, Smoker was taking serious heat.
His jitte was useless against Sanji—only making things worse for him.
Meanwhile, Zoro was up against Tashigi.
Even though Zoro had Haki, Tashigi had the powers of the Cage-Cage Fruit.
If she wanted, she could summon a bunch of black bars to block Zoro's attacks.
Zoro had the upper hand, but he still couldn't land a solid hit.
"Fine then…"
Zoro tightened his headband again and said,
"Let me figure out how to cut steel right here, right now."
With that, he swung his blade once more.
On the other side, Ace was watching the four of them clash, but he didn't try to join in.
Because right now, he had something even more serious to deal with.
He looked down. Luffy was still on his knees, holding Bai Ye's body tightly.
Tears were still pouring down his cheeks, but no sound came out of his wide-open mouth.
Silent cries… are the saddest of all.
Ace could understand that, but he wasn't about to let Luffy fall apart like this.
"This won't do at all!"
BAM!!!
Ace grabbed Luffy by the collar and punched him hard across the left cheek.
"Snap out of it, you dumbass!!!"
Luffy's head bounced back from the punch, rubbery as always…
…but he kept crying silently, completely unresponsive.
"What kind of sick joke is this?!"
Ace yelled again, now landing a punch on Luffy's right cheek.
"Open your damn eyes—I'm your big brother, Ace! Luffy!!!"
Ace?
Finally, when Luffy heard that name, something clicked.
He looked up at the face in front of him—when he saw the familiar smile and those signature freckles, his eyes shot wide open.
And then, seeing that oh-so-familiar face, now filled with worry...
Luffy broke down all over again.
He suddenly leapt up and hugged Ace's head tightly.
"ACE!!!"
In that moment, he wasn't the 60-million bounty pirate…
He wasn't the guy aiming to become the Pirate King…
He was just a kid—a little brother who'd just lost his best friend.
"Bai Ye… Bai Ye… he's gone! He died saving me! AAAAAHHH!!!"
Luffy's tears kept flowing, drenching Ace's hair and face.
Ace barely managed to pry himself free from Luffy's death grip…
But he didn't care one bit about the tears soaking his face. Instead, he let out a long, relieved sigh.
"You really scared the hell outta me, Luffy."
"Ace!"
Luffy wiped his face, still sobbing, still clinging tightly to Ace's neck.
"B-Bai Ye died saving me… He died!!!"
Ace's face turned somber too, clearly remembering something.
But he quickly pulled himself together and looked straight at Luffy.
"This… is the sea, Luffy."
"When you choose freedom—when you choose to become a pirate—then stuff like this is bound to happen."
Ace's voice was serious. But for some reason, the look on his face while saying all this…
It felt like he was talking to himself, too:
"We're pirates. That makes us villains—no question about it!"
"If you really wanna be the Pirate King, then you better be ready for what that means!"
Ace yanked Luffy off his neck, grabbed him by the shoulders, and said firmly:
"Get stronger, Luffy! Strong enough to protect your crew!!"
"Don't let Bai Ye's sacrifice be for nothing!!!"
As he said that last part, Ace pointed toward Bai Ye—
"WHAT?!!"
The next second, Ace let out a terrified shout.
He stared in disbelief at the ground—right where Bai Ye had just been lying…
There was a huge white cocoon there now???
"WHAT?!!"
Luffy's voice came out even more panicked as he rushed over and scooped up the cocoon.
Then—
He threw it hard to the side, dropped flat onto the ground, and his voice started trembling:
"Where's Bai Ye?! Did Bai Ye fall through the ground too???"
"It's obviously this freaking cocoon, you idiot!!!"
That was Ace's voice, full of exasperation.
And of course, it came with a classic love punch from big bro.
"It's pretty clear Bai Ye's not dead."
Ace placed a hand gently on the cocoon, feeling the faint but still-alive presence inside. His face lit up as he turned to Luffy and said:
"He's still in there."
Zoro and Sanji, hearing the shouting, turned around with surprised expressions and came running over.
They all stared at the cocoon together.
"That's Bai Ye?"
"....."