Summit War · Severed Arm

"Bang!"

A sound of a fist striking flesh echoed out, but it was not like in the anime where Ace was pierced through by Akainu's fist; instead, Chen Qiang, who had been in Luffy's hands, woke up at the critical moment.

The moment Chen Qiang woke up, he saw Akainu's fist hurtling toward them and simultaneously saw Ace suddenly appear beneath that fist. Chen Qiang was all too familiar with this scene; after all, when he watched One Piece, he had specifically rewound this segment over a dozen times. Every time he saw it, he felt immense dissatisfaction and wanted to send razor blades to the author, yet none of that could change the fact that Ace died.

So, when it all unfolded before his eyes, Chen Qiang broke free from Luffy's grip without a second thought and lunged forward to shove Ace out of the way.

The result was that Chen Qiang had his chest pierced by the fist, while Ace, though knocked aside by Chen Qiang's sudden intervention, still had one of his arms directly severed by the blow.

"Ace! Chen Qiang!"

Seeing this, Luffy ignored his own injuries, caught the pierced Chen Qiang and the one-armed Ace, and let out a heart-wrenching cry.

"I'm fine! Check on Ace!"

Chen Qiang, caught by Luffy, pushed him away and stood up unsteadily, speaking to Luffy while coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Although Chen Qiang looked miserable right now, he knew his own condition; the injuries looked severe, but they would heal in just a few breaths' time.

The most critical issue now was Ace's condition. He had seen that although he blocked Akainu's attack, because they were too close, Ace was still hit. He hadn't been pierced through the chest like in the original story, but his arm had been severed right at the shoulder.

Such an injury could not be considered light, and coupled with the magma on Akainu's fist, which had a powerful burning effect, it was possible that the burns had traveled along the wound of Ace's severed arm and scorched his internal organs.

After all, the fact that Akainu had severed Ace's arm with a single punch showed that Akainu had infused Haki into the strike. Even Ace, who could turn into an element, couldn't withstand such a fist, so at this moment, Chen Qiang was even more concerned about Ace than Luffy was.

"Cough... I... I'm fine!"

Upon hearing Chen Qiang's words, Luffy began to check Ace's injuries, but was stopped by Ace using his remaining hand.

"Hellhound!"

Clearly realizing that his previous punch hadn't finished off Ace, Akainu swung his magma-coated fist once again, attacking both Ace and Luffy.

"Tiger Roar!"

"Boom!"

Seeing Akainu attack again, Chen Qiang didn't waste words. He gripped his long blade tightly and flashed in front of Ace and Luffy. A blood-red tiger head appeared on the blade, colliding head-on with Akainu's fist.

Given Chen Qiang's current strength, he was still a bit short of being able to block Akainu. Fortunately, just as Chen Qiang was sent flying by the impact of that block, Jinbe, who had heard Luffy's heart-wrenching cry, arrived on the scene. He took over for Chen Qiang and blocked Akainu's fist, finally allowing the two severely injured brothers to escape the fate of death.

"Tiger Leap!"

Just as Akainu's attack was blocked, Chen Qiang, who had just been sent flying, quickly recovered. He leaped from the ground, and a giant blood-red tiger appeared in the air. Taking the stance of a fierce tiger descending a mountain, he soared over Jinbe's head and bit toward Akainu.

Without any surprise, Chen Qiang's attack was blocked by Akainu once again.

"Jinbe, hurry and take Luffy and Ace away from here to the back for treatment!"

Chen Qiang wasn't surprised that Akainu blocked his attack, but his strike had prevented Akainu from launching a follow-up attack immediately. Taking advantage of this opening, Chen Qiang shouted quickly to Jinbe, and without waiting for a reply, he raised his blade and charged at Akainu again.

"Understood!"

Jinbe was not one to dawdle. Upon hearing Chen Qiang, he turned decisively, tucked Ace and Luffy under his arms, and ran rapidly toward the ships in the distance.

"You won't escape!"

Seeing Jinbe take Luffy and Ace away, and finding himself blocked by Chen Qiang—a guy who refused to stay down no matter how many times he was hit—Akainu turned his entire body into magma and surged toward Chen Qiang.

"Damn it! No fair cheating like this!"

Watching the massive wave of magma rushing toward him, Chen Qiang only had time to mutter a complaint before his entire body was engulfed in red light and swallowed whole.

After engulfing Chen Qiang, the magma didn't stop, continuing to pursue the direction where Ace and Jinbe had fled.

However, Akainu didn't catch up to Jinbe this time. Just as he was about to close the distance, a giant fist suddenly appeared from above, knocking Akainu right out of his elemental form.

"This old man will not let you hurt my sons again!"

Indeed, the one who had knocked Akainu out of his elemental form was Whitebeard, who had noticed the situation, shaken off Sengoku and the others, and arrived just in time to block Akainu before he could catch up to Ace and the others.

Whitebeard didn't stop there; after knocking Akainu out of his elemental form with a single punch, his massive palm slammed directly onto Akainu's face, lifting him up as if he were a doll.

"Snap!"

Whitebeard then slammed Akainu's head into the ground. A massive white vibration light appeared in his hand, and the entire ground began to crack inch by inch from the point of contact with Akainu's head.

Garp was the first to pursue Whitebeard, but seeing Ace's severed arm, he didn't intervene to stop Whitebeard from pummeling Akainu; he simply frowned, clearly conflicted.

"Buddha Shockwave!"

Sengoku, who had followed Garp, did not share his hesitation. Seeing Akainu being manhandled by Whitebeard, he struck immediately. A massive shockwave erupted from his palm and surged toward Whitebeard.

Whitebeard didn't block this time; he simply lifted the Akainu in his hand and threw him directly into the path of the shockwave.

"Bang!"

Having already suffered heavy injuries from Whitebeard's strike, Akainu was hit again by Sengoku's shockwave. With no ability to resist, he was driven deep into the ground beneath the plaza, to a depth unknown.

It was at this moment that Whitebeard swung his Guan Dao, slashing toward the spot where Akainu had landed.

"Crack!"

The entire island split down the middle due to Whitebeard's strike, effectively blocking a portion of the Marine pursuit.