"Ace?"
A familiar voice came from behind him. Ace spun around and saw a figure he had not seen in a long time—Luffy stood not far away, his body half-transparent and surrounded by a purple glow, yet that signature smile was as bright as ever.
"Luffy!" Ace rushed forward. This time, he was finally able to touch his younger brother, though it felt like grasping a thick cloud of mist. The two brothers embraced tightly, and Ace felt his eyes sting. "You idiot... I knew you wouldn't die that easily."
Luffy grinned. "Of course! I'm the man who's going to become the King of the Pirates!"
"Lin Ye?" Luffy looked past Ace as Lin Ye's figure gradually took shape. "Great, you're here too. But we need to hurry. It isn't safe here."
"The Five Elders can sense this connection," Lin Ye explained, scanning the ever-shifting purple space around them. "We don't have much time."
"Luffy," Ace asked urgently, "are you all right? Is there any way to bring you back?"
Luffy's expression turned serious. "I'm fine, but I can't go back yet. Things here are more complicated than we imagined. The Five Elders have completely fused with the Void, and they're preparing to tear open the Dimensional Barrier when the Purple Moon in the Sky appears."
"But that would destroy both worlds, wouldn't it?" Ace asked.
Luffy nodded. "Yes. I'm trying to persuade the Void Will to choose a peaceful solution, but the Five Elders have a great deal of influence. We have to stop their plan."
The three of them suddenly began to blur as the purple space around them started to tremble.
"We're running out of time," Lin Ye warned. "The Five Elders may have already noticed us."
"Ace, Lin Ye," Luffy said quickly, his voice growing urgent,