Brothers Reunited, Between Life and Death

"Luffy!" Ace tightly embraced his younger brother as he rushed out of the passageway, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. Years of separation, the shadow of death, and the pursuit across dimensions—all the pain and despair turned into warm tears at this moment.

"Ace... it's really you..." Luffy hugged his brother back, a smile and tears intertwined on his face. His ever-lively eyes were filled with unimaginable joy.

However, the brief joy of their reunion was quickly interrupted by cruel reality. Ace noticed in horror that Luffy's body was translucent, as though he were being viewed through a thin mist. At times, Ace could even see his own arm pass through Luffy's body, as if Luffy might disperse into the air at any moment.

"What happened?" Luffy looked down at his arm as it continuously shifted in transparency, confused yet alert.

"You haven't fully returned to this dimension yet," Dragon explained during a gap in his defense against the Five Elders' leader. "The ritual hasn't been completed."

At the center of the altar, Lin Ye's situation was becoming increasingly perilous. As the anchor maintaining the passage's stability, he was gradually being pulled toward the Void. Purple patterns had already covered more than ninety percent of his skin, and his eyes had begun to emit an ominous purple glow. He gritted his teeth and held on, but every second was agony.

"Lin Ye!" Noticing his friend's condition, Ace immediately understood the crisis—Luffy's return came at the cost of Lin Ye being pulled into the Void. It was an exchange of lives.

High in the sky, the Five Elders' leader raised his hand again. An energy blast even more powerful than before hurtled toward the altar. "Your efforts are futile! The fusion of dimensions is the destiny of the universe!"

Silvers Rayleigh