Ace lay face down on the ground, utterly still. Luffy knelt beside him, staring blankly at the blood on his hands. It was Ace's blood.
"Ace."
Luffy called his name softly, but Ace did not respond.
"Ahhh!"
Luffy's mouth opened wide, and he began to wail. Soon, his mind broke.
All around them, the Whitebeard Pirates began to weep.
They had failed today. Ace was dead. Jozu was dead. Vista was dead. Haruta was dead too.
Those captains had always treated them like family. Now they were cold bodies lying across the plaza.
Just then, a great mass of magma appeared before the unconscious Luffy.
Akainu had reached him and was about to finish him with a punch.
But a huge golden Kuma suddenly appeared in front of Luffy.
Boom!
The golden Kuma blocked Akainu's attack, but Akainu kept driving it backward. The magma rapidly ate away at its body.
The one standing in Akainu's way was Tibbers, controlled by Tuski. Even against Akainu's magma, Tibbers showed impressive defenses.
"Hm? Aren't you the Thunder Swordsman's pet? Get lost. Don't stand in my way. Do you want to die?"
Akainu had barely finished speaking when a pale blue flash of sword light swept past him.
So fast.
Akainu hurried to turn his body into magma, but his reaction came a little too late. A bloody cut opened across his chest.
"Akainu, what do you think you're doing to my family? Who did you just threaten to kill?"
Werther gripped Intent Blood. Lightning Mode had pushed his body's activation to its limit, giving him astonishing speed. Even Akainu had been caught off guard and suffered a minor wound.
And because Akainu had attacked Tuski, a glimmer of Red-Haired flickered in Werther's eyes. Intent Blood had sensed his anger and answered it.
The