"Marco, you're in a sorry state."
Ye Chen walked over to Marco as he spoke.
Fortunately, Marco's First Division crewmates had snatched him back when the Marines retreated. The Seastone Handcuffs, however, were still locked around his wrists.
Ye Chen glanced at them. A thin wire appeared in his hand as if by magic, and moments later, he had unlocked the cuffs. Marco nodded to him, then gave a cold snort. "Don't expect me to thank you. You killed Squard. We're not letting that go."
Ye Chen answered with a dismissive look. "Suit yourself. I don't care!"
After freeing Marco, Ye Chen headed toward Diamond Jozu. The Third Division had gathered anxiously around their frozen commander. They had no way to help him and dared not move him for fear of breaking something.
Ye Chen stepped up and waved them aside. They made way for him, and he pressed his palm firmly against Jozu. Power surged from his Dantian, turning his palm a brilliant red.
Waves of heat poured from his hand. Within moments, the pirates saw cracks spreading like a spiderweb through the ice wherever his palm touched it.
Whitebeard watched Ye Chen without surprise. Ye Chen had come to save Ace, so of course he did not want Jozu and Marco taken out of the fight. It also explained why he had killed Squard without mercy: Ye Chen would not let anyone jeopardize the rescue.
What worried Whitebeard most was that their retreat had been cut off. More than ten thousand people stood with War Wolf, including formidable fighters like Magellan, Black Snake, Blue Crocodile, White Crane, Chaton, and Momousagi. On top of that were seventy elite members of the Azure Dragon Squad, thirty Golden Cicada Assassins, and more than a hundred humanoid Murder Weapons under Sentomaru's command.