Luffy Charges Ahead

"Ah..."

The brief lull on the battlefield was shattered by a group of unexpected arrivals. High above, a warship hurtled toward the ground, sweeping a crowd of people along with it.

Boom!

The warship slammed into a breach in the ground, sending water spraying everywhere.

"What happened? Did a warship just fall out of the sky?"

On the Sabaody Archipelago, the reporters watching the live broadcast stared at their screens in shock. They had never expected more people to barge in when the battle was already at a stalemate.

Inside the breach Diamond Jozu had carved out, pirates climbed from the shattered ship toward the shore, one after another, as everyone watched in disbelief.

Warm sunlight fell across the deck. Soaked with seawater, Luffy stirred from unconsciousness. Cannon fire thundered below, and blades clashed around him. His eyes slowly focused as his mind cleared.

"Ace!"

Now awake, Luffy searched the wrecked warship for Ace. When he reached its bow, which jutted into the sea at an angle, he finally spotted Ace "surrounded" by Garp and Sengoku.

"Ace... I finally found you!"

Luffy's earthshaking shout drew the attention of the entire battlefield!

"Luffy!"

Anxiety flashed across Ace's face as he looked at Luffy, but Luffy was too far away to see it.

"Luffy!"

Locked in fierce combat with Akainu, Jiang Lin glanced toward the nearby deck. An unreadable look crossed his face.

"Hey! Those people... Is that... Crocodile?"

"And he's not the only one. Who are all those people?"

The Marines stared at the figures gathering around Luffy, their faces filled with shock.

Ivankov, Buggy, Jinbe, Crocodile, and a host of prisoners who had "escaped" from Impel Down—their arrival gave the Whitebeard Pirates a tremendous boost in fighting strength.

"Garp, it's that damned family of yours again!"

Sengoku's face darkened as more and more people gathered around Luffy. At last, he turned on Garp and cursed him out.

"Luffy!"

Garp clutched his head with both hands, his face full of anguish. His feelings were clearly even more tangled than Sengoku's.

"So that's the grandson of Garp the Hero and the son of the revolutionary Dragon? He needs to be eliminated too!"

During a break in the fighting, Akainu looked toward Luffy, his eyes brimming with murderous intent.

"But first, I'll deal with you... D!"

Akainu turned his gaze back to Jiang Lin, killing intent blazing in his eyes.

Eleven minutes have passed. Nineteen to go. Before I gain an Awakening ability, there's no way I can kill Akainu or shake him off. I hope the system gives me a good Awakened fruit! Now, whose Devil Fruit ability haven't I collected yet...?

As Jiang Lin thought, his eyes swept across the battlefield. During the fighting, he had already copied Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit and Bartholomew Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit. Few Devil Fruits left on the battlefield were worth copying.

And those who possessed valuable Devil Fruits were either too far from Jiang Lin or impossible to reach.

The only Devil Fruits he still had a chance of copying might be Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit and the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Buddha Form possessed by Sengoku, who stood beside Ace.

"Akainu, come play with me at the Execution Platform."

With that, Jiang Lin rode an Ice Path toward the Execution Platform at nearly the speed of light.

Ice-Ice Fruit (Glint-Glint Fruit enhancement) loaded successfully. Duration: ten minutes. Cooldown: thirty seconds.

As Jiang Lin rode a block of ice streaked with yellow lightning toward the Execution Platform, Akainu watched him go.

But Akainu did not pursue him.

Instead, his gaze shifted to Luffy and the others who had just appeared, fixing on them intently.

You have left combat range. The Devil Fruit Awakening mission has been temporarily suspended. Current combat time: twelve minutes. The timer will resume when the host engages an opponent of Admiral-level strength or higher.

Because Akainu had not pursued him, the timer on Jiang Lin's Devil Fruit Awakening mission had stopped for now.

Clearly, unlike a copying mission, this Awakening mission could not be completed by simply running out the clock.

Doesn't matter. As long as they keep fighting, I'll get the time I need!

Jiang Lin glanced at the system message and closed the interface. Ahead of him, Garp and Sengoku were arguing fiercely. Luffy's arrival had clearly brought a slight "change" to their relationship.

"You two carry on. Ace! I need your help!"

Ignoring Garp and Sengoku, Jiang Lin reached toward Ace. A tiny spike of ice at his fingertip flashed coldly in the sunlight.

"D!"

The moment Sengoku saw Jiang Lin approaching, he broke off his argument with Garp and turned toward him.

"D! Don't think you can take Ace away!"

Garp's face was torn with conflict, but in the end, he chose to strike.

Whoosh!

Air shrieked as Garp rose and drove a fist at Jiang Lin near the Execution Platform. The chilling force of the blow made Sengoku nod in satisfaction.

To Sengoku, this was the right choice. After all, justice and evil could never coexist!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Jiang Lin activated another Devil Fruit Card. His body split into pieces, evading Garp's attack, while his right hand shot toward Ace like a miniature rocket.

"Hmph!"

Sengoku snorted. An invisible burst of Haki surged out, crashing toward Jiang Lin.

"You won't stop me!"

Jiang Lin roared and ignored the Haki entirely. After forcing its way through one obstacle after another, his right hand finally reached Ace's forehead.

Flick!

A crisp flick sounded against Ace's forehead, and Jiang Lin withdrew his right hand in satisfaction.

You have attacked Portgas D. Ace, holder of the Flame-Flame Fruit. The system is copying his Devil Fruit. Host, hold out for one minute.

As the system's voice sounded, Garp and Sengoku both turned murderous gazes on Jiang Lin.