"Run! Run! Run!"
Luffy, clutching a golden key bigger than himself, rode on the back of a giant wolf, his legs gripping the wolf's belly, his whole body being tossed about wildly.
Zoro sat behind him, three swords across his knees, his face ashen.
It wasn't fear, but Nami was squeezing his waist from behind with such force that she could have crushed it.
Nami! Loosen your grip!
"I won't let go! This wolf is running so fast I'll fall! Do you want me to be smashed to pieces?!"
Nami shouted with her eyes closed, and her arms tightened an inch more.
Zoro's forehead veins throbbed, but he couldn't say anything.
This beast is faster than his mother, it's ridiculously fast. When it runs, it's like its feet are made of springs, and it can leap more than ten meters in a single bound.
The giant wolf darted left and right through the dense forest, deliberately choosing the places with the densest branches.
The haphazard branches whizzed past the three of them, and Nami was struck on the back of the head by a branch.
Tears streamed down her face from the pain, but she dared not let go, so she could only bury her face in Zoro's back and Kikoku.
Just as the three were heading back to the Underworld, Hajrudin's roar, like a death knell, crashed in from outside the forest:
Straw Hat Luffy —stop right there!!!
Luffy around and stuck out his tongue. "I'm not stopping!"
His action nearly made Nami's heart jump out of her throat.
The pursuers of the New Giant Warrior Pirates were actually not far away.
The giant's legs are long; one step is equivalent to Luffy and his crew running dozens of steps. But the giant wolf has a huge advantage in running through the forest.
Its body darted between the bushes and giant trees like an eel, while the giants brought by Hajrudin were enraged by the branches slapping their faces.
We also had to painstakingly push aside the tree canopies blocking our way, which made it impossible to pick up speed at all.
"How can that beast run like a ghost!" a giant cursed, ducking to avoid a tree trunk that was about to strike him.
Hajrudin gritted his teeth, watching Luffy and the others run further and further away. He didn't care about the terrain anymore, and bent down to charge at them, smashing down all the trees blocking his way like a bull.
"Forget about those trees! Full speed ahead! They're heading down to the Underworld!"
The giants, having received their orders, began to rampage and crash about like him.
The birds in the entire forest were startled and flew away, and trees fell down in clumps, creating a chaotic roar mixed with the sounds of the giant wolf running and the giant's footsteps.
As the giant wolf darted out of the forest, Luffy immediately spotted the suspension bridge ahead.
The bridge swayed in the wind, and the area below was pitch black, just as eerie as before.
Nami peeked out from Zoro's back, glanced at him briefly, then buried her face back down. "I'm not leaving! I'd rather die than leave!"
"Stop yelling, Nami," Zoro said coldly.
Without hesitation, the giant wolf leaped onto the bridge with a powerful push from its four paws. The suspension bridge began to shake violently, the planks creaking as if they were about to fall apart at any moment.
Nami could no longer make a sound; she could only let out a series of intermittent sobs.
After crossing the bridge, the giant wolf charged down a narrow, winding path.
Luffy thought it was another cliff and was about to experience a thrilling freefall like before, but this time the giant wolf started running along a narrow path hidden in the cliff face.
"There's a way!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise.
"Nonsense. You were crazy to jump down last time." Zoro finally got a chance to retort.
This road is even more difficult to cross than a suspension bridge. In some places, it is so narrow that only a giant wolf can barely stand with its four paws, and below is a bottomless abyss.
Nami kept her eyes closed the entire time; she had given up on seeing the world with her eyes.
I don't know how long I ran, but the surrounding temperature dropped and the light dimmed.
The giant wolf slowed down and finally stopped on a flat rock, letting out a low howl.
We've arrived in the Underworld.
Luffy slid off the wolf's back, clutching the key, and ran towards the direction where Loki was tied up, shouting as he ran:
"Hey--! I'm back with the keys!"
There was no response.
Luffy called out again, but there was still no response.
He frowned, quickened his pace to walk around the giant rocks, and then froze on the spot.
Loki had his head down, still bound by chains, but he no longer possessed the arrogance he had shown when they first met.
His body was covered in wounds, his face was so swollen that his original features were almost unrecognizable, and the most shocking thing was the hole in his chest.
The cave entrance was sealed by ice, emitting an eerie light. Blood, congealed beneath the ice, was a dark red color.
"How tragic..."
Luffy looked up at Loki's miserable state, tilted his head to examine it for a while, and suddenly asked,
Who beat you up like this?
Loki did not reply.
His breathing was shallow and slow, and his chest barely rose and fell.
If it weren't for the occasional very soft gurgling sound that escaped his throat, Luffy would have almost thought this guy was dead.
"Hey--! Are you still alive?" Luffy reached out and poked Loki's calf.
Loki's finger twitched.
"Live, live."
Luffy breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and waved to Zoro.
"Come quick, come quick, he's not dead yet!"
Zoro and Nami caught up from behind.
Nami gasped in shock when she saw Loki's miserable state, covering her mouth.
Zoro stepped forward, approached the Seastone chains, and frowned more and more deeply.
"Each of these chains is ridiculously large. I really don't know what kind of power he possesses to be bound by so many Seastone chains."
"Who cares? As long as I unlock his chains, I can get information about Shanks."
The key is right here! Hurry, hurry!
Luffy raised the golden key in his hand and shook it twice.
"I'm not saying it can't be solved."
Zoro said,
"I mean, someone who can be controlled with these chains is no ordinary person."
He looked up at the frozen wound on Loki's chest.
Zoro is a seasoned fighter; just by looking at the shape of the wound and the way it was frozen, he knew it wasn't done by an ordinary ice-type user.
The skin around the wound had an unnatural bluish-purple hue, as if it had been instantly eroded by extremely low temperatures.
If that attack hit him head-on, Zoro wasn't sure if his Armament Haki could withstand it.
"This injury is quite serious."
Zoro gave a brief assessment,
"If it's not treated promptly, it will lead to death."
Nami panicked as soon as she heard this:
"Then let's ignore him! Let's go! This guy has nothing to do with us!"
"No!"
Luffy was resolute.
"He hasn't told me about Shanks yet!"
" Luffy! Do you think he's the kind of person who would obediently tell you? He's lying to you!"
"If he's lying to me, I'll tie him up again," Luffy said, his tone almost defiant and serious.
Zoro glanced at Luffy, then at Loki, and made his decision:
"Let's get over it. He's injured like this now, he can't cause any trouble."
If this drags on any longer and the person really dies, the trail to Shanks will go cold.
" Zoro! How could even you--"
Nami.
Zoro interrupted her.
"This is the captain's decision."
Nami opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words.
Knowing she couldn't stop the two men, she could only take a few steps back, watching Loki warily.