Chapter 523: Desperate Flight Amidst Chaos

“Fish-Man Karate—Sea Current Over-the-Shoulder Throw!”

A blue figure surged forward with a wave of water, crashing toward Ace. As the two Holy Knights saw this, they immediately drew their spears and retreated, leaving Ace, barely clinging to life, sprawled on the ground.

While Meadow and Snail kept struggling against the force of the water, Jinbei darted away in a single powerful move. He bent down to heft Ace onto his shoulder, sprinted toward Luffy, and tucked him firmly under his arm—dragging the three of them along the ground as he ran for an escape.

“Jinbei of the Seven Warlords.”

“Why turn your back on the Seven Warlords just to help pirates? Don’t you care about Fishman Island’s fate?”

“Heh, lowborn scum will always be scum.”

With Meadow’s words, his right hand hurled a golden spear through the air, aiming to pierce Jinbei straight through.

Jinbei sensed the attack closing in from behind, but he didn’t slow down. He stomped hard on the ice, sending a massive chunk flying up to block the golden spear.

Bang!

The moment the ice shattered, the golden spear veered off course and stabbed into the ice just ahead of Jinbei’s right side.

“Ace, are you okay?”

“You’re bleeding all over the place.”

Even with Luffy tucked under one arm, he never stopped frantically waving his arms and legs, reaching out to hug Ace with all his strength. His left hand pressed over the two gaping holes burned into Ace’s chest.

“Luffy, you shouldn’t have come.”

“It’s all my fault. If I’d just given up chasing Blackbeard back in Alabasta, none of this would have happened.”

Luffy’s hand hovered over the two charred holes—one on each of Ace’s sides. Both spots had been seared deep through Ace’s waist.

The organs inside the wounds had been almost completely dissolved. For most, such an injury meant certain death, but this was the lawless One Piece World.

Even if some internal organs melted away, as long as the heart and other vital spots were intact, there was still a chance to hang on for those last goodbyes.

“Damn it! Holy Knights!”

Hidden among the Navy, right in front of Blackbeard, Roger clenched his right fist the moment he witnessed this. A flash of red lit up his eyes, and an overwhelming surge of Conqueror’s Haki burst across the whole battlefield.

That fierce aura struck Meadow and Snail in an instant, freezing their wild expressions as their bodies locked up. Even the ice beneath them began to crack under the pressure.

“Impossible! Who could have that kind of power?”

“Damn it, who did that?!”

Jinbei kept running, puzzled why the two Holy Knights had given up the chase. But that barely mattered right now—his only priority was getting Luffy and the others to safety.

Whatever happened behind him no longer mattered. If anything, it worked in his favor, so he pressed on even faster.

“Ace, hang in there! Chopper and Ivankov are just ahead, and they’ll save you, I promise!”

Ace had long since slipped into unconsciousness from his wounds. No matter how Luffy shook or slapped him, he wouldn’t wake up, and his heartbeat was getting weaker by the second.

“Hey—could you two at least try to take care of me over here?!”

With Luffy still gripping his arm, Mr. 3 found himself dragged along, face scraping across the ice, bruised and battered beyond recognition.

“Sorry!”

Luffy then swung his left foot free from Ace, wrapped Mr. 3 up, and firmly tied him onto Jinbei’s back.

“We’re speeding up! Hold on tight!”

As Jinbei reached the first blockade, he crouched and launched himself into the air, soaring clean over the second defensive line.

Mr. 3 squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again, and realized they were flying through the sky—he couldn’t help but scream when he saw the tiny people far below.

“Aaah! What the heck!”

“Wait—is that Jinbei, Luffy, and Ace?”

Ivankov, lost in thought about where to find a breakthrough, jerked his head up at the sound. To his shock, Jinbei was already leading the others out ahead.

But right away, his face darkened. They were close to the very place where Navy Admiral Udyr and Whitebeard’s Third Division Commander Jozu were locked in battle.

He hadn’t noticed Ace’s injuries yet.

For now, all his attention was fixed on the heat of battle between Udyr and Jozu. The ground around them was cleared by their fighting, but Jinbei, desperate to escape, failed to notice that Udyr had already spotted them.

“Evil blood must not be allowed to continue. Justice will prevail! Absolute justice above all!”

Udyr faked a strike that forced Jozu to fall back, then spun and unleashed his Devil Fruit power with a blast of his fist.

“Earthquake Bear!”

Just as Jinbei shifted his stance to leap again, the ice underfoot turned from frosty blue to muddy yellow, rippling like waves and nearly knocking him off balance.

Whoosh!

Jinbei’s left ear twitched—he sensed a fierce threat behind him. Instantly, he hurled Ace, Luffy, and Mr. 3 toward Ivankov’s direction.

“Luffy, take care of your brother!”

“Got it!”

Luffy, twisting through the air, wrapped both Ace and Mr. 3 in a tight hold, bracing for the crash.

“Fish-Man Karate—Three Thousand Watt Straight Punch!”

Jinbei turned, throwing a powerful right punch to block. He followed up with a knee strike that sent Udyr staggering. Jinbei then flipped through the air and launched a kick, knocking Udyr right back toward Jozu.

Udyr barely recovered when Jozu swung a fist from the side. “I don’t care if you’re an Admiral, you don’t lay a hand on Ace!”

But Udyr was even quicker, darting forward with blinding speed. His fist crashed into Jozu before he could finish his charge.

Bang!

Even activated, Jozu’s Sparkling Fruit power wasn’t enough. After fighting Udyr for so long, he’d taken serious internal wounds. That brutal hit was like getting smashed by a sledgehammer—he crashed down hard on the ice, bones snapping inside.

“Fish-Man Karate—Five Thousand Watt Straight Punch!”

With a deep shout, Jinbei appeared ahead of Udyr, blocking his path and stopping him from striking again at Jozu.

“Damn fishman!”

Feeling a prickling sense of danger, Udyr grew cautious and had to retreat a few steps, losing the chance to finish his attack.

Boom!

As he withdrew, a giant chasm over a hundred meters long and several meters wide tore open before him.

“Jozu, are you okay? Think you can keep going?”

After fending off Udyr, Jinbei rushed to Jozu’s side and helped him up.

Jozu wiped away the blood at his mouth. “I’m alright. I can handle it.”

Meanwhile, Luffy squeezed his eyes shut, clutching Ace and Mr. 3 tightly, but the crash he braced for never came.

“Straw Hat boy!”

A familiar voice called out, and Luffy opened his eyes to see Ivankov had caught them as they landed.

“Ivankov!”

“Quick, help Ace—hurry!”