Chapter 333: Im Escapes

Outside, the allied masters suddenly felt the bedrock violently shudder beneath their feet. Whitebeard and the others narrowed their eyes, their auras flaring instantly as they assumed high-alert combat stances.

"Here it comes!" Whitebeard swept his bisento across the air, concentrated rings of seismic vibration gathering rapidly around the blade.

A plume of dark mist tore past in a blinding flash. Whitebeard's pupils shrank, and he drove a concussive punch forward with full force.

BOOM!

Just as the devastating tectonic shockwave detonated outward, Kuzan raised a single palm, unleashing a glacial wave that instantly flash-froze the surrounding coordinates.

"Ice Age...!"

Cascading layers of seismic energy and absolute sub-zero frost converged upon the dark mist simultaneously.

"So you were prepared after all... Yet this alone cannot hold me!" The dark mist elongated into a razor-sharp spear, piercing straight through the dual-elemental blockade and soaring toward the distant sky.

"Cherish the fleeting remainder of your sweet dreams! When I return, your fantasy world will meet its absolute end!" Having cast her venomous parting words, the dark mist showed zero intention of lingering, vanishing past the horizon in the blink of an eye.

"Ace!" Drake bellowed.

In a fraction of a second, the two materialized directly in the slipstream of Im's trajectory via instantaneous spatial movement. With a powerful swing of his arm, Drake hurled Ace forward like a projectile.

"Flame Emperor!" A blazing spear materialized in Ace's grip, driven forward with catastrophic momentum straight into the dark mist.

The projectile pierced clean through the black cloud. A piercing, agonized shriek tore from Im's throat before she accelerated once more, vanishing into the clouds.

"Drake!" Seeing Im about to slip away completely, Ace shouted over his shoulder—yet received no reply.

When he turned his head, he found Drake dropped onto one knee, gasping frantically for air with ragged, shallow breaths.

"Drake! How are you holding up?!"

"Don't worry about me... Chase her down!" Drake waved his arm weakly, urging Ace forward with absolute urgency.

Then he rasped out one final instruction: "Get Luffy!"

Although Im was visibly battered from their prior clashes, underestimating her for even a fraction of a second would be fatal. Bringing Luffy into the pursuit was the only foolproof countermeasure.

According to Kenshin's earlier report, Luffy's current combat capability stood second only to his own.

Since Luffy had overpowered Im previously, subduing her now in her weakened state would be well within his grasp.

To think my body truly hit its absolute physiological breaking point...

Not everyone is built like Luffy.

Sleep for a few hours and wake up full of vigor; eat a single massive feast and recover to full health on the spot.

That constitution is practically divine.

No mortal can compare.

Drake let out a bitter, self-deprecating chuckle. His vision darkened rapidly, and his body pitched forward toward the hard ground.

Just as he was about to hit the stone, a steady hand caught him by the shoulder. "Drake! How are you doing? What happened down there?!"

"Sa... Sabo!" Drake's eyes snapped open in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I just finished coordinating logistical deployments for the Revolutionary Army and was heading toward the Demon Warder to check on your condition—I never expected to find you collapsing here," Sabo said hurriedly. "Never mind that for now, what's wrong with your body?!"

"Your complexion is awful. We need to get Ain to examine you immediately." After spending time aboard the Demon Warder, Sabo had grown intimately familiar with the crew of the Dragon Flag Pirates.

He was well aware that Ain served as their ship's doctor, and her miraculous, boundary-defying medical arts had left him in awe more than once.

"Ace is..." Drake's voice trailed off, growing fainter by the syllable.

Hearing Ace's name, Sabo moved to ask what had unfolded, but seeing Drake completely slip into unconsciousness, he swallowed his questions.

Without a second's delay, Sabo scooped Drake up and, flanked by Koala, vaulted into the air, flying at top speed toward the Demon Warder.

Meanwhile, Ace transformed his lower body into roaring flames, rocketing straight into the upper atmosphere.

Suddenly, a localized beam of black light materialized directly above his head. Ace twisted his frame mid-air to evade, but a writhing dark tendril erupted from the mist, slamming a palm-strike squarely into his chest.

BOOM!

Ace was hammered out of the sky, his blazing silhouette plummeting straight toward the ruins below.

Crashing through a cluster of shattered boulders, Ace gritted his teeth, a dark expression settling over his face. At this rate, stopping her from escaping Mary Geoise would be virtually impossible.

Sweeping his gaze across the terrain, Ace's eyes suddenly widened in sheer disbelief. "Lu... Luffy?!"

"Hm?!"

Not far from where Ace had crashed, resting beside a massive stone outcropping, Luffy and Hancock were sitting together, chatting and laughing in high spirits.

Luffy was devouring massive cuts of roasted meat by the mouthful, happily recounting his adventures to the Empress.

"I see, I see! So you hitched a ride on Koby's warship to get all the way up here, huh? Mmm, delicious!" Luffy nodded vigorously between bites, tearing off a colossal slab of meat from the bone.

"Man, Koby... It's really been forever since I saw that guy..." A nostalgic smile spread across Luffy's grease-smeared face.

Reflecting upon it, two full years had passed since he and Koby had crossed paths, their last meeting dating all the way back to the Paramount War at Marineford.

Time truly flew by in an instant.

"LUFFY!!" A thunderous roar shattered the tranquility, catching both Luffy and Hancock completely off guard.

"Ace!" Luffy beamed in delight.

"Luffy! Intercept her, quick!"

"Huh?" A look of pure confusion washed over Luffy's face. Just then, Hancock glanced upward, discovering a swirling cluster of dark mist that had manifested above their heads at an unknown moment.

"Luffy, look up there!"

"Isn't that that weird monster? What is she doing over here?" Luffy stared at Im in surprise.

"Luffy, Ace wants you to stop her! She's trying to escape!" Hancock explained swiftly.

"WHAT?!" Luffy's eyes bulged in shock. "She's running away?!"

"That's definitely not allowed—we have to stop her!" Having grasped the stakes, Luffy's aura surged aggressively, kicking up a localized whirlwind that blasted loose gravel across the ruins.

"I won't let you get away that easily!"

BANG!

With a concussive burst beneath his heels, Luffy launched himself into the air.

"Gum-Gum...!" Soaring upward amidst churning shockwaves, Luffy wound up a devastating punch.

"WHAT?!"

Im was struck with absolute horror. She had never dreamed that Luffy would be stationed along this exact vector; her sole reason for fleeing this rapidly had been to avoid encountering him in combat again.

Yet by some cruel twist of fate, she had run directly into his path.

"Why the hell are you here?!" Im nearly spat blood in sheer rage. What kind of rotten luck was this?!

She had deliberately mapped out an abandoned, desolate route to slip away from the Holy Land of Mary Geoise undetected. Once she secured a suitable host vessel, hunting them down one by one would be effortless.

When that day arrived, the World Government would rise supreme atop the Red Line once more.

The fundamental order of the world would remain untouched—this so-called "new era" would be nothing more than a fleeting, meaningless illusion.

Yet in all her meticulous calculations, she had never accounted for the possibility that Luffy would choose this exact secluded wasteland to sneak away for a quiet rendezvous with the Pirate Empress.

Looking at him, nothing about Luffy's naive persona matched the bizarre reality of him casually dating the Empress of the Seas; the entire scene felt completely surreal.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?!" Luffy pouted. If anyone was confused, it was him—he clearly remembered Im being locked behind bars.

Did she break out again?!

"Stay right where you are!" Luffy threw another punch, his immense physical strength discharging freely as his fist slammed heavily into the dark mist.

"Damn you!" Im brought both arms up in a desperate cross-guard, absorbing the full brunt of Luffy's strike directly against her frame.

BOOM!

Watching the blow land, Ace let out a breath and smiled. With this, the situation was firmly under control.

Granted, having his little brother surpass him in raw strength wasn't entirely flattering for his pride as an older brother, but seeing Luffy's growth filled him with genuine happiness nonetheless.

Is it over...? Im gritted her teeth, bracing for excruciating agony. After a tense moment, she opened her eyes in blank surprise.

Hm?

No damage?!

The catastrophic, soul-crushing agony she had anticipated never arrived. Im looked down in astonishment at the arm Luffy had used to strike her.

He's not in his awakened form!

"Heaven truly smiles upon me!" Im shrieked in triumph.

The dense cluster of dark fog expanded violently, unleashing a colossal pillar of black energy that hammered Luffy straight down into the bedrock below.

Before the dust could even settle, the dark mist streaked past the horizon, vanishing completely without a trace.

Ace stood frozen in place, and Hancock petrified in equal shock.

The tables had turned with terrifying, dizzying speed.