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After everyone in the Neo Marines saw Shuzo being kicked into the sea, they all abandoned besieging the pirates and Marines, boarding small submarines to retrieve Shuzo.
Momonga, still dueling with Zoro and already bearing many stab wounds, was shocked to see Shuzo defeated.
Momonga knew that Shuzo’s strength certainly matched his own, but he hadn’t expected him to be defeated so quickly by Fire Fist Ace. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴovel(ꜰ)ɪre.nᴇt
"Vice Admiral Momonga...I’ve notified headquarters! An Admiral will arrive soon for support. Please...hold on."
At that moment, a communications officer lying among the Marine warship wreckage shouted to Vice Admiral Momonga.
Momonga was momentarily speechless upon hearing this.
How unfortunate, all the pirates had heard it... Now that they knew an Admiral was coming, they would certainly flee...
Events unfolded exactly as Momonga predicted. After learning an Admiral was approaching, Zoro ceased fighting him. He unleashed a Tatsu Maki to force Momonga back, then returned to the Thousand Sunny.
Meanwhile, Ace and Luffy also returned to the Thousand Sunny. As for the giant still on the raft, Ikki used his small light to reduce his size and brought him aboard the Thousand Sunny.
"Dad...you...you’ve actually shrunk!"
Lily stared at her father in shock after he’d been affected by the shrinking power.
Now, Panz Fry’s figure was no different from that of an ordinary person.
"Haha..." Panz Fry smiled honestly, pointing at Ikki and said, "I don’t know what happened. That guy shone a light on me and I shrunk!"
"Thump thump thump..."
The sound of Moonwalk echoed as Momonga rushed toward the Thousand Sunny, which had already raised anchor.
"I won’t let you escape!"
Now aware an Admiral was coming, Momonga couldn’t let Fire Fist Ace go even if it risked his life.
The news that Fire Fist Ace still lived must be suppressed, or... how would the Marines save face...
Just as Momonga was about to reach the Thousand Sunny, Franky at the helm shouted to everyone behind him, "Everyone, hold tight!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Franky activated the Coup de Burst, and the Thousand Sunny launched directly into the air, flying away at tremendous speed.
Momonga could only sigh watching the Thousand Sunny disappear, then reluctantly went to rescue his men.
After the Thousand Sunny landed back on the sea, Ikki approached Ace and asked curiously, "Hey Ace...when did you learn Conqueror Haki infusion?"
Hearing this, Ace shrugged and said, "Pops taught me, but I hadn’t mastered it yet. I saw Kaido use it last time and gained some insight, so now I can do it..."
’Really... Is Kaido’s true nature actually that of a god-tier teacher?’
Ikki couldn’t believe it. Ace had been on Whitebeard’s ship but hadn’t fully absorbed Whitebeard’s teachings. Whitebeard had instructed Ace for so long, yet he still hadn’t mastered Conqueror Haki infusion. But Ace learned it after seeing Kaido use it once?
Thinking this, Ikki glanced at Luffy and mused, "No wonder one encounter creates a prodigy, two encounters produce a master, and three encounters awaken true power..."
"It seems the title of number one teacher in the pirate world will belong to Kaido..."
As they chatted, Luffy hugged Ace again.
"Ace...how did you...come back to life?"
Luffy asked what mattered most to him.
What he truly wondered was...whether the Ace before him was actually Ace...
The fighting style this Ace displayed earlier differed from the Ace he knew, so Luffy feared Ace might say "I’m not Ace..."
Hearing Luffy’s question, Ace sighed deeply and asked, "Luffy, you should... tell me how I died!"
Seeing Luffy talking with Ace, all the Straw Hats focused their attention on them, also curious about what happened to Ace.
Luffy looked confused.
At this moment, Ikki stood up and explained, "Actually, we’re not from this timeline, but from two years in the past!"
Luffy naturally didn’t understand what a timeline was, nor did most of the Straw Hats.
Ikki then began explaining the concepts of timelines and parallel worlds.
Even after Ikki finished explaining, Luffy still couldn’t comprehend...
Seeing Luffy’s confusion, Robin approached him and said, "It means the Ace before us isn’t the Ace who died, but Ace from before his death."
"Although he is indeed your brother Ace, he doesn’t belong to this world!"
After hearing Robin’s explanation, Luffy looked at Ace, "So... Ace still can’t be resurrected, right?"
Ikki stroked his chin and said, "If Ace’s soul still exists, resurrection remains possible!"
Ikki’s words made everyone look at him with burning hope.
After all....who wouldn’t want their loved ones resurrected?
Nami wanted to resurrect her mother Bell-mere, Zoro his childhood friend Kuina, Chopper his father figure Dr. Hiriluk, and Usopp his mother.
Robin wanted to resurrect her mother and the scholars who had been kind to her on Ohara...
Franky wanted to resurrect his master Tom, Brook his former Rumbar Pirates crewmates, and Sanji his mother...
Everyone had someone they wished to resurrect. Learning resurrection was possible naturally captured their interest.
Seeing the Straw Hats’ eager expressions, Ikki shrugged helplessly and said, "To resurrect someone, you must have their soul!"
After speaking, Ikki pointed at Brook, "Just like the Yomi Yomi no Mi user, he needed his soul to return to life. If the soul disappears, resurrection becomes impossible!"
"Then...I’ve been dead in this world for two years, is my soul still present...?"
If possible, Ace wanted to resurrect himself in this world because... he didn’t want his brother to suffer. Even if this wasn’t his original timeline’s Luffy, Luffy was still Luffy—still his brother.
"I can’t be certain. I’d need to visit your grave to examine it personally!"
"Besides the grave, anything closely connected to Ace might contain fragments of his soul! Even with just a few soul fragments, resurrection remains possible!"
Ikki recalled the resurrection talisman he’d created before. When activated, it could reveal the deceased’s soul—whether fragments or complete—and with even a few soul fragments, resurrection remained possible.
When Ikki mentioned items closely related to Ace, many thought of one thing: the Mera Mera no Mi.