Summary:
Ace is magma punched in the back by Admiral Akainu and falls into Luffy’s arms. Then he thinks about his past and remembers his goal in life: to find out if he deserved to be born or not. Akainu continues to attack Luffy, but Jinbe stops his progress. Marco and Vista then rush to Luffy’s aid and attack Akai with Haki-infused attacks, but realize they are ineffective against the Admiral. As everyone else stares at Ace’s wounds in shock, they figure that his organs were burned without help and tell Luffy that Ace won’t make it. Just as Ace is dying, he thanks Luffy for everything and everyone for loving him. Luffy is then seen crying over the loss of his brother.
As Ace’s Vivre card burned, Luffy looks on in horror. Akainu lets go of his fist as Ace coughs up blood. The pirates are horrified by what Akainu did to Ace. Kizaru, Aokiji and Garp look on in shock. Whitebeard turns to see to his horror that Ace is mortally wounded. Driven over the edge, the pirates furiously attack the Marine admiral. Buggy also looks helpless. With the Seastone handcuffs too strong to remove from Marco’s wrists, they insist on getting Galdin’s help.
The pirates fire wildly at Akainu, and the people of Sabaody look on in shock.
However, Akainu recovers and walks through the fire with only one hand. The Admiral restores his arm and focuses on Luffy and Ace preparing another Magma Fist. Luffy tries to plead for his brother’s life and Whitebeard tries to save his crewmate, but Kizaru fires a light blast at the large whitebeard pirate’s arm. The vice admiral in the yellow suit reminds Whitebeard that he has become forgetful at his age. Just as Akainu’s fist is about to hit, Jinbe blocks the attack willing to sacrifice himself for Ace and Luffy.
Marco then sees that Galdino is unharmed and demands that he unlock his handcuffs.
Garp decides to go through his own marines, but Sengoku holds him back. The former tells him to keep him down because he could kill Sakazuki at any time. While Jinbe recovers his arms, Vista and Marco use Haki infusion attacks on the Admiral. Akainu rejoices that the Marines have already won as Ace finally dies.
Luffy hugs his brother and tries to apply pressure to the wound, hoping to get help. But Ace thanks his Luffy for his efforts but admits that his life is going as it should. Luffy screams for medical help and the doctor rushes to their side. The wounds are too big as Akainu burned through Ace’s internal organs. Luffy calls out to Ivankov, but there is no hope.
A grieving young pirate mourns that Ace once said he would protect him when there were children and that he would not die.
As the marines fight the other pirates, Luffy believes that the fight is not over and tries to tell Ace to remember his promises. Ace thinks about how he should never have been born and didn’t deserve to live. Years ago, some people insulted young Ace and thought of killing him. Ace confronted them. A woman named Dadan scolded Ace for trying to hurt people.
Ace says that if it wasn’t for Saba, he wouldn’t have the will to live. He tells Luffy to greet Dadan for him and thank her for putting up with them. The Straw Hat Pirate tries to protest the death, but Ace says he won’t be around to see Luffy’s dream come true and begs him to continue. They also look back on their day how they should enjoy life at sea with no regrets.
Ace lived with no regrets and believes that things could have been better if he deserved to live. With his voice fading, Ace says to Luffy and everyone, “Thank you… for taking care of someone like me… It’s useless… This world never wanted…” Ace cries that his friends loved him and falls forward. while life flashes in his eyes. The Vivre card burns and Ace dies smiling, but Luffy cries deeply.