Even If You Die, Don't Die!!!

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On Puffs Island, after her meal, Big Mom stands in a strange calm. Voices call, "Mama!!" and "Master Perospero..." as the battlefield watches for what comes next. Perospero observes the impossible result: "Mama is returning back to normal. What a cake... I've never seen Mama with such a euphoric expression before... Perorin." Big Mom is not poisoned or weakened; she is blissful, smiling with hearts and saying, "Blissful..." Perospero immediately turns practical. Because Bege was the captain of the ship that brought the cake, he says, "Mama!! You're the captain... So I guess I'll report the current situation to you... First of all, Bege's crew should still be nearby." The cake has ended the tantrum, but it has not ended the hunt.

At Cacao Island, the sea around the Queen Mama Chanter erupts with smoke and movement. The enormous ship emerges from the chaos, but the watchers suddenly realize the vessel in front of them is wrong. A voice begins, "Hm? Wait!!" as the shape breaks through the water, and the crowd reacts in confusion: "...!?" Someone shouts, "Huh!?" and then the truth lands: "Hey!! That's not right!!!" Another voice identifies the mistake with alarm: "That's not the Straw Hats' ship!!" The fleet has been chasing what it believed was the Thousand Sunny, only for the scene to reveal that a decoy has taken the damage. The apparent destruction at the end of the previous chapter is already being reinterpreted.

The truth becomes clear in the water: "It's the Sun Pirates' ship!!!" The enemy asks, "When did they...!?" while another realizes, "The Straw Hat Pirates disappeared!!" Wadatsumi has carried the Sunny away inside himself, swapping ships in the chaos. The crew urges him, "Hurry, Wadatsumi!!! Carry them away as far as you can!!!" From inside the giant fish-man's mouth, the Straw Hats wonder, "Is this really okay!?" but the answer from their side is blunt: "That's the legendary ship that Fisher Tiger built himself!! It doesn't matter!!" The sacrifice is painful, because the Sun Pirates' ship is meaningful, yet their priority is the Straw Hats' survival and Jinbe's departure.

Oven's boiling sea still rages behind them, filling the water with steam and explosions. Someone yells, "Hurry!! We don't have time!!" as the heat closes in: "Hot! Hot! Hot!" From inside Wadatsumi, the Straw Hats are shaken by sudden movement. "What!? What's going on?" one cries while Wadatsumi swallows the ship deeper with a huge "Groomm" and "Snap!!" Outside, a Sun Pirate understands the trick: "It was just that big monster's hand!! They're in the sea!! I was wondering what I saw before, but..." The escape window opens. "Time to escape!!" someone says, while Wadatsumi and the Sunny rush away through the boiling water under pressure from every side.

The Charlotte forces react at once: "All fleets!! Turn around!!" Oven stares into the hot sea, realizing the enemy is hidden inside Wadatsumi: "Where are we!? We're inside of Wadatsumi's..." He shouts the name of his attack and the place it creates: "Torpedo!!! Hot sea..." A translator note explains that the kanji reads as "thousands come to Atami," meaning "hot ocean," and refers to a Japanese city on the slopes of a submerged volcanic caldera. Oven then strikes through the water and declares, "As if I'd let you get away, you fishman!!!" His attack catches Wadatsumi despite the escape plan, turning the sea itself into a weapon against the Sun Pirates' rescue.

Wadatsumi is forced out of the water with a scream: "Waaaaahhhh!!!" Someone cries, "It's hooooootttt!!!" and Luffy shouts his name, "Wadakichi!!!" The giant fish-man, burned and exhausted, spits the Sunny and the crew back out. Even in pain, he pushes them away and orders, "Get out of here, you guys!!" The others protest with broken voices, "Ug..." and "Ugh..." He apologizes to them instead: "Straw Hat!! I...!! I did bad things... on Fishman Island... I'm sorry...!!!" Then he explains why he is grateful: "Then I was taken in by Boss Jinbe... Even though I did all those things. F-for that, I am so thankful...!!!" His past guilt becomes part of why he chooses to help them now.

Wadatsumi's decision is shared by the rest of the Sun Pirates. He tells them, "The moment we decided to come help Big Boss and Straw Hat... is when we made up our minds!" Charlotte Oven screams, "Out of my way, Umibozu!!" but the Sun Pirates understand Big Mom's rule better than anyone: "Mama is the type of person that would kill anybody who tries to leave this country." One of them says, "...In other words, all we can do... is act as Captain Jinbe's shield and die in the process?!" Another accepts the logic through fear: "Gyaahaha!! We can't all die. Somebody has to live to tell the tale. That makes sense... Hahaha ha!!" Aladine takes command: "I won't let them delay. Prepare yourselves!!! I won't blame anybody who wants to escape...!! But for those who want to stay..."

The Sun Pirates answer Aladine with unity. "Jinbe's departure on his new voyage!!" is declared as the reason for their stand, and the crew roars, "Yeeaaahhhh!! Everyone made up their minds!!" As the Charlotte fleet advances, Luffy looks back in alarm, but the Sun Pirates place themselves between the enemy and the Sunny. Someone calls, "Stand down, Wadatsumi!!!" because Wadatsumi has already done his part. The ship moves ahead while Aladine looks over the warriors who remain in the water. He shouts, "Aladine!! Everyone!!" and they form a living rear guard against the pursuers. The escape is no longer just a trick; it is a deliberate sacrifice by Jinbe's former crew.

The Sunny surges away while the Queen Mama Chanter looms behind it. From the rear, someone urges, "Run away, Jinbei! You too, Straw Hats!! We wish you a safe voyage!!!" On the Sunny, the crew fights to keep the ship moving. "A sail ship becomes vulnerable when flooded," one says. "Quick, remove all the water!!" Another warns, "The ship is becoming heavier and slower." The order follows: "Patch the holes in the sails so they're able to catch the wind... Work together! Escape at the fastest speed possible!!" Jinbe gives the harsh calculation: "It will still take a few hours for you to get out of Big Mom's territory...!!" Luffy asks, "What are you saying, Jinbe!? What's that explanation for!?" and the silence before him says Jinbe is preparing to stay.

Jinbe finally says what he has been building toward: "I can't... leave them behind!!!" Luffy, wounded and breathing hard, listens as Jinbe explains the tactical necessity. "They're guarding our rear to help the ship escape!" Jinbe says, and when Luffy objects, he adds, "...Alright!! I understand! Then we'll also...!!" But Jinbe cuts off that impulse with his own request. The fleet is still moving, and he warns, "We've made it this far, but... if the flagship and fleet continue to chase us... we won't be able to make it out...!!!" Then he asks for the duty himself: "The rear guard!! Please leave it to me!!" His choice is both loyalty to his old crew and responsibility to his new captain.

Luffy accepts Jinbe's decision only by turning it into an order. Across the waves he declares, "...We will succeed... and come back alive!!!" Then he looks Jinbe in the eyes and says, "Don't forget... Jinbe!!" The page tightens around Luffy's glare, marked by "SFX: Glare!!" Jinbe stands silent, understanding what is coming. Luffy's command is absolute: "I am... your captain now!!!" It is not permission to die for them. It is the opposite. Luffy acknowledges Jinbe as a Straw Hat and makes survival part of the mission. The escape may require separation, but it does not release Jinbe from the crew he has joined.

The Sunny pulls away under fire, and Luffy's order becomes the chapter's title. Standing battered but firm, he tells Jinbe, "We'll wait for you at Wano!!! You must come!!!" Nami cries, "Luffy!!" while Jinbe, moved by the command and trust, answers, "I can't thank you enough!!!" Luffy refuses any heroic death with the sharpest possible words: "Even if you die, don't die!!!" The phrasing is impossible in a literal sense, but unmistakable as a captain's demand: survive anyway. The crew must escape now, but they are not abandoning Jinbe as a lost ally. They leave with a destination, a promise, and an expectation that he will return to them in Wano.

At sea on Big Mom's side, the Charlotte forces receive the news: "Jinbe and Germa 66?? And that Straw Hat boy is still alive on Cacao Island?!" Big Mom, riding her living homie across the waves, laughs "Mamama mama!!!" and asks, "Y-yes he's alive, but... there's nowhere for him to run anymore!!" She rejects the idea that he can escape her territory: "If he's really still alive... then I'm going there!!! I'll steal his soul and use it to create powerful homies to serve me...!!!" Elsewhere, survivors aboard the Tarte say, "We barely made it..." and try to regain composure: "Life isn't all bitter experiences after all. Now we can escape without any trouble at our own pace... I'm worried about Germa-Zero..." only to be snapped at: "Shut it!" The threat behind the Sunny remains enormous.

The chapter closes with Jinbe turning the sea itself into the Straw Hats' exit. He tells Nami, "Nami!! Sail as fast as possible! And as far away as possible!!" and explains, "When a Fishman becomes serious, they can change even sea currents." Nami answers, "Okay!! I understand." Chopper and Carrot stare in awe: "Amazing...!! The sea is...!!" Jinbe remains behind because, as someone reports, "Jinbe is staying at the rear, and Straw Hat is making his escape!! They're preventing the fleet from moving...!!" From the Sunny, Jinbe commands, "So that you can all send me off!!!" Elsewhere, Stussy says, "We're going to lose sight of the ship!!" while Big News Morgans laughs, "Kuwa hahaha! That's right, escape, Straw Hat!!" When accused, "You sound like you're on his side..." he answers, "I am. Straw Hat is a prime candidate, after all... Among those recently referred to as 'The Worst Generation'... Here's what I think, Stussy... A declaration... One of them will rise to be the next Pirate King!!!"

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