One Piece: The user of the Nen-Nen Fruit, who overturned the sea.

"Run! Run! Run!"

Luffy, clutching a golden key bigger than himself, rode on the back of a giant wolf, his legs gripping the wolf's belly, his whole body being tossed about wildly.

Zoro sat behind him, three swords across his knees, his face ashen.

It wasn't fear, but Nami was squeezing his waist from behind with such force that it could burst a person's waist.

"Nami! Loosen up!"

"I won't let go! This wolf is running so fast I'll fall! Do you want me to be smashed to pieces?!"

Nami shouted with her eyes closed, and her arms tightened an inch more.

Zoro's forehead veins throbbed, but he couldn't say anything.

This beast is faster than his mother, it's ridiculously fast. When it runs on all four legs, it's like its feet are equipped with springs, and it can leap more than ten meters at a time.

The giant wolf darted left and right through the dense forest, deliberately choosing the places with the densest branches to slip through.

The haphazard branches whizzed past the three of them, and Nami was hit on the back of the head by a branch.

Tears streamed down her face from the pain, but she dared not let go, so she could only bury her face in Zoro's back and howl like a banshee.

Just as the three were heading back to the underworld, Hajrudin's roar came crashing in from outside the forest like a death knell:

"Straw Hat Luffy—Stop right there!!!"

Luffy turned around and stuck out his tongue: "I'm not stopping!"

His action almost made Nami's heart jump out of her throat.

The pursuers of the New Giant Warrior Pirates were actually not far away from them.

The giant's legs are long, and one step is equivalent to Luffy and his crew running dozens of steps, but the giant wolf has a huge advantage in running in the forest.

Its body darted between the bushes and giant trees like an eel, while the giants brought by Haldin were enraged by the branches slapping their faces.

We also had to painstakingly push aside the tree canopies blocking our way, which made it impossible to pick up speed at all.

"How can that beast run like a ghost!" a giant cursed, ducking to avoid a tree trunk that was about to strike him.

Hajrudin gritted his teeth, seeing Luffy and the others running further and further away, and disregarding the terrain, he bent down and rammed into them, breaking all the trees blocking his way like a bull.

"Forget about those trees! Full speed ahead! They're heading down to the underworld!"

The giants, having received their orders, began to rampage and crash about like him.

The birds in the entire forest were startled and flew away, and trees fell down in clumps, creating a chaotic roar mixed with the running of the giant wolf and the footsteps of the giant.

As the giant wolf darted out of the forest, Luffy immediately spotted the suspension bridge ahead.

The bridge swayed in the wind, and the area below was pitch black, just as eerie as before.

Nami peeked out from behind Zoro's back, glanced at him briefly, then buried her face back down: "I'm not leaving! I'd rather die than leave!"

"Stop yelling, Nami," Zoro said coldly.

Without hesitation, the giant wolf leaped onto the bridge. The suspension bridge swayed violently, the planks creaking as if they would fall apart at any moment.

Nami could no longer make a sound; she could only let out a series of intermittent sobs.

After crossing the bridge, the giant wolf charged down a narrow, winding path.

Luffy thought it was another cliff and was about to experience a thrilling freefall like before, but this time the giant wolf started running along a narrow path hidden in the cliff face.

"There's a way!" Luffy exclaimed in surprise.

"Nonsense. You were crazy to jump down last time." Zoro finally got a chance to retort.

This road is even more difficult to walk than a suspension bridge. In some places, it is so narrow that only a giant wolf can barely stand with its four paws, and below is a bottomless abyss.

Nami kept her eyes closed the entire time; she had given up on seeing the world with her eyes.

I don't know how long I ran, but the temperature dropped and the light dimmed.

The giant wolf slowed down and finally stopped on a flat rock, letting out a low howl.

We've arrived in the underworld.

Luffy slid off the wolf's back, clutching the key, and ran towards the direction where Loki was tied up, shouting as he ran:

"Hey—! I'm back with the keys!"

no respond.

Luffy called out again, but there was still no response.

He frowned, quickened his pace to walk around the giant rocks, and then froze on the spot.

Loki had his head down, still bound by chains, but he no longer possessed the arrogance he had shown when they first met.

He was covered in wounds, his face was so swollen that his original features were almost unrecognizable, and the most shocking thing was the hole in his chest.

The cave entrance was sealed by ice, emitting an eerie light. Blood congealed beneath the ice, appearing blackish-red.

"How tragic..."

Luffy looked up at Loki's miserable state, tilted his head to examine it for a while, and suddenly asked,

"Who beat you up like this?"

Loki did not reply.

His breathing was shallow and slow, and his chest barely rose and fell.

If it weren't for the occasional very soft gurgling sound that escaped his throat, Luffy would have almost thought this guy was dead.

"Hey—! Are you still alive?" Luffy reached out and poked Loki's calf.

Loki's finger twitched.

"Living, living."

Luffy breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and waved to Zoro.

"Quick, quick, he's not dead yet!"

Zoro and Nami caught up from behind.

When Nami saw Loki's miserable state, she covered her mouth and gasped.

Zoro stepped forward and examined the seastone chains closely, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"Each of these chains is ridiculously large. I really don't know what kind of power he possesses to be bound by so many Seastone chains."

"Who cares? As long as I unlock his chains, I can get information about Shanks."

"The key is right here! Hurry, hurry!"

Luffy raised the golden key in his hand and shook it twice.

"I'm not saying it can't be solved."

Zoro said,

"I mean, the person who can be controlled with these chains is no ordinary person."

He looked up at the frozen wound on Loki's chest.

Zoro is a seasoned fighter; just by looking at the shape of the wound and the way it was frozen, he knew it wasn't done by an ordinary ice-type user.

The skin around the wound had an unnatural bluish-purple hue, as if it had been instantly eroded by extremely low temperatures.

If this attack hit him head-on, Zoro wasn't sure if his Armament Haki could withstand it.

"This injury is quite serious."

Zoro gave a brief assessment,

"If it's not treated promptly, it will lead to death."

Nami panicked as soon as she heard this:

"Then let's ignore him! Let's go! This guy has nothing to do with us!"

"No!"

Luffy was resolute.

"He hasn't told me about Shanks yet!"

"Luffy! Do you think he's the type to obediently tell you? He's lying to you!"

"If he lies to me, I'll tie him up again," Luffy said, his tone almost defiant and serious.

Zoro glanced at Luffy, then at Loki, and made his decision:

"Let's get rid of him. He's injured like this now, he can't cause any trouble."

If this drags on any longer and the man really dies, the trail to Shanks will go cold.

"Zoro! How come even you—"

"Nami."

Zoro interrupted her.

"This is the captain's decision."

Nami opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words.

Knowing she couldn't stop the two men, she could only take a few steps back and watch Loki warily.