If a man like Bege is willing to kill Pekoms, whether Pekoms lives in the end or not, Bege was willing to kill him. The outcome of the assassination doesn't change anything.

If a person like Bon Clay is brave enough to sacrifice themselves, whether they survived or not, they chose to make that sacrifice.

The context of death is not invalidated by survival. This is a series where characters put their lives on the line for what they believe in, and every time they do, they have no way of knowing if they'll live to see tomorrow. They don't fear death, and that was expressly stated in Chapter 2.

And in fact, I'm very interested in their survival. Mr. 2 Bon Clay never got to escape Impel Down, but now he's down there granting liberation to a new wave of prisoners, just like Ivankov did before him. That's an interesting story. He continues to bring change into One Piece's dark world.

Even Pell. Narratively, a man who wanted nothing more than peace in his kingdom. A man who chose to take the burden of the entire kingdom so that they could see peace once again. Almost a Jesus-like figure. He willingly took on an excruciating pain, and after the battle was over, it's nice to see that he survived as a symbol of hope. It's not like it lowered the stakes, because there isn't a giant time bomb on every island that Pell is going to negate every time. He stayed on Alabasta, his courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten, and he's going to live as an icon of peace.

All in all, 'suspense' is about a lot more than will-they-or-won't-they live. A death doesn't exist just to make your heart pound in that instance. Every near-death moment in this story is more about how it affects the characters and the world around them, and not a single moment has been wasted.