【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Hmm...it's unbelievable, isn't it? This claim has been around for hundreds of years. Passengers, please be careful! Is it true or false? It's truly incredible..."

"The most incredible thing to me is you, isn't it?" Sanji finally grew impatient with the monkey toy that kept spinning a DJ tune in his ear with every sentence it spoke.

"What a strange legend," Ace remarked while chewing his food.

"What's all that noise over there? Are they playing a roulette wheel?" Franky noticed the commotion coming from the crowd behind them, with people betting on big or small.

"A bunch of thugs are relentlessly squeezing every last drop of profit out of a blind old man." Zoro chewed on his fried rice, calmly watching the old man gambling wildly. He had noticed the man's unusual behavior ever since he entered the restaurant.

Ace continued stuffing fried rice into his mouth, twirling the spoon in his hand. It seemed this island wasn't as simple as he had anticipated before coming here.

Lu Qi casually stirred the fairy pumpkin soup in his hands. He had just remembered the old man's identity: Admiral Fujitora. Interesting. This island was more complicated than they had imagined. Their plan had run into trouble.

"It's white! You win, uncle."

"When did that kid get there?" Zoro said, looking at Luffy who was standing in front of the group of gamblers with a plate of noodles.

"Seriously, he's gone looking for trouble again..." Sanji turned around and sighed helplessly as he looked at Luffy, who was clashing with the group.

"Did I really win?" Fujitora asked in surprise. "Although I don't know who you are, thank you."

"Ah, it's okay, I was just telling the truth. It's great to win." Luffy said while chewing his food. "But, uncle, you look pretty strong."

"You have absolutely no manners, you brat!"

“If we say it’s black, then it’s black! Anyway, that old geezer can’t see it, so isn’t it better to do it our way?”

Luffy glanced at the group of enraged men, ignoring their gestures as they raised their weapons to attack him, and continued chewing his food.

Until he heard the old man tell him to move aside, Luffy casually moved a few steps to the side. The next second, he was surprised to see a huge hole in front of him. All the thugs who had deceived the old man had fallen in.

"Huh? How did that guy do that?!" Sanji, Franky, and Kin'emon stood up in shock, stunned by the huge crater that the old man had created in an instant.

Lucci and Ace exchanged a glance, both seeing the same understanding in each other's eyes: Devil Fruit users.

"What kind of ability is it?" Zoro asked, crossing his arms as he watched the man's departing figure.

"You two are really calm," Sanji remarked, watching Lucci and Ace still sitting in their seats eating.

"Sorry, shopkeeper, you can collect the repair fees here..."

"Huh? Eh!?" After carefully examining the contents of the paper, the boss exclaimed in shock, "Could it be... you are...?"

"I shall take my leave now..."

"Uncle, you're so strong! Who exactly are you?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Hehe, well, I think it's better not to say, it's better for all of us."

The crowd watched the man's departing figure with puzzlement.

"What's in it for us? Is that old man also a notorious villain?" Sanji asked, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Why can't it be the Navy?" Lucci replied to Sanji while calmly grabbing a thief who was trying to steal his sword.

"Whether he's friend or foe... he's no ordinary person," Zoro concluded.

“He is the newly appointed Admiral Fujitora,” Lucci explained.

“Admiral…” Luffy pulled down his hat, a look of eager anticipation on his face. “We’re not like we were two years ago.”

"Oh no! My wallet has been stolen!"

"My watch is gone too!"

"To dare to steal so brazenly in broad daylight, they must have done it while the dust was rising!"

"Could it be that the admiral is also a thief?" Sanji asked, looking at the chaotic restaurant.

Lucci glanced at the yellow package peeking out from under his feet, twitched his lips, and nonchalantly kicked it into the tablecloth before turning his head away. Ace watched Lucci's series of small actions with a puzzled expression.

"Huh? One sword is missing!" Zoro exclaimed in shock, looking at the three swords he had leaned against the back of his chair before his meal. "Shusui, which I just put here, is gone!!"

"What!? The treasures of Wano Country have been stolen!?" Kin'emon stared at Zoro in disbelief.

"Looks like everyone's been tricked. The things must have been stolen by the fairies," said a toy drummer.

"What do you mean? The so-called fairy is just a thief's name?!" Zoro exclaimed in disbelief.

"A fairy is a fairy, just laugh it off..."

"How can he laugh like that?" Zoro shouted angrily. "I absolutely won't let him..."

"Oh, so it's a fairy. Well, there's nothing we can do about it then..."

The citizens, who had just been furious, immediately stopped being angry upon hearing that it was the work of fairies, and returned to their seats to continue eating.

Zoro stared incredulously at the citizens who had stopped pursuing the matter. "What on earth is going on with them?"

"Wow, what's this?" Luffy looked at the yellow package under the table with a puzzled expression, and pulled out the contents. He had just returned to his seat to continue eating when he discovered this.

Lucci slapped his forehead in exasperation; they had to start running.

"My sword!" Zoro rushed over in surprise, pulling Shusui from the yellow package. "Why is it here?"

"That's my wallet!"

"My shirt!"

"My watch!"

"Catch them! These people are thieves!!"

"Run, everyone!" Lucci grabbed his sword and ran towards the door first.

"Why are we running?" Luffy still didn't understand the situation.

"Lucci, did you steal this? When did you steal it?" Ace wasn't panicked by the chaos at all, but was curious about how Lucci, who had been sitting there the whole time, had managed to steal so much.

"Idiot, of course it wasn't me!" Lucci shouted speechlessly.

"Let's just run. Those who got robbed are obviously mistaken," Sanji said, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

After running for a while, the group hid in an empty alley and successfully evaded the pursuing victims.

"Hehehe, this is so much fun!" Luffy laughed, propping himself up on his legs, then suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Wait a minute, we haven't finished the food on the table!"

"Never mind that for now," Lucci said, then showed the object he had been lightly holding in his hand. "Take a look at this."

"Huh!? What's this!?"

Everyone stared in shock at the blue-haired little figure lying in Lucci's hand; it looked just like a little elf.

"A toy?" Luffy asked curiously, poking the little thing that was curled up in Lucci's palm, pretending to be dead, while hugging its tail.

"I'm not a toy! I'm Vega from the Dongdongda tribe!" Vega cried out. "Waaah, I'm so stupid! I was seen by humans and even caught! I knew this day would come!"