【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Is this the fairy's true form?" Zoro quickly realized after his initial shock. "She's the one who stole the things."

"Upon closer inspection, isn't this a cute little lady?" Sanji carefully took the little figure from Lucci's hands and placed her on the ground.

"Is this a fairy?" Luffy looked at Vega curiously.

"Please, you must keep it a secret that you saw me!" Vega cried out to the five adult humans surrounding her. "I can't let the adult humans see me!"

“At least tell us your reason, why you stole my sword,” Zoro asked.

“This… I can’t say. I can’t tell the adults this information,” Vega explained. “I’ll take my leave now.”

"That's strange, there's actually such a thing..." Ace hadn't finished speaking when a huge scream suddenly interrupted him. He looked at the little human who was clutching his leg and screaming in confusion, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm so stupid! I twisted my ankle! I'm so stupid, so stupid!" Vega kept pounding the floor in frustration, cracking the stone floor with spiderweb-like patterns.

"Wow, that's funny! You actually cracked the floor!" Luffy exclaimed in shock as he looked at the little human, then he smelled a delicious meaty aroma.

"What's with that superhuman strength of hers?" Zoro muttered, looking at the houses around him that had collapsed because of Vega's actions.

“That’s incredible strength,” Franky said, then looked at the group who were completely absorbed by the little human and said, “Don’t forget our purpose. We need to find the factory and destroy it.”

“You guys are running out of time, aren’t you?” Ace raised an eyebrow at Lucci.

“That’s right.” Lucci nodded, looking at Luffy. “Luffy, we need to find him as soon as possible… Where is Luffy!?”

"Where did Luffy go!?" Ace exclaimed in shock, looking around. He had just seen Luffy standing there.

"What!?" Franky, Sanji, and Zoro stared in shock at the empty spot where Luffy had just been standing. "That kid, at a time like this..."

"He left while you were talking." Vega looked at the shocked adult and cried, "Please! Please take me to the captain!"

"I'm really anxious. I'm in the reconnaissance unit, and I have to report Don Quixote's current location to the captain! Now is a good opportunity. I've confirmed that the Don Quixote family has already set off to attack the Straw Hat Pirates' ship!"

"Eh!?"

"Really?" Sanji asked anxiously. "Nami is still on the ship! I have to go protect her!"

"Wait, Sanji! Qi's on the ship!" Lucci shouted urgently, seeing Sanji rushing out. "He can..."

"I'll save Nami!" Sanji retorted as he ran.

Lucci covered his face in exasperation, then looked at the somewhat impatient Ace and said, "Ace, why don't you go find Luffy first?"

Although he knew he should find Luffy first, Ace was really worried about Lucci's pale face. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Don't be silly, I don't need protection." Lucci looked at Ace with amusement.

"This isn't protection, it's just..." Ace retorted, but he didn't finish his sentence because Lucci understood what he meant. This wasn't protection; it was just concern for his brother.

However, Lucci is right. He doesn't need anyone's protection. It's just that what happened last time made him a little worried. He was afraid of losing him again. Besides, this guy is sometimes just like Luffy, always getting into trouble.

But in the end, Ace just nodded and turned to leave the alley. He kept remembering the admiral who left the restaurant. There must be a lot of marines on this island. He hoped that Luffy hadn't caused any trouble before he arrived.

After Ace left, Lucci looked at the little human Vega sitting on the ground and asked, "How did you know that Doflamingo's executives attacked our ship?"

"I saw it with my own eyes, oh dear, I let it slip again..."

"So that means Doflamingo has been monitoring us all along." Zoro's face darkened. "Now it's not just the ship, all of us are in danger."

“That’s right, we’ve been monitoring them all along.”

"Can you tell us why you're monitoring Doflamingo's location?" Lucci added, "We're the Straw Hat crew that Doflamingo is planning to attack."

"We've decided to have a final battle with Doflamingo today! To liberate the 500 comrades forced to labor in the Dressrosa Dark Factory! Ah, I blurted it out!" Vega exclaimed in panic. "I can't tell these details to the Great Humans."

"Is the factory she's talking about the same factory we're talking about?" Franky stared in disbelief at the little troll who was still pounding the floor, not expecting to find information about the factory so quickly.

"Stop causing trouble." A bead of cold sweat dripped from Sauron's forehead as he speechlessly picked up the dwarf from the ground.

“Then we have the same goal: to destroy the factory.” Lucci looked at the dwarf in Zoro’s hand and asked, “Do you know the factory’s location?”

"The Dark Factory is underground in the arena! Ah! I can't say anymore! Please, take me to the Big Flower Field to find the captain first!" Vega cried out to Lucci, "No matter what, it's your fault. If you hadn't grabbed me, I wouldn't have twisted my ankle!"

Lucci scratched his head helplessly, then looked at Zoro and said, "Zoro, take her to the big flower field. We'll go find Luffy and tell him where the factory is."

"Great! Please take me there as soon as possible!" Vega immediately grabbed Zoro's collar and shouted, "I'm really in a hurry!!"

"I understand!" Zoro sighed helplessly, then looked at Lucci and asked, "Where do we meet?"

“The arena.” Lucci raised an eyebrow. “Since the factory is under the arena, it must be hollow underneath. We can just break it open and find it.”

Franky and Zoro stared at Lucci in disbelief, never expecting him to say such a thing.

"That's incredibly rough," Franky said with a laugh, realizing what he'd done. "That's manly enough!"

"Now I know where Luffy learned some of his moves..." Zoro muttered, "Are you serious?"

“Of course it’s…just kidding.” Lucci grinned. “But the meeting point is indeed at the arena, but it’s our meeting point. Zoro, why don’t you go to the flower field with her and see if you can team up with the Dongdongda tribe? It’s always good to have another partner who is familiar with the factory.”

Zoro's lips twitched. He hadn't expected Lucci to be able to joke in such a serious situation, but he still nodded and led Vega out of the alley toward the big flower field.

“Frankie, there should be an entrance to the factory near the arena,” Lucci reminded him. “Once you find it, contact us via Den Den Mushi, and we’ll meet there.”

"No problem!" Franky gave a thumbs up.