【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

The shore where the Sunny docked

"Chopper, it's your turn."

"Ah, what should I choose?"

"this!"

"Chopper, don't feed Brook cards!"

"Hehehe, looks like I won again this time," Brooke said with a smug grin.

"I lost again..." Chopper slumped dejectedly on the deck.

"Here, stick it on." Qi ruthlessly stuck a small note on Chopper's face.

"Could I join you this time...?" Momonosuke looked at Ki expectantly.

"Do you understand the rules?" Qi asked with a smile.

“I understand completely.” Momonosuke nodded earnestly.

"I hope you can beat Brook." Qi looked at Brook, whose face was covered in no notes, and said with displeasure, "Brook, your opponent is an 8-year-old kid."

Brook looked at the notes stuck to Qi's face, a clear smile appearing on his skull-like face. "Please let me keep my face clean. Ah, I don't have a face anymore... Yohohoho!"

"Please begin," Momonosuke urged impatiently.

"I'll deal the cards." Qi rearranged the cards in his hand, his hands moving so fast they were barely visible. This time, he was determined to make Brook stick on the note: "You're going to lose this time, Brook."

"Please have pity on this 90-year-old woman."

"Honestly, what's so fun about those card games? There's no money to win." Nami pushed her sunglasses up to her forehead and complained as she looked at the group of people sitting on the deck, intently staring at their cards.

Just as Nami was about to put down her sunglasses and continue sunbathing, she suddenly noticed something flying in the air. Nami caught one of them and looked at the small white umbrella in her palm with a puzzled expression. Are there dandelions around here?

……

"I told you not to make any noise," Ace said, squatting on the windowsill, complaining to Luffy who was still shouting encouragement at the arena even though they were hiding.

"This has nothing to do with me! Ace, you were the one who revealed your identity first!" Luffy said angrily, swinging his arm and jumping onto the windowsill.

Ace touched the tip of his nose, feeling a little guilty. He had lost control as soon as he saw Blackbeard's crew. Noticing the commotion in the arena, Ace narrowed his eyes and looked at the fishman who was clutching his arm and lying on the arena platform. He remembered that Sabo had introduced him to them.

"Luffy, isn't that guy Sabo's fish-man partner?"

"Sabo? Sabo came to this island too?" Luffy immediately became excited upon hearing Sabo's name.

“I know you’ll be excited about Sabo’s information on this island.” Ace tapped Luffy’s helmeted head with his finger.

“But even if his friends are here, Sabo might not be here. Besides, don’t forget the work Sabo does. He can’t flaunt his work like we do. So even if he is here, he might not be able to come out to see us.”

"Eh..." Hearing Ace's words, Luffy slumped his shoulders in disappointment. He had thought he would see Sabo here.

Feeling the tremor coming from the arena, Luffy turned his gaze back to the arena where the match was taking place. He could sense that after that punch was thrown, only the strange man who had defeated Sabo's friend and Bellamy with his strange skills remained standing on the stage.

"This... what terrifying power this is!"

"No one can possibly survive in this ring!"

"Queen Elizabeth II defeated all her enemies with a single punch!"

The commentator at the bullfighting arena shouted excitedly.

"Bellamy, Blue Killie, and other top contenders are all out! The winner of the B-squad free-for-all is from the Kingdom of Protans..."

"Look over there! There are still people standing there!"

"The stands in front weren't blown away because that guy blocked them!"

The commentator stared in shock at the green-haired man standing in the center of the arena, the transparent barrier in front of him completely blocking out the terrifying punch that had just been delivered.

"barrier!"

"People can create barriers simply by stacking their fingers; it's common knowledge even children know that. I am a barrier person who ate the Barrier Fruit!" Bartolomeo grinned arrogantly, revealing his sharp teeth, and then sent the barrier rushing forward, knocking his opponent away. "Barrier Shatter!"

"Queen Elizabeth II is no longer able to fight! The winner of Section B is..." The commentator, his face full of reluctance, shouted through gritted teeth, "Bartolomeo!!"

"What? That weirdo actually won?" Luffy asked, puzzled.

“He has an ability to block attacks.” Ace noticed this more carefully.

Luffy jumped down from the windowsill, looked around, and noticed Bellamy lying on the stretcher. Hearing Bellamy say that nothing had changed, Luffy replied, "You have changed, Bellamy."

"Haha... You've changed! That sharp, domineering aura you had far exceeded my expectations! And you even cheered me on..."

"Huh? Do I have one?"

"My self-esteem... you've shattered it all... straw hat!"

“Straw…straw hat?” Bartolomeo’s mind went blank as he stared in shock at the man in front of him wearing a helmet and a red cloak. His memory flashed back to that day in Loguetown.

The figure that had survived the lightning strike gradually overlapped with the man in front of him. Barto's heart pounded. He wanted to talk to him so much!

But seeing Luffy turn around towards him, Bartolomeo dodged into the pile of junk at top speed, feeling frustrated. "Be brave, Bartolomeo! Senior Luffy is right in front of you!"

Luffy glanced at the source of the sound with a puzzled look, then looked at Ace, who was walking towards him. Ace had just said he was going to ask Sabo's friend, "Ace, is Sabo on this island?"

“He’s on a mission on this island, maybe we’ll run into each other,” Ace said with a smile. He had just asked Hack and received a definite answer.

"Great!" Luffy shouted excitedly, "We have to tell Lucci about this!"

“That’s right, but we need to deal with this quickly.” Ace frowned as he listened to the news of the match delay coming over the loudspeaker.

......

Outside a café in northeastern Dressrosa.

"Greenbit..."

"I don't really recommend it... Are you explorers or researchers?"

"Unless it's something so important that you'd risk your life for it, I advise you to give up the idea..." The shop owner pushed the coffee on the tray toward the strangely dressed customer.

"Doesn't that bridge look pretty sturdy?" Robin adjusted his glasses and looked at the large iron bridge.

"Yes, that's right, it was indeed an iron bridge, but now there are fighting fish living around Greenbit. Before they appeared, it seems there was a bridge that led to Greenbit, but that was at least 200 years ago."

"Shopkeeper, what kind of Douyu are you talking about?"