【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Why didn't you say so earlier! What were you talking about all this time..."

Hearing Franky say those words so casually, Sanji was furious. Then he noticed the incredibly familiar guy on the screen and froze.

Even though he was wearing a strange helmet that obscured his face, Sanji recognized him at a glance—wasn't that his idiotic rubber captain?! What the hell was that guy doing in a place like that?!

"Frankie, don't be surprised. Listen carefully, Luffy..."

"Ah, I know, he's participating in a sports show with Ace right now."

"What did you send him to do?! Keep a close eye on him!" Sanji scratched his head in frustration. What were those two doing? Couldn't they even keep an eye on Luffy?!

"Don't talk about others. Weren't you supposed to be going back to the ship? What are you doing now? Nami and the others have run into a Marine Admiral!"

"What!?" Sanji looked up instantly and exclaimed incredulously, "Is Nami alright?!"

"Ah, they're alright. Nami and the others said that the admiral suddenly left for some reason, and now they're sailing to Greenbit to pick up Caesar from Travis."

"Don't scare me!!" Sanji shouted angrily. "But since this has happened, I have to go protect Nami."

"Then you should go to Greenbit."

"Hey, Franky," Sanji said, his expression turning serious. "Do you know the truth about those toys on this island?"

"Ah, I know, I met a toy soldier who told me everything. The truth about this island is truly unbelievable... The toys are actually forgotten humans!!"

"They weren't toys at all; they were all turned into toys by one of Doflamingo's subordinates! This ability is really dangerous..."

“We had a partner…” Sanji said through gritted teeth, thinking of that phone call he’d just received, “who’s probably been turned into a toy, but I can’t remember who it was at all…”

The Den Den Mushi was silent for a moment, then erupted with a huge shout, "What!? What's going on, Sanji! Who's been turned into a toy!?"

“I already said, I don’t remember who it was…” Sanji sighed and then told Franky about what Violet had told him about Sugar, as well as the strange phone call. “I guess that phone call was when I wanted to warn that friend… but I failed.”

"So now we have a priority goal..."

"Catch that girl named Sugar and find a way to get her to return our crewmates." Sanji continued Franky's words, his tone full of determination. "No matter what, we absolutely cannot leave this island before we find our lost crewmates."

"Ah, that's right! Leave this to me, Sanji. The toy soldier said that girl is at the factory, I'll go and take care of her together."

"It's up to you, Franky." Sanji hung up the Den Den Mushi in his hand, looked at Luffy who was shining in the arena, and sighed. This kid was trapped in that kind of place at such an important moment. Doflamingo's trap really played right into that kid's hands.

"Blackfoot, I have to go." Violet said quickly to her subordinates who were chasing after her. "Your men are coming. You want to go to the factory, right? Here's a map."

Sanji took the blueprints from Violet, his expression turning serious as he looked at them. He knew what this meant; they desperately needed them, but this would mean...

"On the surface, that place is called Toy House, but it's actually a factory."

"No, if you keep helping me..." Sanji stopped him.

"You're a strange person, Black Leg. My betrayal was already known to the executives," Violet said with a smile, looking at Sanji who was worried about her.

“Miss Violet, we’ll meet at the western port. Before I go, hide and wait for me. That’s where my crew and I meet. I’ll definitely help you escape from here.” Sanji looked at Violet with determination.

"You really are a useless man..." Violet was somewhat moved as she looked at Sanji, but she knew her current situation, and besides, she couldn't just run away like this. As long as Doflamingo was still around, there was nothing she could do...

"Sorry to bother you in your busy schedule, you useless man!"

"Where did you come from, you brat?!" Sanji shouted angrily at Kin'emon, who had suddenly appeared. He had just been captivated by Violet's incredibly charming smile, but... watching Violet's departing figure, Sanji reluctantly reached out his hand, "Violet..."

"Um, please help me take down these people first..." Kin'emon said, pointing to the group of Doflamingo's subordinates who had been chasing him.

"Seriously, you should have dealt with these small fry yourself." Sanji, who had finished the fight in an instant, sat on the defeated enemy, took a drag of his cigarette, and said speechlessly.

"That's because they've taken Kanjuro hostage, so I can't intervene," Kin'emon explained, then looked at Sanji excitedly and said that he needed to rescue his comrade Kanjuro from the Toy House as soon as possible, but he didn't know the address.

“I happen to have a map…” Sanji smiled and took out the map that Violet had just given him.

……

Dressrosa - a restaurant

"Wait, wait." Sabo quickly wiped the malt liquor that had splashed on his chin from his surprise, and looked at the blonde doll who was stuffing fried rice into her mouth. "So you turned into a doll because a lost little girl touched you?"

"I was on the phone at the time, and she rushed over and hugged my leg before Sanji could warn me." Lucci nodded, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said with some dissatisfaction, "She was lying when she said she was lost."

“Isn’t this obvious…” Sabo smiled helplessly, looking at his brother who was eating, filled with joy. Although he hadn’t expected that his brother would fall for such a simple trick, he was relieved that he had found him. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t found him, and if Lucci hadn’t escaped. Would they have completely lost this brother with no memory, or even known what they had lost?

“The main reason is that I’m not very wary of children…” Lucci admitted, then looked at Sabo with some doubt. “But Sabo, you acted very strangely. And when we met, you seemed to know everything and didn’t seem confused at all about my cotton doll body.”

"I even called you by your name directly in this body, and you didn't question it, which made me think that you had already recognized me through this cotton doll body."