【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Whoa!! Something's falling from the sky!!" Chopper suddenly looked up in horror and shouted, "It's a meteorite!!"

"Hey, Law!" Sanji lit a cigarette and looked at Law, puzzled. "I understand we have to take Caesar with us, but Dressrosa is just a transit point for us. Our common goal is the head of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors. Aren't you being a little too obsessed with Doflamingo?"

"Baton!" Law ignored Sanji's question and changed the direction of the meteorite flying towards them, throwing it at the warship. His target from the beginning was Doflamingo.

"Super Thread Whiplash!!"

"It's that long whip again!" Brook looked at Doflamingo in the air in horror as he swung his enormous whip at them.

Law held his sword across his chest to block Doflamingo's whip, and while pulling on him, he shouted to Nami, "Listen up! Try to find a route without clouds to advance! Doflamingo is a user of the String-String Fruit. He connects his strings to the clouds, allowing him to walk in the air. If there are no clouds in the sky, he won't be able to catch up!"

"A line? Oh, so that's what it was." Sanji instantly understood why he couldn't move in the air.

"When the wind blows, the cannons fire!"

"Doflamingo, look who this is!" Lola threatened, gesturing to the skeletal Jora beside him. Although he was puzzled by the guy's appearance, what mattered now was to threaten Doflamingo into following him, rather than chasing the Straw Hat crew.

Sanji frowned as he watched Law's figure disappear from the deck, hoping that the guy wouldn't linger in the fight.

……

Greenbit-Iron Bridge

"What's the point of letting half of the Straw Hat crew go?" Doflamingo looked at Law, who was standing opposite him, threatening Jorah with a knife.

Doflamingo was clearly impatient with Law's constant stalling. "The other half is still in Dressrosa! Capture them all as hostages, and we can ransom Caesar immediately."

"Aren't there countless people who underestimated them and ended up losing their lives like this?" Law gripped his sword tightly. "Unfortunately, my pirate alliance with the Straw Hat crew ends here!"

"From the moment we joined forces, my only goal was to use them to stop the creation of SMILE. Even if I can't win this battle, you will be destroyed by Kaido without SMILE."

"So that's how it is. You want to take me down with you?" Doflamingo's grin widened.

"While I'd also like to see what chaos the world will be like after you die, it's more important to me to settle things about what happened 13 years ago, Joker!!"

"What do you plan to do with Jora?" Doflamingo looked at Jora under the sword, puzzled by her near-death state. There shouldn't be any character in the Straw Hat crew who could put Jora in this condition. "Jora, what happened to you?"

“Young Master… Navy…” Jorah replied with difficulty.

"ROOM!" Luo didn't wait for her to finish speaking before teleporting her away.

"The Navy..." Doflamingo grinned, "You've really attracted quite a few big shots, but Black Leg's appearance just now also proves that my arrangements have run into quite a few problems."

"You've already lost the Caesar card, and while we're fighting here, you'll also lose SMILE's factory. You're finished!"

"What you've done is nothing but pointless venting of anger, Ro!"

"It's not about venting my anger. I'm alive today to fulfill that person's long-cherished wish!!" Law said, launching the first attack on Doflamingo.

.......

Dressrosa Acacia

"You're fucking insane, Sabo!" Lucci yelled angrily at the fluffy bodysuits in Sabo's hands. "I absolutely will not wear them! Put me down, you bastard!!"

“No way.” Sabo looked at the struggling doll in his arms, gripped it even tighter, and smiled broadly. “It was Lucci who promised to let me do whatever I wanted.”

"I never agreed!" Lucci shouted angrily, never expecting that Sabo's purpose was this.

"You said you'd let me do whatever I wanted," Sabo said, feigning sadness as he looked at the doll in his arms. "Were you just lying to me when you promised to help me?"

“I didn’t! I just wanted to help you feel better before you regain your memories! Not to make you do something like that!” Lucci shouted angrily.

"But doing this will allow me to temporarily forget about losing my memory and will also prevent me from feeling sad." Feeling the doll's struggles in his hands lessen, Sabo glanced at the doll in his arms, saw the hesitation flash across its face, smiled inwardly, and pretended to be sad.

"If you really don't want to, then forget it. Sigh... I guess I'm still too incompetent. I've forgotten my brothers again..."

"Have you always thought that way?" Lucci asked hesitantly, looking at the dejection on Sabo's face.

“Yes, it makes me sad just thinking that I’ve completely forgotten what my brother looked like as a human,” Sabo said, feigning helplessness.

“…What does that have to do with wearing these clothes…” Lucci tried to find a reason.

“This will make me happy, and my attention will stay on your current doll form instead of thinking about what you looked like as a human, so I won’t feel sad.” Sabo looked at the doll in his arms and said softly, “Maybe my heart wants to tell me this, no matter what form Lucci takes, he is a very precious treasure to me.”

"what……"

"Suddenly...suddenly said that."

"Let's begin now."

"Okay... well..."

Hearing the doll's stammering response, Sabo smiled gently. Sure enough, even with such words, just because they came from his brother, he believed them without a doubt? Even compromised. His brother was even gentler than he had imagined, Sabo thought to himself.

Looking at the doll who kept his head buried in his arms, Sabo couldn't help but pull his little face out to see the emotions in his eyes. He didn't want his brother to force himself for him, but seeing the shy light in the doll's big pupils, Sabo's heart skipped a beat. So...so cute.

"Sabo... Sabo?" Lucci looked at Sabo, who was suddenly staring blankly at his face, in confusion. Then Sabo's eyes suddenly lit up, and an expression as if he were facing a large, delicious piece of meat appeared on his face. Seeing Sabo staring at him with such an expression, Lucci subconsciously shrank his neck, feeling inexplicably uneasy. "What... what kind of expression is that?"

When Sabo came to his senses, he saw those large, glassy eyes staring at him anxiously, like a frightened little animal that couldn't find the source of the danger and could only look reliably at the only person it trusted.

Sabo's fingers trembled slightly. He really wanted to take a picture, but he couldn't. He couldn't be so obvious anymore. If he was discovered now, all his previous efforts would be wasted. If Lucci found out his purpose, things wouldn't be so easy to talk to. Sabo's face instantly lit up with a bright smile. "Let's begin."