【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Lucci angrily shoved Sabo away. Where was the gentleness in this bastard? He had become utterly despicable after losing his memory. He knew that the kid's smile was the most deceptive thing, but he never expected that Sabo would use this trick on him, and even deceive him with brotherhood!

The thought of that kid secretly taking so many pictures of him like this makes him angry. He even agreed to wear all sorts of fluffy, cute clothes because of him. That bastard Sabo!!

“But this has so many buttons.” Sabo looked innocently at Lucci’s chubby little fingers. “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

Lucci glared angrily at Sabo, who was putting on an act. He didn't want to pay any attention to the bastard right now. Once he turned back, he would beat the bastard up no matter what.

Sabo couldn't help but laugh when he saw Cotton Doll glaring at him with resentment. He admitted that his behavior was indeed wrong, but it was so funny and cute that he had become Cotton Doll's brother. Seeing Cotton Doll's little face as he struggled to button his clothes, Sabo couldn't help but laugh again and took the initiative to help him.

……

After the match, Luffy returned from the contestants' exit and immediately saw Ace standing there waiting for him. Thinking about what had happened before Ace went on stage, he pursed his lips and walked straight towards Ace.

He still didn't understand where that inexplicable sense of emptiness came from, but the feeling that something important had disappeared was so strong that he couldn't ignore it no matter what.

Ace grinned as he watched Luffy walk towards him. "Luffy, not bad!"

"Ace!" Seeing the cheerful smile on Ace's face, Luffy laughed along, then stretched out his arms, grabbed Ace's shoulders, and launched himself towards him.

Ace skillfully caught Luffy's soft yet strong body. The sudden impact only caused Luffy to sway slightly before regaining his balance. Ace swallowed back the words of reprimand he was about to say and instead patted the back of Luffy's head. "What's wrong, kid? Tired already?"

"No way!" Luffy immediately retorted, then buried his face in Ace's neck and asked in a muffled voice, "Did you find it?"

"Not yet..." Ace sighed inwardly at the mention of this, but he understood why the kid was in a bad mood. He ruffled Luffy's black hair and added reassuringly, "We will definitely find it, very soon."

"Yes!" Luffy nodded, a smile returning to his face. He always trusted Ace's words completely; if Ace said he could find it, then he definitely could.

"Straw Hat Luffy!!"

"Ugh, why is that guy chasing me like that?" Luffy complained, watching Cabbage suddenly run towards him with a sword in hand.

Ace glanced at the cabbage rushing towards him and casually asked, "Want to fight?"

"I don't want to fight him." Luffy jumped off Ace and caught the sword that was thrust at him with his bare hands.

Ace stepped aside and watched the two of them, each holding one end of the sword, begin to test their strength. Since Luffy didn't want to fight, he figured he could just let Luffy handle it himself, so Ace didn't want to interfere.

The only unexpected thing was that the old man who was defeated by Luffy on the field came back, but he didn't seem to want to fight. From what he said, he wanted to thank Luffy for beating him up. What a strange old man.

Moreover... Ace looked at the strange old man who was chasing after Luffy to thank him, but kept banging his head on the ground.

Not long ago, this old man said he was going to kill them because of the old bastard, but now he's thanking them and saying he wants to join Luffy's crew. Ace really couldn't understand this strange old man's behavior.

But when Ace came to his senses, Luffy had disappeared again. Helpless, Ace had no choice but to go look for his brother who loved to run around.

……

Gladiator Dormitory

"Thank you for treating me to dinner, Rebecca." Luffy stuffed food from his bento box into his mouth while looking around. "But where am I?"

“This is the dormitory for our arena gladiators… though some people also call it the prison,” Rebecca explained. “Because the competitors don’t come here, you can stay here until your match.”

"Really? I'm saved, but I still have to go find my lost brother." Luffy said while putting meat from his bento box into his mouth. "Ace just got lost again."

Rebecca couldn't help but laugh. "Your match just now was amazing! I was shocked. Lucy, you're so strong!"

"Hmm, it's alright, but the bento box at the arena was so delicious!" Luffy stuffed the rest of the food from the bento box into his mouth, chewing as he asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry at all." The image of her mother leaving because she was hungry flashed before her eyes, and Rebecca bit her lower lip and sadly lowered her head.

"What? You're like those samurai too?" Luffy hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly sensed movement behind him and jumped up to dodge the hand that was reaching out to grab him.

At the same time, he pulled his legs up to dodge Rebecca's thrusting sword, used his legs to pin Rebecca's sword-wielding hands to the ground from mid-air, and sat on her waist to restrict her movements.

As Luffy continued stuffing food into his mouth, he looked at Rebecca beneath him with a puzzled expression. "What are you trying to do?"

"Rebecca has been captured by him."

"She actually lost because of speed!"

The two men who were just about to attack Luffy shouted in disbelief.

“Kill me or torture me, it’s up to you. I’m willing to accept the punishment,” Rebecca shouted.

"You treated me to dinner." Luffy casually let go of Rebecca. "You're a good person."

"I was planning to kill you!" Rebecca exclaimed in disbelief, never expecting Luffy to let her go so easily; she wanted him dead!

"I won't die," Luffy said simply, but he seemed more curious about the people in the prison wrapped in thick bandages. "Mummy?"

"No, we are prisoner gladiators, and Rebecca is one too."

The people in the prison were filled with despair and exhaustion. Each of them was injured, and several were even missing their hands or feet, as if they had just survived a fierce battle.

"We are all people who have disobeyed the Flamingo family too many times. The punishment is to keep fighting on this stage and provide the audience with a bloody spectacle. The King said that as long as we win 100 matches, we can regain our freedom..."

“No matter how strong someone is, they will definitely die after 100 matches. Those who tried to escape were shot dead. We had nowhere to escape.”

"Since Doflamingo took over the country ten years ago, this country has been characterized by extreme light and shadow, and what was originally a normal sword fight has turned into a complete killing game."

"I will win this sword-fighting tournament no matter what it takes! I will get that Devil Fruit!" Rebecca lay on her back on the ground, thinking of the soldier's plan, and fought back her tears.

"...Today, the army led by the soldier is going to launch a decisive battle against Doflamingo. He intends to sacrifice his life for the destruction of this country in order to liberate us!"