【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

It seems the target is him. Ace's smile grew wider and wider. Sabo was laughing so hard he was practically going crazy, trying to hide his ever-growing smile with his top hat.

Ace feigned confusion and asked thoughtfully, "In that case, I need to think about what I would normally call you?"

"Call me whatever you want!" Lucci couldn't help but say, seeing Ace's conflicted expression.

“I still don’t understand how to call him. Why don’t you demonstrate how I usually call him, Lucci? After all, you’re the only one who remembers it now.” Ace said, pretending not to understand, trying to get Lucci to say the word on his own. But it was obvious that his brother, who had turned into a doll, was very clever and wasn’t fooled at all.

“Just call him like Luffy does, that’s all you need to do.” Lucci puffed out his cheeks, looking at Ace with some suspicion. Had this kid figured it out? Otherwise, why was he still fixated on this issue? But he still really wanted to hear Ace call him brother, so he ignored this obvious detail.

"Brother!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, "Like this, right!"

“That’s right!” Lucci nodded vigorously, looking at Ace expectantly.

"Oh, I see. Then I should call you that now... call you..." Ace said, drawing out his words as if he had just realized something. Looking at the blonde doll's increasingly bright eyes, Ace's smile deepened, and then he softly uttered, "Idiot."

Lucci froze instantly, then his face flushed red, and he lunged at Ace, yelling, "Ace! You bastard, you've been playing me for a fool!!"

Sabo couldn't hold back any longer and burst into maniacal laughter, clutching his stomach and bending over. Luffy looked at his two older brothers with a bewildered expression as they laughed so loudly.

"Sabo, isn't Lucci our older brother?" Luffy asked, puzzled.

“Luffy, he’s your brother, not me or Ace’s brother.” Sabo suppressed a laugh and kindly explained to his confused little brother, “This kid is trying to trick Ace into calling him brother.”

"So calling him 'brother' won't make him remember Lucci?" Luffy asked dejectedly, thinking that calling him 'brother Lucci' would make him remember Lucci.

“That’s just a lie by this kid.” Ace grinned, holding up the doll he had been controlling. Watching it try to punch him, his smile widened.

"You little brat, do you remember?!" Lucci shouted angrily.

“No, I really have absolutely no memory of you,” Ace grinned.

"How did you know? I was perfectly disguised," Lucci said, clearly dissatisfied. This was definitely his best performance yet.

Ace and Sabo exchanged a glance, both seeing the bright smile in each other's eyes. Ace looked at the confusion in Lucci's eyes and couldn't help but laugh, "Who told you to be a cotton doll now, and so cute at that?"

"Who are you calling cute!" Lucci angrily swung his fist at Ace. It's that guy again. As expected, this doll's body is too unconvincing. How annoying! He almost succeeded in getting Ace to call him brother!

Luffy's gaze kept shifting between his three older brothers, and finally he asked the question he had always wanted to know: "So what do we do to remember Lucci? To bring Lucci back to his senses?"

Ace frowned as well, then looked at Lucci in his hand and asked, "How did you turn into a doll?"

Lucci recounted the events of the day, along with his speculations and his conversation with Ace and Luffy.

"So we need to find the blue-haired little girl who used her Devil Fruit power on you," Ace asked.

“Yes, that’s right. We just don’t know where she is, but we’re certain she’s one of Doflamingo’s men.” Lucci nodded and said, “Anyway, if you run into her, you absolutely mustn’t let her touch you.”

"We're not as stupid as you, letting a little girl get us into this mess," Ace sneered, feeling a surge of inexplicable anger.

"Ace, who are you calling stupid!" Lucci glared at Ace with displeasure.

“We need to figure out how to find that little girl,” Sabo said gently.

"Isn't she one of Doflamingo's subordinates?" Ace said grimly. "Let's go and capture Doflamingo directly. His stronghold is right here; do you think we'll let him escape?"

Now that he knew how to solve the problem, Luffy was no longer worried. Only one other thing caught his attention: he never expected that his brother was sailing with him. He remembered that when they were young, Ace and Sabo refused to join his crew no matter what. Luffy excitedly asked, "So Lucci is not only my brother but also my first mate!"

"Yes, I'll be sailing with you in the future too," Lucci said with a smile, looking at Luffy's excitement.

"Senior Luffy..."

"Who is that person?" Lucci turned his head in confusion towards the direction of the voice, where a green-haired guy was sneaking around behind the wall.

"A strange rooster-like head?" Luffy said, puzzled.

"Luffy... Luffy-senpai..." Bartolomeo said, head bowed and face flushed, "Zoro-senpai is looking for you..."

"Zoro!?" Luffy looked at the rooster-headed man with a puzzled expression.

……

"Can that guy bring Luffy here?" Zoro looked at the window separated by iron bars in front of him with suspicion. They had been standing here for a while. He had only been here a short time when he met Sanji and Kin'emon, who were also looking for Luffy.

After Sanji was taken away by a woman, they kept trying to find Luffy near the arena. Then they encountered the strange rooster-haired guy who recognized them in their disguise and knew his and Luffy's names.

That guy said he promised to help them find Luffy in the arena, but there's still no word from him. Zoro couldn't help but wonder if that strange rooster-headed guy had really heard them. After all, he had been crying and sobbing throughout their conversation.

"Although we are equally uneasy, we have no other choice but to wait for that incoherent man," Kin'emon replied.

Thinking of that guy with the mohawk who was crying and couldn't even speak clearly, Zoro couldn't help but complain, "That guy's crying and wailing doesn't seem like he's reliable at all."

Zoro hadn't expected to hear that familiar cheerful voice right after he finished complaining. He looked up instantly and, sure enough, saw that rubber idiot shouting their names as if no one else was around. His actions successfully attracted the attention of the surrounding crowd. Zoro immediately roared, "Luffy! You idiot, you're too loud!"

"Your voice is also very loud!" Kin'emon looked around nervously. The passersby and even the toys were all looking at them with strange eyes.

"Yo, Zoro."

Zoro stared in confusion at the blond doll in Luffy's arms, who was waving at him. Who was that? Wait, could it be...? Zoro's only eye widened in shock. "You wouldn't happen to be one of our friends who were turned into dolls, would you!?"

"Not only that, Zoro! He's also my brother!" Luffy interjected excitedly.