【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Does this basket lead directly to the palace?" Lucci asked, looking at the huge bamboo basket hanging in the middle.

“Those are luggage pulleys,” Violet explained. “This staircase leads directly to the outer tower at the entrance to the palace.”

"Luffy, take this rock to the top," Zoro said with a smile, patting the square rock next to him. "That way we can get up there."

"Okay!" Luffy immediately agreed, then stretched out his arm to wrap around the rock, while simultaneously reaching up with his right hand to grab the top chain and spring himself up.

"Go for it, Luffy!" Lucci shouted casually, and then jumped into the basket with Zoro and the others.

"You should come up quickly, Your Excellency the female ninja," Kin'emon reminded Violet, who was still in shock.

......

Toy House East Entrance

Franky grinned as he looked at the brightly colored, whimsical gate before him, raised his hand, and pointed the muzzle of his gun at the guard standing at the door. "Wind Cannon!!"

Looking at the gate that was destroyed in an instant, he smiled with satisfaction. "Let me destroy this thing completely!"

"Don't you have eyes?"

"Huh? Where did you come from?" Franky raised his fist at the man who suddenly appeared in front of him, wearing a baby headscarf and sucking on a pacifier, and without hesitation, he punched the man away. "Powerful right punch!"

"Why would we want to show ourselves up in front of the enemy?"

Watching their leader's actions, some Diamanti soldiers couldn't help but stop shooting and discuss loudly.

"Señor!"

Several women watching were swooning and excitedly shouting at the man dressed as a baby.

"Why do I appear in front of people? Men only grope women behind their backs when they're taking off their skirts," Señor said, twirling the pacifier in his hand with a stern expression.

"But the only time I'll stand in front of someone is when I'm taking a woman's kiss!"

Franky was speechless at the women yelling and screaming around while they were fighting, and decided to ignore them. He hadn't forgotten his main objective: to destroy the factory. Franky raised the cannon mechanism on his shoulder and aimed it at the group of enemies blocking the factory gate. "Franky Rocket Salvo!!"

"Run! This guy is dangerous!"

The Diamanti soldiers panicked and fled as they watched the shells flying wildly off Frankie's shoulder. Only their leader, Señor, remained standing still, making no attempt to dodge. He even brushed his teeth with a shoe brush at this moment. One of the Diamanti soldiers couldn't help but shout a warning.

"Mr. Señor, use your ability to dodge!"

"Mr. Señor, why didn't you dodge?" Another thin Diamanti soldier couldn't help but ask loudly, looking at Señor, whose body was charred black by the bomb.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, kids. My Water-Water Fruit ability, which allows me to swim freely on walls or the ground, isn't for escaping the enemies in front of me!"

Señor stood up from the ground, covered in blood and looking disheveled, yet still maintaining his tough, masculine image. "I only swim when I feel like it!!"

Franky stared silently at Señor. He could clearly see that this man hadn't moved to protect the woman and his men behind him. He had shielded his men from all the bullets. Franky couldn't help but admire, "This guy is really tough!"

"Tons of pressure!!"

Franky looked up at the massive thing hurtling down on him from the sky, jumped aside to dodge it, but couldn't help but complain about its bizarre abilities, "What's wrong with you guys? You can float in mid-air and dive into the ground at the same time!"

"That's it! The Straw Hat crew's Iron Man and Toy House are now surrounded by our Marines!"

"What are the Marines doing here?" Franky asked, looking at the Marines surrounding them.

"What's going on? I've never heard of a navy!" Maha Bys said incredulously.

“A bunch of annoying guys again.” Señor looked at the approaching navy.

"You have nowhere to run, surrender now! Iron Man Franky!!"

"Shut up, I've decided to cause a ruckus here!" Franky raised his gun and aimed it at the Marines in front of him. He absolutely couldn't let these guys follow him down to the underground, as that would only hinder the Tontatta's plans. He had to stop them here. He was counting on Usopp Lando for the underground!

……

Meanwhile, the atmosphere between Doflamingo and Fujitora in the royal palace was somewhat unpleasant. To be precise, it was King Doflamingo of this country who was somewhat unhappy. He thought that the Marine Admiral, who was temporarily an ally, would become a real enemy in the future. He really dared to say something like abolishing the Seven Warlords of the Sea system.

"The incident of pirates seizing the throne in a certain country, if successful, might turn this dark country beneath our feet into one as well!" Fujitora said calmly. "Since I have accepted the high position of Admiral, then I have the hope of accomplishing this and completely abolishing the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

"The Navy, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Four Emperors—how do you plan to handle the balance of power among these three forces?" Doflamingo raised his head slightly, looking down at the Navy Admiral before him with a gloomy expression.

“Well, how would we know if we didn’t try to destroy it?” Fujitora began. “So… if you do too many bad things, sir…”

Fujitora instantly drew his straight sword, intercepting the sudden leg attack. Completely unconcerned about the intense killing intent emanating from Doflamingo, he calmly continued, "Your head is probably going to go up in price again, Lord Tenyasha."

"Fufufu! Why do I feel like you're saying we should take him down now?" Doflamingo stared at Fujitora, who was blocking his kick, and his lips twitched into a smile.

"Don't be impatient. Let's get along peacefully for now." Fujitora calmly sheathed his sword. "I am here to protect your country. Whatever secrets are revealed about this country, I am blind and will not see them."

"The world conference to be held this year will change the world, whether we like it or not."

Doflamingo stared at Fujitora's departing figure with a gloomy face.

"Blue! Blue!"

"What did you say?" Doflamingo listened to the report through the Den Den Mushi with a grim face, veins bulging. "You said the intruder is Straw Hat Luffy? Then who is that in the arena right now?! What happened?!"

……

"Which way?!" Luffy asked, looking at the chaotic room in front of him.

“Left!” Violet replied quickly.

Lucci watched as Zoro charged forward with incredible force, only to veer completely off course and run into the clearly blocked corridor. He angrily shouted, "Zoro! The path doesn't appear in the wall!!"

"I know where I'm going!" Zoro retorted angrily, only to be met with a sigh from Lucci.