【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Royal Palace First Floor

"Get out of the way!" The toy soldier Cyrus pulled forward and suddenly attacked, knocking down several enemies blocking his path with his club. He arrived just in time before Doflamingo's subordinate could swing his sword at Rambo, knocking the man down. "Are you alright, Rambo?"

"team leader!"

"Are you alright, Rambo?" The toy soldier Cyrus looked worriedly at the little human Rambo who was running beside him, clutching his arm.

"Don't worry, this little injury is nothing," Rambo replied with a smile.

"If Operation SOP succeeds, the captain will become the strongest gladiator!" Kabu smiled hopefully. "Our mission is to get the captain to Doflamingo before then, no matter what!"

"You..." The toy soldier lowered his eyes, thinking of the enemies the little people had desperately shielded him from along the way. Anger and determination filled his heart. Doflamingo!!

"That guy couldn't be..." Rambo looked at the man slowly walking towards them with a serious expression. "Captain, another officer is coming. That's Gradis from the Pikachu Army!"

“You have no chance of winning right now.” Kabu stopped the captain from making a move. They both knew what the most important task was right now: “Rambo and I will create a momentary opening! Captain, you go first!”

"Stop! Do you want to sacrifice yourselves again?" Cyrus shouted.

"Rambo!"

"We'll flank them from both sides, Mr. Kabu!" Kabu shouted, rushing towards Gladis.

"Wait!" Cyrus gritted his teeth, watching Rambo and Kabu rush towards Gladis, and shouted anxiously as Rambo and Kabu were instantly caught. "Rambo! Kabu!"

As Cyrus watched them being blown away by Gladis, he was filled with rage, but he also knew that he could not let Rambo and Kabu down for their sacrifice. He roared and charged past Gladis.

"I know the speed of toys like the back of my hand!" Gladis watched the toy soldier escape from him, bent his knees and rushed over, grabbing the toy soldier by the neck. "I'm the Explosion Man who ate the Explosion Fruit! What can cause an explosion is not only my own body, but also... anything inorganic that I touch! Things like metal will be reduced to ashes in an instant!"

"Let me go!" Feeling his head begin to swell, Cyrus panicked. Memories of his beloved daughter Rebecca flashed before his eyes. Cyrus roared in despair, "I still have... an unfinished mission! Rebecca!!"

"Watch me blast you into dust!"

"Jet stamp!!"

A long, outstretched foot slammed into Guladis's abdomen, sending the Don Quixote-like cadre flying in a bow-like motion, while the toy soldier he had grabbed slipped from his limp hand and was tossed into the air.

"Soldier, where are Franky and the others?" Luffy asked, catching the toy soldier that fell from the sky.

"You are……"

"Aren't they with you?" Luffy asked.

“Straw Hat Boy, there’s no time for small talk now!” Violet urged. “We need to get there as soon as possible.”

"So you're the one-legged toy soldier Franky was talking about?" Lucci asked, looking at the one-legged toy soldier whose hat was being held upside down by Luffy's hand, noticing the dirt on his clothes.

"But didn't you go to the factory with Franky and the little people to get sugar? How did you end up here, and get beaten up like this?"

Cyrus stared in shock at the two people and the cotton doll before him, then suddenly realized, "You're the toy-turned-partner that Franky mentioned? What are you doing here?"

"Straw Hat Luffy, Violet! You bastard, how dare you betray our young master!!" Gladius roared angrily at Violet, "I'll blow you to pieces!"

"Alright, come on then if you dare!" Luffy immediately assumed a fighting stance.

"Idiot, don't forget our purpose!" Lucci slapped Luffy on the head as a reminder.

"No, there's no time! We need to get to the colored room on the second floor first!" Violet grabbed Luffy and stopped him. "This man is extremely difficult to deal with!"

“Princess Violet, why would you…” Cyrus looked at Violet, who was leading the way, with a puzzled expression.

"You know me?" Violet asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Yes, even if you don’t recognize me,” Cyrus replied.

“I’ve been watching you all, watching you and Rebecca!” Violet smiled gently. “It must have been very hard work, thank you.”

“Violet! I will never forgive a traitor!!” Gladis shouted angrily, as his helmet swelled up.

“I didn’t betray anyone! From that day ten years ago, I have never forgiven you for what you did!!” Violet shouted angrily as she turned around.

"This is still a tremendous insult to the young master!!" Gladis shouted angrily. "Helmet explode!!"

"Watch out!!" Luffy hurriedly warned, sensing the fragments from the helmet explosion behind him, while simultaneously reaching out to pull the cotton doll sitting on his shoulder to his chest.

"Violet!!" Kyros, perched on Luffy's right shoulder, noticed that Violet had been hit by a shard and cried out in alarm.

"Oh no!" Luffy noticed that Violet had been hit, and stretched out his free left arm to grab Violet's waist and run with her. "Hey, did you miss a vital spot?"

"It's nothing, just a scrape on my arm from some shards. Let's get to the second floor quickly," Violet said, clutching her injured arm.

"Anyway, let's just go there!" Luffy said, looking at the window in front of him.

"Hold on tight, toy soldier." Lucci saw Luffy running straight toward the window and instantly understood his intention, so he hurriedly reminded the toy soldier clinging to Luffy's back.

"The stairs aren't this way!" Violet shouted in a panic to Luffy, who was about to jump out of the window.

"Is that over there?" Luffy jumped out of the window, stretched out his leg to hook onto the window above, and sprang up upside down.

"Where did you go?" Gladis, who had chased after them, looked at the empty swimming pool in confusion, then noticed footsteps behind him. Looking at the man in the pink feather coat, he asked in surprise, "Young Master, why are you here?"

“Young Master? Who is the Young Master? I am Tang Ji…”

Upon hearing Kin'emon's words, who was disguised as Doflamingo, Vega hurriedly whispered a reminder, "Young Master is their respectful title for Doflamingo!"

Upon hearing this, Kin'emon quickly corrected himself, saying, "I am the young master."

There was a moment of silence. Just when Kin'emon and Vega thought they had been exposed, the Don Quixote executive opposite them suddenly spoke.

"There are intruders inside the palace. Please wait upstairs until we deal with them."

“No, then… I’ll leave this to you.” Kin’emon secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his face remained expressionless. He took the opportunity to ask, “I want to go and check on Kanjuro’s condition underground.”

"Is it the samurai who disappeared in the underground junkyard?"

"That's right, it's Kanjuro, the samurai who disappeared in the underground junkyard..." Kin'emon suddenly realized and exclaimed, "He disappeared?!"

Kin'emon quickly realized what was happening, but maintained his composure. "I already knew. You guys continue dealing with the intruders."